Why not just use a Happ video game supply for about $25?

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You may want to check with Randy @ ColorDMD about the Voltage ColorDMD uses.

I could be wrong but I'm pretty sure ColorDMD uses 5VDC and not 12VDC (or possibly both ??).

Let us know.

Kim

Both, according to the website:

In contrast to existing high-voltage plasma displays, the ColorDMD uses the low voltage 5V and 12V outputs from a power driver board. A keyed 4-pin power cable is provided for simple connection between the ColorDMD driver board and the existing power driver board. An expansion connector on the power cable provides support for other existing boards and devices.

I wonder if you could use a cheapy 12/5v pc power supply like this:

amazon.com link »

We do use a supply similar to that for bench testing our displays. We cut the connector off and replace it with a 4-pin 0.156 KK molex connector. I have not tried to integrate one within a game.

I don't know how much current the color dmd pulls, but i had trouble getting one of those to power up a sys11 board. Then again that board is full of power hungry ics.

I got a cheapy mean well 12v/5v psu on the bench now. Works well, not sure how reliable it would be long term with extended power on time, i see chinese no name brand caps in it.

12V is less than 1A and depends on backlight brightness.
5V is under 100mA and mainly used to drive the USB port.

So the Happ supply should be more than adequate. Specs at +5VDC @15A max and +12VDC @2A max. You could probably use an "El cheapo" supply, but most of those are less than an amp and might not work, or possibly get too hot, IMO.

I would use this. $25.00 is too much for a $400.00 Color DMD?!?

Its not easy to test for a failing bridge rectifier or capacitor so I'm not sure about what you were told by the board repair person. The problem can also be caused by a poor solder joint or cracked traces.

You can try reflowing the solder connections for the 5v bridge and cap. It that doesn't resolve it, replace the components.

The ColorDMD mainly draws power from the 12V supply and would not trigger a reset on the 5V logic. However if there's any doubt, unplug the ColorDMD and start flipping all flippers at the same time. It should still trigger the reset.

This exact thing works perfectly on color DMD installed in games. I have personally used it. You need the 12v and 5v off it. Just out onto a connector you can get from say Pinballlife.

Try this and if the problem is still there go through the reset troubleshooting procedure at pinwiki.

http://www.pinwiki.com/wiki/index.php?title=Williams_WPC#Game_resets

If you have the proper equipment it is not at all difficult to check for a failing bridge or capacitor.

I went through a similar issue with my TZ I bought Kahr.us board in my machine when I bought it because I was having reset issues and everything worked fine for about a month. One day the game froze and the DMD would just show lines. When I reset the game it would continue to do this. I sent my power driver boards and my cpu boards out for repair, got them back and still had the issues.

I reseated the cables and the game worked for a day then it came back. I started to disconnect boards and firing the game up till the issue would go away. The issue stopped when I unplugged the sound card so I used this as an excuse to buy a pinsound card before I send out my sound card for repair. I made all new ribbon cables for my machine as well.

Fast forward to yesterday, I install the pinsound card and while it was unpacking the zip files the machine crashed again. I started removing the dmd, sound card, the flipper board, and the gi lights were still freaking out. So I unhook the Kahr.US board and the game started to work again. I played 1 game then turned it off and rebooted and it still didnt crash. So I put the board back in and within 20 seconds the game crashed.

I think something went wrong in the kahr.us board to cause this, and I love the Kahr.us board too. So I emailed Rob and he is sending me a replacement and ill send my daughter board back.

So far 2 days of turning the machine on and off and playing with no problems. I also tested LitZ to give the game a workout and no reset issues or crashes.

Were there other issues beyond the daughter board? The sound to the right speaker was getting crackled and louder as the game went on (weird because they are in parallel) but since I replaced the sound card all speakers sound great.

I hope this helps and thank you Rob for replacing my daughter board, you rock!