What else is wrong with this Powerflash?

[Tink]

Can you get a good clear pic of the back of the board. Your dc power could connect to the 2 orange wires that run to the inner panel solenoids. You won't be fused this way however. Running your DC power through the 2 lamp cord wires should still work, you'll just lose about 1.4 volts through the diodes. I can't say for sure which wire would be your positive (stripe or not), but I think your assumption of the white stripe would be correct in most cases. Should not really matter if your running through the bridge.

[lotsoballs]

Can you get a good clear pic of the back of the board. Your dc power could connect to the 2 orange wires that run to the inner panel solenoids. You won't be fused this way however. Running your DC power through the 2 lamp cord wires should still work, you'll just lose about 1.4 volts through the diodes. I can't say for sure which wire would be your positive (stripe or not), but I think your assumption of the white stripe would be correct in most cases. Should not really matter if your running through the bridge.

photo[2].JPG

[Tink]

Still hard to see from the pic, I can get a better look at mine when I get home later and let you know where you can connect to bypass the bridge rectifier. You can test through the lamp cord for now without issue if your diodes are good.

[lotsoballs]

It's ALIVE!!!

I plugged it in after hooking the transformer up to the lamp cords, put a ball in the top center pocket and every single tulip opened right up. It's now paying out jackpots and the shooter works beautifully. Only thing that has not been tested yet is the lights; I'm waiting on a second fuse and some 24v bulbs in the mail, all that's left other than that is polish the plastics and the nails and of course lots of testing

Thanks for the tips in getting it functional after many years of neglect!

photo[4].jpg

[CarlW]

That's all good news, congratulations.

I enjoyed adding a second jackpot bulb (end up with one behind the Q and the K)
and adding a hidden "cheat" button under the orange half dome...

[Tink]

For your reference should you decide to bypass the bridge rectifier and gain back your 1.4 Volts. Once you add the lights you may want the extra power.

Your solenoids should snap open the tulips.PF diode bridge bypass with notes.jpg

[lotsoballs]

I've finished cleaning it up and replaced the dried out rebound bumper, and replaced the grommets and old bulbs with 24v bulbs, and rigged up the two fuses so they are connected with paperclips on one end (like this kit: http://pachinkoplanet.com/zencart/in...products_id=40)

photo.JPG

However the lights still aren't working even after fiddling with both of the micro switches to simulate out of balls in the top hopper or a jackpot. I guess I need to go buy a multimeter. The solenoids work flawlessly though. I also tried hooking up a 9v battery to the 10v power supply lugs; but nothing happened again after messing with the micro switches. (Do these commonly go bad?) I'm not very good with electric work, so any suggestions are welcome!

photo 2[1].jpg

[CarlW]

I'm confused. The typical model B (and also the stock powerflash) have leaf switches for the lights.

The powerflash has micro switches for the solenoids.

What are you fiddling with? Leaf switches or micro switches?

I also don't understand the paperclip. What is that supposed to do for you?
I don't see any wires hooked up to the top two terminals (one is white and other one is a screw in your picture)

The playfield? It looks wonderful !

[CarlW]

Here is another suggestion.

Touch your 24V bulb on the two terminals of your 9V battery. It should burn dimly.
Use that bulb in the low reward bulb holder.

I'm assuming you have a 9V battery clip with wires on it. Hook that up.

Unplug your 24V power pack and remove the paper clip.

Empty the reward tray. The leaf switch should now be touching.

Screw the ground wire (-) on your battery to one of the terminals.
Touch the + wire on your battery to the metal on one side of either fuse; checking for the light bulb to light.
Nothing? Try other side of fuse.
Nothing? Repeat on both sides of other fuse.
Nothing? Change - wire to other terminal and repeat.

This will bypass the fuse.

The leaf switches could be heavily corroded, a little fine sandpaper (200 grit or higher) will take care of that.
Sometimes the leafs come loose from the wire. Usually you can see the loose wire.
Sometimes the fuse holders are corroded or loose and need to be tightened or sanded.


Nothing?

[lotsoballs]

I'm confused. The typical model B (and also the stock powerflash) have leaf switches for the lights.

The powerflash has micro switches for the solenoids.

What are you fiddling with? Leaf switches or micro switches?

I also don't understand the paperclip. What is that supposed to do for you?
I don't see any wires hooked up to the top two terminals (one is white and other one is a screw in your picture)

The playfield? It looks wonderful !

LOL....yeah, you're not the only one confused!

Sorry, yes, leaf switches...that's what I was fiddling with to test the lights.

As for the paperclip, I got that idea from pachinkoplanet.com....per step #5 in converting the lights to 24v "You will need to tie both fuses together on one of the ends with a jumper made from a paperclip or spare piece of wire to ensure power is supplied to both the solenoids and to the lights."

^Maybe I screwed that part up...lol

I don't currently have any wires attached to the top terminals in that pic above but, I did try hooking up two wires to a 9v battery attached to the posts but nada (after removing the paperclip). So the "stock" setup with 9volts and running the original bulbs does not work either...

To rephrase my question; what's the easiest way to troubleshoot the lights since the solenoid portion works fine? At this point I don't care if it's running 9v or 24v lights.

[pachiwall]

I'm not sure why so many people want to convert everything on a PowerFlash to 24 volts. The transformer that Mopar suggested is the one I got for my PF...works like a charm! Not even very expensive, mine was $15 delivered. Of course it won't fix existing problems. That being said, it is easier to troubleshoot isolated circuits. Once you combine the two circuits...makes it harder to determine where the problem really is. Is it a swich, or was the conversion done wrong??? Like Carl said, undo the conversion and test the circuit with a 9volt battery. Once you find the problem, then you can decide if you want to run it all as one circuit.
I personally prefer the single transformer that provides both voltages.

[pachiwall]

For your reference should you decide to bypass the bridge rectifier and gain back your 1.4 Volts. Once you add the lights you may want the extra power.

Your solenoids should snap open the tulips.PF diode bridge bypass with notes.jpg

I often thought that if someone "fried" the diodes..."why can't you bypass the diodes, and just run 24VDC"? I was lucky and did not have to learn.

[lotsoballs]

Here is another suggestion.

Touch your 24V bulb on the two terminals of your 9V battery. It should burn dimly.
Use that bulb in the low reward bulb holder.

I'm assuming you have a 9V battery clip with wires on it. Hook that up.

Unplug your 24V power pack and remove the paper clip.

Empty the reward tray. The leaf switch should now be touching.

Screw the ground wire (-) on your battery to one of the terminals.
Touch the + wire on your battery to the metal on one side of either fuse; checking for the light bulb to light.
Nothing? Try other side of fuse.
Nothing? Repeat on both sides of other fuse.
Nothing? Change - wire to other terminal and repeat.

This will bypass the fuse.

The leaf switches could be heavily corroded, a little fine sandpaper (200 grit or higher) will take care of that.
Sometimes the leafs come loose from the wire. Usually you can see the loose wire.
Sometimes the fuse holders are corroded or loose and need to be tightened or sanded.


Nothing?

I put the 9v bulbs back in and tried sanding the leaf switch contact points; that seems to have done the trick! Both the lights are working good now the corroded switches are taken care of. I'll mess around with it and try to decide what to go with...either 9 or 24 volt setup for the lights.

[CarlW]

Great deal.

Since you have the 24 volt ones, why not?

Split the wall pack into two wires. Route one pair to the solenoids and the other pair to the terminals.

I like quick connects, soldered connections and shrink tube but that's my OCD insanity... you can have your own...

24V DC quick connects for bulb and solenoid power.jpg

[lotsoballs]

Great deal.

Since you have the 24 volt ones, why not?

Split the wall pack into two wires. Route one pair to the solenoids and the other pair to the terminals.

I like quick connects, soldered connections and shrink tube but that's my OCD insanity... you can have your own...

24V DC quick connects for bulb and solenoid power.jpg

I pretty much did exactly what you said, other than proper soldering and quick connects I just twisted the wires together and hastily wrapped them with electrical tape.

Now the lights are working with 24volt power. I forgot I had the original 10v bulbs in from testing with the 9v battery, so when I hooked them up to the transformer they were VERY bright with 24v running through them! So I quickly unplugged and put in the correct 24v bulbs. I plan on swapping those out for 24v LEDs once they eventually arrive from China. So this Powerflash is now 100% functional ! Thank you everyone for you help!