(Topic ID: 127711)

Galaxy insert light issues and more!

By aobrien5

8 years ago


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Topic Stats

  • 19 posts
  • 6 Pinsiders participating
  • Latest reply 8 years ago by aobrien5
  • Topic is favorited by 2 Pinsiders

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Linked Games

  • Galaxy Stern Electronics, 1980

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#1 8 years ago

Working on my first early Stern. First question - when in lamp test all the lights flash but they're all very dim. It's hard to tell which ones are working and which aren't. Is this typical?

Real problem. I've got several lights out, but they're all over the place. Different connectors, different chips, etc. When I short the SCR on a non-working light to ground, it does NOT come on. I still need to confirm voltage to the socket, but I already reflowed the headers (which did fix a couple), so what else needs to be looked at? Bulbs confirmed, sockets look pretty good, but haven't been tested.

#2 8 years ago
Quoted from aobrien5:

Working on my first early Stern. First question - when in lamp test all the lights flash but they're all very dim. It's hard to tell which ones are working and which aren't. Is this typical?
Real problem. I've got several lights out, but they're all over the place. Different connectors, different chips, etc. When I short the SCR on a non-working light to ground, it does NOT come on. I still need to confirm voltage to the socket, but I already reflowed the headers (which did fix a couple), so what else needs to be looked at? Bulbs confirmed, sockets look pretty good, but haven't been tested.

Yes it's typical for the lights to be dim in test...just pulling a lot of juice. Early Sterns are just like early Bally's.... You can try reseating the various connectors to the boards to see if that has any effect. If it does, then like most of these games, the connectors need to be rebuilt....new pins on the boards and new crimp contacts for the wires. You can reuse the plug housings if not burnt. I rebuild all the connectors on my early Bally's first.

#3 8 years ago
Quoted from Freeplay40:

Yes it's typical for the lights to be dim in test...just pulling a lot of juice. Early Sterns are just like early Bally's.... You can try reseating the various connectors to the boards to see if that has any effect. If it does, then like most of these games, the connectors need to be rebuilt....new pins on the boards and new crimp contacts for the wires. You can reuse the plug housings if not burnt. I rebuild all the connectors on my early Bally's first.

Yeah, good call. I'm going to pull a pin out of the connector and see if I can prove that. Because I don't get any tone on some of the SCRs and because the pins themselves look pretty good (no burn anywhere), I'm not convinced it's the connectors just yet.

#4 8 years ago

Connectors are a problem on these games. At the very least, the female connectors need redone.

#5 8 years ago

Ok, you guys were mostly right, of course. Most lights are back but still a couple that won't come on, even shorting the scr. Actually, one corresponds to the larger scr and the other to the smaller type.

Second thing - GI went out on me at some point before I started messing with stuff. Went to check voltage on the rectifier and zap, poof, aaand the lights came back on?

#6 8 years ago

Rebuild the rectifier connectors -- commonly burned as you may note on the large connector.

#7 8 years ago
Quoted from minnesota13:

Rebuild the rectifier connectors -- commonly burned as you may note on the large connector.

Yyyeah, there aren't any. Every wire is soldered in.

#8 8 years ago

You'll need to rework the rectifier board. The header pins could have cold or cracked solder joints on the back. Besides, you don't want to leave those wires soldered on - it prevents you from being able to remove the playfield. Also check the wiring between the transformer and rectifier board and make sure no connectors have been added in between.

#9 8 years ago

The header pins were actually all removed. All the wires, front and back, are wired directly to the board.

#10 8 years ago

Ok, I had to update the topic title, because those just gets more and more interesting (as usual).

The flippers are always enabled, so I pulled the driver board to look at the relay, and huh... It's a Bally driver board! (AS-2518-22)

Obviously they're mostly interchangeable, but is the relay a side effect of this?

#11 8 years ago
Quoted from aobrien5:

s the relay a side effect of this?

No.

Likely the driver transistor for the relay needs to be replaced.

First address the rectifier board. New pins, new connector(s) with pins. Check the voltages at the test points before dis-assembly.

Then move on to the Driver Board and it's problems.

#12 8 years ago

First you say they all work in lamp test, then you say you have some that don't work. How are you determining that some don't work? Game play?

You do realize that not all controlled lamps work in attract mode, right? Even after a game, some other lamps will not work while others seem to be constantly lit in attract mode. This is typical of early Stern games.

#13 8 years ago
Quoted from minnesota13:

First address the rectifier board. New pins, new connector(s) with pins. Check the voltages at the test points before dis-assembly.

Will do, thanks.

Quoted from schudel5:

First you say they all work in lamp test, then you say you have some that don't work. How are you determining that some don't work? Game play?

Did I say somewhere that they all work in lamp test? By all, I probably just meant "all working ones." As in, all the working lamps are much dimmer in lamp test compared to play/attract. I am aware that some stay off/on during attract. I'm down to two lights that simply are not on, period, and one that's flaky. I haven't really spent any time on the flaky one yet, other than confirming the connector was redone.

#14 8 years ago
Quoted from aobrien5:

First question - when in lamp test all the lights flash but they're all very dim.

I guess I just can't read. Good luck.

#15 8 years ago
Quoted from schudel5:

I guess I just can't read. Good luck.

Yeah, sorry, I did mean all the /working/ lights. My bad!

1 week later
#16 8 years ago

Alright, all my insert lights are fixed. Combination of connectors, header pins, bad bulbs and loose wires at the socket. I think I have the GI issue pinpointed too. The rectifier board still needs to be repaired, but I think the GI relay is toasted, too (see pic).

The GI comes and goes, and when I wiggle the wires on there I can get them to come back on. Can anyone point me to a replacement?

Only other issue is the flipper relay. I need to pull up a Bally schematic so I can find the transistor to test.

IMAG1296.jpgIMAG1296.jpg
#17 8 years ago

Take it apart and clean it. The internal contacts are high current points like EOS switches. I've used a Dremel with an emery wheel to clean relay points and they've always worked great after that.

#18 8 years ago

Cool, thanks. Didn't know that was possible.

#19 8 years ago

Another minor issue. Occasionally, the insert lights appear to be lighting up the wrong bulbs. In attract mode, or game play, it acts as if the connectors on the lamp board were swapped. The board only has 1 screw in it to ground it, and if I press on the opposite corner where the other screw should be, everything reverts to normal. Could this be a grounding issue that a screw would fix, or is my pressing on it more likely shifting another cracked solder joint enough to fix it? FWIW, I've already reflowed all the connector pins.

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