Williams Solved Hot Tip (Williams, 1977) G.I. Problem

[new_pinhead]

I'm new to pinball repair, but trying to learn. I have a Williams Hot Tip pin that I am trying to resurrect from dead. I've replaced all 3 boards in back box and machine is playing properly except that no G.I. lights are working on playfield or backglass. I've replaced burnt connector on power supply board. Driver board is getting 18 vdc coming to connector 2J4 (lamp supply), but connector 2J5 (lamp strobes) has no power coming out. If anyone could help me I would greatly appreciate it!

 

[new_pinhead]

How to Test Transistors

the G.I. is not working on my 'Hot Tip". Williams system 3. Replaced MPU,Driver and Power Boards. All were bad. 18VDC is going to connector J4 (lamp supply) on Driver Board, but no power coming to pins on J5 (lamp strobes). This is a Kohout Enterprises replacement board. Has more LEDS for diagnostics. almost all LEDS are lit for Lamp Strobes connector indicating a problem. First I have to figure out what transistors are for the lamps and then how to test them. Can anyone help???

 

[spalmer]

Hi new_pinhead!

I want to make sure I understand what you are asking. You said that you are having trouble with the GI lighting. GI lighting is the lighting that is not controled by the MPU or Driver board on System 3 machines (lighting under the plastics on the playfield like under the slingshots on either side of the flippers). Or you refering to the insert lighting(lighting under the playfield like special, extra ball, bonus counter, 2x, 3x etc)? I merged both of your threads into one since both referred to the same problem. I would be happy to help to need to clarify your question first.

 

[new_pinhead]

Clarification

the problem is the playfield lights and backbox lights that just illuminate the the machine- the lights under the plastics, the lights that light up the backglass. the special lights, extra ball, bonus counter lights do work properly. also the lights in backbox such as lighting player 1,2,3,4 up works, highest score, match, tilt, game over all work. the power is not getting to the lamp sockets. the 18 VDC is coming from power board to connector J4 on driver board, but it appears for some reason the power is not coming to the connector J5 (lamp strobes) which go to the lamp matrixes. Hope you can help. Thank you.

 

[spalmer]

If it is just the illumination lighting, the problem has nothing to do with the driver board. This lighting comes directly for the power supply. Did I am assuming that you replaced the MPU, Driver and Sound board. Did you replace the power supply? CHeck fuse F4 on the power supply. If you have replaced the connector on the lower left side of the power supply, the fuse is the next stop.

 

[new_pinhead]

closer

fuse F4 is good. checked pins on connector 3J3 and pins 1-4 (for the yellow wires which go to lamp matrixes) show no power, pin 5 is ground and pin 6and 7 are showing 38 vdc. does this mean that it is not grounded properly. I have already checked every grounding wire and strap that I could find and made sure they were clean and tightly screwed down. i've read that power cord should be replaced if old and this one looks like the original cord. I didn't replace it because I saw no splices or other bad spots and it still has the 3rd ground prong on the plug. What do you think based on those 4 pins having no power and the other 2 pins having 38 vdc??? Thanks for your help!!!

 

[spalmer]

Remove connector 3J3 from the power supply board. Using pin 3 as ground, check pins 1,2,4 and 5. They should be about 6.3 volts. If not then I think you have a power supply problem.

 

[new_pinhead]

no power on those pins. this is a brand new Pinscore replacement board. Spoke with someone from where I purchased the board and he said he believes there is a problem with the transformer. i don't know.

 

[spalmer]

I don't think so. Located LED D4 on the left hand side of the board next to the +18 volt test pad. Is it lit?

 

[new_pinhead]

yes it is lit.

 

[spalmer]

O.K. that ruled out the transformer. I am beginning to think you are dealing with a ground issue. I also do not think you are getting a good ground when checking voltage on 3J3. If pins 1,2,4 and 5 where truely dead, you would not be getting the feature lamps (i.e. game over, etc). I think we need to go down another path. What is the model number of that supply, PJ-7999-HV or PJ-8345-HV?

 

[new_pinhead]

the new power board is the PJ-7999-HV.

 

[spalmer]

Good. Just wanted to make sure you did not get a system 7 board in error. I need a couple of days to do some research. I also know Brett Davis, the gentleman that designed that board. I may reach out to him and see if he has any ideas. In the mean time, the fact you are getting the light (d4) that I mentioned tells me that you are getting the 18 volt from the transformer. It is stepped down by the power supply to 6.3. Again the fact you get feature lights also tells me this is working. I am also going to crack open my Black Knight. It is a system 7 but uses the same lighting voltages and color codes. I have an idea on what might be causing your headaches but things are a bit crazy at work and won't have time to research further for a few days. Can you send me a private message with a phone number? It may be helpful to can you to go through some real time troubleshooting.

 

[new_pinhead]

Thanks, will do. i'm actually going out of town til next monday 2-27-12. maybe we could take a crack at it then. thanks for all your help. I sure want to get these lights working and see this old game working 100% again. Then I can start to tweak on some of the mechanisms that are not quite up to snuff, and other cosmetic improvements needed. I really like the play on this machine - much more so than my 'Pop-A-Card'. Thanks again, talk some more soon.

 

[Coil_Smoke]

Maybe try a jumper to one of the G.I. circuits. If you can find the 6.3v source after the fuse protection it should be safe to energize a G.I. circuit temporarily with clip leads. Try jumping the G.I. grounds back to a known good ground too. Check for the correct amp fuse first to help prevent new problems.

 

[new_pinhead]

still in the dark

still in need of help with this issue if anyone can help. don't know if it could be related but on the displays all the 1's (ones) flicker - no other numbers do this.

 

[new_pinhead]

Problem resolved - Thanks Sean & Brett

Was put in contact with Brett - designer of Pinscore Replacement Power Board I put in my pin (PJ-7999-HV). He explained that power for G.I. lights will not go to connector pins (3J3, 1-5) on this board as with the original board due to connector burn problem that plagued this game. The fix is to bypass the Power Board with the 6.3 VAC power from the transformer and connect directly to G.I. circuits wires ( 6 wires from connector 3J3 - 3 yellow and 3 yellow/white). Remove the 2 - 6.3 VAC (G.I. Power) wires from main power input connector (3J1 - 12 pin rectangular connector). They connect to pin 3 and pin 6. One is Yellow and one is Yellow/White. I used a butt connector to directly connect the 3 yellow wires that go to G.I. circuits to the yellow 6.3 VAC coming from the transformer. Then using a triple fuse block (or 4 block like I used from Radio Shack and only used 3 fuse blocks) connect each of the 3 yellow/white wires that go to G.I. circuits to one side of fuse block (1 wire per fuse - 3 fuses total). Then I used a butt connector to connect 3 short pieces of wire to the Yellow/White 6.3 VAC wire coming from the transformer. Connect each one of these short pieces of wire to 1 of the fuses on other side of fuse block (3 fuses total) I used 10 amp 240 volt fuses since I have #44 lights. Brett said if you use #47 lights you could use 7 amp fuses. This wiring configuration works for the G.I. lighting and should eliminate the connector burn problem the original wiring created. I've attached a pic of the connection. Thanks again Sean & Brett.

 

[spalmer]

Plan on the same modification to your Disco Fever.