(Topic ID: 176313)

Gorgar Flippers

By gpa_joe

7 years ago


Topic Heartbeat

Topic Stats

  • 12 posts
  • 7 Pinsiders participating
  • Latest reply 7 years ago by gpa_joe
  • Topic is favorited by 2 Pinsiders

You

Linked Games

#1 7 years ago

I am having trouble with the flipper fuse blowing on Gorgar. I have done some research and I am leaning towards replacing capacitors on the power supply. Am I heading in the right direction?

#2 7 years ago

Haven't heard of that as a fix but who knows. Have you tested the flipper coil diodes and flipper coils for direct shorts yet?

#3 7 years ago

Before you start tearing into sensitive boards, check your flipper coils for proper continuity and resistance. Also check your end of stroke switches. More than likely, an end of stroke switch failed, and sent high voltage through the flipper coils for too long, and burned them up creating a dead short. That dead short will blow your fuse all day long.

Edit: Also check the diodes across the solenoid lugs. Make sure that they haven't gone "open."

#4 7 years ago
Quoted from gpa_joe:

Am I heading in the right direction?

Nope. Not at all.

Give us the basic info:

-----------------------------------

How to Efficiently Ask for Pinball Repair Help

=========================================

There are a bunch of Pinsiders who are glad to help others get their games working again.

To efficiently get your game diagnosed, you need to give these pintechs some solid information about the current state of the game.

We "Can't see it from here", so you need to be our eyes and ears (and nose) on the ground.

-

NAME OF GAME, MANUFACTURER AND YEAR:

We need to know the EXACT game , the year of production and the Maker.

Why the maker? A common title like "Time Machine" could be from Data East or Zaccaria. Four different companies made a pin called "Space Shuttle"

Why the year? Gottlieb "Hot Shots" could be the 1973 version, or it could be the 1989 version (Wow you say, I did not know there was a 1989 version…). Bally Fireball could be the 1972, 1978, or 1985 version.

-

DID IT EVER WORK IN YOUR POSSESSION?

It is important to know if the game was working yesterday, or did you buy it broken?

-

DID YOU RUN THE DIAGNOSTICS?

Every electronic game has built in Diagnostics. Were you able to run any of them?:

Lamp Test: Flashes all the computer controlled lamps

Switch Test: You press each switch and it reads it's switch identification number on the displays

Coil Test: Each game coil fires one by one

Sound Test: Plays all the sounds and samples

-

WHERE DID THE GAME COME FROM?

Did the game come from a pinball collector, from the side of the road, or from an operator who put every bad board he had into one "it probably needs a fuse" carcass?

-

HAVE NEEDED MODIFICATIONS BEEN DONE?

Certain games need important modifications done to ensure bulletproof operation. So if you KNOW the Bally "Grounding Mods" have been done, or that the connectors have all been repined, please state that fact.

This will prevent needless advice instructing you to "do the mods", if they have already been done.

-

ARE THERE ANY AFTERMARKET BOARDS INSTALLED?

If your Bally game is not booting for instance, it is important to know if you have the OEM MPU board, or an aftermarket MPU like the Alltek.

Are your displays stock or aftermarket LED?

Did you install any under cabinet flashers, LCD Screens, or Strip Lighting?

-

LED OR INCANDESCENT LIGHTING?

LEDs can cause flickering or make nearby Opto switches malfunction. Let us know.

-

WHAT WAS THE LAST SERVICE YOU PERFORMED?

It can be a huge timesaver to know what the last service you (or anyone else) performed on the game.

If your F14 is blowing the Solenoid fuse, did you recently install additional flashers? If your Slingshot is machinegun firing, did you recently install new rubbers?

-

BATTERY CORROSION:

Leaky batteries have killed more pinball machines than any other cause.

How does the area around the battery look? Note any blackened, gray, or white areas.

-

BLOWN FUSES:

What fuse? Fuses usually have a designation printed near the socket, something like F2, F8…

What Location? On the rectifier board, in the backbox, under the playfield?

What Value? Did someone put a 1A fuse in a 10A socket?

Burnt or Corroded Fuse Clips? Good Fuse Clips are shiny metal, not black or pitted. How do yours look?

Although occasionally you see a "burned up fuse", most fuses require a meter to verify they are in proper working order. You have to remove the fuse from the clips to test it.

-

SMELL:

Does the game smell like burnt electronics?

Literally put your head in the backbox or under the playfield and track down what board/coil/area smells burnt.

-

OBVIOUS PAST WORK PERFORMED:

Are there wires with electrical tape?
Are there board repairs?
Do the boards have a bunch of jumper wires soldered on the back?
Is one pop bumper mech not like the others?
Are the Bridge Rectifiers remotely mounted?
Are a bunch of mounting screws missing?

It's normal for an old pinball game to have been serviced, but we need to know what has been done.

-

DO YOU HAVE A VOLT METER:

Some very simple tests with a $15 Volt Meter can quickly diagnose a game problem.

Do you have one? What kind? Do you know how to use it, or do you need detailed instructions?

-

CAN YOU SOLDER?

Many pinball repairs require soldering. We need to know if you are able to do it.

-

YOUR LOCATION?

Many times a local Pinsider can fix a game in minutes that would take many days of online posting.
If your profile does not list your location - list it in your post!

-

PICTURES:

I'm typing this in 2015.

Every phone takes good pictures. Everyone owns some kind of digital camera. Post good pictures.

Good pictures means:

1. Well lit: bring an extra lamp into the room and light the game up. You can't work on a game in the dark, and you can't take pictures of a game in the dark either.

2. Focus: if you took a picture, and it's out of focus -TAKE ANOTHER PICTURE! It does not cost anything to do it until you get it right. Don't try to hold the camera at arms length, lock your elbows close to you body and steady yourself.

3. Lift the playfield all the way up: Many nubies don't know that instead of using the Prop Rod, you can pull the playfield forward and lean it against the backbox. THAT'S how you take a good under playfield picture.

-

PROPER TITLE FOR HELP:

If you don't post a good descriptive title, don't expect that any of the good techs on Pinside will ever read it.

BAD TITLES:
"Game Broken"
"Can't Figure Out Problem"
"Smoke"
"Help a Nube Out"
"Question"

GOOD TITLES:
"Weak Flippers on Comet After Rebuild"
"No DMD Display on BSD"
"I Keep Getting Shocked When I Touch Both my games"
"Bally Fireball EM Not Resetting"
"No Lamps on Genie after Move"

-

Generally, DON'T PM or EMAIL TECHS DIRECTLY !

If you get help in the forum, the dialog and answers help EVERYONE in the future.

Don't be selfish, post your problems.

Once you fix the game, BE SURE to update your post with the resolution, even if the solution was to send a board out for professional repair or calling in the local pintech.

#5 7 years ago

Ok sorry a little more detail. The game has been in my collection for a number of years. Recently it developed flipper trouble. When I replaced the fuse the flippers work. I can play several games without issue. What I have noticed is when activating the flippers rapidly the GI lights flicker a bit. When both flippers are activated at the same time in rapid sucession is when the fuse blows. I have not checked coils or diodes for shorts or opens as the flippers seem to work for a fair amount of time before the trouble starts. I have checked eos switches and looked for loose connections and bad solder joints. Nothing is jumping out on those points. The coils do not show any signs of heat stress. There are no unusual oders from the playfield or backbox.

Thanks for the input so far.

#6 7 years ago
Quoted from gpa_joe:

I have not checked coils or diodes for shorts or opens

Still do this. Eliminate all of the obvious and most common, and easiest to repair issues first.

#7 7 years ago

To answer your original questions, the capacitors on the power supply board have nothing to do with the flippers. If the game was resetting or something else, you would look at the capacitors.

A slight flicker of the GI is fairly typical.

Can you confirm you are using a 10 Amp Slow Blow fuse in the flipper circuit?

What happens if you hold both flippers energized for 30 seconds or so?

#8 7 years ago
Quoted from vid1900:

How to Efficiently Ask for Pinball Repair Help

Awesome advice as always from vid. I haven't seen this guide before. Does it have its own thread?

One day we need to kickstarter a vid's guides book!

#9 7 years ago
Quoted from TigerLaw:

Awesome advice as always from vid. I haven't seen this guide before. Does it have its own thread?

Indeed it does:

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/how-to-properly-ask-for-pinball-repair-help-vids-guide

#10 7 years ago

Ok thanks for the replies. I did have 10 amp slow blow but used my last one so Ill need to get more. I hope to check diodes and coils later this week. Thanks again

#11 7 years ago

Be sure to check that the flipper pawls (a.k.a. knuckles or cranks) have good plastic sleeving on the portion that opens/closes the EOS switch. If any part of that sleeving is worn through, it can cause intermittent blown flipper coil fuses.

What I do if that sleeving is worn through is to get some 5/16" heat shrink tubing from Harbor Freight and use that to replace the original sleeving.

1 week later
#12 7 years ago

Thanks for all the input. I rechecked everything suggested and found nothing obvious. For completeness sake I lifted the playfield and fired up a game. What I noticed after alternately holding and pounding on the flipper buttons for several minutes was an intermittant spark on the right eos switch. Double checked the sleeving mentioned and it looked good.Made a slight adjustment to the switch and no blown fuses since.

Thanks to all !!

Promoted items from Pinside Marketplace and Pinside Shops!
From: $ 90.00
Tools
Pincoder Store
 
From: $ 9.00
$ 69.00
Gameroom - Decorations
Pinball Pimp
 
$ 27.95
Eproms
Pinballrom
 
$ 42.95
Eproms
Pinballrom
 
Wanted
Machine - Wanted
Newcastle, OK
$ 859.00
Flipper Parts
Mircoplayfields
 
$ 1.49
Playfield - Toys/Add-ons
Daddio's 3D Printed Mods
 
$ 100.00
Gameroom - Decorations
The Flipper Room
 
$ 65.00
Boards
Pinball Haus
 
$ 69.00
Gameroom - Decorations
Pinball Pimp
 
From: $ 11.00
$ 11.00
Electronics
Yorktown Arcade Supply
 
$ 12.50
Lighting - Led
RoyGBev Pinball
 
$ 10.00
Playfield - Protection
UpKick Pinball
 
2,900 (OBO)
Machine - For Sale
Franklin, VA
From: $ 1.00
Playfield - Other
Rocket City Pinball
 
$ 170.00
Displays
Digipinball Shop
 
$ 12.00
Tools
Nezzy's Pinball Prints
 

Reply

Wanna join the discussion? Please sign in to reply to this topic.

Hey there! Welcome to Pinside!

Donate to Pinside

Great to see you're enjoying Pinside! Did you know Pinside is able to run without any 3rd-party banners or ads, thanks to the support from our visitors? Please consider a donation to Pinside and get anext to your username to show for it! Or better yet, subscribe to Pinside+!


This page was printed from https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/gorgar-flippers-1 and we tried optimising it for printing. Some page elements may have been deliberately hidden.

Scan the QR code on the left to jump to the URL this document was printed from.