well the first thing of course is to reseat all of your light connectors, check the bulb sockets, give them a reseat....if that fails then possible the bridge rectifier....that should about do it...

I hope you’re using LEDs since all Data East games have an issue with the GI circuit overheating and literally melting the connector. Poor design on their part

Look closely at the square plugs on the power supply board, especially pin 12. (A corner pin) If it shows evidence of overheating, you will need to replace both the male and female sides of the connection.

Bump. That’s an interesting issue

Go into the single lamp test and scroll through all the single lamps. Only the one lamp showing on the DMD should be on at the time. Make note of any that come on when they should not be. Likely problem is in a row or column stuck on by a transistor in the lamp matrix.DE SW lamp matrix (resized).png

Following this.

Are you sure you don't have a missing or backwards lamp diode??

Or potentially bad one...

If one diode is messed up, it will most likely affect other lamps in that row/column.

Or even a lamp diode smashed and shorting out to the lamp socket?

I have a DE Robocop that is starting to do this stuff. All of the feature light bulbs are of the 555 type that install in the black caps and twist into the lamps boards. Where are the diodes located on this type of set up? Are the diodes located in the back box lamp board?

Would be nice if you started your own repair thread so it can be found more easily in the future for others that have the same problem with their Robocop. Also, the issue found on this thread likely may not help find your exact problem but it may help diagnose it. Link a video to your thread from youtube if you can post there. Run the single lamps test and mark up a lamp matrix chart showing all the lamps you have issues with. Can you snap and post picture of some of those lamp boards installed in the thread as well.

sqloud please click on 'edit' of your first post and add Star Wars in your title. It will be helpful in finding this repair thread in the future.

I'd start with all the lamps and diodes that you replaced. Double check connections/diodes.

The relay on the power supply is for the GI lights.

Sorry. I did not mean to offend with my question about diodes location. This thread looked like where the knowledge is at.

By and large, the Robocop thread is a mostly dead thread. Of the last 30 posts, 15 have been me mostly talking to myself.

When I come up with a repair, I'll put to the Robocop thread for all to see.

GI (6VAC) and the insert lamps (18VDC if I recall correctly) are 2 different voltages.

Also wouldn't hurt to check power supply over. Are voltages okay? Do you physically see any buldging/leaking capacitors? If connectors are tight and clean, how does the solder look on the back of the power supply board on the connectors?

2 Separate voltages, 2 separate lamp circuits. The MPU board controls the lamp matrix as to which is supposed to light the correct insert lamps at the right time.

I'm not near schematics right now, but how does the solder look on that 3rd pin down that goes to the fuse clip (F7 fuse to ground I believe)? Not 100 percent what that is used for, but solder joint on pin looks odd in picture...could just be pic though.
Effect_20190702_092721 (resized).jpg

F7 (.5 amp) fuse is for the High Voltage for the DMD. Not related. I do see some electrolyte from a leaking capacitor that would need to be addressed, but also not related to the lamp matrix issue.

If you really had an issue with a voltage on the power supply, none of your insert lamps would be on or flashing. Your problem is either on the MPU or under the playfield (wiring, diode, socket, or connections).

Please post a picture of your MPU. I do know if you have any of the transistors in the bottom right 2 rows on the MPU having the transistor tabs touching together, it can cause these types of issues that you show in your video.

Good extra info. I didn't think about tabs touching causing this.

Yeah, I wasn't sure about that solder thing I noticed...
probably still good to double check the solder joint while it's out even if not related.

SQLOUD, you said when you run test mode only appropriate light comes on right?

1. Does it come on full brightness by itself?
2. Are you sure no other bulbs come on even real dim?

What if supply was leaky/weak and was being drawn down too much when under heavier load, causing some dimming. That was one of my thoughts, if single comes on full bright with no other incorrect bulbs lighting up dim...

Capacitor leak you mentioned, I hadn't noticed. Were you talking about that stain near heatsink at C7?

If that really is physically leaking, probably time to buy a full cap kit and just do the board right (even if caps aren't the problem with lights).

Yes, I agree a full cap kit is needed as C1, C2, C3, and C7 are the main ones that leak (ones that cause 5volt issues and eventually boot failure) and as you can see what I had boxed off the damage looks like battery corrosion. Unfortunately, most of these capacitors are very tough to get out without damaging the board.

Still, this is for boot failures, not the current insert lamp issues.
DE SW power supply (resized).png

Ok. Glad to see none of the transistors touching each other, but that means more digging into the lamp matrix circuit, wiring, lamp sockets and their diodes.

Can you try a 1 amp fuse in F7?

Can you notice the same bulbs are constantly lit in attract mode? It seems the single lamp test should show up just as just as quoted above, even though are very dim.

Also, it would be good to know if you recently or in the past changed any lamp sockets? If so, it would be good to inspect to be sure the lamp socket is wired correctly with the diode and wires to the correct solder lugs.

If none of the lamp sockets were changed, it would be good to inspect those #44 lamp sockets that are stuck on to see if the lamp socket solder lugs are touching one another.

Well, if the DMD was indeed working with a 5amp fuse, then 1amp fuse should be ok to try. If it blows with a 1amp now, you definately will need to rebuild the High Voltage section. Or else buy a new power supply. I do not recommend a Rottendog power supply.

C2, C3, and C11 are more of a problem than C7 is at the moment. You can see the dark areas in the traces of the yellow boxed areas. That is the electrolyte that is traveling down the traces.
Looks to be that either C3 or C11 R4, C5, R3, R2, R7 and D4 to have been affected as well. Not sure how IC1 got affected other than by fumes from one of those capacitors near it.

I will caution again that these capacitors are tough to remove. You may want to consider sending your board to get repaired.

I honestly wondered about F7 value! I noticed it looked awful thick to be only 0.5 Amp. But, since it said slow blow, I thought maybe that was why.

When you replaced F7, you replaced it with the correct 0.5 Slo-Blo not a regular/fast blow type right?

Ohh, and don't make yourself feel like you "created a new problem" with that fuse...more like you may have found something else. It's so much better to find and fix a problem than to wait until something more important gets damaged or burns up, for sure!

I believe he mentioned in his first post or two that he HAD changed some sockets AND diodes....that's why I originally went with diode in backwards, missing, wired one up wrong, or possibly another bad diode elsewhere.

This is definitely the best place to check right now. Any lamp sockets or diodes that were replaced. Were they wired correctly? Miswiring can look like a lamp matrix transistor is locked on causing others to dimly light.

Please post pictures of ones you had changed.

The diode in top pic doesn't look soldered well; Or is it just camera angle?

I notice fair amount of rust/oxidation on those sockets....is it possible that you have corrosion inside a number of sockets causing them to be dim?

Maybe you already answered these, but when you light just one lamp, does it come on full brightness? Or same dim?

Did you double check that no other light comes on even super dim when lighting just one?

I don't understand the response, sorry.

My questions were:

1. If a specific light is dim (say during play) and you do a test for turning on the same light, but just that one, does it become bright or stay dim?

2. When you have in test mode with just one light on, can you look closely at other bulbs to see if any other ones (that should not be on, since you are testing one at a time) are on? Even SUPER dim.

During attract/game play/nor in the single lamp test mode, regular incandescent bulbs should not be acting the way you show in your video.