(Topic ID: 278991)

Star Trek Bally Solenoid help

By Jhn4559

3 years ago


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  • 16 posts
  • 6 Pinsiders participating
  • Latest reply 3 years ago by G-P-E
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#1 3 years ago

Ok, i have this old Star Trek Bally machine. I have worked off and on with it. Right now i am having a problem with the solenoids. Ill give my two examples.

It should be noted this machine has a brand new MPU and sound board. I am not noting any problems on voltage with the test points on the board.

1st with an old solenoid driver board in, the solenoids are firing during the sounds. I have checked connections on the solenoid board with no obvious issues. The flipper solenoids have 45 volts each at the three points.

2nd i bought a new solenoid board and installed it. Now i have no solenoids firing except the coin door sounds like it is doing something. The flipper solenoids again have the 45 volts.

Am i missing something? I am wondering if these flippers are wired correctly? They seem a little rough. It has worked before but not now.

Thanks for any help and advice.

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#2 3 years ago

Did you re-pin any connectors? You could have transposed a wire in the solenoid/sound address lines. A short on the bank select, MPU J4-10, or sound board pin 8 could cause solenoids to fire when sounds are being made.
As for no solenoids on the playfield, check the 1A fuse by the flippers. If that blew the flippers would work but the rest of the playfield coils would not. If that's good, check the jumper between J3-13 to 25 on the SD board. That sometimes fails or the solder to the pins on the board goes cold killing all your coils.

#3 3 years ago

The flipper on the left is not wired correctly. Not sure if this is actually causing any of your issues, but it should be corrected.

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The wire currently in the center should go the the outside lug (closest to the switch). One of the wires from the switch (it doesn't matter which one) should be moved from the outside lug to the center lug

The right flipper while ugly, is wired properly.

#4 3 years ago

Ok thanks for the info. Here is what i have now. With the new mpu board, new sound board, and new solenoid board installed. I fixed the wiring on that flipper coil.

The coin door solenoid is the only one working when i put in test mode. When i start the game though the flippers are working but no other solenoids are firing. The sound does not play now during the solenoid test or during the game when using the flipper solenoid. So thats good. Sound is not working right so my speaker must be messed up just sounds horrible.

Thanks for any further advice to look into to get these others to fire

#5 3 years ago

Did you check that this fuse was good? Not just visually--use your meter.pasted_image (resized).pngpasted_image (resized).png

#6 3 years ago

and the fuse holder itself - they like to lose tension, break, fall apart completely etc.

#7 3 years ago

Yes i tested the fuse off of the holder and it appeared fine. I also tested voltage on both sides of the fuse holder with both sides giving 45 volts.

#8 3 years ago

Like Big Al asked - did you repin any of the connectors? If yes, then check for crossed wires (wires not in the correct position in the connector). If you did not repin, then you likely need to, they're over 30 years old, and have lost their tension.

#9 3 years ago

I have not repinned any on the mpu, solenoid, or sound board. On the power supply board i did do those. So i can get some of those purchased and start re-pinning.

Do you know what size the smaller ones are? Are those the 0.1"?

I am just confused why the flippers work during game play but not during the test feature.

Thanks for the help.

#10 3 years ago

JHN-

The smaller ones are 0.1", and available from Great Plains Electronics, along with any tools you may need. At a minimum, check J4 on the MPU, and all the connectors on the SDB. The large ones are o.156", again from GPE.

I think you need to verify the wiring to those connectors are wired correctly before starting anything else. It sounds like this is an old project, so someone else may have crossed wires and you're assuming they are correct.

As far as flippers - when you first turn on the machine, hold in the flipper buttons - during the start up sequence, they will flip up. That will verify the circuit is good (Which we already know since you said they work during the game).

#11 3 years ago

All the playfield coils should have 43v DC on the yellow wire. Pull out the VM and make sure the solenoid voltage is present.

#12 3 years ago

Thanks for the continued help. I am getting about 44.5-45 volts at the solenoids.

Can you point me in the direction for the wiring sequence / color so i can confirm if they are correct.

Thanks again

#13 3 years ago

https://www.ipdb.org/files/2355/Bally_1979_Star_Trek_Schematics_paginated.pdf

Look at the wiring page for the table to interpret the wire colors

#14 3 years ago

Which crimp contact is right? I see it is just the amps but wasnt sure.

I did check wiring colors/order in it appears to be correct. I noticed unplugging and plugging in connectors did cause problems so def need to get these replaced.

Thanks again.

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#15 3 years ago

There are 2 wire sizes. The thicker wires are 18, the thinner wires are 22 AWG. You need the appropriate crimp for those size wires.

#16 3 years ago

The difference between the two in post #14 is only the base metal:

Cheaper contacts are tin plated brass rated up to 2.5 amps.
Pricier contacts are tin plated phosphor bronze rated up to 4 amps.

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