(Topic ID: 208650)

WWF Royal Rumble - repair help. F5 Fuse on A board popping

By Murph74

6 years ago


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  • 14 posts
  • 3 Pinsiders participating
  • Latest reply 6 years ago by Murph74
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#1 6 years ago

Hi. Trying to restore a WWF Royal Rumble that had a few issues. Somehow it appears 80% of the bulbs, including nearly every GI lights were burned out when I bought it. Not sure if it was a lightning strike or what happened to make it do that, but the machine has come a long way in the past several weeks of trying to clean it up. Several parts have been replaced, and all the small bulbs have been replaced with LEDs and are working. I've gotten NVRam and an updated ROM, but have not installed them yet.

The game plays, but no kickers/bumpers/slings seem to be working, nor are the upper play field drop targets popping up (DEAD targets are working correctly). The F5 fuse on the A board labeled "4a Slo Blo Solenoid 32vDC Bumpers, slingshots, etc." was blown. Yesterday, I replaced the fuse for the first time since I've owned it, and it pops and gives that 'burning electronics' smell for a moment immediately when powered on. So i turned it off within about 5 seconds. Then I noticed a small 'puff' of smoke rising, coming from somewhere on the power board near the fuse, maybe slightly to the left, but couldn't see exactly where. That was my cue to freeze my efforts before I made things worse. Hoping for some input on what to check and in what order to find the issue.

Also, the backbox illumination was only working on half the backglass. Turns out, there was a brittle connector at the power board. I would like to get a new connector for that part, but no clue where to source one. Again, hoping someone can point me in the right direction.

Any advice on moving forward on these issues would be greatly appreciated! I'm rather new to this repair stuff, but am a quick learner usually! Thanks for reading.

#2 6 years ago

great plains electronics should have all your connector needs

What do you mean the 'A' board?

Do you have any idea which component it was that the smoke came form?

#3 6 years ago

Try disconnecting connector 3 (CN3) on the power supply board. Then put a new fuse in the F5 spot. Power on the machine. Does F5 blow or not? Report back with your results.

#4 6 years ago

Hi again. Thanks for the quick replies!

Zacaj: I'll look into that place for new connectors. The A Board is what the power board is referred to in some documentation. The smoke appears to be coming from a disc at 21or Z1 at the bottom middle of the board after further examination tonight.

mikat11: I disconnected CN3 as suggested (the connector only had three red wires on it). The fuse still popped immediately. Attached is a screen shot of a video I took when turning it on, you can see the puff of smoke shooting out at the bottom. I'm not sure what CN3 is connected to, but am I on the right track thinking I have a dead short somewhere?

Thanks again, everyone!

Screenshot_20180130-011302 (resized).pngScreenshot_20180130-011302 (resized).png

#5 6 years ago

Z1 is a varister . Maybe a bad coil is the root of the problem and fried the varister and blows the fuse also. You should investigate the non working coils further.To clarify the situation. The 32v coil voltage circuit is not created on the power supply. It is passed through the PS. Comes in on CN1 pin 2, then fused at F5 with 2 caps and a varister in circuit, the output is to CN3. I would replace the varister and test the PS again with CN3 disconnected to verify the PS is OK, then proceed to find the problem occurring downstream.

#6 6 years ago

I think you can cut the varister out of the 32v circuit and it will still pass voltage to the output as it normally should but I could be wrong about that. You could try it and then check for 32v at the output pins at CN3.

#7 6 years ago

Ok, so to make sure I have this clear: with cn3 disconnected, the coils aren't the first, or likely only, problem. The varister is likely blowing the fuse before the coils are in the circuit since cn3 is disconnected.

If that's right, is there a simple way to test the varister, out is pulling the board out and replacing it the only real option? Or are you suggesting just clipping the varister out and trying a new fuse again with cn3 disconnected? Would I need to bridge the holes the varister was in to complete the circuit?

Also, what is a good or preferred procedure for testing coils? I assume I'm looking for more than just continuity, but could be over thinking it. Haha

Sorry to be so particular, but want to make sure I've got this down step by step both in theory and practice. . Thanks so much for your input!

#8 6 years ago

Yes the varister is blowing the fuse. Just clip it off the board it is definitely shorted to ground. One leg of the varister connects to the 32v trace and the other to ground. It is a voltage spike suppressor. Do not bridge the holes. That would be a dead short and blow the fuse. The reason for taking the varister out of the circuit is that then you will hopefully have a functioning 32v circuit. Put a new fuse in and then check for 32v at the output pins on CN3(disconnected).Then you can troubleshoot the root of the problem and not have that pesky varister blowing the fuse.

#9 6 years ago

Awesome, thank you! I'll try that tonight. I'll report back and let you know where it stands before moving any further forward. ( I don't like to presume what's next... I learned a while ago it doesn't work out very well for me in a learning environment! Haha)

Not sure what the real problem was to start this, but like I said, nearly every bulb with a filament was popped. LEDs are working fine as replacements. And the machine was in a barn loft game room. It's relatively clean, but no real info on its history or exposure to things like spikes and surges.

#10 6 years ago

Well, Mikat11... You're my favorite rock star right now! Clipped Z1 out, and the fuse did *not* pop. Checked the three pins on cn3 and all were at 42.9v.

I expect this is good news. Shall I reconnect cn3?

#11 6 years ago

Yea go ahead and try it. The worst thing that can happen is blowin the fuse again. Maybe that bad varister was the whole problem all along.

#12 6 years ago

Ok, looks like things are shaping up.

I've reconnected cn3 and the pop bumpers are working. The upper play field is working with drop targets going up and down. Even the larger bulbs in the back box are now working. But the slings above the flippers are still not working.

All fuses appear stable at the moment. Are the lower slings on a different circuit maybe?

(I'm genuinely getting excited at this progress today! Thanks so much for riding this out with me!)

#13 6 years ago

I'm looking at my Lethal weapon 3 manual which has the same board set as your game and it shows slingshot power coming from the red wires on the power supply at CN3. I think it is the same on your game. If the slingshot power wires are red on your game then we know they come from CN3. The power wires are daisy chained from one coil to the next and then on to another and so forth. A common problem is that a wire in between coils will break off at the solder point on a coil and end the power chain to the rest of the coils in line. So do a close visual inspection of those red wires. You can also do a continuity check of the power wires with your meter or check for voltage present at the coils. I think there should be power at the coils in attract mode. Black lead of your meter to the games ground braid (or any known ground will do) and red lead the coil. You can confirm this procedure is correct by checking for voltage at the working coils(pop bumpers or target reset coil).

#14 6 years ago

Sorry for the delay in getting back to this topic. I'm closer than ever to getting this fully playable. The varister made a huge difference. On the slings, it turned out to be some horribly bent and mis-shapen leaf switches. The coils were fine. Put the 1.06 rom in and it's working fine. Have a few more bulbs to change, but I'm those harder to get to areas, NVRam to install, and the kicker to the upper play field just stopped responding a ball, but still kicks in search mode, so I'm going in tomorrow to check for a sensor or switch.

It's playable now, but should I replace the varister, or is it one of those "excessive" parts? I know it serves a purpose, just not sure if it's required.

Thanks for all the help. I'm having a lot more fun than I thought I would working on this... Guess it's that thrill of victory and accomplishment!

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