Data East Solved Star Wars (Data East, 1992) flipper problems.

[Benzinex]

Hi everyone, I thought I'd try my hand at repairing an old Star Wars Data East pinball machine that's standing in a corner att my job and is in some desperate need of some love, the main problem being that the left flipper doesn't work.

After poking around for a while I found that the F3 fuse on the flipper board was blown so I thought no problem and replaced it with the same kind that was blown. After replacing, the flipper went up as soon as I powered on the machine and then dropped and stopped working. So I checked the fuse again and sure enough the new one had blown as well. I proceeded to remove the flipper board to have a closer look at it, I then discovered that there should have been a 3A fuse not a 4A fuse like the one that I originally found on the board. I've poked around a bit with a multimeter and it seems that the D6 diod on the flipper board is bust so I've ordered new ones (as well as 3A fuses) so hopefully that will fix the issue. I'm guessing that the fact that there was a 4A fuse on the board is what blew the diod.

My question to you all is what should I look at next if replacing the D6 diod on the flipper board doesn't fix the issue? Can an incorrect fuse blow that diod? I've also checked the diod on the left flipper coil and that seems to check out.

 

[Itchigo]

I'm guessing it's the other way around, that the diode blew the fuse. From a 3 to a 4amp, isn't too bad, but from a 3 to a 25amp is. I did that all the time (go slightly higher to test). But the era I'm good at didn't involve flipper boards.

 

[faralos]

this ain't a car radio!
NEVER replace a pins fuse with a higher one
you of all people should know that
you stand a damn good chance of frying the driver board
if replacing low fuses with higher rated ones!
if I were you check for obvious shorts
but also the board connections themselves
you DO have the manual for it I hope?

 

[Benzinex]

Yes I have the manual but I assumed that the busted fuse that I found in the machine had the correct amperage and didn't check the manual. :eusa_doh:

We'll see have the diod replacement works out when I receive them in a few days.

 

[Benzinex]

Replacing the D6 diod and using a correct 3A fuse didn't help Does anyone have a suggestions on what to try next? I'm considering switching the left and right coils to check for a shorted coil but that's a bit of work so is there anything simpler I can try first?

 

[Coil_Smoke]

Can you swap the coil wires and leave the coils mounted?

 

[Benzinex]

I could but I'd still need to desolder the wires connected to the coils which is why I was hoping there was something less intensive I could try first.

 

[Benzinex]

I switched the coils and there's nothing wrong with them as far as I can tell. What should I try next?

 

[pinballdaveh]

i dont have the schematic for the flipper board but there is prob a driver transistor that is blown out also causing the fuse to blow. if you cant find the problem rottendog makes a universal flipper board for data east games.

 

[Benzinex]

i dont have the schematic for the flipper board but there is prob a driver transistor that is blown out also causing the fuse to blow. if you cant find the problem rottendog makes a universal flipper board for data east games.

Thanks, That did the trick! I went a head and replaced the Q10, Q9 and Q8 transistors hoping it was one of those and now the flippers work perfectly! Now I just have to replace the rubber parts, clean up and replace a few broken lights and I'm ready to roll. Thanks for all the help