American Syscom Volume Control Problem?

[fronzdan]

Has anyone ever seen any issues with the Am Syscom/Pachislo.com volume controllers when installed in any Lumina frame? I bought a set of 5 the other day and installed them inline on the + side of each speaker. I have the built-in volume control set at minimum.

They were used for a few minutes and while tweaking the volume to get the right level I noticed the left one had a "dead spot" - there was a certain volume range while turning the pot, where it was like a complete open circuit. At the fringes of this dead zone, it was intermittent with static. If I turned it higher, it came back in the very loud range. If I went below the dead spot, it came back on, but in the very soft range. I replaced this controller and had been playing for a few hours total, through several sittings.

Last night the right speaker suddenly went out with the exact same failure mode - a dead spot. I wasn't adjusting it, it happened while playing.

Can these not handle the sound system in a Lumina? I'm not exactly sure, but are these things L-Pads or just plain old pots? I notice they get warm, but not hot when used. I've let Steve at PAchislo.com know about the problem and he's sending replacements...but do you think these are faulty units or just not strong enough for a Lumina?

[arbycoffee]

I been putting them on all most all of the ones I do and as of todate no problems. I set them at a 1/8 turn and leave them.
I am thinking of just using a resistor on each one

I will try these if I can find them
150 ohm resistor needs to be about 1W
100 ohm resistor needs to be about 1W
50 ohm resistor needs to be 2W
30 ohm resistor should be at least 3W

[drcrippen324]

it seems to me as though the lumina cells have gotten louder i hada problem when putiing volume controles in a indy jones and found i had to buy some real beefy controles to deal with it as the ones i used for julie starwars ect just couldent handel it same problem was found by chrish when he changed a starwars machine from starwars to indy or julie it just fried volume controles for a pass tiem till he put some real beefy ones in

[fronzdan]

Wow, that was quick guys...thanks

I HAD a couple fixed 20 ohms/3W in there and it was a tad too loud so I thought I'd try adjustable controls for the first time and replaced them with these. It could be I'm frying parts of the pot???

[logicprobe]

Right before the latest PA mini-conference got rolling... I installed two of these syscom pots on a Julie for Dattia.

I made sure to set each of them to physical mid-range before applying power, then adjusted them to her liking from there.
This way, I didn't need to go to the extreme limits of the pots, and risk damaging them.

ANY pot, if taken to one extreme, will offer such low resistance that it's power dissipation will be strained, and possibly burn it at that spot.

I haven't heard any bad feedback about that installation on Dawn's Julie, but it's possible she's just being kind.
But my past experience with these controls tells me they should be just fine if they don't get pushed to their limits now.

It's POSSIBLE that they were defective, but...
I think Syscom is doing you a favor by sending replacements no questions asked.

[arbycoffee]

. . . . . . . .

[dattia]

I haven't heard any bad feedback about that installation on Dawn's Julie, but it's possible she's just being kind.
.

Moi? That's funny

[slotter]

As mentioned in another thread, after installing my sysom pots in Julie, I've had no problems with them. Even checked their temperatures after a long playing session in the middle of a fever and they were not hot. I have mine set to be pretty quiet and have never messed with them or pushed them to their limits.

[Robocourier]

Has anyone ever seen any issues with the Am Syscom/Pachislo.com volume controllers when installed in any Lumina frame?................

...................Can these not handle the sound system in a Lumina? I'm not exactly sure, but are these things L-Pads or just plain old pots?

Now lets be a bit brutal about this and I don't mean to offend anyone who may be supplying parts to group members here. However, I'm going to have a rant!!................

I do feel that you get what you pay for. And lets face it, the Japanese have invented a highly technical piece of kit, costing thousands of dollars (and pounds) when new and we're all trying to butcher it with a few dollars worth of volume control equipment that isn't up to the job. Pachinkos are run for many hours a day, every day. They are expected to work arduously without fault. The sound blasts out without destroying the speakers in a few minutes, without blowing up the amp after a couple of fevers. The Japanese have done their arithmetic to ensure reliability on the whole of the game. And now we're trying to modify it, spending as little as possible on the simplest mod that we (think) we can get away with. And judging by the number of posts in the last few days about sound problems they're not working.

I'm not particularly technically minded, some guys on here are much better at the theory than me. So can one of them raise their hand and tell us what we really need to resolve this issue once and for all? We want to be able to blast the sound out when our mates are over for a beer. We need to be able to turn it down again when the kids are in bed. We don't want to listen to crackly sound or have to replace burn't out parts every week and most of us won't mind paying for this luxury!

And breathe out.....................

Rant over. And relax..............

Anyone??

[birdbrain]

like we determined with the slots: the best and safest way to go is an L-pad.

[H20Dreams]

I use syscoms Pots. I have them in all 4 of my Pachislos and all 3 of my pachinkos. My buddie and his wife also use the syscom pots in all of their machines. I have never experienced any difficutlies with them.

[daverob]

The L-pads are probably the only way to be 100% sure that they will never have any power related problems.

With a regular potentiometer used in this way, as Logicprobe says when turned to near the maximum volume all the power is disipated in a very small section of the track, which can lead to localised hot spots and the risk of burning up the track in that section. This will be seen more often if the resistor is of a higher value than needed, ie a 10k pot rather than a 1k or 500 ohm one.

A small cermet preset is likely to be better in this respect than a much larger carbon film potentiometer, as the cermet material conducts the heat away from the hot spot much better than one made from a thin carbon film deposited on a material that is not as good a thermal conductor.

Ultimately the fact is that most users are not going to have any problems with thier volume controls, even if they do use one that is inadequately rated at some positions, simply because they don't want the sound that loud and always leave the control in a 'safe' position. If this is the case, then it's a bit of a waste of money replacing them with L-pads or higher rated resistors.

On the other hand, if you want external volume controls that you are likely to be adjusting on a regular basis, then I would think that L-pads would be a very good investment.

[slotter]

L-Pads are bulletproof, but they take up a lot of room and you need a good spot to mount them. The syscom pots are very easy to install and people have had good luck with them, in general. If I thought the pots would damage my machines or not work properly I wouldn't install them and the price has zero to do with it. In my case, they have basically worked flawlessly for years on all different machines. I do have several L-Pads installed, too, on my Pachislos so have used both.

[slothappy144]

The factory sound control on the Magic lamp girl is a 3 way switch and 2 decent sized resistors. bullet proof from the factory. I like the fine control of the 15 turn cermet 1k resistors. more than enough to silence the sound or adjust it to a nice level. The only issue is to find one with decent wattage rating, up to 5 watts.

[Chrisdice]

I removed the volume controls that came with my Star Wars and replaced them with the ones from Syscom. The ones that came with it didn't have any range, they were either loud or off. The Syscom's work great for me.

[fronzdan]

Ok I replaced that bad one and verified it worked throughout its range. We'll see what happens.

I have 5W fixed resistors in all my pachislos and other pachinkos and have never had a single problem. That was cheaper than cheap, since I just pulled them out of the component cabinet I had had them laying around. I thought I'd try these controllers since so many have had good luck with them.

[Robocourier]

Thanks to everyone for their replies. I'm a bit more sure of which solution is going to suit my particular needs now.

My last post had had a couple of beers preceding it so I do tend to be a bit more vocal.

I'll go back to my corner now....................

[Zoltar]

Wisdom comes with many long drafts of oxygen into your brain to enhance our thoughts.
Where the Barley Water tends to do the opposite.

I am at your Service

[arbycoffee]

Some days, it's not even worth chewing through the restraints! You just lay there and whimper!

[slotter]

Zoltar strikes.

But, think of the good the Barley Water does for cholesterol.