(Topic ID: 202710)

Evel Knievel Unresponsive Flippers after Playfield Swap

By stuntmatt

6 years ago


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Topic Stats

  • 26 posts
  • 7 Pinsiders participating
  • Latest reply 6 years ago by MrBally
  • Topic is favorited by 1 Pinsider

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#1 6 years ago

Hi Folks,
I had a replacement playfield staring me in the face for 5 years. I was a bit intimidated by the project after a tech told me it was a "big job" and that it would take "40 hours." Anyhow, after about 8 hours of work, the swap is complete and the machine looks AWESOME. BUT I have a problem... the normal running illumination on the playfield isn't working. All of the lights that are part of the game—the ones that flash, show bonuses, etc—are working, just not the lights that are supposed to on all of the time. I went through and double and triple checked the connections, comparing them to the photos I took of the board before I tore it apart. I'm handy, but not overly technical when it comes to electronics. I used my tester across this lamp (seems like the first one in the chain) and i'm not getting any juice out of the red wires. Any ideas? [BTW. THIS WAS SOLVED. NOW TRYING TO GET THE FLIPPERS WORKING]

IMG_5002 (resized).jpgIMG_5002 (resized).jpg

#2 6 years ago

The 'always on' lamps are called general illumination (GI). Are the lights for the backglass and coin door still on? They run off the same circuit. Check for continuity from the red wire there back to the rectifier board, and check the fuse + test point on the rectifier board

#3 6 years ago
Quoted from zacaj:

Are the lights for the backglass and coin door still on? They run off the same circuit.

Yep. Those work fine.

#4 6 years ago

Looking at the schematics those wires should be going straight from the playfield to J1 on the rectifier board. Try to trace the wires back through the wiring harness by hand to the pins, and then check continuity from the end on the playfield to the connector. I assume J1 was one of the connectors you checked, and it looked fine?

#5 6 years ago

Ok... Found a blow 20A fuse. Sorry, I should have checked the fuses before posting. So, now everything works BUT the flippers. Any hints? BTW I checked the fuses

#6 6 years ago

Could be the relay on the SDB regarding the non working flippers. Hold the flipper buttons in while you turn the game on.They should move some for just an instant.

#7 6 years ago

Voltage at the flipper coils?

#8 6 years ago
Quoted from pinkid:

Could be the relay on the SDB regarding the non working flippers. Hold the flipper buttons in while you turn the game on.They should move some for just an instant.

Ok, dumb question... is the relay supposed to click faintly during the solenoid firing test? Might be clicking at the moment when the flippers are supposed to fire.

#9 6 years ago
Quoted from pinkid:

Could be the relay on the SDB regarding the non working flippers. Hold the flipper buttons in while you turn the game on.They should move some for just an instant.

Yep. They twitched.

#10 6 years ago
Quoted from zacaj:

Voltage at the flipper coils?

83 (Multimeter set to ACV750. I think that's the right setting for this.)

#11 6 years ago
Quoted from stuntmatt:

83 (Multimeter set to ACV750. I think that's the right setting for this.)

That doesn't seem right. Should be DC, about 43V

#12 6 years ago
Quoted from zacaj:

That doesn't seem right. Should be DC, about 43V

That's what I get for getting instructions on YouTube on how to use it. I'll try DC200

#13 6 years ago
Quoted from zacaj:

That doesn't seem right. Should be DC, about 43V

38.3

#14 6 years ago

Can you hear the relay engage when you start a game?

#15 6 years ago
Quoted from zacaj:

Can you hear the relay engage when you start a game?

Yes. It clicks. Also, I checked the voltage at the rest of the coils. The flippers and the slingshots are 38.4-6. Above the slingshots are 44.XX

#16 6 years ago

They should be the same voltage so maybe there's a bad solder somewhere?

#17 6 years ago
Quoted from zacaj:

They should be the same voltage so maybe there's a bad solder somewhere?

Gotcha... which brings up another question... I saw an image somewhere of a pinball coil that said "no solder" and the wire was just wrapped around. Should I remove the solder altogether? So, is your hunch that there isn't enough voltage to fire the flippers? The only snag to that theory is that the slingshots are firing at the same voltage. Hopefully I'll make some progress today. Looking forward to putting this project to bed so I can start enjoying it again.

#18 6 years ago

Did you replace the EOS switches on the flippers with new?

#19 6 years ago

I've never heard of a coil that you're specifically not supposed to solder.

I'd be surprised if that voltage would stop the flippers but it signifies that something isn't right, so can't hurt to fix it, and maybe it'll fix the problem too.

As Xenon says, it could be the eos. Try jumping a wire across them and see if it affects anything

#20 6 years ago

No, wrapping the wire around is not a solid electrical connection - it's a good mechanical connection, but you need to solder the wrapped wire for maximum current transfer and permanence.

Did you try briefly grounding the trigger tab of the coil to see if it fires? That will tell you A) that the coil works B) that your "power side" supplying the coils is sufficient - thereby splitting the circuit in half of what needs to be troubleshooted.
http://stevekulpa.net/pinball/bally_flipper1.htm

#21 6 years ago
Quoted from Xenon75:

Did you replace the EOS switches on the flippers with new?

Nope. They worked fine before the swap, so I just screwed them in. Would the EOS stop the solenoid from firing during the test?

#22 6 years ago
Quoted from stuntmatt:

Nope. They worked fine before the swap, so I just screwed them in. Would the EOS stop the solenoid from firing during the test?

Flippers don't fire during coil test

#23 6 years ago
Quoted from zacaj:

Flippers don't fire during coil test

Thanks. That's how I was testing if they were working.

#24 6 years ago

You have/should have a 1 amp slo blo fuse under the play field somewhere close to the the flippers. Is there power coming coming thru that fuse? Is that fuse blown?

#25 6 years ago

THANKS SO MUCH FOR YOUR HELP! The game is 100% operational! That's what I get for using the solenoid test to test flippers. When I tested them by trying to play the game, the right flipper worked great, the left needed a little adjustment of the EOS.

#26 6 years ago
Quoted from stuntmatt:

THANKS SO MUCH FOR YOUR HELP! The game is 100% operational! That's what I get for using the solenoid test to test flippers. When I tested them by trying to play the game, the right flipper worked great, the left needed a little adjustment of the EOS.

Per the Bally service schools; Hold both flipper buttons in when you start the solenoid test. When the relay engages via the transistor that turns on; the flippers should briefly fire.

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