I’m trying to test whether a pop bumper lamp socket has the correct voltage. Lamps keep burning out (incandescent).

Even if incorrect voltage is not the problem, I still need help learning how to figure it out on my own.

I tried reading the schematic that has to do with lamps. Large complicated drawing, with lines at the right edge indicating those lines go to the playfield lamps.

I can’t see anywhere on there where it says whether the lamps are AC or DC. I’m guessing DC, like a flashlight, but where does it say that?

That became a question because I am trying to figure out how to set my Harbor Freight multimeter. How do I set the multimeter?

What is the correct voltage that I’m looking for? Where is that on the schematic, so I’ll know How to find it for the next problem?

Thanks for the help!

Bally Mystic. Early SS.

Yes, same pop bumper. Probably don’t play the game more than half an hour a day. 45 min max. But I do enjoy getting the pop bumpers going. The pop bumpers are one of the things I love about this table.

Last lamp was replaced about two or three play sessions ago, and a few sessions before that.

The lamps are GI.

The lower power ones.

And they are black on top. Seems burned out, but I guess it could have happened from vibrations.

I can unsolder, unscrew things, put them back together and solder them back. I have new lamp sockets for the pop bumpers. (Didn't use them because bending the lamp socket in, just a touch, made for a much better connection. Solved that problem.) Now this one pop bumper keeps burning out lamps. Getting warm LEDs is a good idea, if they pretty much match the incandescents in the rest of the machine as they shine through the pop bumper cap.

BUT REALLY, I'm hoping that someone will answer my basic questions about reading the schematics and testing the voltage, so I can use it as a teaching moment, yanno?

chas10e TheWiz
Thank you so much. I’ll look at your images side by side with my schematics and see what's what.