Bram Stoker's Dracula TECH F115 blows

[tomdotcom]

Ok I've done a bit of reading and testing, but not sure what to do
next.

As soon as I turn the game on all the coils start firing continuously.
The DMD gives the f114/f115 error, and then f115 blows instantly, f114
is fine.

I took out the F115 fuse as per the guides and booted the game and
f114 still does NOT blow.

I unplugged the playfield connectors on the CPU (j206-209) and turned
on the game and the fuse still blew.

The fuse does NOT blow if I disconnect J114.

Advice? Is my U20 shorted?

[Lloyd Olson]

Is the bridge rectifier associated with F115 okay ? Then I'd suspect U20.
LTG :)

"tomdotcom" <tomdo...@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:2842fea5-5fc4-48c0...@y18g2000prn.googlegroups.com...

[chuck]

On May 14, 4:52 pm, "Lloyd Olson" <l...@ssbilliards.com> wrote:
> Is the bridge rectifier associated with F115 okay ? Then I'd suspect U20.
> LTG :)
>

> "tomdotcom" <tomdotco...@gmail.com> wrote in message

>
> news:2842fea5-5fc4-48c0...@y18g2000prn.googlegroups.com...
>
>
>
> > Ok I've done a bit of reading and testing, but not sure what to do
> > next.
>
> > As soon as I turn the game on all the coils start firing continuously.
> > The DMD gives the f114/f115 error, and then f115 blows instantly, f114
> > is fine.
>
> > I took out the F115 fuse as per the guides and booted the game and
> > f114 still does NOT blow.
>
> > I unplugged the playfield connectors on the CPU (j206-209) and turned
> > on the game and the fuse still blew.
>
> > The fuse does NOT blow if I disconnect J114.
>
> > Advice? Is my U20 shorted?

Lloyd, you need to hire a kid to run the arcade and become a full-time
tech =)

[Lloyd Olson]

Incidently if U20 is bad, I believe it gives that error, not that those
fuses are actually bad or U20 can blow a fuse. LTG :)

"Lloyd Olson" <l...@ssbilliards.com> wrote in message
news:pYidnYjSEKiTJXDW...@skypoint.com...

[tomdotcom]

I'll try and test the bridge, I think it's BR1..

Is there a way to test u20 with my DMM?

I was installing a new t-nut under the playfield, with the game off,
then when I turned the game on I got the f114/f115 error. Maybe I
shorted something somehow when I was tapping it in..

[cody chunn]

Forget about U20 for now. I don't think it's BR1 either.

Put a good fuse in 115's spot.

Locate LED6 and LED1.

Power up the game, but keep your finger on the switch. Quickly observe the
condition of the LEDs, then switch the game off before it has time to blow
the fuse. A couple seconds is all you need to verify the LEDs.

What are the conditions of these two LEDs?

With J114 disconnected (F114 and F115 surviving), what do you see on TP3?
Should be +12 volts DC.

The results of these tests should point you toward the culprit(s).

--
-cody
--
[Note: Following any advice given in this message
may result in property damage, minor injury, serious injury or death.
Follow advice at your own peril.]

"tomdotcom" <tomdo...@gmail.com> wrote in message

news:d68ea407-ccad-4e53...@t26g2000prt.googlegroups.com...

[tomdotcom]

K thx Cody, down to the basement to try this...the fuse blows pretty
damn fast though, so I'm not sure I'll have time to shut if off..we'll
see..

[cody chunn]

Then just do it with J114 off. Should net useful results.

--
-cody
--
[Note: Following any advice given in this message
may result in property damage, minor injury, serious injury or death.
Follow advice at your own peril.]

"tomdotcom" <tomdo...@gmail.com> wrote in message

news:1d8823a2-217d-4426...@q36g2000prg.googlegroups.com...

[tomdotcom]

J114 disconnected reading at TP3 = 11.92

LED1 & LED6 both come on when I quickly turned if on and off.

[tomdotcom]

BR1 seems to test fine in the .4 to .6 range using the diode test on
my DMM. Test at around .5 for both - and + legs.

[cody chunn]

OK. Since the fuses survive with J114 disconnected, look in the manual at
what is connected on that connector. It sounds like whatever is on there is
the problem. What is hooked up on J114?

Anyone agree or disagree?

--
-cody
--
[Note: Following any advice given in this message
may result in property damage, minor injury, serious injury or death.
Follow advice at your own peril.]

"tomdotcom" <tomdo...@gmail.com> wrote in message

news:3142e9b1-3950-4edc...@h20g2000prn.googlegroups.com...

[tomdotcom]

j114-1(driver board) to j210 6,7 (cpu board) j904-2 +12v (fliptronic
board)
j114-2(driver board) to j210 6,7 (cpu board) j904-2 +12v (fliptronic
board)
j114-3(driver board) to j210 4,5 (cpu board) j502 1,3(audio board)
j904-1 +5v (fliptronic board)
j114-4(driver board) to j210 4,5 (cpu board) j502 1,3(audio board)
j904-1 +5v (fliptronic board)

[Borygard]

J114 is power to all the other boards in the game.

Plug J114 back in and unplug power to all the other boards, reconnect them
one at a time until you find the problem board.

--
Rob Anthony
Pinball Classics
www.LockWhenLit.com
Quality Board Repair - In Home Service
314-766-4587

"cody chunn" <cch...@comcast.net> wrote in message
news:hskliq$9p5$1...@news.eternal-september.org...

[cody chunn]

Ah! So Lloyd may have been onto something with the WPC board.

Tom, if you have a couple of extra fuses (or a circuit breaker), disconnect
the WPC board and see if the fuse survives.

If it does, then disconnect all the boards' power and reconnect one at a
time until fuse pops, then last board connected is suspect.

--
-cody
--
[Note: Following any advice given in this message
may result in property damage, minor injury, serious injury or death.
Follow advice at your own peril.]

"Borygard" <bory...@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:hskmvc$kk1$1...@speranza.aioe.org...

[tomdotcom]

Thanks guys I only have 2 fuses left haha. Wish me luck, I will report
back..

[tomdotcom]

Which connector do I need to unplug for the CPU board? Is it j210 on
the CPU? Do I also need to unplug the ribbon cable between the CPU and
driver board? I unplugged j210 only and when I turned the game on it
made an ungodly loud beeping sound..

[tomdotcom]

Thanks for the help borygard, just to keep everyone in the loop, I
have unplugged the j210 power connector to the CPU and now the fuse
does not blow. So evidently I have an issue with the CPU board..

[cody chunn]

Sounds like Lloyd might have walked that mile before you. If U20 is
socketed, try that first.

:0)

--
-cody
--
[Note: Following any advice given in this message
may result in property damage, minor injury, serious injury or death.
Follow advice at your own peril.]

"tomdotcom" <tomdo...@gmail.com> wrote in message

news:d3824a0a-1f84-4400...@g39g2000pri.googlegroups.com...

[tomdotcom]

U20 is not socketed by I went and bought a new IC chip and I got a
socket for it as well, so I may try replacing that next, I just don't
want to have to pull the board if I don't have to...I can do board
work but I'm still fairly new at it..

[chuck]

Carefully clip all the chip leads. Remove each leg one by one. Then
clean the holes with a solder pump or braid. Do this and you'll have
no problems.

[tomdotcom]

Ok I put a socket at u20 and installed a new chip. Fuse f115 still
blows right away when you power the machine on. Next step? Damn I'm
pretty stumped here. Thanks for the help thusfar borygard and everyone
else.

Any got any more good ideas or tests I should run?

[Lloyd Olson]

How did we ever do with checking the bridge rectifier associated with F115 ?

If you have a short ( on a board or out in the game ) you probably took out
the new U20.

You might be at a point where you need somebody like Rob Anythony to get his
nose in there and narrow it down so you quit chasing back and forth. LTG :)

"tomdotcom" <tomdo...@gmail.com> wrote in message

news:15a02e92-35f7-4fcf...@p5g2000pri.googlegroups.com...

[tomdotcom]

I tested BR1 and it tested within spec...I ran out of fuses though, so
I can't do anymore testing until next week when the local electronics
shop opens...

I could try and replace br1 and go from there. I have read that
sometimes bridges still test fine even if they're not?

[Lloyd Olson]

Since it takes the fuse out fast, I'd be looking for dead shorts, not flaky.
So if BR1 tests okay, it most likely is, you'd see if it was shorted. LTG :)

"tomdotcom" <tomdo...@gmail.com> wrote in message

news:8c793bce-22d7-4c18...@g39g2000pri.googlegroups.com...

[tomdotcom]

K thanks Lloyd, I will do some more looking to see if I can find the
short, maybe when I was banging in the tnut i knocked something
around..

[tomdotcom]

Since I unplugged the playfield connectors from the CPU wouldn't that
rule out having a short on the playfield somewhere? The fuse still
blows even with those connectors unhooked. It does NOT blow when I
unhook the CPU however.

Probably going to send the board to borygard..but I want to make sure
that my reasoning is correct first :)

[Lloyd Olson]

A lot of work, but I'd unplug all playfield connectors from the boards in
the head. Then see where you are at. I have no idea if you shorted something
once and hurt a board, or if you created a permanent short out in the game.
LTG :)

"tomdotcom" <tomdo...@gmail.com> wrote in message

news:8dfc2204-a0de-472f...@u3g2000prl.googlegroups.com...

[tktlwyr]

Tom,

If U20/U14 are bad because of a high voltage short, this could cause
F115 to blow. If you disconnect the playfield connectors from the
CPU, the bad chip(s) could still cause the F115 to blow, assuming the
CPU is still connected to the driver board. If disconnecting the CPU
from the driver stops F115 from blowing, your CPU still has an issue.

[llabrevlis]

When you are at the electronics store, might be a good idea to look
into getting some circuit breakers, for 50 bucks or so you can cover
most of the values you'll need, and it will make this kind of
diagnosing much easier, and in the long run cheaper!! I solder short
wires and alligator clips onto each lead, works great!!

Dale

[tomdotcom]

Ya that was my next plan was to get a circuit breaker haha. Wasted to
many fuses :) Sounds like I have a CPU issue...so I'm going to have it
looked at..thanks so much guys!

[tomdotcom]

Ok I got more fuses, I'm going to try and tackle this issue tomorrow!!

[tomdotcom]

I swapped the CPU from BSD into my Fishtales and it did the exact same
thing. f115 fuse blew right away. So I'm thinking I must have a CPU
issue. Going to send it to Borygard @ lockwhenlit to look at..

Thanks for the help everyone, I'll report back what the issue was once
it's working again..

Tom

[John Wart, jr]

Any chance U20 is socketed?

[tomdotcom]

It is now, I replaced u20 and socketed it when I did it..

[JD]

tomdotcom wrote:
> It is now, I replaced u20 and socketed it when I did it..

And you still have problems?

-JD-

[tomdotcom]

Yep, I replaced U20 and it is doing the exact same thing, F115 blows
instantly when you turn the game on, also a bunch of coils in the game
fire on and off continuously

[Woz]

So remove U20 - that will eliminate it from being the cause of the
shorts.

U18 and U19 LM339's are powered by +12V so I suspect the problem is
one of those IC's since they are on the input side of the switch
matrix.

Woz

[tomdotcom]

I removed u20 and the fuse still blew. That's as far as I've gotten so
far...

[Woz]

On May 21, 6:49 pm, tomdotcom <tomdotco...@gmail.com> wrote:
> I removed u20 and the fuse still blew. That's as far as I've gotten so
> far...

U18/19 U18/19 :)

[tomdotcom]

I'll have to wait until Tuesday now to go get some of the lm339's and
sockets, hopefully our local electronics shop has some..

Wish I knew what the hell caused all this, I have a bad feeling that
something somewhere is still shorted or something, least I'd have them
socketed if they blew again. I may send the board to Borygard but I'd
really rather try and sort it out myself. I am good at desoldering and
soldering so it's no problem to socket those chips..

[tomdotcom]

CPU resistance tests:

J210 pin 1 to pin 7 = .3

u16 u17 u18 u19 = .3 from pin 3 to pin 12

[tomdotcom]

Ok, a litte more progress but no resolution. I socketed and replaced
u16 u17 u18 u19 and u20 now and replaced all the IC's. Put it back in
the games and f115 blew right away again.

Before all the coils would fire as well when this happened, this time
that didn't happen it just went to a flashing "factory settings
restored" screen. I tried to access the test menu and none of the
buttons did anything so I couldn't get past the settings restored
screen.

Either way f115 blew right away.

What should be my next stop? Maybe I have other issues on the board?
Could I still possibly have a playfield short or opto board short or
something like that?

Help....

[Woz]

Did you check that the short was gone after you replaced each IC and
before you plugged it back in?

Remove all the IC's you replaced from the sockets one by one and check
to see when the short disappears. You may have fixed the problem on
the CPU but if there is till a problem on the playfield it's just
going to cause the same problem.

Woz

[tomdotcom]

K, I'll try that, thanks Woz...

[tomdotcom]

Ok, I pulled the CPU out again. I replaced all the IC's u16-u20. I
tested them again and u20 seems to test fine but all the lm339 still
test at .3

I'm going to burn this F'n pin.

My Zeke's Peak arcade is driving me bonkers too, I'm friggin cursed
lately. Wish I had someone to help that was close by...

[tomdotcom]

Thx for all the help Woz!!

Ok I pulled all the ic's u16-u20 and pins 1 to 7 on j210 of the CPU
still shows a reading of .3

[tomdotcom]

Got it fixed finally, but with some help. I dragged it down to Kelowna
and had someone I met fix it. I know he's a member here, but if he
wants to be named he can speak for himself :) Super nice guy and very
knowledgeable and a very nice set of pins to boot.

I believe u20 was shorted, and in replacing the socket, I had some
solder splash on the board. He cleaned it all up and Dracula is
playing great once again. He also fixed my G.I jumper wire on
Fishtales and put it back to factory.

It's a GREAT pinball day for me, everything is working, even my Zeke's
Peak is now fully functional after many headaches (board repair,
transformer repair, and limit switch adjusting.)