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Bingo
pinballs Created on
07-14-2020 Bingos
are like any electronic device, they run off of power; in this case a couple
of different voltages, what are called power rails` But
unlike other machines, the Bingos are ole
school …they are older electro-mechanical technology that a lot of things
can go wrong with` Since
true, the Bingos have several fuses in them to help protect the machine if a
failure does occur` The
a.c. power comes into the game to a power transformer that steps the voltage
down and makes the power rails` Then the rails are distributed
to the modules, motors, and lamps that are in groups. On each power rail
there is a protection fuse, so if something goes wrong,
the fuse opens up and removes the voltage to stop everything and limit the
damage ~ There are some
special fuses too` So
this is why you see a fuse block in every Bingo right next to the power
transformer ~
protection` Well
in the Bingos the fuse block its self can also go bad, the individual fuse holders
can wear out, and cause a problem` If
the fuse isn’t making good contact to the fuse holder you also lose voltage,
just as if the fuse was open` …and
this is quite common; especially with the 6 volt fuse holders` Subject: Re: Bally Bingo
Tilt Question "Fred
Cunningham" <fjc19@charter.net> wrote, Hi, I have a
Bally Roller Derby machine. Yesterday, while I was playing, it just topped.
It appeared to be a "normal" tilt. Well, everything went dead. I
pressed the red button to start a new game...no response. Put a nickel
in...nothing. Turned it off and
on....the counter still shows the games, no zero score start. I have the schematic
and the manual. The fuses look good. The focus of my investigation is around
the anti-cheat relay, the tilt relay and the replay reset relay. Nothing is
burnt up or anything like that. The replay reset counter does not have 50V to
the coil. The anti-cheat relay neither. I cleaned all the contact just for
lack of anything meaningful to do. If you have any
experience with this problem, please let me know. Thanks in
advance Fred --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Your problem is
that the 50 volts went away. I would check the fuse socket. Bally bingo games
have terrible fuse holders. They look fine but do not make contact
with the fuse. So, you look at the fuse and think all is well when it is
really open. Slip the 50 volt fuse out of it's holder. I suspect you will notice
that one side slides out with almost no resistance. When I get a
game in, or start working on one I always check the tensile strength of the
fuse holders. If any one fails, I replace the entire bank. The holders can
be purchased at any Radio Shack or electronics store. Also, check the
"jones plug" between the transformer and the fuse panel. I had a
Cypress Gardens recently that played fine until I put it in line with my
other games, then all the lamps went out. fuse holders were all good but the
jacks on the "jones plug" were oxidized. After a good cleaning, my
game lit up like a Christmas tree.
In
the Magic Screen machines the power transformer and fuse block sit down in
the lower right corner of the backbox` …the
fuses all sit next to each other and the block is made up of individual fuses
holders` The
arms of the fuse holders, the tongs that grab the ends of each fuse can wear
out. They can get bent or become lose, and
stop working correctly ~
Stop holding on tight to the fuse and stop making the proper electrical
connection. It’s
hard to see, the element in the fuse looks good, but still there is no power
following through the block and
you have a problem just as if the fuse was open …power is interrupted` So
what is going on in Fred’s Roller Derby, nothings works at all, except the
Tilt light` He
doesn’t see 50 volts on any of the coils he looks at…
The 6 volts powers
the lamps, coin door, and Tilt
indicator, the 17 volts powers the playfield, bingo card lights, and search
relays, and the 50 volts powers all of the most relays
and all the coils`…so basically he has a couple huge clues as to what is
wrong` “The 50V circuit
seems dead and the 6V and 17V circuits seem to work” So could the fuses
be involved like Steve suggests..? Well maybe, Roller
Derby is protected like all of the Bingos`
So,
there are separate fuses for all of the Power Rails,
We
know the main fuse on the input side is good, because the 6V and 17V rails
are present ~
If the main fuse was blown, no rails would work`
We
know the 3amp fuse is good too because the Tilt indicator lights up` Fred
says he looked at his fuses and didn’t see any blown, they all looked good` So,
what can he do to verify Steve’s suspicion that the 50V fuse holder is bad ~
Is worn out` Other
things could be involved` …a wire somewhere might be broke, but that is kind
of rare` Well
the thing to do is start measuring the 50V rail and see where it drops out`
The
fuse may look good to your eyes, but is there 50V on both sides of it..? If
not, Steve is probably right that the fuse holder is shot` It happens, Bally’s fuse holders are known to be poor quality` If the fuse filament looks good, check the ears on the holders, you
might need to bend them back together to improve the clamping force, or replace the holder
outright` One
final way to look at this, is that once the 50V drops out, the Tilt Relay
triggers and the 6V fires the Tilt Lite`
Bingo Basics 101 …way Cool` ~ |
