You will be missing the ground pin in the AC power cord on at least one game.

Or a 3 prong to 2 prong cheater is being used. Or your 3 prong outlet doesn't really have a ground, can be tested with an inexpensive tester.

Check continuity between the cabinet rails and the earth prong on the wall socket.

rd

You checked for the ground prong on both machine's power cords?

Anywhere in the machine. Frayed wire, ground wire loose. Have to start inspecting.

Sounds like you might have a ground fault , your acting as the new conductor when you touch T2. Since it has a path back to earth.
I'd check the varistor or line filter on BOP.

ray does a descent job with this video. Also why it's probably not the best idea to replace the end with one of those home depot replacement plugs. I usually just replace the whole thing with a molded plug if I see any damage.

I came here to reference this as it's how I worked through this issue with my Bride of Pinbot. Sounds like you might not have the exact same issue, but one takeaway I had is that if it's AC that is leaking, there are a limited number of places where AC comes into play, so that might help narrow the scope of your troubleshooting.

Get an outlet checker. Plug it into the service outlet in your game(s). It will let you know if game is wired right and hot, common, and ground, are working.

Wouldn't hurt to check the wall outlets either.

LTG : )

I had a game I worked on once where it appeared the ground was solid in the end of the plug, but an ohm test to anywhere in the bottom of the cabinet ground braid wire, it was showing open. The ground pin was corroded and it eventually pulled out of the end of the plug.

yeah the outlet might be reversed on T2, if the switch is off and current is still flowing.

Check the continuity from the rails to ground. They may not be grounded. Try swapping the receptacles used on the T2 and the pinbot. See if the issue stays with the receptacle. Check voltage from ground wire to neutral wire on outlet, should read 0VAC.

In this case, wouldn't one of the three things have be the case?
-The side rails are not connected to the machine ground
-The machine ground is not connected to the outlet ground
-The outlet ground is not connected to earth

Where/what voltage is getting to the rails is then the second part of troubleshooting.

Are both your pins plugged into the same outlet? Or different outlets, possibly wired separate from each other (i.e. different breakers)?

If they are plugged into the same outlet, then the ground potential between the pins should be the same if the pin's grounds are wired correctly. That would help point to a wiring problem or a pin problem.

I don't get the question...Validate receptacle first. Then check the machine. I agree with your list.

Checking voltage is just a quick way to validate if ground may NOT actually earth ground. He said 120VAC from hot to ground but reading AC doesn't tell you which lead is the hot lead. Receptacle could be wired with hot on the ground and return wires and it would work just like normal just would shock you if you touched something grounded.

I had a garage door wired like the above basically had an electrified garage door shocked me twice and I started investigating.

Easy to check. Go to hardware store. Get an outlet checker, about $10. Plug into service outlet of each game. That lets you know if game and outlet are wired right. If it comes up hot or common reversed, or ground not working. Dig further. Then check the wall outlet first. Then the power cords.

LTG : )

What LTG said. An outlet tester is a cheap and easy to use tool that is invaluable for problems like this. Even if you don't have a pin, you should have an outlet tester in your toolbox.

If the service outlet tests good, I would still recommend having a look inside the power box. With the game unplugged, obviously. Below is what it should look like. Often the thermistors are in sketchy shape. If you can't read a schematic, get someone to help you who can before you crack it open.

image (resized).png

image (resized).png

OP did you ever solve the problem?