Burnt connector, bad fuse.

I have a similar problem with part of my gi. I blew a fuse and burnt part of a connector. The fuse was not as obvious but the burnt connector was hard to miss. Here is the thread of it with helpful info:

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/getaway-gi-half-not-working

Did you check the connector coming off the transformer? That one tends to get crispy too

Sometimes the connector may not look burnt but the connection is still bad. Have you pulled the wpc board to look at the headers on that connector from the back?? It could be burnt there causing a trace to have burnt up. Fish tales is NOTORIOUS for having burnt GI connections. 99 percent sure your issue is very near those connections, whether it looks obvious at the connection or not.

Can't rule out the Triac. I had a bad one on my playfield GI.

I've dealt with GI problems many times. Just repinned my White Water yesterday to fix problems of missing backbox GI. My pins were BURNT!

There are many possibilities about what could be wrong, and you should really start with the simple wins. The PinWiki guide is the best resource.

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

Oh, and here's what I mean by BURNT.

Burnt as in the plastic of the connector was totally melted and fused to the header. The solder joints on the board were thoroughly cracked. Those two strands were totally out.

IMAG1268.jpg

Guys,

just picked up a Fish Tales and my connector at J120 is a tad dark on the right side where the brown wire is going in (at least on my game). Are these GI issues not one hell of a good reason not to LED the damn game (at least GI) so that this does not happen in the future? Also, once these games get off a route and they are not powered up for many hours at a time, hopefully this will also keep these connections from going south in this manner.

G

Absolutely. LEDs would greatly reduce the current flowing through these pins.

But... I just love the warm glow of incandescent lights so much. If you repin the connectors and use trifurcon pins, you're unlikely to ever have problems again. Especially if you're not keeping the game powered on all day every day.

^^This^^, do the headers too.

Fix it and use LEDS in the controlled lamps. To me, LED GI looks like trash.

Yeah, I'll still advocate for incandescent bulbs. 555s can't be beat.

Incidentally, I don't like mixing LEDs and incandescents, so I'll advocate for incandescent bulbs everywhere, even at the expense of power consumption and heat.

Some of the flashers in my FT backbox have way too much current coming through them. Blowing the flashers. Any ideas on that?

What have you measured the voltage at?

Haven't yet. Need to get a meter.

I have a Fish Tales and the info you are posting on here is very educational for me. Keep on 'feeding'.
Mike

I have this exact problem on this exact same GI line. I've been putting it off because I checked all the "normal" issues. I've buzzed continuity all the way back, no burnt connectors, no dead fuses. I'll be following this thread, please update with the fix when you find it as this is next on my list after I finish the shop out/repairs on Who Dunnit and get it in the line.

Did you check the connector for the gi off of the transformer?

I will throw my tools in the car and we will fix the damned think tonight...(Literally) Just pull it away from the wall so we have some room.. LOL I'll call you today....

Better start looking for that condo LOL

_{Post edited by DannyFresh: adding}

I've never had a fuse blow without a reason. Either I've shorted something while working on the game, or something has been wrong.

I suppose fuses can fail spontaneously with no good reason. It's certainly possible, right?