I am finishing up a Harlem Globetrotters On Tour playfield swap (my first), and tonight got it dropped into the cab and fired it up. Surprisingly, no major malfunction! However, the lamps are bugging. The GI strings look good. But the controlled lamps are rioting. Maybe someone out there has experienced something similar and can point me in the right direction.

The Lamp Driver board is a new Alltek, and the lamps are all new LED (lamp driver board installed properly). I went through and tested each bulb individually with a wall puck-modded-with-alligator clips, with one clip clamped onto the GI braid, and tapping through the ground lugs of each lamp. They all seem good and came on solidly.

When I fire up the game, here's what it looks like:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/3euucbw02h6gzd6/status-ready.mp4?dl=0

If I gently pound on the playfield a bit, or wiggle it with some vigor, sometimes the lights fall in line and look/blink perfectly normal. But usually it just stays like this.

When I fire up a game, here's what happens (you may want to turn your volume down to save yourself from the gate mech death rattle):

https://www.dropbox.com/s/k5i4fr8gkyby84c/status-game-on.mp4?dl=0

And when I put the ball in play, here's what that looks like:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/wfajev4v3ewce4f/status-action.mp4?dl=0

You can see how the GLOBE letters aren't really working, and when the bumpers activate lights blink all over the place.

So it seems like something is loose somewhere, or perhaps there is a short? I was pretty careful and the work is pretty clean, but I can post more pictures if that helps. Not sure where to start, but clearly something under the hood isn't right. Any advice is welcome. Thanks in advance!

Here's a quick video of the lamp test:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/tihkgr9ryrc683g/lamp-test-1.mp4?dl=0

And here's a quick look at what happens when I slam the coin door during lamp test ("bad" lamps flash on):

https://www.dropbox.com/s/5s40ve4zehucqzq/lamp-test-2.mp4?dl=0

I don't think so, but I will double-check. Is there a way to test that other than visual inspection? Since I had the old pf for reference, I was pretty diligent about making sure things were put back the same, but you never know.

Right on, I will confirm.

I appreciate the offer to pop over and take a look, I may take you up on that! Let me try to unplug the J1/J3 and see if any controlled lamps stay lit, I can follow up with you tonight. The J1 and J3 connectors have not been re-pinned yet either, though J2 and J4 have. For what that's worth. I'll also check voltages.

No abnormalities on the display panel as far as I can tell. Will double-confirm.

I will try disconnecting J3 and pulling the GI fuse and look closer at the coin door this afternoon and report back results. The behavior change that you see when slamming the coin door also happens when slapping the playfield itself (coin door shut and unmoving). Which doesn't rule out something touching the door frame, I suppose. I'll give it a look. It also exhibits the same behavior when the playfield is up, and not in the cabinet.

You would think I would be smart enough to do that. I sort of am. The bulbs were not working 100% when I got the machine, and some initial examination revealed at least two bad transistors so I said "screw it" and powered forward while ordering a new Alltek, which of course I didn't install and test and get everything working on before I tore it all down

Yes, I self-learned that lesson after I ran into a few other instances where I failed to confirm if some parts were working I have already taken the "make sure it's fully operational" mantra to heart on a different project I'm about to start. Good to go there.

Appreciate everyone's advice so far, will report back my findings in a bit.

OK, good news bad news. Good news is I determined the issue. Bad news is, I did it to myself...

broke (resized).jpg

What had happened was, I removed the gross mylar under the slam switch on the door when I cleaned it up and repaired it. Naturally, forgot to replace the mylar. And voila! Found myself in a mess.

Thank you to everyone for the tips, and a big pat on the back for pointing me to the coin door.

Weird, indeed. Thank you, friend.

He just strolls in and says "red-green wire" and "slam switch" and boom! Nailed it.

Apparently so! Thanks again, fellow Madisonian.

I owe all of you a beer and/or non-alcoholic beverage of your choice next time I see you. Or Fat Panda can just claim them all.

I'm sure I'll be back for more soon! Until then, here's my fix Cheers!

fixed (resized).jpg

Haha, yes. I guess that part is obvious Guess I shoulda said "Bad news is, I am a gigantic dumbass!"

Maybe that is also obvious

Does that happen? Might be a while for this kid

Currently have three pop bumpers all firing in unison.

At least that should be an easy fix. Jinx!

Ha, no. It was me. Thus: dumbass.

I thought about just leaving it, but it was all peely and gross. I'll slap a little sticker under there and we'll be good to go

Thanks, will do!

Yeah, something you can actually see is a nice touch! Of course, if the mylar is half falling off and dirty and bubbly like mine was, you can see it just fine