(Topic ID: 273324)
Linked Games
Ripley's Believe It or Not!
Stern, 2004
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Dumfries, VA
Quoted from jsalce:Did you find where this connects to in the backbox?[quoted image]
No i didn't. Thinking it's relevant to my problem(s)?
Outta frustration I swapped out the head optos, jackpot optos, and the associated board. Still same thing
Crux of the issue. All 3 optos show active. Head and jackpot are not lit.
Just lifted up my playfield to take a look. The back wire with the round connector is the ground wire for the opto boards, there are two of them, one for each board. Trace back the black ground wire from each of the boards and make sure each one is plugged in. Hopefully that should solve your power problem.
Quoted from tommyp:No i didn't. Thinking it's relevant to my problem(s)?
Yes
Quoted from liftmagnet:Just lifted up my playfield to take a look. The back wire with the round connector is the ground wire for the opto boards, there are two of them, one for each board. Trace back the black ground wire from each of the boards and make sure each one is plugged in. Hopefully that should solve your power problem.
^ This ^
Quoted from liftmagnet:Just lifted up my playfield to take a look. The back wire with the round connector is the ground wire for the opto boards, there are two of them, one for each board. Trace back the black ground wire from each of the boards and make sure each one is plugged in. Hopefully that should solve your power problem.
You're saying that connector in my post 24? Can you take a picture where they go? Them lil opto boards both dont have them. I got the 5 pin connector on both, 2 opto connectors on the head board - one for jackpot and one for the head. Idol board has the on pair of optos. That round connector i dont see, nor a place for on either opto board. And oddly there's only one dangling.
Not by my machine for a picture right now, but the connector is not on the board, there is about a foot long pigtail coming off the the connector for the board. Follow the black wire from the opto board back and you should find the other end of the connector.
OK, nevermind. You are correct. The one to the right of scoop is plugged in. Not sure how much help I can be at this point since I no longer own the game. Don't worry, you'll get it figured out eventually!
If it looks like a good chunk of the column is messed up..looking at the manual, its mostly column 3. Could something in that chain being bad cause the stuff below it to malfunction? It goes stand up, jackpot opto, standup, 2 spinners, stand up, shrunken head, then idol. Pretty confident the spinners and stand ups are working tho..
Quoted from LOTR_breath:What about here? Is there a connector there that's not plugged into anything?
That is the ground wire for the other opto board.
Quoted from tommyp:So I think the one you're referring to is plugged in. This is a second one that reaches to the front of the game pretty far...maybe for a bill collector? Looks like it goes to a loom in the back of the cab
[quoted image]
Is that a two pin connector or just two wires terminating to one plug?
Either way I do not have anything like that in my game.
My guess is that was probably for the optional tournament system as Loyd mentioned earlier.
At this point I don't know if I can help much more from behind a keyboard, just refer to the schematics and double and triple check all to the connections.
The only other obvious easy mistake I can think of is accidentaly plugging the Idol optos into transmitter and receiver two instead of one.
F20 had a 3a slow blow instead of a 4. Someone else definitely had issues prior to me owning it between the idol not wired right and the wrong fuse. Also I'm pretty sure the boards and optos i replaced were not original
So when Mudflaps lived down the road from me he got stationed overseas and he was kind enough to let me borrow his RBION. When we moved the machine the exact connector in your picture became disconnected from it's location in the backbox. And with that connector being disconnected, the EXACT optos were giving me fits and the same magnet was weak. In the backbox you should find the same single connector that is in your picture below.
Quoted from jsalce:So when Mudflaps lived down the road from me he got stationed overseas and he was kind enough to let me borrow his RBION. When we moved the machine the exact connector in your picture became disconnected from it's location in the backbox. And with that connector being disconnected, the EXACT optos were giving me fits and the same magnet was weak. In the backbox you should find the same single connector that is in your picture below.
[quoted image]
So..you're saying the part in my hand should plug into the backbox somewhere?
I have 5v at the power board...and only .78 at the opto amplifiers. They're not getting power so that'd kinda compute.
Quoted from tommyp:So..you're saying the part in my hand should plug into the backbox somewhere?
Exactly that sir 
So went to compare mine against my friends at his business. Helped me troubleshoot / learn to troubleshoot. Had 5v at the i/o and power, did not have 5v at the opto amplifier boards as thought earlier in this thread. Had .78. When I was in his machine, i did notice his amp boards lit up. Mine did not. Definitely a power issue. Saw this thread, recalled one earlier that noted something unplugged when they transported it. My friends didn't have that wire hanging that mine did. After about 5 min poking behind looms in the backbox i found the dangling wire. Plugged it in - success.
If it helps anyone in the future to recap - problem 1) my idol opto was wired incorrectly. Violet/blue goes to the opto, green single goes to the amp board. Problem 2. The ground wire was separated in the back box, flopped into the cab. Optos and boards probably were fine but we'll never know because i swapped them and there's no way in hell i'm swapping them back. If they're notoriously bad after years they were probably close do due anyways.
Thanks everyone for the help. Truely appreciate it.
Quoted from tommyp:Optos and boards probably were fine but we'll never know because i swapped them and there's no way in hell i'm swapping them back.
As I mentioned earlier, the optos they used on Whitestar games didn't age well. The idol and shrunken head optos were especially suseptable to phantom hits when flashers or other lights would go off. The upper loop optos are more protected from flashers and other lights, so if you did the idol and shrunken head optos, you'll likely be fine. Boards likely were good, but they too have a history of issues. Now you have extras.
You took the long way around, but your game is better off for it. Now upgrade the weak ass factory flipper coils. I put the Pinball Life LOTR 'special' coils in mine and it made the game way more fun. Jacked it up to 7 degrees. Upgraded the upper flipper to the high power side of a WMS 11630. Don't want the wicked hot LOTR coil for that flipper. Too much power for a flipper so close to so many other parts.
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