TRON is smelling like something burning..

Last night me and the wife played pinball... we have Big Guns, ACDC, and Tron..... after we were done playing,, about an hour later my gameroom smelled like it was on fire.. burning plastic wires...

I couldn't figure where it was coming from so I opened each pinball machine and it was definitely the TRON and the smell mostly from under the playfield. I got out the flashlight and could not locate any burnt wires.

I felt the transformer... and compared it to the others... same warm temp... nothing hot.

Any ideas? Mod's only include topper (6 months ago), eli's ramps (2 weeks ago).... nothing really drawing much current... but I have had trouble with the start button not working... a few times... and the only fix was lifting the playfield and putting it back down and then it would work... but that was a month ago. Last night was the burning wires smell but couldn't find anything...

Stuck solenoid?... (have no idea)... have not 'spliced' into anything..

Very well, I will check these both. The spinning disk has been getting louder lately, varying RPM''s but maybe because it's cold... nothing too alarming. BUT, the disk doesn't spin when it's sitting still. And the smell wasn't found until about an hour after we were done playing... but all games were still on (attract only)

The pop bumpers I will check right now. NOTE: Also, now that it's been 24 hours since the incident, I can localize the smell a little better. Last night it was the WHOLE room and it was difficult just to localize it to the TRON... I checked computers, house wiring, etc... but definitely TRON.

So tonite, I can smell it most from the backbox behind the speaker panel... NOTE: This might be aroma from under the back of the playfield... but this is where I am going to start taking things apart. I'm gonna put down the playfield.. pull out the panel and see what I can find... curious....

Of course everything has been unplugged since last night. I suppose I should get a game of ACDC in before I start this project!

THANK YOU,,, THANK YOU....... THANK YOU......

I have checked every wire... every capacitor... every... every!

I then checked the pop-bumpers... who would've thought? Pop-bumper solenoid FRIED and filled my gameroom with burning wires... I am surprised a fuse didn't blow, but I am SO glad that it is finally figured out. Been without playing TRON for nearly 26 hours now.

So,,, NEXT STEP... I can call chaz and get this RMA'd... which I should do anyways... OR? Any recommendations for replacement with something better?

I know that I post that I love these machines but truly they don't have much play-time on them as I work all of the time... and part of the reason that I love these machines... because I am not working when I am playing them.

But since I have to replace it anyways.. anything better so this doesn't happen in less than a year with less that 500 games on it?

Just curious,, and absolutely thankful that someone posted 'checking' the pop-bumper which I thought 'surely not'. But so it is.......

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Thank you.. Yes, I know the coil is FRIED as it is bleeding and won't move any direction... as for transister... the coil says STERN 10.5 ohms... no transistor... (for whatever that means or for what it's worth)

OH,, also,, this Tron was just bought last April.. or May... by me NIB.... so I would think that it's warranty.

But I don't think they send someone out to replace it... do the soldering,, etc....

COOL! I get a new soldering gun... some lessons.... some solder and spunge thingy that you guys use... OH... and a solder removing tool.... and some flux... let me see... I am sure there is something that I am missing that I have to tell the wife is a MUST HAVE...

Thank you so much,

Yes, I contacted the distributor and it seems that coils aren't a warranty issue. I will acquire and learn how to replace this 'coil'...

Anybody with recommendations on replacement? Since I'm going to do this I would like to replace it with something better, more stable, and long lasting...

The coil says STERN, 10.5 Ohms, no resistor...... from what I see without removing it yet.

I really didn't think anyone would figure this out. But QuickSilver nailed it on the head. The wife actually was "on-fire" (from cooking my greasy dinner incorrectly) and when I asked her to 'drop-and-roll' she got to close to the Tron pinball and it caught on fire too! When she saw me using the fire extinguisher on the Tron instead of her, it pissed her off. She stood up quickly and laid down the best game I have ever seen anybody play.... at this point I smelled the burning wires and told her to 'Un-Plug' the machine, but she didn't do it before she put her initials in HI-SCORE, which of course pissed me off, so I lifted the playfield and thought about putting her in it, but that violates some sort of ordinance we have in our county, so instead I just politely said 'I'm Sorry', and crawled back into my doghouse where I live most of the time.

She is a sweet woman, and I love her a lot. I will be picking her up from the hospital later this evening after the police finally leave, investigating the fire in the home. Oh!, and the fire dept. never responded to the call that I never made... this is somewhat puzzling but should be all figured out after the attorneys collect their fees......

I love pinside! (Truly, this is the best and most relaxation that I can imagine after a hard day at work).

I appreciate all of you guys. Of course I am asking the same question. The room filled with the smell of burning wires and after clearing the air I expected to see at least a burnt fuse.

As for replacement,, yes, I do have a contact that does this for a living... and while I would enjoy learning/ doing it myself I think I will leave this to the fella that does this for a living... (watch over his shoulders, ask him what he is doing, how he learned how to do it, teach me how to do it!!!!!!!!!!) .... and them give him another one of my select Natural Lite's which I thoroughly enjoy! (Not being funny here, I like Natty Lite!)

As for the wife, she's doing fine! Nothing too disfiguring... just a little burnt.

NO!,,,, not 6 er of Natural Ice... that stuff is pretty stout for us here ya know....

I was willing to part with (1) one,,, of my Natty Lite Spectaculars....... not a whole 6 er.

Now,,, you say you're only 1.5 hours away?

Maybe I will make a concession and go against policy in this one instance. This could actually work.

I'm headed to the store right now! One six pack Natty Ice..... It's all for you once you get here and fix my grieving moment of the Tron being dead for now.