zero_koop
Pinball Nudger
- Joined
- May 3, 2012
- Messages
- 11
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- Favorite Pinball Machine
- Jokerz!
I posted this question at another forum, but since that forum didn't specialize in pinball I was hoping to get overall better advice here. No offense to them.
I'm really stumped on this one. I'm not a pinball repair expert but I am an electrical engineer so I'm fairly familiar with what I'm looking at under the hood. That said, I cannot figure out what is wrong with my left flipper.
How it broke: The left flipper always had a problem with sticking in the up position. Not because a solenoid was engaging, it just stuck because of dirt, etc. So I took the solenoid off to clean it. This usually fixes the problem until it becomes dirty again. But this time when I was reconnecting the wires to the solenoid I put them on wrong. I powered up the system and the flipper didn't work. When I realized my mistake I put the wires on right, but the flipper never worked again.
What I have done so far: In trying to determine if the problem was the solenoid itself or something else I switched the left and right flipper solenoids. Still, only the left flipper didn't work. In other words, the solenoid that was originally not working in the left flipper position did work in the right flipper position so I know the problem is not with the solenoid but with the circuit.
My buddy thinks I may have broke a transistor. He pointed me to a guide that would tell me how to test transistors and the solenoid itself.
http://hansbalk.home.xs4all.nl/rep/sys11/index2.htm#flip0
I don't know if the person who wrote it guide is wrong or I am, but I can't get anything he says to try to work. First, he says I should read 50-80V on the flipper. I can't get any voltage reading on any solenoid. All of my solenoids (except the left flipper) work during gameplay. For some reason I can't get a voltage reading off any of them. I checked my DMM and it works. It can accurately read 1.5V off of a AA battery for example.
Then the guide says I can attach an alligator clip to the metal side rail and touch the ground prong of a solenoid to fire it.
http://hansbalk.home.xs4all.nl/rep/sys11/index2.htm#trans
I can't get this to work either. I am trying this on both the working solenoids and the broken left flipper solenoid. Neither work!
I have no idea what I am doing wrong, does anyone have a clue? Thanks.
I'm really stumped on this one. I'm not a pinball repair expert but I am an electrical engineer so I'm fairly familiar with what I'm looking at under the hood. That said, I cannot figure out what is wrong with my left flipper.
How it broke: The left flipper always had a problem with sticking in the up position. Not because a solenoid was engaging, it just stuck because of dirt, etc. So I took the solenoid off to clean it. This usually fixes the problem until it becomes dirty again. But this time when I was reconnecting the wires to the solenoid I put them on wrong. I powered up the system and the flipper didn't work. When I realized my mistake I put the wires on right, but the flipper never worked again.
What I have done so far: In trying to determine if the problem was the solenoid itself or something else I switched the left and right flipper solenoids. Still, only the left flipper didn't work. In other words, the solenoid that was originally not working in the left flipper position did work in the right flipper position so I know the problem is not with the solenoid but with the circuit.
My buddy thinks I may have broke a transistor. He pointed me to a guide that would tell me how to test transistors and the solenoid itself.
http://hansbalk.home.xs4all.nl/rep/sys11/index2.htm#flip0
I don't know if the person who wrote it guide is wrong or I am, but I can't get anything he says to try to work. First, he says I should read 50-80V on the flipper. I can't get any voltage reading on any solenoid. All of my solenoids (except the left flipper) work during gameplay. For some reason I can't get a voltage reading off any of them. I checked my DMM and it works. It can accurately read 1.5V off of a AA battery for example.
Then the guide says I can attach an alligator clip to the metal side rail and touch the ground prong of a solenoid to fire it.
http://hansbalk.home.xs4all.nl/rep/sys11/index2.htm#trans
I can't get this to work either. I am trying this on both the working solenoids and the broken left flipper solenoid. Neither work!
I have no idea what I am doing wrong, does anyone have a clue? Thanks.