Mystic's lamps all light in attract mode and game play, but in test mode (first press red button) they are so dim that it’s hard to see that they are even lit.
I replaced some playfield bulbs and a handful of pf sockets that were dim or flickering, but it didn’t fix the test mode.
Completely normal for Bally lamp test.
There isn’t enough power to light all of the lamps brightly at the same time.
—
Chris Hibler - CARGPB #31
Http://chrishiblerpinball.com/contact
http://www.PinWiki.com/ - The new place for pinball repair info
Quoted from undrdog:Mystic's lamps all light in attract mode and game play, but in test mode (first press red button) they are so dim that it’s hard to see that they are even lit.
Presume you're running incandescents?
It's normal they are dimmer in lamp test mode because of the reason ChrisHibler mentioned. However if they are so dim you can barely see them the bridge rectifier might be faulty and only allowing half voltage through, or your connectors at the rectifier board are poor. Measure the voltage on the braid wire to the feature lamp sockets on the playfield. Should be near 6 volts.
EEC81AB2-5660-426F-A517-90FD0A73584F (resized).jpeg
MMMMM..... toasty! The burnt pin is slightly loose. Looks like I need a new transformer board.
Checking AC voltage after a game is started from the braid to a nearby computer controlled lamp that is lit - 2.5 vac on one lamp, 3. on another.
I reseated the connectors on the lamp board and cleaned up that burnt connector. Might have helped a tiny bit, but its hard to tell. The lights are still very dim in test mode.
The game plays and displays fine. Can replacing the board be put off until something is more broken or is this something that should be fixed right away?
On replacing the connector, do I need a special tool or do the wires just pop in?
How do I know if I need a new board or if it is just the connector? (not likely, eh?)
It looks like the J1 connector is off to the left by 1 pin? This isn't right and will cause issues. I can't believe it plays as it should as you have the power wires and returns hooked up wrong which would blow fuses, but they appear intact.......unless it's the pic and I'm missing something which is highly likely, like you moved it to the left to take the picture, but this would mean your missing your keying plug at connector pin housing 4.
Definitely suggest replacing the rectifier board which should come with new pins and connector housings, and possibly 'keying' pins which are a must as your new rectifier board will come with a 9 pin header at J1, so you won't be needing that but must keep pin 4 as the locating plug to prevent the wrong connection.
As yours 'look' ok, it's not vital to repin J2 and J3 but personally would do it anyway.
You will need a crimping tool to attach the wires to the new pins, a wire stripping tool or a razor blade to remove wire insulation and expose new wire for pin to attach to and soldering iron and solder to attach the original wires from the rear of the original rectifier board to the new rectifier board.
Not off by a pin, bad picture. The connector is just pulled out some and missing plastic.
Do we need to figure out what made the pin burn up before buying a new board, like not replacing a fuse before you know why it blew?
Repin? A new board doesn’t come ready to go?
Quoted from undrdog:MMMMM..... toasty! The burnt pin is slightly loose.
That pin 8 with the red wire is for half of your playfield G.I. It doesn't affect the controlled/switched lamps - the controlled lamp power wire is the blue one at pin 7.
Quoted from undrdog:Checking AC voltage after a game is started from the braid to a nearby computer controlled lamp that is lit - 2.5 vac on one lamp, 3. on another.
The controlled lamp power needs to be measured with your meter set to DC voltage. But it sounds like the BR1 bridge might be faulty.
Quoted from undrdog:Do we need to figure out what made the pin burn up before buying a new board, like not replacing a fuse before you know why it blew?
Put it down to poor design with the current capacity on the pins not being enough. That's why Bally redesigned their rectifier board in later games. If you LED the game it'll put less strain on the connectors.
Quoted from undrdog:Repin? A new board doesn’t come ready to go?
The existing wire crimps plus the housing are cooked. You must re-terminate the wire connector that plugs onto the rectifier board with new crimps/housing so you need a crimping tool.
Quoted from Quench:The controlled lamp power needs to be measured with your meter set to DC voltage. But it sounds like the BR1 bridge might be faulty.
I tried DC first and didn’t get any reading. One lead on the braid near a lit computer controlled lamp, the other on the non-common lead of the lamp. Maybe I had the leads reversed?
Don't know what went wrong with that, but this morning I got 1.7 - 1.8 dc. It jumped around, but hovered around there.
Someone must have repaired the board at some point- there's a strip of black tape across the back.
Whenever possible I prefer to use the original board. Burned GI pins are the norm on Bally games, if the rest of the board is good you can probably get by by just replacing the headers, pins, and connectors. Post a pic of the entire board and connectors. Wherever you see burning, that is an issue.
Big Daddy Enterprises sells a complete header and connector kit for your rebuild including crimping tools you will need.
Quoted from undrdog:I tried DC first and didn’t get any reading.
Red meter lead on the braid wire soldered to the base of any controlled lamp. Black meter lead goes to a proper ground point.
Quoted from BigAl56:Whenever possible I prefer to use the original board.
I agree Al, the part picture of the original board looks like it's in decent shape. Replacing the bridge/pin headers without damaging the board is where it can get difficult without the right tools/approach.
Quoted from Quench:Red meter lead on the braid wire soldered to the base of any controlled lamp. Black meter lead goes to a proper ground point.
I got 2.7 this time. Red on the ground braid by the lit lamp and black on the bracket of the power switch that connects to other ground points like the coin door black side of the power switch goes to a bolt on the coin door frame. Must be ground.
Reworking an old corroded board is beyond me. I'll get a new one from Alltec, because the solenoid board and the main board (with the game control switches) are Alltec. Unless you guys don't like Alltec for some reason.
Quoted from undrdog:I got 2.7 this time.
Yep sounds like the BR1 bridge rectifier on the rectifier board is faulty - an internal diode in the bridge is open circuit causing the bridge to only output half voltage hence the dim lamps.
Quoted from undrdog:Reworking an old corroded board is beyond me. I'll get a new one
If you're staying with incandescent lamps get a rectifier board with a decent heatsink.
I’m all for repairing OEM boards, with the only exception being this board. Proper repair would include replacing fuse clips and those take a LOT of heat to remove.
The new boards are so much nicer.
—
Chris Hibler - CARGPB #31
Http://chrishiblerpinball.com/contact
http://www.PinWiki.com/ - The new place for pinball repair info
New board has better heatsink and better fuse holders. Allteck’s other boards have been good.
This is a game I plan on keeping forever. I don’t mind spending $100 on a board knowing the rest of the components on it will be all new, too.
Last night I replaced the broken connector with a new one. Practiced a few times with the crimper after watching a few videos. The wire stripper I got was great to use. Can’t imagine doing this without one. $20 well spent.
Checked that the fuses on the new board matched with the game manual. Ran into a snag & although I think I know the answer, I sent an email to tech support for the board. Hopefully I’ll hear back real soon.
Now that I see the back of the board, I'm glad I got a new one. Looks kind of nasty.
And a metal bar between the board and the bracket fell off. It had old white sticky stuff on it, heat sink glue, I suppose.
64DC6945-B30F-462A-A878-F912AE1A02A7 (resized).jpegQuoted from undrdog:a metal bar between the board and the bracket fell off. It had old white sticky stuff on it, heat sink glue
The bracket was additional spacer/heat sink. And yes, that was heat sink thermal compound.
--
Chris Hibler - CARGPB #31
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http://www.PinWiki.com - The Place to go for Pinball Repair Info
No quick response from XPin, so I’ll ask here.
The heavy blue wire goes to E7. Wires don’t get soldered to the new board, they get stuck in holes in little blocks. The board has a hole for E7, of course, but the original board has two blue wires to two solder points for E7.
Found what might be an adapter (pictured), but not sure so didn’t want to use it without guidance. Besides, seems like an adapter would have a single wire already on it. I have 14 gauge wire, will that work? Also I think I have 18.
Other questions… how much do I strip the wires before sticking them in the holes? Or do I just poke the blunt end in?
There's little tabs on the blocks that the wires stick into. Do those pierce the insulation? I press those in?
D22FD3B4-DC8B-4A22-B2E2-D812BE5A6038 (resized).jpegLooking at a picture of the board on XPin website. You need to strip the end of the wire so that the wire contacts the live parts inside the connector. Most likely, you will need to strip about 1/4 inch of insulation, but I'm not for sure on the length of the stripped wire. Bottom the wire in the terminal, and there should be about the thickness of the insulation outside of the terminal. Too much, and you risk something touching the live wire, too short, and you may not get a good connection because the connector is squeezing the insulation, not the bare wire.
The crimp terminal in you picture is for 18 - 22 gauge wire.
That's got to be what the crimp terminal is for, right? Any reason not to use it to couple together the two wires?
Got it together. Got it installed and working. Lamps are all nice and bright, although some of that could be due to going back to 44s and some new sockets.
The only thing is, the 230v test spot only reports 160.
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