Newbie repair that went bad! (BSD)

Did you test the fuses in circuit, or did you pull at least one side out of the fuse clip?

Yes. You already made one mistake. Don't over fuse and compound it in case more is wrong.

LTG : )

I dunno...this can help identify the problem...just follow the source of the smoke

but seriously ... never do that.

1a over won't hurt anything in a test, any short will blow a 8a fuse fast as a 7a. Lot of safetycrats here I guess. Doesn't hurt to go safe though I suppose. You won't light the world on fire or your machine by going up 1a in a fuse.

What I would do is different than what I'd advise a newbie to do. Especially after he's already made one mistake that caused this.

LTG : )

Yes.

LTG : )

Did you cut the cap off each end or just the word from each end of your fuse? If you left the cap, cut the wire only, and crammed it into your fuse holder, the holder won’t last long.

Pig tail fuses have a pressed on cap with the leads attached. If you just cut the leads, it will cause the fuse holder to eventually fail. You have to cut that cap off so the end of the fuse body is the same diameter of the fuse you replaced. It’s hard to cut with diagonal cutters.

Words of advice always work on the machine with the power off.

as a newbie, there's still one thing left to do before this experience is complete. you'll thank me in a few years from now....

if you really learned your lesson, you'll explain and confess right here to the group WHY you unplugged/plugged in the ribbon cable with the machine on. everyone knows that's a huge No-No! and be honest. if you aren't willing to do that, you aren't really sorry for doing it. you're just relieved and joyous that it's working now, and you're 100% guaranteed to do something like that again, once you forget how nervous you were before this group saved you. so, why'd you do that?

obviously they don't or it would never happen. bigehrl IMO you're berating of this individual is unwarranted, not helpful, and is one of the reasons people are hesitant to ask for help on Pinside; this of course is my personal opinion.

i’m sorry you feel that way. when i was a newbie on RGP, and i fried my first game by working on it with the power on, an experienced veteran asked the same of me after i was helped to get it back up and running. and guess what.. every single time i go to do that, even now 15 yrs later, i stop and think about how a few extra seconds of effort can save me days of work, despite my natural desire to tempt fate. and boy, i’m glad he did! and i’m guessing, so now will you. plenty of people attempt the same, despite knowing better, so there's nothing obvious about it. so you can have your opinions, and i can have mine. but if you think that my request to him was berating, i’d suggest not reading much else here on Pinside, because compared to my post, a majority of this site will just make you lost faith in humanity. me, on the other hand, i was only trying to help someone learn a valuable early lesson.

Don't think of it as a 'repair that went bad' when its really only 'repairs you haven't completed correctly yet'

Everything in between is just the price of education, and most of us have done a lot worse to our games