The wireform was slightly bent, breaking the opto, very weird.

Now I have MPF issue where SW 72 and 75 don't register. Brand new opto boards boards, very frustrated now. Going to check the main opto board tomorrow.

Ball search problem finally sorted out.

I replaced trough ball 1 switch for the second time.

https://www.marcospecialties.com/pinball-parts/A-11680

It's a DB2 switch, a little more pressure and it clicks more towards the bottom of the stroke.

Without any bending or adjustment, it works perfectly.

My first one was definitely bad.

Good catch!

I had to replace my wireform.
It was bent up a bit and had been poorly welded in a few places.

PPS has a few in stock.

Pulling the MPF out and removing the opto carrier from it is the only way to work on it.

Put the game in switch test and plug the 12 pin connector in "live" under the playfield.
It wont blow anything up.

I hate this unit with a passion.

Faz's guide helps a lot but doesn't address aftermarket opto boards and how crappy they are.

Do you have original opto boards or gulf stream ones?

I have many times thought I had a bad opto.

However in fact the optos are so tricky and sensitive they only work well if they are perfectly aligned with their corresponding transmitter or reciever.

This is mostly impossible if the opto carrier is twisted, bent, crushed or mis-shapened in any way.

The piece of crap should have been made way more rigid or out of steel or aluminum.

Gentle nudges of the opto's can get them working if they are slightly out of alignment.

Twisting the opto board works well also.

This is accomplished by adding a layer if electrical tape or gorilla tape on one edge or the other of the opto carrier.

Sometimes along the whole length with an extra bit near an offending opto.

I have 2 or 3 layers of electrical tape across the receiver side to compensate for the incorrect led length.

This along with additional edge pieces to get it flat.

Still after a few days it warps and an opto starts acting up.

Solder lumps on the bottom of the opto board makes the board twist after its screwed down. Try to remove them if they are an issue.

Looking down the row of LEDs on either side, they should be straight across from each other.

Once this is accomplished it will work perfectly.

However after bolting it all together, it can change due to the installation itself.

Again, I hate this unit.

Trust me, I have had it out, rebuilt with new boards, and I believe the aftermarket boards are garbage. I will bench test them and I am going to rebuild the originals. Worked fine and then optos start acting weird.

I ordered swinks new carrier it will be here next week.

I'm optimistic that it will solve many problems.

I'm also installing pindorabox opto boards.

I have 2 sets of brand new gulf stream boards.

They are both very tricky and keep changing after a few days.

I also ordered swinks carrier. I have the gulf stream boards and I feel as if they have major issues with voltage drop on the IR emitter, which is why they either fail early or do not work correctly or another issue related to poor board design or etching

I have to agree.
Visually I can detect with my phone camera, brightness variations in the LEDs.

Some are super bright. Some are a little dim.

I thought it was a wiring problem.

I swapped out boards and different LEDs were brighter or dimmer.

It's a led variance problem.

In my opinion, they are using the wrong leds.

The boards are crap.
The original carrier is crap.

This leads to a very unstable system.

Maybe machine out a carrier from aluminum...

If my next build fails to perform, I'll swap out the LEDs from the boards.

Does anyone have link for the shorter proper leds?

Afterevery thing gets sorted out, I reckon you will have a brand new machine.

His machine is gorgeous.

I need to pull mine out to check over the unit and I'm sure I could find IR LEDs that would work. Does any have the dimensions of the originals?

I have my original opto boards, I will measure. I am sure they will not be taller than 5mm

The height of my originals are almost 9mm for the emitters and 7mm for the receiver. The base is a standared size

Pretty much! Its s high end restoration. Even has a new plastics set and ramps lol.

With all the hand fitting, tweaking and polishing it came out substantially better and more solid than brand new.

It plays like a dream!

Last annoying item is the MPF optos.

I think we are on the right track with this.

Ahhh, the key is the 7mm recievers. They are too long on the gulf stream boards.

The transmitters length isnt a problem.

You still have old ramps?!

I'll do some digging. I know I've used smaller/shorter ones on my robot projects and a variety for different encoders.

I do.

I dont reckon you'ld be willing to part with the 3 left ramps decals?

very difficult to remove without cracking and tearing, they are really baked.

best bet is to get a new ramp kit.

The only company that sell ramps is spaceship fantasy and they are not authorized to sell a kit for that game. Are there other companies selling them?

Marco had a great set.
Improved with thicker plastic.

https://www.marcospecialties.com/control/keywordsearch?SEARCH_STRING=Doctor+who+ramp+set

It's a great price for all 3 ramps and decals.

My ramps are not perfect but too nice to replace. Just need the decals. I guess I will need to print my own.

Yep, it's fun and easy.
GIMP is amazing!

Bought some mirror blades for my two Ballys, Dr Who and Shadow. See how they turn out.

wrong topic

The Great Lakes Modular aftermarket boarda are excellent. I put them in my DW and had 0 issues at all.

I think that they are s better product.

I'm disappointed in the gulf stream ones I have.

They are very difficult to get working right, and then they change.

How did you bench test your MPF when you had opto issues? I am removeing mine and have a power supply, just curious as to where you ran the power to test the opto boards?

Thanks Ken

I tested it in the game.
My thought at the time was that I had a wiring problem or a short.

I ohmed out all of the wires and they are good all the way to the connector on the cpu.

I had previously tested each and every wire and connector in all of the harnesses when I had them out.

During the build I found bare wire, tape, and wires twisted together buried in the harness. It was a mess lol

All were repaired properly and shrink tubed.

I also tested each transmitter individually at 6v with a probe and clip-on ground.

I tested all the the light boards on the game in a similar fashion.

I didn't test the recievers.

Faz's guide has some really good testing info.

Also there are a couple posts in pinside with the pin outs on the CPU board.

A really interesting test was to plug the loose, wired opto boards in the 12 pin connector on the game "live".

You can then butterfly them as shown in faz's guide and see the transmitters running.

Then you can rub the boards together, transmitter to receiver while in edge test.

You can even rub individual transmitter LEDs onto any of the reciever leds..

This is interesting as it shows that some are weaker than others.

Sure enough the weak pairs are also weak when assembled.

I'm beginning to hate the gulf stream boards.

Very inconsistant, always 1 of the 5 is weak in my case.

On one set its the M opto.

On the other it the L1 opto.

I'll run similar tests on the pindorabox boards.

My swinks opto carrier will be here Tuesday possibly.

I found a good post as reference. I have solid continuity fron CPU to all connectors. Will need to see what these garbage boards are really doing.

It has really pissed me off that's for sure.

Visually I confirmed that some transmitters dont shoot straight compared to the others.

That's why bending them helps a little.

I had to bend the IR's to align them to the wavy opto carrier I have, ugh. May ise heat gun and clamps to straighten it out more. Then I tracked down bad connectors at J206 and J208. Gonna repin those and then when Swinks opto carrier arrives, hopefully all problems gone. I am gonna use small washer to lift boards off opto carrier, so target stem and e-clips don't shave the IR's

It's better to use 3 layers of electrical tape, covering the whole width and length, on the reciever side than washers.

It's just the right thickness and barely gets compressed by the scoop assembly.

Cut holes with exacto knife.

Also remove any solder off the bottom of the board that might tilt it.

I have done all of this. Still it changes...

Works good one day and like crap on another.

Ok, wasn't sure on the washers. No solder on any pads, I am anal about sloppy soldering work.

I had a bit of solder that leaked thru the pads that had holes in them, on the back side.

It caused alignment issues after it was all bolted together.

My MPF optos seem to change with the weather/temperature lol.

They were working like crap.
Flickering, pulsing when flippers activated and constantly loading up the factors to max.

Then for 2 days the game was perfect!

Slowly the optos started acting up and now they are back to working like crap.

I'm positive it's the warping and twisting of the opto carrier due to temperature fluctuations.

Swinks carrier will be here Tuesday possibly.

I'll install it Wednesday and report back.

I believe the vibration in the game cause the IR's to move, since they have little holding them to their boards and that cause power drop and inconsitent beams

I can heat them up and push them down.

But then I couldn't bend them to get them to work.

However, I really shouldn't have to spend 2 hrs screwing with them either, just to get them functioning.

It's a double edged sword.

When I solder in the new IR's, I am leaving more of the leg attached, rhen i am drilling small divots into the old opto carrier to help the fitment.

That seems like a good idea.

But I would worry about clearance of the e-clips a bit. Then you need more tape along the carrier.

Every 1/2 mm matters, if it's too thick the scoop assembly smashes everything unless you put washers or spacers under the legs.

Anyone want some custom tracks added to your Pinsound Dr Who game? PM me and I will put the orchestration together. Thanks.

So excited, Swinks new opto carrier has shipped! Can finally get this Doctor Who running 100%

-repaired faulty IR recievers on gulf stream boards and original boards

-Traced bad connections to Molex plugs to MPU, out all new pins and plug ends.

Next is the testing phase....To be concluded!!! Haha

Mine might be here today.
Its delayed a day or 2.

I replaced the MPU on DW, and, of course, lost settings. Machine came back on and booted easily enough. Had to reset items like Free Play, Manual Volume Override, etc, and I noticed I'm not getting any General Illumination on the playfield. I ran the GI test, but it's only allowing me to test the backbox. have I got a setting on that doesn't allow GI on the playfield?

Check the GI connector on the driver board to the CPU board.

Make sure its plugged in correctly, not burnt etc.

Update: I ran the GI test in Tests, and I'm not getting any Playield Illimunation on Playfield A, B or C in test. the back box is lighting.

Thanks pinballinreno! Didn’t have headlamp on when I installed the connectors!

image (resized).jpg

Lol, it happens...

These days I need a headlamp magnifying glasses, work lights, a helper....etc...