F6 fuse on power board keeps blowing

[Cenk]

Good afternoon RGP Group,

My F6 5A Slow Blow fuse on my power board keeps blowing when I turn on
the power switch. I have no idea how to fix this. Thank you.

Cenk


--
Cenk
This USENET post sent from http://rgparchive.com

[Lloyd Olson]

What game ?

Or if you have a manual or are familiar with what F6 protects, unplug the
connector from the power board and then try it. If it then blows you have a
board issue, if not then you have a short out on the connector you
unplugged.

LTG :)

"Cenk" <cenk....@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:Cenk....@rrgparchive.com...

[flyer666]

my guess bridge rectifier


--
flyer666

[kicktarget@gmail]

If we are talking Bally/Stern then ....

If you remove all outgoing connectors off the power board and it still blows the fuse - then it is a shorted bridge rectifier.

[Cenk]

Ok, I unplugged the F6 connector, flipped the power switch, and no blown
fuse. Next step is to order a new connector. Thank you Lloyd.

[Lloyd Olson]

Perhaps I didn't word this good enough.

What you unplugged ( F6 connector ) follow the wires from that connector out
into the game and figure out what is bad ( or shorted ).

Could be a bad coil, a bad socket or bulb, or metal shorting to wiring.

LTG :)

"Cenk" <cenk....@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:Cenk....@rrgparchive.com...
>

[Cenk]

Hello Llyod,

I've been chasing my tail, since I bought this pinball. I did notice
two broken bulbs behind a set of drop targets. Can broken bulbs
underneath plastics on the playfield actually lead to shorted connectors
way up on the power supply board?

Cenk

[Lloyd Olson]

Shorted bulbs can cause problems. I don't know if it's what is wrong with
your game or not.

LTG :)

"Cenk" <cenk....@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:Cenk....@rrgparchive.com...
>

[Eric A.]

Lets try again. What game? That way we can read a set of schematics
and try to help If it is a classic bally/Stern then I agree with the
others that it is probablly a shorted bridge rectifier.

[Cenk]

I traced the F6 connector from the power supply board wires to the
transformer at the bottom of the cabinet. Don't know if that helps but
I feel good that I can do this.

[Lloyd Olson]

Well it sounds like you are going about this all wrong.

You disconnected F6 ( power from transformer to board ) and didn't blow a
fuse.

I don't know how to tell you this, but you can't blow a fuse without power.

Please let us know the name of game you are working on so we can give you
better help.

LTG :)

"Cenk" <cenk....@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:Cenk....@rrgparchive.com...
>

[Cenk]

..but I saved the life of another 5A Slow Blow.

We have a 1988 Data East Secret Service.

[Lloyd Olson]

Okay F6 is your flash lamps.

Find the connector on the power supply board going to them and disconnect
that connector. Then power up - if it blows your power supply board has a
problem.

If it doesn't blow then going out into the game you have a short, could be
bad bulb, bad socket, socket leads touching metal or bent together, or
wiring shorted.

Most likely an easy fix, hard part will be finding it unless you get lucky.

LTG :)

"Cenk" <cenk....@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:Cenk....@rrgparchive.com...
>

[AVP Pinball Division]

"Lloyd Olson" <l...@ssbilliards.com> wrote in message
news:P4qdnf2yO9n-hT7N...@skypoint.com...

> Okay F6 is your flash lamps.
>
>>

>> We have a 1988 Data East Secret Service.
>>
>>
>> --
>> Cenk

Data East games have issues with harnesses being cut by flipper stops and
harness brackets. You might want to flip that playfield up and start
looking with a bright light. If nothing else put in a new fuse with the
playfield up. Turn out all the lights and have a helper watch for the spark
as you slowly lower the playfield while in flasher test. If there's a break
in the harness the spark will give away it's position. That's how I found a
short in a Jurassic Park machine decades ago. That was about a month before
Data East released a service bulletin detailing the harness issues. :P

--
Pistol Pete
AVP Pinball Division
Towson, MD
410-583-9200
web: http://www.AVPpinball.com
email: ser...@AVPpinball.com

[flippy]

"Eric A." <eaved...@comcast.net> wrote in news:b7eb1e90-5426-4476-
8215-93d...@g14g2000yqp.googlegroups.com:

Dude where have you been hiding? Haven't seen you
in these parts in ages.

flippy

[Cenk]

Again, I have a 1988 Data East Secret Service. Previous owner installed
a Rottendog Power Supply Board WDP011A and from this board I keep
blowing the F6 5A Slow Blow fuse. Two weeks ago received a new
Rottendog MPU but today I disconnected the MPU and I turned on the power
switch, the sound came on as we'll as the playfield, and backbox lights
came on. In addition, the F6 fuse DID NOT blow. Can the problem be a
bad transistor on the MPU now? Thank you.
Cenk

[KenH]

>>>Most likely an easy fix, hard part will be finding it unless you get lucky.

Probably just a fuse...

Sorry, I couldn't resist.

Isn't there some test you can do, while running the circuit through a 120v light bulb -- if the light bulb glows, then you still have a short...

I forget how that goes.

[William Brower]

Are you being sarcastic ?. :). Yes this does work but, the bulb needs
to be the same voltage as the shorted circuit and in series with the
dead short. Try it sometime :)

Bill

[KenH]

Well, I was joking about the 'its probably a fuse' part, but was serious about the light bulb test--but couldn't remember the particulars. I thought I read something about a 120v light bulb in series w/ the circuit, then you power the circuit, and the light bulb glows (dimly in this case--but enough to see that you have a short--but also protects the circuit from shorting), but you search for the short -- when you eliminate the short, the bulb stops glowing -- er something like that. I probably don't have all the details right...maybe you don't leave the circuit powered the whole time -- I don't remember exactly, do you?

[William Brower]

Ken, I thought you were being sarcastic about it, sorry. :)

You do have the circuit right, other then the bulb in series on the
short needs to be the same voltage as the short's circuit voltage, or
close to it.

I use a 120 volt bulb and a pigtail (just a 120v bulb in a socket with
two wire leads) in the field for testing dead 120 volt shorts. If one
should have a dead short in a 120 volt circuit in a house outlet or
lighting circuit that is tripping the breaker, you can find the short
easier with this type of testing. I do have some real good testers,
but this old school method is easy to do and works very well.:)

Because I do this for a living, I'm not suggesting this method is for
everyone, one can cause serious harm or death while working on live
higher voltage circuits.

Here goes: Take off the electrical panel cover and find the tripped
breaker. Remove wire from tripped breaker and install removed wire to
one wire of the pigtail, then install the other wire of the pigtail to
the breaker. Since this is a dead short, positive to neutral or
positive to ground touching each other causing the short and therefor
tripping the breaker, the light bulb will burn bright. Now I have this
"pigtail" hanging out of the panel and I'll search for the short
without having to go back to the panel to reset to breaker, while
removing devices and lights in the circuit I'll find the problem and
the light will go dim when problem is fixed...no more short. :)

This same type of testing can be used on finding shorts on our pinball
machines too. Say you have a fuse blowing the 6 volt lighting circuit
on an old EM GI circuit. Make up a pigtail for a 6 volt bulb. Then cut
the load side of the wire at the blown fuse, or unsolder it. Take one
wire of the pigtail and put it on one the fuse holder (replace blown
fuse too) and the other wire you cut off to the other wire of the
pigtail...done. This pigtail in series with your short will allow you
to check the circuit live, without blowing fuses. The light will be
bright until you find the shorted socket or wire that is causing the
short, when problem is found the light will become dim...short fixed.
Remove pigtail and solder wire back on to the fuse holder...Done. :)

Hope this helps someone. :)

Bill

[William Brower]

Added a extra word in there.

Meant: Take one wire of the pigtail and put it on the fuse holder.

Does anyone else use this simple, cheap and quick method of testing
live shorted circuits? If not, you should :).

ill

[William Brower]

and forgot "an extra" And I'm not ill...maybe just a little.

Bill

[KenH]

>
> Hope this helps someone. :)
>
>
>
> Bill

Thanks for posting. You should put this in the pinwiki :-)

[William Brower]

Ken,

It would help a lot of people troubleshooting for shorts (if they can
only understand my writings). You would need a team for a week to
debug/decode/rewrite my postings. If one can understand me, and
rewrite it so all will understand it. :), I think it might help some
future Pinhead or two fix a pinball or other machine related short on
their machines in the future. If someone can understand this and is
willing to rewrite this and upload it to the Pinwiki page then it
would be much obliged, thanks.

I just don't want to be responsible for people getting hurt, or
responsible for any damage that one will cause to their machines...but
then again, there is a lot of this safety issues to take into
consideration while one works on any pinball machine. Use it at your
own risk type of thing :) I will not be responsible for the loss of
life...Blah, Blah, Blah.

Life's too short, let's keep it safe! :) (as I talk about electrifying
the buttons on a P&B game on another post :)...go figure).

Thanks again,

Bill