Hi all,

I’m restoring a system 3 SMB and I reached a stumbling block. The slingshot coils have no incoming power. I replaced the coils, diodes, and driver board so far. All fuses are operational. Am I missing the obvious? Should I be checking something else? Or could it be that the transistors are blown on the driver board?

I would appreciate any tips to troubleshoot the coil problem.

Greetings from Germany

Hi Inkochnito

Yes all other solenoids are functional.

I’m getting this strange feeling that something blew on the driver Board. Either a transistor or a resistor.

Since schematics are unknown territory to me, I’m a bit lost.

Wiring for slings run through P5, correct?

Which “Q” Transistors and which “R” resistors control the slings?

If this is the case, what would cause these to blow? Bad wiring, bad coil, diode reversed?

Really appreciate your input and sorry for the late response but of course I’m 6 to 9 hours ahead.

Many Thanks

Hi Bingovit

Fuses are fine...

I do see a small black smoke spot next to Q10 on the driver board.

Could there be a short in the wiring?

Thanks

Hi @incognito,

I hope I’m following you correctly.

I have power on all fuses F16-F26. All fuses checked good out of circuit.

What I did notice is that solenoids 12-15 (Blackbox #67 flashers) are also not functioning.

I also checked the slingshot coil continuity from sling coil to A3JF connector.

Left side has continuity on pin 1-5 starting from the top left as the connector is attached to the board. The continuity was checked on both sides of the coil.

The right side is different. The left coil connection had continuity to pin 1-5. The right side, only has continuity to pin 4 and 5.

Seems kind of odd that the pin set up is different, or?

What are your thoughts?

Many thanks my friend!!!

Incognito

Just noticed that your in Holland. Sorry, I thought you were in US.

So we’re neighbors

Hi Inkochnito ,

Sorry I got your name wrong

I measured 81 volts from post to post on the new 5195 coil connections.

The original coil on the left had a melt down. See attached.

During continuity, I was referring to the connection to the rottendog driver Board.

Not sure what you meant by „big white cement resistor in the back box.“ I didn’t see one.

I have no power to the #67 flasher bulbs and they don’t react in the test mode.

I‘m thinking that both issues may be related to the driver board.

I guess my next step is to check out the components on the board.

Let me know your thoughts...

Many thanks!

A3E81DBD-5B9C-424C-AE79-92B96BCCB012 (resized).jpeg

Hi Inkochnito

Ok. I have 81 volts on both posts and no voltage between the 2 posts.

Still no slingshot function in play or test mode.

Sounds like a board issue, or?

Do you know which Transistors and Capacitors run the slings on the driver board?

Even though I guess I should check all because of the backbox 67 flasher issue that I’m also having.

Thank you, Merci, Dankeschön

Hi Inkochnito ,

Not much time to fiddle with the SMB today.

I have no power going to the 67 flasher bulbs for solenoids 12 through 15.

I also attempted to measure if power is coming out from the driver board section P5 that has the connector A3J5 plugged to it. No power here either. I do however continuity from the bulb posts to the connector A3J5 connector.

Hopefully I’ll have time tomorrow to take a look at the driver board.

Thanks for hanging in there for me as I troubleshoot the problems.

Regards,
Troy

Oh one more thing. I haven’t reflowed the solder on the driver board because it’s a brand new rottendog driver board. And the problems existed on the original Gottlieb driver board....

Hi Inkochnito

All flashers on the playfield work.

Do these flashers run through the same resistor that you mentioned?

If so then the resistor should be ok, or. If not, where is the location of this resistor?

I’m pretty sure that the rottendog driver board has the same general setup.

I‘ll measure the capicitors tomorrow to see if I notice anything odd.

Again thanks for your input!!!

Troy

Hi Inkochnito ,

Looks like my driver board is fine.

I have 23 volts from the transformer to connector A9P9.

So I think your correct with a bad resistor. I don’t have cement resistors but I need to find R1 like you mentioned earlier. I found out from a post from phillymadison that R2 goes to the playfield flashers and R1 goes to the backbox flashers.

Do you or does anybody know where R1 resistor is located on a Super Mario Bros?

Hmmm, I may have similar problems with the slingshots not working...

Many Thanks,
Troy

Hi @inkochnito,

Do you know where R1 resistor is located?

I see one on the driver board, one on the cpu, one on the aux power supply and also one on a Board underneath the playfield. But they all measure good...

With your help Im getting close to solving the problem.

I also seen that your a member of flippermarkt. Sehr geil!!!

Many thanks my friend,
Troy

Hi Inkochnito ,

I think I found it. R1 resistor is on the back and lower left of the swinging light Matrix door. See attached photos. After replacing this, the back box flashers should be operational again.

I also replaced all 8 bulbs. 5 of them were blown. Guess I should have checked them first. Oh well, learn something new every day.

Would have been nice though if R1 was labeled!

Still need your help with the slingshots, when you have some time...

Thanks so much
Troy

44D8588E-A9B0-4AF7-B5D5-C54ED911B706 (resized).jpeg

7A417C7D-D441-4B97-B840-34DB1AFBA6E6 (resized).jpeg

Thanks Inkochnito ,

Very good reading material.

I’ll take a look and report what I find.

I did install brand new sling coils with new diodes. So that should rule out an issue there.

As mentioned before, the driver board is new, but it was installed when the crappy coil was present. So I can’t rule out a problem with the driver Board yet.

There was 81 volts present on both posts on the left and the right coils.

As mentioned before, no function in regular play and in the solenoid test mode.

Thanks Peter,
Troy

All is good the band is on the left hand side of my coils also.

Thanks for the hint,
Troy

Hi Inkochnito ,

I ran some tests that were suggested in the links you sent me.

I grounded the slingshot coils to the non-banded side and both left and right ignite

When I ground the MosFET on Q3 and Q4, slingshot coils don’t ignite

With the driver board removed:

Q3 MosFET from center to right reads 8.13

Q3 MosFET from center to left flashes a number and returns to 0.

Q4 MosFET from center to right reads 14.64

Q4 MosFET from center to left had no reaction.

I measured another MosFET just to see any similarities:

Q16 MosFET from center to right reads 8.11

Q16 MosFET from center to left flashes a number and returns to 0.

Diode Test:
Q3 measured 10.03
Q4 measured 9.93
Q16 measured 9.94

My thoughts are that Q4 is definitely bad and that Q3 even though it tested properly should also be replaced because the coils are not igniting when the MosFET is grounded. Note: The link stated that the tests are not 100% accurate.

Let me know your thoughts.

Thanks Peter,
Troy

Hi Inkochnito ,

Yes, other coils ignited from the driver board MosFETs.

For those who read this in the future, to test voltage you have to start a game or use the test mode!

A9J7 from the cabinet and A3J5 from the driver Board both have 81 volts.

I think we are passed this point though, because I have 81 volts at the coils and they ignite when the non-banded side is grounded.

Sure looks like the MosFETs especially when you look at the Q4 readings.

There is a small board under the playfield with a capacitor and Diode that may be causing the issue. But I have parts on order for the driver board. I’ll install these and see what happens.

Probably be a couple weeks before I report back to you...

Thanks my friend,
Troy

Hi @inkochnito

Here’s the update on SMB issues:

I changed the transistors on Q4 and Q5 on the rottendog driver Board. These control the sling coils. And now the slings are operational again.

On an early post I incorrectly mentioned Q3 and Q4. Sorry about that to future readers.

Looks like the original coils and diodes took out the transistors on the brand new board.

As far as the backbox flasher lights, I replaced the ,33 Ohm resistor. The flashers worked for a bit in test mode. They got really bright and blew a fuse and blew the resistor again. Hmmm, maybe I need took take a closer look at the light sockets.

So I’m getting close on finishing up the project.

Hopefully the rest will be easier than the slingshot issues!

Really appreciate your help, if I can do anything in my area of Germany, just let me know...

Gruß,
Troy