Fireball II
Bally, 1981So, just got my new mpu for Fireball 2 installed and amazingly it boots.
List of Problems:
I get 5 total coils working (all 3 flippers, the right sling, and the little demon post.)
No sound at all
I had 5 coils that locked on when I turned it on. I went and replaced the transistors but apparently I didnt do the right ones or something else as the coils locked back on when I turned it on.
Any help is appreciated.
Did not change the diode. All the fuses are goon on the rectifier board. Didnt see any other fuses in the machine.
Should be a 1amp slo-blo on the bottom of the play-field, in the flipper mech area. If you did not change out the diodes, they may be bad and possibly wrecked the new transistors. The rule is: when changing a transistor for a locked on coil, change the diode also.
Here is some help and good reading, check out section 3i.
http://techniek.flipperwinkel.nl/ballyss/rep/index3.htm#driver
Also, if the game has been turned off for a while like 30 min to an hour it wont boot up right away. It has to like try for a couple of minutes. The led will flash randomly for a little then get more steady and then finally it will boot.
No batteries is a good thing. Kinda sounds like you may have header and connector problems. Try carefully re-seating all the connectors on the MPU and the solenoid driver board, see if some of your problems don't go away. If they do, or you get different problems, then I'd say it's time to re-pin. A common problem with older Bally games.
The mpu board isn't the problem. Just bought it and it was tested working. I'll reseat everything and report back. Thanks so much for all your help.
OK, I reseated everything and got no change. I think I'm having a power issue. Because when I first turn the game on it has to do the warm up thing like I mentioned earlier. I just noticed that once it warms up if i use the flippers it will reset. Once it has been on even longer then it will finally boot up and not reset.
Also, after I replaced the Transistors I soldered ONE coil back on and it still locked on but I didnt solder the other 3 back on. But if I get out my multimeter all of the transistors that I soldered on read bad.
Oh one more thing... lol. I now don't get any displays. They lit up perfectly when I first turned it on but now they don't do anything at all.
I think we need some better advice here. I'm leaning towards the IC's on the driver board, but I'm not the guy to lead anyone through testing these. We need someone like dothedoo or chris hibler or barakanl, these guys do this stuff regularly.
If there were only a way to page people. Ill post on the other thread and hopefully they will see it. You have been great, I really appreciate all your help.
Quoted from Ronnie1114:Will do. Any idea on why almost no other coils work?
Quoted from Ronnie1114:Also, after I replaced the Transistors I soldered ONE coil back on and it still locked on but I didnt solder the other 3 back on.
Do you have coils removed from the game, or wires removed from coils? All power is daisy chained from coil to coil. If you separate wires that are soldered together on the lug the banded end of the diode is connected to then no downstream coils will have power.
Also, did you ohm out each coil to make sure they aren't shorted?
Quoted from dothedoo:Do you have coils removed from the game, or wires removed from coils? All power is daisy chained from coil to coil. If you separate wires that are soldered together on the lug the banded end of the diode is connected to then no downstream coils will have power.
Also, did you ohm out each coil to make sure they aren't shorted?
OOOOOOO. Yes I un-soldered the outhole kicker, all 3 drop target reset banks, and the knocker as they are the ones locking on. I tried to ohm the coils but didn't know if I have to have the power on when I do it. Thanks tons.
K this is what I got:
Outhole kicker, 14.4 ohms
Knocker, 11.2 ohms
Target bank 1, 22.2 ohms
Target bank 2, 22.3 ohms
Target bank 3, 22.4 ohms
Those readings look good. I think your driver transistors are bad, but you can check the driver ICs to make sure all is good there. Here are instructions I posted in a similar thread:
Decoder chip is U6, a 74154. What are the voltages on pins 20-23? Those are the inputs to the decoder and should all be a logical high (3-5 volts). Next, what are the voltages on pins 1-11 and 13-17? Those are the outputs and all should read a logical high except pin 17 should be low (0-1 volt). This is the inactive state. When the chip decodes the input lines it assigns one output line low. All highs on the inputs means pin 17 is low. Bally left this output disconnected so that no solenoids are energized when the chip is "inactive".
U4 is the predriver. What are the voltages on input pins 2,4,6,8,11,13,15 and 17? They should all read logical high. The chip is an inverter, so each output will be the opposite of the input. So all output pins 18,16,14,12,9,7,5 and 3 should be low.
Hmmm. I'm pretty lost when reading that. I fairly Sure it's the transistors cause most of them read good except for the ones I replaced because I forgot to change the diodes.
OK, I bought my last ones at radio shack. Where could I order them from as I need some other pinball and arcade related parts? Thanks for all your help.
If you just need electronic parts then www.greatplainselectronics.com is the place to go. If you need playfield parts and stuff then Pinball Resource, Marco or the like.
The MPU is resetting constantly. I'm surprised when it finally comes up that it doesn't reset after that. I would put sideways pressure on J4 to make sure it makes solid contact and see if it boots without resetting. That connector always needs to be repinned. If that's not the problem then the 5V regulator circuit on the SDB needs to be checked.
Quoted from dothedoo:The MPU is resetting constantly. I'm surprised when it finally comes up that it doesn't reset after that. I would put sideways pressure on J4 to make sure it makes solid contact and see if it boots without resetting. That connector always needs to be repinned. If that's not the problem then the 5V regulator circuit on the SDB needs to be checked.
I have wiggled around J4 and it doesn't do anything different. What is the 5V regulator circuit?
There's a 1/4" braided strap that is stapled to the walls of the head and cabinet, just connect to that.
OK, I soldered on more new transistors and put on all new diodes annnnnd: the goddamn coils are still locking on 
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