Guys does anyone have an extra set of side rails? Maybe from acresto that never got done? Thanks

Found this in Tallinn, Estonia in the Depeche Mode Bar. It's a Whirlwind with a Jokerz translite. My brain was so confused at first...

Whirlwind with Jokerz translite (resized).jpg

What the hell is that laser going across the back of the playfield? It starkly contrasts with what looks like the last 4 incandescent bulbs hanging on.

this needs to be posted in the Pinball Horror Pics thread for sure

Hey guys, for those who have mirror blades installed in their Whirlwind, can you confirm which type you used? Do WPC blades work given the wooden blocks in the rear corner holding the upper cloud decal?

402d267bdd879e74a4cd2e0028eb68d10b5e453a (resized).jpg

So I've discovered two odd issues on my Whirlwind that only recently have started happening. My Whirlwind is pretty crusty but for the most part it mechanically works fine.

However, I've noticed a couple different issues relating to the ball lock area:

1. Sometimes when the 1st ball is locked and rolls over the 3 switches, the game doesn't recognize it and so the game remains "idle" until it does a ball search and launches what should have been the locked ball back into play. When the switches do trigger, the game proceeds as normal.

2. A more bizarre issue, is that when the 1st ball is locked and gameplay is continuing as normal, if the ball goes into the left scoop, or goes into the right scoop then goes over to the left scoop, the locked ball launcher will trigger and shoot the locked ball out.

I haven't seen the 2nd issue happen until today, and all I had done was just try to clean the switch contacts with an index card but not remove or fiddle with anything to resolve the 1st issue.

I also have a problem where the lift ramp will sometimes not fully lower, but I've made some progress on that to where it's better than it was before but I still have the issue.

Your issue are likely the result of the same thing. Flaky switches in the ball lock area. Replace all 3 and I bet your issues go away. I bet what’s happening with the scoop is that the vibrating is causing one of the other switches in that area to activate or it’s causing the first one to lose contact.

That makes sense, so I would replace the sub-microswitches? Looks like Pinball Life has it but Marco does not.

I am having the exact same issue with my WW
Following

Marco has tons of them, often with the actuator... do a search for "sub mini".
This is a perfectly good one if you can reuse your existing actuators, just swap it onto the switch...
https://www.marcospecialties.com/pinball-parts/5647-12693-08

As noted above, you can also just buy the switch for less money and swap the wire form over.

https://www.marcospecialties.com/pinball-parts/5647-12693-00

I keep a few of these on hand now. I need to break down and just buy some new diodes, but they are not difficult to swap over as well to a new switch.

I always buy switches that have a common or universal customizable actuator with it, so I end up with spares of those too... Worth the extra buck.

So generally the actuators are fine, but the switches are flaky? My wireforms still appears to be fine, though they may be slightly off from the wear and tear the machine has had over the years.

Yes. It’s the internals that wear out

Also, what would be the least painful way to do a playfield swap? Currently I'm thinking of doing it this way:

-Two tables, side by side. One for the old playfield, one for the new
-Remove all the topside parts from the current playfield (and take crap tons of pictures) and place it face down on the first table
-Take the new playfield and place it on the 2nd table face down with something to protect the playfield from getting scratched up
-Use the "cardboard" method to move the various pieces and wire harnesses over to the new playfield.

Gently tweak the wireforms as needed, but it shouldn't take too much. And the wireforms will clean up like new with something like Mothers Mag & Aluminum Polish.

I have a question. I moved my Whirlwind and now it plays fine but the spinners do not spin. I can move them with my finger so they are not stuck. So now I am looking for something that may have been jarred loose. Looking at the schematics, is it 1J19 that sends power to them? It says "Spl Solnd" 1 through 6 but I am not sure exactly what that is.

Is the fan still working? I believe the spinners and fan have to go through the extra board on the top of the backbox.

I’ve done one on whirlwind. Mine was easier than most though as my “new” playfield was a very lightly used original that had been clear coated. So everything was lined up and drilled correctly. I had the wiring harness with everything attached. Granted I didn’t go through the trouble of disconnecting the solenoids and switches and everything so it was very easy to move the harness over with the lamps, switches, and coils all attached. All I really had to worry about was re wiring the pop bumper lamps, and a couple of other things that had broken wires. I’m really looking at replacing the ramps as they aren’t that great, but the playfield itself looks wonderful

8873C420-7EE5-4620-A17B-07F0AD1B63C7 (resized).jpeg

Issue #1: Thank you for pointing me at that! That was indeed the problem. It looks like the long wires got caught on something and when I lowered the backbox, they pulled out of the board. bent the pins and busted up the connector. bent connectorI think it will go back together but I am unable to check because..........

Issue #2: suddenly I have no boot. Nothing but the GI comes on at power up. No flashes on the board, nothing. I checked the fuses and they all look good, its a newer Rottendog PSU (1 year old) but I will have to get out the tester and see where the power stops.

Issue #3: while poking around in the head, I spotted something that does not look right. 1J11 has only a single wire on it. Strangely, I don't see anything that looks like it was pulled out and left bare. The schematic says 1J11 are all Solenoid connectors and the solenoids all worked while testing the spinners. So I don't know if that is an issue or not...lolone wire?

The large connector with 1 wire is indeed correct. If you have no lights at all the mpu is not getting power.

I am going to try and work backwards on power. First is to see if power is getting to the Rottendog board.

Looking at the manual, It looks like connector 3J3 is coming from the transformer and I should be able to verify I am getting 88.5V ac between pins 3J3-8,9

I don't really understand what the other pins are telling me though, for example, pin 3J3-1 what is

19.4V ac, 10, C. T.

ps snip (resized).png

What they are saying is if you were to check the AC voltage across the transformer secondary winding ( GRAY/GRAY GREEN) you would read 19.4 volts AC. If you were to check the voltage from the center tap wire (GREY WHITE) to each side of the winding you will read 9.7-10 volts AC.

gg (resized).PNG

ok, thanks. I will start there and see where the power fails (if it does)
Mark

Fortunately, I also happen to have an original NOS WW playfield so I won't have to worry about the drilled holes not lining up. So it sounds like I could basically take two tables and line them up side by side and then just slide the wire harness over with everything attached with a few exceptions as you mentioned.

Pretty much, make sure you have cellar scoops and spinner mechs, and new pop bumper bodies installed then you should be able to remove everything else fairly easily.

Install all of the easy things first, lamp board pcbs, drop target mechs, all the things the plug in, when your going, I started at the top of the playfield as it is where the wire loom is easiest imo to lay out. Figure out where the thick main loom follows, lay it out roughly, and then everything falls into place fairly easily, reference manual for wire colors so you don’t mess up the pops as that is the only tricky part.

thanks for the info. I checked power going in to the board and all looked good. The test points on the board are all good except for the 5v which shows zero. Its a Rottendog board so I should be able to send it in for repair.

I am having a problem with my thunder flashers not flashing when the game starts. The GI lamps on that board do come on normally. The connectors look good and the solder on the pins look good. I haven’t been able to find what controls the lamp board.
Any suggestion on where to check for what’s causing my problem?

Those flashers are all separate, so if none work, its something common to all of them. That almost always leads to a connector, broken wire or header pin problem.
If by chance you put LED's in there, and then they stopped working, check the polarity.
Just because a solder joint "looks good", doesnt mean it is... Hairline cracks are usually not visible, reflow the solder on all pins and report back.

Thanks TheOnlyest.
Pins have been reflowed and a little fresh solder added. No change.
LEDs were added before I purchased the game.

Stick incandescents back in and I bet they work

I switched them back and when I started a game they lit up just like they should! When I repeated the start sequence they went back to not working I feel like we’re getting closer.

Nonsense.

Apparently not

Stick incandescents back in

To be fair I did leave the LEDs in the bottom “GI” section of the board. All have been swapped out for incandescents now and no dice.

Back to nonsense then.

Mine also wouldn’t work with Led flashers but with incandescent all thunder flasher and dome flashers work
Which is odd because my Taxi worked fine with LED

Like a tennis match here. Advantage non nonsense.

I cleaned all the wedge sockets and flowed solder over the socket connections. After replacing all the incandescent bulbs in the thunder flashers again it worked appropriately one time and then, once again, nothing except the GI line.

Duece

Through doing this several times I have found that all the 555 lights that are used in the thunder flashers are blown after that first good flash.

…. Because they are supposed to be 12v 89 bulbs

555 bulbs are 6v bulbs so you are burning them out

Advantage.

Looks like I’m ordering some #906 bulbs for the flashers.
I do appreciate this group and the help.

Wondering how a 555 even stays in the socket for the 906. Aren't the 906 significantly bigger?

The sockets are bigger but will hold a 555.

Nonsense will win.

Ive had LED flashers in mine for years and they all work, everytime, all the time. From an electronic theory standpoint, the only way LED's wouldn't work, is if they were all wired together in series, and they aren't.

So, nonsense.

Point nonsense.

40/15

All I know is my thunder flashers were dead and hopefully with the rite bulbs they will work correctly.
Sorry to flood the forum with Nonsense but thanks for the help.

It's cool, makes the solution interesting for those following along.