Lethal Weapon 3
Data East, 1992Have an LW3. The left half of the backbox lighting is out. The flashers do work on the left side during gameplay as they are supposed to. I checked the GI fuses and connectors and everything seems ok. When I moved the game recently, the entire BB lit up for a few games, than the left half went out again. Any suggestions on where to start with repairing or diagnosis? Any help or suggestions would be appreciated.
Awesome Scott. Taking a closer look, the F7 fuse (.5A SB Display Reg. Input according to manual) clip on the PSB is broken off, missing the top prong on the left. I'm assuming that even though the left side of the fuse is touching the bottom prong still, there is not good continuity with the missing prong on the top and that is the cause of the GI issue. I've never repaired a fuse clip, but have replaced caps and transistors on MPU's and driver boards. I'm guessing a new one will have to be obtained and then resoldered? Thanks for the help.
Yes - easy to replace if you have soldered before. Buy extras - might find more weak ones that are ready to break. If you pull a fuse you'll be surprised when they fall apart.
Definitely replace that fuse clip, and I'd recommend replacing all of them at the same time, since the original DE clips are notoriously shitty, but I doubt that's the source of your GI issues (your GI fuses are #'s 1 through 4 on the PPB board.)
If I had to guess, you've got burnt GI headers/connectors on the power board and/or PPB.
Check header CN8 on your power board and header J5 on the PPB. Your GI comes from CN8 (on the power board) to J5 (on the PPB), where it runs through those 4 fuses on the PPB, then it goes out to the playfield, backbox and coin door. On DE's those connectors commonly burned up - if you see that on yours, replace those header pins on the boards and re-pin the connectors on those cable ends.
Thanks Blackjacker. Checked it out last night...following CN8 to J5 as you suggested. The last socket on the left side of J5 connector is burnt a little, but salvageable. Cleaned the pins, and will take out the board and reflow when I get a chance just to make sure the issue is fully resolved. The J5 connector seems like it really heats up on this game, so I'll probably end up replacing and repinning it if I keep this pin. With a little tweaking, have full GI on the backbox now. Thanks for the help.
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Langhorne, PA
Basingstoke