(Topic ID: 322741)

I think my bally transformer just died!!!

By Grefla

1 year ago



Topic Stats

  • 9 posts
  • 4 Pinsiders participating
  • Latest reply 1 year ago by jj44114
  • Topic is favorited by 1 Pinsider

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B0CBC68C-C557-4785-89FC-67B9A1BC9CB7 (resized).jpeg

#1 1 year ago

Help!

So I've just started putting back a bally six million dollar man. I have installed a homepin rectifier board, and had put the whole thing back together.

Turned it on with just J2 at the rectifier, confirmed voltages, then plugged in J3 and confirmed voltages on the SDB.

Plugged everything in, everything working. Had about a dozen games, adjusted all of the playfield switches and lamps. Was super happy so I turned it off to remove a display.

When I turned it back it it flickered on and off rapidly several times and now doesn't power on at all. The power LED on the rectifier board does not come on.

Troubleshooting so far.
Replaced cabinet on off switch, replaced wall plug
confirmed continuity (live, neutral and ground) from wall plug all the way to J2 at the rectifier board.
----- EDIT : I've just discovered that the wiring out of the line filter had been reversed and therefore 230v was coming into the rectifier board at J7 (blue) which was suppose to be the return. I have corrected this at the switch so that now 230v (Australian) at pin 6 of J2 connector (yellow wire). -----

So as far as I can see I'm getting power as far as the J2 connector but the rectifier board power LED isn't lighting.

Trouble shooting continues:
I have removed transformer and rectifier board from headbox and confirm no loose connections, and test continuity from all transformer lugs to solderpads on rectifier board.

I have confirmed that there is 230V at lug 1 of the transformer. And between 1 and 7.

There are no voltages coming off any of the other lugs except lug 8 and 10 which both have 5v AC coming from them referencing to ground, but 0V when measuring between 8 and 10.

I can only conclude that my transformer has died! But I read that this is incredibly rare, perhaps the rectifier board has died?

So I need your help

Is there anything else I can look for, have I missed anything - and how can I test my transformer for faults?

#2 1 year ago
Quoted from Grefla:

Help!
So I've just started putting back a bally six million dollar man. I have installed a homepin rectifier board, and had put the whole thing back together.
Turned it on with just J2 at the rectifier, confirmed voltages, then plugged in J3 and confirmed voltages on the SDB.
Plugged everything in, everything working. Had about a dozen games, adjusted all of the playfield switches and lamps. Was super happy so I turned it off to remove a display.
When I turned it back it it flickered on and off rapidly several times and now doesn't power on at all. The power LED on the rectifier board does not come on.
Troubleshooting so far.
Replaced cabinet on off switch, replaced wall plug
confirmed continuity (live, neutral and ground) from wall plug all the way to J2 at the rectifier board.
confirmed 230v (Australian) at pin 6 of J2 connector (yellow wire)
So as far as I can see I'm getting power as far as the J2 connector but the rectifier board power LED isn't lighting.
Trouble shooting continues:
I have removed transformer and rectifier board from headbox and confirm no loose connections, and test continuity from all transformer lugs to solderpads on rectifier board.
I can only conclude that my transformer has died! But I read that this is incredibly rare, perhaps the rectifier board has died?
So I need your help
Is there anything else I can look for, have I missed anything - and how can I test my transformer?

If you get power off the connectors on the rectifier then your transformer is working and can’t be dead!

I am not extremely familiar but I believe certain voltages off the transformer can die, however rare. It should be noted, that typically you will know when something goes awry with a transformer. It is nothing more than a dense brick of copper wires wound in many configurations. There is nothing fancy or mysterious about them. If a winding shorts out, usually it’s accompanied by nasty smoke and an atrocious smell.

Solenoids and Transformers are extremely similar and use the same principals. The only difference really being, solenoids utilize an air gap in the electromagnetic field.

It sounds like you have an issue in the rectifier board. Perhaps a faulty component, or maybe in removing the display something inadvertently shorted?

#3 1 year ago

Hi

No there are no voltages coming off the rectifier board.

There is voltage at the j2 connector going onto the rectifier board.

However, I have discovered an issue and have edited the original post. I'm not sure how much of an issue, but at the line filter, the live was connected to the white and the return was connected to the black. This resulted in 230vAC in the blue wire of pin 7 on J2 of the rectifier board and return in the yellow wire connecting to pin 6.

Like I said - it all worked for a dozen games before it died.

#4 1 year ago

Hey Quench would having the live and return feeds wired the wrong way to J2 pin 6 and 7 have caused this?

#5 1 year ago
Quoted from Grefla:

Hey @Quench would having the live and return feeds wired the wrong way to J2 pin 6 and 7 have caused this?

Many games from factory are wired wrong in this way, it is shocking (pardon the pun).

With the machine disconnected from the wall power socket and the games power switch on, measure the resistance across the active and neutral prongs of your power plug. It should read about 3.5 ohms DC resistance which is across the primary winding of the transformer.

#6 1 year ago

Ok, now we are significantly narrowing it down and it doesn’t look good.

Ohm meter wouldn’t give a value across pin lug 1-7.

So I checked continuity

1-3-5 are all continuous but lug 7 has no continuity.

It appears soldered at the back, but wire beyond the solder looks black.

Interestingly the wires on the back of 3 and 5 look like they have been patched at some point.

B0CBC68C-C557-4785-89FC-67B9A1BC9CB7 (resized).jpegB0CBC68C-C557-4785-89FC-67B9A1BC9CB7 (resized).jpeg
#7 1 year ago

Ok. So I think I got it. The windings had previously been reattached to pin 3 and pin 5 with a small wire as can be seen in the picture above. It seems like this wire had formed a cold solder joint to lug 3 and in fact it was able to be lifted off with just a finger nail. So I have resoldered these into lugs 3 and 5 and now I have a resistance of 3.9 ohms across 1-7.

#8 1 year ago

I have seen a failed transformer in 30 years

#9 1 year ago

Once

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