Okay its been a slow and steady 5 month project but I finally got it done. I left it in the rotisserie and plugged it all in. My left GI came on and shut off, I can't find a blown fuse though. My game always had a memory issue and I always had to go through initial set up every time I turned it on. The picture is what my game always looks like on first power up.I now go through all of the menu adjustments and my ball save pops and it resets back to picture.

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_{Post edited by futurepinhead : Too many pinheads are posting...2 hours and I am already on 2nd page haha.}

Bump

Bump.

That is exactly what it is, I almost wrote 'boobs' but I think even that would get looked over lately.

Took them out and tested them (its about the only thing I know how to do with a Multimeter) That's why I am stumped.

I will go over everything tonight and try to find the short. Do you know what fuse it is supposed to be running through?
What should I be looking for in the batteries/battery holder?

I talked to a guy who has worked on this machine before when it wasn't going directly into game mode. He seems to remember it having issue with the switch inside the coin door. He says it connects on 1J14 on the board. He wants me to disconnect this altogether and turn it on and off a couple of times to see what that does. He then wants me to run a jumper wire from pin 1 to pin 2 on this connection to see if this does anything different.

By disconnect 1J14 I got it into Attract mode and got a game to boot. I have several things not work but I am headed in the right direction and am getting pretty excited. I will post more when I get on computer.

I'd rather throw one in the lineup!

Okay, the things not working were as follows:
1. Most noticeable was no audio...not sure how that happened as that has nothing to do with a playfield swap. I have reseated all connections and no luck there. I get feedback from the sub but nothing out of the backbox speakers.
2. Right ball lock the light is not working, however it is getting electricity. I know this because I got a nice zap.
3. The targets on S-H-U-T-T-L-E are not registering lights. I am getting a score but they do not light up once hit. They also do not run in attract mode.
4. The switches at U-S-A are doing nothing.
5. One pop bumper started working but has since quit.
6. Still have not fixed left GI

This by the way is one of the most beautiful things I have seen in a long time.

Does anyone know what switch on the coin door needs to be replaced so I can plug in 1J14?

Having one and knowing how to use one are two seperate issues...hahah. I have an assistant who knows what they are doing, what exactly should I look for? And what switch should it be?

Do you have any suggestions on my other issues... or better phrased, would this connection not being attached cause any of the other issues?

Bump because I am desperate.

Bump

Awesome thanks. I actually got that going last night.
Here is what I fixed last night.
1. Sound is going now
2. Shuttle lights
3. 4x Light
4. 4 Lane switches
5. 'U' Switch
6. 2 Pop bumpers
7. Two stand up targets

What I need to fix now....
1. Coin door switch
2. USA Lights
3. Pop bumper lights (were previously working )
4. Left half of GI
5. One drop target switch
6. Extra ball light
7. Bottom middle light in grid is flickering...(Please see video of attract mode)
8. Grab a beer and play.

That was it. just a simple reseat. As always thanks. Down to 3 problems. The coin door switch, one drop target is not registering, and the blasted left GI. The drop target problem is not the diode, it is not the connection, and it is getting plenty of contact....it has to be the actual switch itself. The coin door has no diode has to be the switch itself. The GI is getting continuity from the first bulb to the last. I put a new molex on it tonight. I pulled every fuse again and used a different multimeter The wires that bring all the power to the GI on the USA lanes and ultimately throughout all the left GI...I resoldered that. I just have no idea.....

Spy, tbose issues were all simple once I broke them down. Mostly reseating the cables, using business cards on fhe switch connections, couple of dud bulbs new in box, cleaned some of the bulb sockets with alcohol, adjusting contacts. I am typing via cell phone as internet is impossible where I am. PM me if you need more details and I will be happy to once at a computer.

I rebuilt 3J8 and 3J9 hoping that would fix it and it wont. There is a remote fuse holder coming out of 3J8. The second fuse down was blown It has yellow and white wires. I replaced it and it started glowing. Still cannot find the short.

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here is the back of the board for GI. I know nothing about boards but didnt know if this could reveal something.

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Bump

Would that still be the problem if I am only missing half of the GI?

I will look at this when I get home.

Someone that is trying to help me over the phone told me to unsolder each individual section of the GI that is out to try to hunt it down. I unsoldered the slingshots first and the fuse did not blow. The rest of the lights did not come on. My question there is, did I find the short or did it not blow the fuse because this is all one large complete circuit?

Will it say 1ohm with no fuse in it because a fuse blows immediately.

One thing I thought was strange is I was going over every inch of it last night. My grandpa (who used to be good at this type of thing) stepped in. He started testing continuity with everything on the playfield even screws, pop bumpers, all of it. He wasn't even near the GI but he randomly put the mm on the GI and to a leaf switch and it beeped. I stepped in and I can't figure out why that switch is reacting to GI. It is no where near it. Not sure if that tell anything or not.

Could I get someone to take a photo of the slingshot wiring to the GI so I can make sure I wired it in correctly? I was pretty meticulous on labeling but maybe this could be it.

I get off work in about an hour and am going to take a look at the slingshot bulbs as well. I did not know a bad bulb can cause a short.

Vid, in ohm mode set to the lowest (200), I am getting 0 to .5 all throughout the GI. That is from board all the way to slingshots. I tested each bulb individually. I pulled the slingshot bulbs and could not find anything in the socket and put in new bulbs. Also the switch that mentioned is no longer testing for continuity. I also tested the working GI with the same results.

It might also be important but the first time I turned it on, all the lights turned on briefly.before the fuse blew but now the fuse blows with no light.

All bulbs were pulled, they tested 2.5 to 3 ohms

what should it read normally and what should it read shorted?

Should I check inside the sockets, on the tabs, or the lines themselves.

Thanks Vid. will update tomorrow night around the same time.

(Couldn't sleep this game is driving me nuts) I might have a big problem. All but two of them registered around .2 to .5ohms. No bulbs in GI and completely disconnected.

Sounds good, I will bust it up and try to track the problem down. I heard GI short is possibly one of the most frustrating problems you can have and I am tending to agree with it. I got the rest of the parts in the mail and I am ready to install after I fix the lights.

Thanks for the boost in confidence!

I work around 14 hours a day so I don't have a lot of time to spend on this game everyday (which is why this is taking me 6 months now.) I plan on unsoldering a section every night and checking for bad sockets. It has to be this. I cannot find a pinched wire, all the bulbs are good, boards have a good connect on the power supply board.

Good news bad news

Good: I found the bad socket. It was the middle one behind SHU of SHUTTLE. I am no longer blowing a fuse.

Bad: Lights still don't work.

I unsoldered the socket but the series is still complete incase that helps.

I've determined it HAS to be the 6 wire molex connection in between board and GI. Unless the cord is cut somewhere in the middle which I can't find. Is the only way to test this to cut it? My mm has proven my theory correct but I have to try it out somehow. I do not want to cut it because I have never rebuilt this type connection.

Pinside...I give to you a completed GI. (minus the shorted one)

After replacing a toasty molex I had to find the short. It was a bad light socket. That fixed the fuse blowing problem but that didn't turn the lights on.
The 6 pin connection had the white/yellow wire was loose. I made sure the wire was snug in both connectors, got electrocuted (bad ground) and BAM. I got my two new switches in mail but I am playing a game tomorrow! I gotta fix the ground first....that kinda hurt.

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Haha you learn something everday.

We're back to having problems. I broke down the playfield again and pulled all the bulbs. I was getting the correct reading on the multimeter. So I thought maybe a bad bulb. I replaced them all again and it was working fine. I went in again yesterday and the fuse was blown again. The only thing I can think of is that loose wire in the connection. It has to be positioned right or the bulbs will go out. Could that cause a fuse to blow? I want to replace the whole 9? pin connections but I do not know how to replace those and I am assuming that it takes an expensive tool.

Mid saturday bump

Actually both. Sometimes I will adjust the connection and it will be working fine and then pop. Othertimes I turn it on and it pops immediately. Mostly the first though.

I am going to buy a 100 pack of fuses haha.

Yes, I really do...

Do you think it could be that connection that I was talking about that is causing the fuse to blow. It is not a shorted socket and it would be a 1,000,000,000 chance that it is bad bulbs (I keep replacing all of the bulbs when they blow.) It was similar to this...

ebay.com link: like

How do you replace something like that.

Still fighting this. I replaced the molex which was a 6 pin .062? size. All of the lights are now doing a slow fade/brighten until the left side finally pops the fuse. I know for a fact there is not a single wire/socket touching metal. I have combed over it so many times I could draw it in my sleep. I have unsolder each section individually and with the exception of the first round, I have not found a single shorted socket.

It is about to go in the line up as is because I am burned out on this project and need to move to one of the others. Suggestions?