Very interesting Rob.
I love to see solutions for obsolete parts like the LM323K.
Thanks for calling our attention to this.

--
Chris Hibler - CARGPB #31
http://www.Team-EM.com
http://webpages.charter.net/chibler/Pinball/index.htm
http://www.PinWiki.com - The new place for pinball repair info

So if I am reading correctly, this "new" LM323K can be used on a Bally solenoid driver board without the heat sink? I guess you would not need that little protector under the LM323K either as this one wouldn't ground itself into the heat sink? Very cool in any case just wanted to clarify.

Awesome, thanks for the heads up!

High efficiency means less heat, less wasted power.

Very nice. One day, maybe soon, genuine lm323k will be obsolete.

Just ordered a pair. Great little company.

You should still use the insulator. The case can short against the solder pads.

Awesome! Bought one for HS2.

But you can still buy the LM323K right here:

https://www.greatplainselectronics.com/products.asp?cat=23

$7.95 seems like a really good price. Is the output set to 5V? If so, and you are using an adjustable regulator, you might want to consider setting it a little higher to 5.3V which is still within the specifications of the LM323 and will help with any reset problems.

So, what do you use to install this? Obviously, there are two mounting holes, but what do you use to install it onto the board? I haven't looked in my HS2 to identify where this is and how it is installed, so I am just asking openly. Also, does this device have a polarity, or can it be installed without worry of orientation?

It's soldered onto the driver board. You can find it right in the middle of a huge heat sink

On my WPC driver board, you can't install it upside down.

Marc

Polarized, yes, but you would have to really put a lot of work to get it any way other than correct. Two screws and two solder joints, same as any TO-3 transistor package such as the LM323

-hans

There's apparently a trim pot providing +/- 500mv of adjustment, so it should be possible to trim it above 5.00v.

yep but a switcher is going to be a lot more efficient, produce less heat, and probably have better tracking than a really old linear part, nice find OP

Has anyone actually tried this part?

I ordered a bunch, with the intention of retrofitting them to a bunch of WPC games (trying to 'reset proof' things without hacking wire harnesses, or inserting jumper plugs) ...

Doesn't work at all. I only get 1.7v out the +5.

All voltages otherwise are correct, all connections @ the lm323k socket are correct (no broken traces).

Anyone got an idea what's going on?

So far, my experience has been absolutely NOT a plug-n-play replacement.

Yep I'm running one in my TZ, works great.

You need to make sure voltages from J101, J102 to BR2, C4 and C5 are good with no plated through holes compromised between BR2 and C5.

This sounds like it makes a perfect replacement for WPC driver boards so that you don't have to add the 11 ohm or 22 ohm resistor to get it to output 5.1 or 5.2 volts instead of the 4.9V that they usually output with the stock configuration.

Correct. But you have to make sure everything else is rock solid. This is not a patch or cover-up for resets caused by other bad components, traces or connectors. The other really nice thing is it gives off ZERO heat. You can run without a heat sink.

Found my issue ... was actually a poor contact between the ground line up through the screw onto the part.

Fixed with a wire and a ring connector. Works great, now!

Installed one of these today, and it's great. Bumped the 4.79V I was getting up to 5.01 with the trimmer.

My friend had serious reset issues with his tz, I replaced bridges and caps for the 5v after confirming the 5v was weak from the driver. This raised the 5v to a apparent good output, but it would still crap out with flips.

After swapping this switcher in, all was so good, that he now has an insanely low house voltage issue, at times 105v from the wall, no wpc will work and even his sterns reset, but his tz, the single worst 5v resetting machine of all time, is rock solid.

I have used these and spoke about them in other threads, and I'm convinced they are the end all for the nagging 5v issue that is not connector based, and still causing resets after all else is done. I have installed about 5 or 6 now, and each time the machine has been a rock solid war horse in play ever since.

I bought a bunch of these, one of the best replacement parts ever for pinball. Throw out those old 323s, and buy a bunch yourself.

I just put these in all my WPC games. I wonder if anyone has modded a sys 11 5v section to run this 323 replacement? it would a bit more of a hack, but i'm loving the heat reduction from switching out the linear regulator.

I haven't seen this till now...I'll be ordering a few. Thumbs up Rob.

Used quite a few of these on WPC machines, mine included.
Great drop in replacement.

Also great for a "not so drop in" replacement with a bit of modding.
Installed one on a troublesome Rottendog SDB004 to replace the LM reg that was on it.
Been rock solid since also..

And a system 6 power supply.
Reduced heat and looks sexy with no massive heat sink on it and a few new caps..
Maybe it's just me

Reminds me, need to order a few more.

Matt.

IMG_20161212_182647962 (1).jpg

Anyone know the pinout on the LM78H05K ? If the ezsbc replacement is the same as the 323 plus a couple amps, that would be good to know.

http://www.ezsbc.com/index.php/featured-products-list-home-page/psu7.html

7805 (resized).jpg

What about the metal can style? I emailed ezsbc to see what they say about their 3A vs the 5A 5v regulators.

PSU7 can be used to replace a LM323K -- reports at least for use on the Bally Solenoid Driver Board are that it's noisier than the PSU5 (in terms of speaker hum). Seems others are saying in newer games the "power off noise" is louder as well. You also have to be a bit careful with the PSU7 as traces are routed near the holes for the bolts.. as are larger ground planes. Shorts to ground can happen there if you aren't using properly sized small washers and any of the copper becomes exposed (ie. when using toothed/star washers that can bite into the pcb a bit).

wish Ed or PBL would just carry these.

My experiences:

They work great on the Bally/Stern SDU, but the resistor they used to raise the 323 above ground needs to be shorted. The EZSBC doesn't need it for a stable 5.1V and won't work properly with it.

On WPC I've had some success, but with early WPC sound boards the power off noise was extremely loud and was causing failures with speakers to blow and amplifiers to short out. It seems to oscillate as the input voltage drains off.

But a great product!

Good to know, do you think the "no pop" mod would fix it?
http://tuukan.fliput.net/nonoise_en.html

... me too.

Thanks for that Ed. I'm just super glad you have what you have!

I'm all in on switching 5v. I notice more speaker hum on the sys 11 here, she's cool as a cucumber tho!

Attach52116_20161217_202549 (resized).jpg

Just rebuilt the 12V and 5V supplies on my TZ which has had intermittent reset issues for the time I've had it. The ezSBC,com LM7812 and LM323 are definitely the WAY TO GO!! Way more efficient, lower heat, and the ability to bias 5V a little higher (5.1V) fixed my reset issue. I'm also running a Prof. Pinball Pinduino to drive LED strings and a PinSound+, and it's rock solid. A+ product.

I tried installing this on a bally driver board(playboy) and can only get 4.5 vdc with pot turned up. Thanks in advance! JR

Wondering what resistor needs to be shorted. Is it on the driver bd itself or the EZSBC? Thanks! JR

R50 on driver board must be shorted with a heavy wire (a lot of current goes through it).
R49 is no longer required -> adds an additional 50mA load... not really worth removing it.

Thanks works now. Seems like a nice product!

Does anyone have any recent word on the EzSBC products? Their website for products seems to be down at the moment (10/10/2020). Is this a long-term shutdown?

Looks like their Facebook page is still up maybe try contacting them through there and see if you can find out anything

Looks like they updated their website recently. New website needs PHP version 5.6.20 (min) but they are running a real old version - 5.4.45. For security reasons, they really should update to the current version 7.4.