Hello everyone....

I have a Last Action Hero that has been giving me a real headache... It all started with a weak ball eject coil, it would barely move the ball out of the outhole. I found that transistor Q45 was defective so I replaced it with a new TIP 102... after doing this the coil would work 3 or four times perfectly and then would just lock on, I turn the game off check the transistor again and it is shorted. Replace the coil with a new one making sure the diode is fine and the cables are connected the right way also changing out Q45 and the pre driver . Turn the game on, everything works fine for 3 or 4 times then the coil locks on again....

I have checked everything from the PPB board down to the coil, everything is fine.. I even switched wires on the CPU to another pin using another transistor just to check if there are any faults with the wiring or the PPB board, the ball eject coil worked flawlessly during a coil test.

Flashlamps for this transistor Q45 work perfectly and the transistor does not short when flashing....

Does anyone have any tips on what is causing my CPU / Driver board to burn up this transistor...

I really hope someone can help, I'd hate to give up on the CPU, everything else works great...

Thanks in advance,

Stephen in Sweden

I've checked continuity from the transistor legs, everything checks out ok, just follow the path of the traces away from the repair area, nothing seems out of place... I think its strange that this transistor has no issues when driving the flashlamps.... I would think it should blow when being energized no matter if its a coil or lamp....