Quoted from SpotsGotcha:
OK.. I replaced all pop bumper cards with new Rottendog versions at $17/ea. When pulling the old boards there was a whitish residue on the screws and around the boards. Wonder what this may be from? At least with test switches and an LED on the cards I can immediately tell they are not getting power. Bundle cutting will begin since my ability to finger through them is almost non existent since there are Zip Ties are about every few inches so it is a very tight bundle, but I did spot three damaged wires that look like they may have gotten some heat at some point, but they do not appear to be broken. When I get back to this on Sunday, I will start clipping and tracing wires. It almost feels like if I am in for a penny I am in for a pound, meaning that I will start tracing pop bumper wires but since bundle will be cut ALL wires will be inspected. I have been truly avoiding this. I wonder if there are complete sets of replacement harnesses that could be purchased just to save time spot checking and simply hardening the entire machine by making sure the wire harnesses are as new as the boards they connect and since I am dealing with both pop bumper boards and sound it may be inevitable. Will try to be strategic this first go at it but I may just jump in for all its worth if I keep playing "whack a mole". Building all new harnesses from scratch is a daunting task that will challenge my abilities, to be honest.
Even if they did make new wiring harnesses, you wouldn't want to get a whole new harness for something like this. There are about 4 million tabs to solder and unsolder, 900 connectors to repin, and a million headaches and bottles of beer waiting for you. The only time you'd want a full wire harness change is if you have BIG issues with your wires (say a family of mice had their way with them for 10 years in a barn somewhere). Not sure about that white powder (didn't get left behind by some hooligan now did it?) but I would be impressed if it was battery corrosion somehow and if it was, I think you'd have some bigger problems on your hands. Could have been from leaky caps maybe, but I'd also be impressed about that too. I wouldn't worry too much about it.
Let me preface this: I don't have a Haunted House at my apartment, just a Black Hole right now but the way I understand it, they are pretty similar under the hood so let me break this down:
•Does the Pascal board work? That means you're getting proper input voltages from the bridge rectifiers and transformers (I think there should be a 5vdc+ LED indicator somewhere on the board). Is there proper 5vdc present on the pascal board? (Yes? Go to next step, No? check your bridge rectifiers, but like, if the answer is no your game probably wouldn't have started)
•Check continuity from Pin 18 of A1J6 and pin 5 of one of the pop bumper connectors. Any buzz? (Yes? Skip to bottom, No? go to next step)
•On Black Hole, the pop bumpers get powered (I think, please someone correct me if I'm wrong I'm just putting stuff together from the schematic and a different game) all the pop bumpers get power from pin 18 from connector A1J6. There should be a hub (or maybe a few) that connects all the 5vdc+ from the pop bumpers to Pin 18 of A1J6 and I'm assuming it's towards the top of the playfield (or rather, the side of the playfield near the shooter lane curve and upstairs playfield). Make sure that there is continuity from that hub and Pin 18 of A1J6 to this hub. See if you see any stray Blue Slate Slate wires (the color code for the 5vdc+ on the pop bumpers).
•Pin 5 of every pop bumper connector (at least on the upper playfield, unsure about the lower playfield) should have continuity. Test from board to board. If they all have continuity, they are connected properly to the hub.
Check those things and get back to me. If there's continuity, you've got me stumped too other than somehwere along the line, maybe there's a stray wire that's grounding the whole lot. I should have some alone time to go to my parents house where Haunted House is sitting, unplugged and unloved, and snap some pictures for you.