(Topic ID: 324996)

Solenoids Not Firing

By RobbeOne

1 year ago



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  • 6 posts
  • 4 Pinsiders participating
  • Latest reply 1 year ago by RobbeOne
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tz_solenoid_table_grouping.jpg
Screenshot (45)_LI (resized).jpg
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#1 1 year ago

So my TZ started to have a few solenoids fail:

Slot
Gumball Diverter
Ball Release
Right Jet Bumper

I can say that when I go into test mode, it sounds like they are not even getting any voltage. I have replaced all the fuses on F101 - F105 and still get the same issue. It also appears everything is connected properly to the board.

Before I start tracing wires and what not, is there anything else i can check before I do the deep dive?

#twilight-zone

#2 1 year ago

Test voltage at the coils and ground to see if they fire. That will rule out your wiring/power concerns. You may still have bad switch/transistors/ or IC in the circuits.

#3 1 year ago

This is indeed a puzzler.

The coils you mentioned come from both the high power side, and the low power side.

As Blake above says, check to see if you are getting power to these coils.

I would normally have suggested that you have a broken wire, not necessarily at these coils, but one link further up that isn't making connection, but this could be two wires broken, disconnecting power to everything downstream. Two problems sounds a little weird, but pinballs can develop lots of problems over time.

Deep dive isn't too hard, here is the manual:

https://www.ipdb.org/files/2684/Bally_1993_Twilight_Zone_Operations_Manual_OCR_searchable.pdf

On page 2 of the PDF it lists the coils and where they plug into the Power Driver board (J107 pins 2 and 3, going to J130 and J127)

It lists the specific transistors that drive the coils, so this should be easy to trace.

Let us know if you've got power to the coils and we'll be able to help you troubleshoot from there.

#4 1 year ago

Check J-107 on your power driver board. They all have this connector in common.

Screenshot (44)_LI (resized).jpgScreenshot (44)_LI (resized).jpgScreenshot (45)_LI (resized).jpgScreenshot (45)_LI (resized).jpg
#5 1 year ago

Definitely ground the drive transistor to verify your playfield wiring. This does not work with TIP36C transistors. You should ground the corresponding TIP102 that will force the base of the TIP36C to go low and start conducting.

As you haven't provided any history (what changed or what you did), no further potential causes can be surmised.

However, there is a pattern in your reporting.

tz_solenoid_table_grouping.jpgtz_solenoid_table_grouping.jpg

It's the data line. Data line D0 is shown in brown and data line D5 is shown in blue. The solenoid groups are shown in red, orange, gold and lime. These same data lines also drive other things such as lamp matrix. These same data lines do not affect the solenoids driven by the 8-Driver Auxiliary board as those data lines are transmitted over the 26-pin ribbon cable from the "display" connector on the CPU board.

  • Verify that flasher 17 (Bumpers (2)) is working.
  • Verify that solenoid 25 (Left Mini Magnet) is working. You should be able to hear the magnet pulsing.
  • Verify that the all lamp test illuminates all the lamps in the lamp matrix. Look for missing columns or rows.
#6 1 year ago

UPDATE

First, I want to thank everyone for responding. Gave me a lot of great starting point and help narrow it down. I am not sure exactly where the issue rectified itself, but I re-secured all the ribbon cables and cleaned contacts on the board that ran to the solenoids. I also re-secured the wires underneath the playfield in question as well.

All solenoids working like a charm. Now the only issue is have is the slot switch, but I should be able to figure that out on my own. Again, thanks everyone! The help/advice was awesome!

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