(Topic ID: 90067)

Stargate Help

By dj_xwing

9 years ago


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  • 29 posts
  • 7 Pinsiders participating
  • Latest reply 9 years ago by dj_xwing
  • Topic is favorited by 5 Pinsiders

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#1 9 years ago

Got a couple things I need help with...

The rear left VUK was working fine & all the sudden got stuck in the up position, the coil overheated & caused the sleeve to melt...so I need to replace the coil & sleeve but what is causing it to fire & stay in the up position? Transistor blown? If so, which one?

Also, left outlane diverter isn't always firing when it should...I see there's an opto transmit/receive on the left wireform that leads to the outlane...is that most likely the issue of why it's not firing...anything else cause that to fire?

Also, curious if SG takes the standard Gottlieb 31" legs? Anybody have Sega 30.5" legs installed...assuming the 1/2" wouldn't make a difference.

Thanks!

#2 9 years ago

PM and make friends with Vipperwk. He is very nice and very knowledgeable about Stargate.

#3 9 years ago

You'll need to clean the opto, if its intermittant it may just be really dirty, that one does get dirty.. easy to get to tho..
Likely blew the transistor, dont have manual handy, but should be easy to find with one..

#4 9 years ago

Bumping back up...I'm going to purchase the manual but don't have it yet...so any help as to how to hunt this problem down is appreciated

#5 9 years ago

To answer your questions in reverse order:

Quoted from dj_xwing:

Also, curious if SG takes the standard Gottlieb 31" legs?

SG takes 31" legs from the factory. You can put the 30.5" Stern legs on if you want something a little shorter.

Quoted from dj_xwing:

left outlane diverter isn't always firing when it should...I see there's an opto transmit/receive on the left wireform that leads to the outlane...is that most likely the issue of why it's not firing...anything else cause that to fire?

The lower left ball gate will open and close at specific times. For example, if the ball is coming down the habitrail and past the opto, it should open to go into the Sarcophagus. Also, if you are on default English/German factory settings, the gate will open at the start of a ball and is toggled by kicking rubbers and return lanes. If it works for the latter and not the former, you have an opto problem. Check the quad opto boards under the playfield and make sure the resistors are all in place. If they are, reflow the solder on the opto itself.

Quoted from dj_xwing:

The rear left VUK was working fine & all the sudden got stuck in the up position, the coil overheated & caused the sleeve to melt...so I need to replace the coil & sleeve but what is causing it to fire & stay in the up position? Transistor blown? If so, which one?

The upper left VUK is Sol 9, an A-16570 coil, which is controller by Q10 on the A3 driver board. If Q10 tests bad (http://www.pinwiki.com/wiki/index.php?title=General#Testing_a_Transistor.2C_Silicon_Controlled_Rectifier_.28SCR.29_or_Field_Effect_Transistor_.28FET.29), replace it with an IRL530.

viperrwk

#6 9 years ago

Listen to and follow viperrwk's advise and you should be playing again in no time.

#7 9 years ago

Make sure you check the fuse and make sure it is correct. When I picked up mine, it had a 10A fuse in it. The game also had a burnt coil and fried Q10. Got it repaired and it works solidly but I had to run jumpers for the damaged board and there is a black streak straight up to the top of the backbox. Maybe that fuse commonly blows and people overfuse it?

On a good note, it made my SG a cheap pick-up

#8 9 years ago

I have found if I am having an opto issue with a System 3, I always check the opto board resistors first. Most of the time one of them has broken a solder joint.

#9 9 years ago

In Viper we trust.

#10 9 years ago
Quoted from jwo825:

Make sure you check the fuse and make sure it is correct. When I picked up mine, it had a 10A fuse in it. The game also had a burnt coil and fried Q10. Got it repaired and it works solidly but I had to run jumpers for the damaged board and there is a black streak straight up to the top of the backbox. Maybe that fuse commonly blows and people overfuse it?
On a good note, it made my SG a cheap pick-up

You should check the type of MOSFETs on the driver board and make sure they are not BUZ72s. If they are you should either change them all out or buy a new driver board.

viperrwk

#11 9 years ago

Thanks for the feedback guys!

I checked that transistor & looks like it's a little brown at the solder joint so imagine that is the issue.

viperrwk, will this transistor work as a replacement:

http://www.pinballlife.com/index.php?p=product&id=190

Also, looks like it was replaced before...any particular reason why this would blow multiple times...the fuse is supposed to be a 1-1/2A slo blo for that VUK & it currently has a 2A fuse there that is in tact but can't imagine that's what caused it.

#12 9 years ago
Quoted from dj_xwing:

Thanks for the feedback guys!
I checked that transistor & looks like it's a little brown at the solder joint so imagine that is the issue.
viperrwk, will this transistor work as a replacement:
http://www.pinballlife.com/index.php?p=product&id=190
Also, looks like it was replaced before...any particular reason why this would blow multiple times...the fuse is supposed to be a 1-1/2A slo blo for that VUK & it currently has a 2A fuse there that is in tact but can't imagine that's what caused it.

You should check it with a meter per the link I sent earlier. The browning may be flux or from a previous failure. Don't assume it is bad from a visual inspection.

The MOSFET you linked to from Terry will work fine. Love Terry but that price is double what you'd pay from someone like Ed @ GPE:

https://greatplainselectronics.com/search.asp?pg=1&stext=IRL540&sprice=&stype=&scat=

If you're putting in an order already from Terry they throwing some of those in is fine. Just know they can be had cheaper.

Have you ever watched the PAPA video on SG?

http://papa.org/2012/12/03/stargate-gameplay/

Watch what happens at 8:30 in the vid - the VUK ruined a good game. If it's not aligned and keeps kicking that circuit will get stressed. Combine this with either a BUZ72 or 12N10L and a slightly overfused circuit and you'll have a problem.

What are the other driver MOSFETs on your board? If they are BUZ72s you will have problems with them.

What you need to know (or not) about Gottlieb driver MOSFETs is on this page:

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/stargate-owners-club-shoot-the-pyramid/page/6

viperrwk

#13 9 years ago

Thanks viperrwk...will test as well with the meter...just took a quick look at it today & saw that it was browning so making the assumption but will double check before purchasing.

I am going to be placing an order w/ Terry so figured I would throw a few into that order to make it easy.

I saw that vid...and the same thing was happening on my machine before the coil got stuck in the up position...I need to get it better aligned so that stops happening once I get it firing again...will get the proper fuse installed as well.

I checked the boards...I have all 12N10L transistors except for the Q10 that was replaced...so that's good news.

Appreciate all the insight...now I know who to go to for my Stargate tech support

Love the name & avatar by the way...what generation Viper do you have? Got a Gen 1 myself...love that car!!!

#14 9 years ago

viperrwk...Tested the transistor & it was bad...so I replaced it & put the proper 1-1/2A fuse in...the coil is no longer stuck in the up position but when I go into test mode the coil won't fire...I have a new coil & sleeve coming tomorrow but don't expect that the coil is the problem?? See below pic of what's left of the board...that transistor has been replaced a few times...is it salvageable...I had to jumper it just to get connectivity...any other suggestions to try?

DSCN3667.JPGDSCN3667.JPG
#15 9 years ago
Quoted from dj_xwing:

viperrwk...Tested the transistor & it was bad...so I replaced it & put the proper 1-1/2A fuse in...the coil is no longer stuck in the up position but when I go into test mode the coil won't fire...I have a new coil & sleeve coming tomorrow but don't expect that the coil is the problem?? See below pic of what's left of the board...that transistor has been replaced a few times...is it salvageable...I had to jumper it just to get connectivity...any other suggestions to try?

DSCN3667.JPG 528 KB

This is the exact thing that happened to my SG. Same over fuse problem. Same fried transistor, coil burnt up as well. Had to replace all 3 and now it works like a champ. I had to jumper my new transistor as well

#16 9 years ago

It's just the F27 fuse right? What I don't understand is the coil is reading 15 ohms...my understanding is it's good as long as it reads above 3 ohms so don't understand why it's not firing...don't think a new coil will fix it but not sure???

#17 9 years ago

I wish I would have ohmed mine. When I bought it the guy had a replacement coil but hadn't installed it. I just replaced the existing one because I assumed it was burnt. He'll the fried transistor blackened everything above it almost to the top of the back box.

#18 9 years ago

Your coil reading is fine. Spec in the manual is 15.5 ohms.

That board is fixable though the repair is a bit tricky as the through holes are damaged. Clean both sides of the board. Normally I would suggest isopropyl alcohol but for this you probably could use acetone. After everything is clean, insert the new mosfet and bend the legs so they reach to the adjacent pads they are connecting to. Trim as appropriate. Then on the component side of the board you'll need to make sure the source lead (the one on the right as you are facing the front of the mosfet) is connected to the big trace running across connecting all the mosfets together. You will probably need to solder on the component side to make this connection.

If this doesn't make sense then best to either send it out or buy a new driver board.

viperrwk

#19 9 years ago

Thanks viperrwk...I went ahead & ordered a new Rottendog board because even if I can get this one to work I don't have much faith in it.

I'm curious though...after I jumpered it & checked continuity on both sides everything flows correctly so it should work...I'm going to replace the coil & sleeve tonight & play around w/ it more to see if I can at least get it working temporaril until the new board arrives.

#20 9 years ago

I wish my SG was at home, but I have it out on loan to a friend. Does that coil have a diode? I've had games where the coil diode was bad or a solder joint broke and it prevented the coil from firing.

#21 9 years ago

It doesn't have a diode...I'll be replacing it tonight but I don't expect that to fix the problem

#22 9 years ago
Quoted from jwo825:

Does that coil have a diode?

Good question, bad answer. There should be a diode on the coil, at least a 1N4004.

viperrwk

#23 9 years ago

Viper to the rescue again!gtb-30465.jpggtb-30465.jpg

These should come with the diode already installed, but if it didn't you'll need to get one on there.

any chance that someone has a pic of the diode orientation? The google is failing me with search results at the moment.

#24 9 years ago

Try thislarge.jpglarge.jpg

#25 9 years ago

Honestly, the diode orientation on the coil doesn't matter though that mounting in the photo is perfectly fine. What's important is which wire connects where. For the VUK, the black/red/red wire goes to the banded side of the coil while the orange/brown/brown goes to the non-banded side.

viperrwk

#26 9 years ago

My bad...the coil does have a diode installed

#27 9 years ago

New A3 driver board solved the problem...works perfectly now

Couple additional questions...

How do you set to free play...only thing I can find in the manual is to switch to tournament play via the switch inside the coin door but that doesn't seem to work on mine???

When the coin door is open the machine shuts off...how do you prevent that from happening...or is that just the way it is?

And lastly, tips on aligning the flippers...it doesn't have guides like I'm used to on DE or B/W games...when I align to the inlane guides it seems impossible to hit some of the shots...what have others done?

#28 9 years ago

With the power off, open the coin door and you will see 2 white interlock switches. One of them you will be able to pull out a bit. This is the switch that kills power when the coin door is opened. Pull this out and then power the game on.

The tournament board is inside the coindoor and to the left. There is a slider button. Slide that to tournament mode. Then, press the buttin on the board to display the menu on the DMD. The free play entry is reasy to see as the tournament menu is very small. Just set it to free play and then power off the machine, close the coin door and power back up.

#29 9 years ago

Thanks...viperrwk informed me about the interlock switch so I got that working but my tournament slider switch isn't working so something appears to be off in the switch matrix so I need to further investigate tonight to see which of those switches may not be working or where the break is happening.

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