I've bought quite a few Gulf repro boards before. They are pretty decent.

I still don't get why the hell this jumper would even be here in the first place. Odd.

Thanks for the info fellas. I'll play around with it later and report back.

Stupid people do stupid things

How many times do you open a pin up, and there is a regulated power supply grafted into the circuit? It's so dumb.

You remove it, and the problem is a 5 cent diode or $2 rectifier

Why anyone would tie the 12v (5v) circuit to ground is something I look forward to you telling us....

Hi calico1997 are these Xenon sound board’s still for sell please?
And can you ship to England? many thanks Keith.

Hey there,
I just completed a very extensive playfield swap (with so many ups and downs) and, although I am very close to the finish line, I have ONE SMALL issue left.

The LED bank of the tube lites has a pair of lights that is no longer flashing properly: the two bulbs closer to the entrance of the tube.

I am no expert at reading schematics but I did try. Issue is, I have no idea what is the indication for either the first pair or last pair of bulbs as they are indicated like this in the schematics: *5 TUBE LITE.

I am using LED flicker eliminator on the lamp driver but I don't believe these might be causing the issue.

Let me know if you can send me some insight on this!

Thanks!

IMG_1924 copy (resized).png

IMG_1925 copy (resized).jpg

You're on the right track but you are looking for group #1(first 2 lamps) if it's the 2 lamps closest to the entrance. See page W-1207-4 in manual. If looking at the tube lamp as it is installed in the game, header pin connector at the right, the left pin feeds the first 2 lamps on the right. That's pin 1. I know it sounds backwards but if you flipped the tube lamp over you can see the trace going from pin 1 to the 1st lamp on the right. Corresponding wire color is #34, yellow/green. Lamp driver J216=Q16.

Hey all. Just finishing up my Xenon. Last thing is sound. Sent out my speech and sound board to my board repair guy and he got them working 100% on his end.

On my end however the speech sometimes is clear, sometimes is very crackly and sometimes missing altogether.

The sound (music/effects) sometimes work and sometimes are missing.

I reseated the ribbon cable between the boards and that did not resolve it.

My Xenon has 2 speakers but I see that some Xenons look like they only have one speaker.

My board guy suggested I repin MPU and sound board connectors so I will try that. Which MPU connectors are tied to sound? I can check the schematics but thought I would ask anyways.

I am sure there have been many with sound issues on Xenon that can hopefully chime in!

Here is a video of the sound misbehaving right after installing the refurbed sound boards. Let me know what you think!

Thanks in advance!

This is usually caused by a dirty pot on the door and/or the board. If it's just the speech crank the speech pot back and forth a few times on the board. If it's all sound crank the door pot.

Those two lights are wired together so it's an in-common problem. The LEDs are expecting a ground from the SCR on the board. Look carefully at the board and ground the SCR feed going to the LEDs. there should be a resistor in series so ground the connector side of the resistor and not the LED side. If they light the board and LEDs are fine and you need to work backwards from the connector to find the open or bad SCR.

Ahh yes thanks! I should have mentioned that my board guy did replace both the pots on the sound board but I will certainly check the coin door pot!

MPU J4 connector has the signals that go to the sound board and solenoid driver board (actually they are the same signal set).

The switch at the top of the ramp stops background sounds until the ball travels into the left lane/saucer. Are you sure that switch isn't misbehaving from vibration because after the ball enters the outhole the background sound re-appears in the video.

Ok great thanks. I will likley repin that connector at the very least. I will also double check that switch. When I first reassembled the playfield the metal cover over that switch was pressing on it causing it to stick closed so I had to loosen off the screws for that metal switch cover so maybe it is interfering with the switch again?

Thanks for this Lovef2k: What is Q16 in J216=Q16?

Thanks BigAl56, can you clarify what SCR means in your explanation? Thanks!

Lights are turned on by an SCR, silicon controlled rectifier, transistor object on the lamp driver board. The #5 group is controlled by Q2 and it emerges from J1-25 on the board. If you short that pin to ground the LEDs should light up. Those high numbered pins are more likely to go cold over time. First thing to do if you haven't done so already, is to take the board out and reflow the solder connections to the pins. That will typically fix most lamp problems.

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Thank you Allan, I'll check this very closely and try to make my way and fix this! Much appreciated!

Q16 is the transistor that controls the lamps. They either short or get stuck open or just burn out. As big AL mentioned, you may also have a connection issue between the lamp strip to the lamp driver board. There are a few connectors involved. Put game in lamp test mode. 1st press of the red button in coin door. While the lamps are flashing, wiggle or flex the connectors to see if the lamps light up. If they do, you need to find the cause of the break. Of not, then the scr likely failed.

OEM upper arch used red lamp covers, same for 1,2,3,4, drop target lamps.

BigAl56, I took the board out to check. Here's where I follow from what you mentioned:

I have found the J25 pin and traced it, on the other side of the board, to a "connector" point right next to what I believe is the SRC 32.

I am correct to think that you are telling me I should desolder and resolder (reflow) this specific pin?

I am extremely eager to learn and I want to avoid making this worst!!!

Thank you for your amazing advice!

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I have reflowed J25 but these two LEDs are still not lightning up. Test mode image attached.

Will try and reflow or see if I have the right pin for the right lights.

IMG_1961 copy (resized).jpg

I have a nice original backglass for sale posted in the marketplace.

https://pinside.com/pinball/market/classifieds/ad/140399

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CC: Lovef2k

I have now reflowed both J1 and J2 and still, these LEDs at the entrance of the tube are not lighting up!

Any suggestions on how I should move forward with this?

1) check continuity:
1a) Use a small conductive wire that is long.
1b) Test J1-25 by inserting wire into connector and Gnd of backbox.
1c) Does lamp lite-up ?
1d) If yes, then the problem could be the SCR Q2.

2) Is J1-25 pin in good shape?
2a) If crushed, replace the .100m pin.
2b) If J1 is a IDC style connector, you have to remove, wire, IDC pin.
2ba) Use a .100 IDC tool or small flat blade to reinsert wire to connector.
Lovef2k can guide you with your problem.

Thanks vec-tor, just to be 100%, do I take the connector out of J1-25 to test do I just connect my wire to the connector?

Thanks for taking the time. It is super appreciated!

1) test connector to lite strip first.
1a) remove J1,J3 connector from lamp board.
1b) with power on test connector to lamp strip "playfield" with wire.
1bb) make sure you are grounding the return NOT the +7volt dc.
1bbb) each LED should lite.
if O.K. then go to lamp connector in backbox.
Note: I do not know what style of lamp connector you have.
------ The lamp driver board is version 1 from 1977.
2) ground test J1-25 [stick one end of wire jumper into connector & other end to Gnd]
2a) does correct lamp lite up?

Can someone please what type of post is supposed to go here? Can you please give me a part # if possible?

This is right next to the shooter lane ball gate as the ball enters the playfield from the shooter lane.

Thanks much, mk

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That is a steel pin.
Marco has #02-5105 blurry picture no size documentation.
Gottlieb #A-10542 steel pin Pinball Resource.

There is a steel pin near that area but not where that mark in your playfield is. If you put a steel pin there, it's going to totally interfere with ball travel. That's either an imperfection or a dimple that's way off. Here's where it should be:

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Thanks so much! It's a good thing you clarified this. I'll get this part ordered and make sure I put it in the correct place. I really appreciate the help! -mk

Is this a 2019 CPR run? That's what I have but didn't start the swap yet. That dimple is in the same location as yours. I did two swaps on the 09 run and I don't even remember that pin. I can't see why it's needed there. Centrifugal force should keep the ball up against the upper rail anyway.

The OEM playfield had a problem of the ball opening up the gate and going back into the
shooter lane.
The angle of the repo playfield, for the gates, is off a little bit.

Please reread post #1705. You are looking for pin 16 on lamp driver J2. #1 tube lights, follow the trace on schematic to Q16.

Check continuity between the connector of tube lamp pin 1(yellow wire with green hash marks) to J2 connector at lamp dirver pin 16, same color wire. If good, inspect the header pins on lamp strip and J2 lamp driver. If all good, Q16 mostly like failed. Or you have a bad lamp on the lamp strip.

This is a 2019 CPR gold. I'm learning that this post is important. On occasion, without the post, the ball will stick next to the shooter lane exit gate. This post is to prevent this. It also is supposed to create another "bounce" point to give the ball more chances at the rollover buttons either from the plunge or a shot from the left spinner lane.

My playfield is from the 2009 CPR run and has the same dimple. I opted not to put in a steel post, and after well over 3000 plays a ball has never gotten stuck there.

That’s consistent with the post location on my original playfield.

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Wow that is a really nice upper playfield.

The tube shot switch, actuator wire, works best if it is shaped in such away as to
allow to have a long wire feed into the plastic tube.
Or:
Use a MRS switch modification.

Oh it works alrighty! mkdud just got one for his Xenon....he seemed pretty satisfied...

Matt

Built, and now curing until Sat morning my friend!

Matt

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/thruster-i-just-met-her-xenon-restoration-/page/8#post-6654574
Put it in as soon as Matt made it!

I've got a weird switch problem. The switch leading to the tube shows closed on test, but in fact, it is open. I've swapped wires around and even tried a new switch, but still get the same error. Any ideas?

Does anyone have a link to M & M Creations? I may have to go this route, if I can't figure out my switch error.

Did you unsolder one of the wires first, in order to test the switch strobe?

Just PM me....

Matt

Yes, I tried that, too.

Could this possibly be tied-in with another switch, where the other switch(es) would not show up as an error? Does this switch require a diode? It didn't have one when I bought it. This is a project machine that I have been piddling with for years now.