and more

Quoted from Hippochrome

I'm not to familiar with getting these things working...any tips? I checked the fuses and they all "look" good.
Otherwise, theres one hack and burnt looking plastic that could be the culprit...

Could be the hack..  Start by checking the voltages at the display board (download the manual first) and determine if you have the required voltages.  If 1 or more is missing/incorrect, check fuses (with a multimeter!).  If the fuses are good then the power supply has a problem.  Should be easy enough to fix.

If all the voltages are good AT THE DISPLAY BOARD, then that board is probably the problem - assuming the ribbon cable is good and installed correctly.  The display board is most likely repairable too..  I doubt that all 4 display glasses would have failed..

Mike

Quoted from Hippochrome

That's a very valid point Duane, thanks!
This was my first run-in with being overbid....on the persons full asking price, no less.....so I got a little annoyed.

But, all's well that ends well.
I emailed them back and said that I'd give them $400, no tire kicking, and pick it up in 30min if they'd tell the second buyer "Its sold".
Well, they said yes, and I just got home from moving it out of their basement and into my van "it always has to be in a basement with tight corners on the stairs, eh?"

The sellers were really nice people, and the game was a gift to the man many years ago.....it was a Regent game before that. The game will take some work to get going 100% (its dirty, the displays are out, and a pop bumper doesnt work...as far as I can tell right now)

Thanks MAACA for giving me a place to vent and tell of my adventures in pinball buying/selling

Now I just have to convince my wife that the dining room IS the perfect place for a Date East Playboy 35th Anniversary Pinball Machine....wish me luck

I wonder how many people you outbid with your $400 offer.

Good score, you'll be able to sell it for much more than $400 when you get it working!

OK......Jon and I....Mainly Jon, have been trouble shooting with the Playboy.
So, here's what we got so far...Take it away Jonny eh:

no thanks, I don't have room in my basement.

In seriousness here's what I've found, following Clay's guide:
-On the power supply board, at connector CN5, I detect -100 at pin 3, but nothing at pin 4 (should be +100V)?
-I tested R8 and R9 (both 39K Ohm), as instructed by the guide, R9 is a solid 41.9K, and R8 is more unreliable. R8 is sometimes a solid 2M, other times it climbs up and down randomly. Now I figure this means it needs to be replaced, but I wanted to confirm here first.
-Anything else I should test or do? Any tips on doing board work/replacing the resistor?

Thanks, Jonny_eh

If you are making good contacts with the legs or pads of that R8, and the ohm value reading
is all over the place, then that resistor is opened and needs to be replaced (as per your description).

There might be other defective parts on the high voltage part of the board (transistors),
did you check them too ?

Hehe, incidentally, interesting Avatar landing that machine
Congrats !

Cheers,
- Sylvain.

How do you test the transistors?

I should come over - it'd be the "Three Stooges"


http://www.pinrepair.com/begin/#trans

http://www.pinrepair.com/begin/#howdmm

Quoted from Tuborg

I should come over - it'd be the "Three Stooges"

Well, I'm going out to buy the resistor tomorrow, and then test Jon's soldering abilities....your welcome to join in the mayhem.
Remember "Its all fun and games UNTIL someone looses an eye"!

Hey there!

I just sold that same game title for $1100. Mine was in super condition when I sold it. I'd say $400 was a steal - good for you!

I practically rebuilt my whole game. PM me if you run into any other troubles with the game. I also have some spare electrical parts from it ( mostly from the power supply section ). I also have another complete display board ( it's the same display board as Williams Sys 11 ).

Mayfair Amusements had lots of new parts for this game, my personal favourite was the drop and standup target decals, these really made the game look new!

This game was alot of fun, just not a keeper for me, which is wierd because I really like the feel of Data East games.

Dan

PS the +100v issue sounds like the NTE 390 or 391 transistor off the top of my head. One is for the -100v and the other for the +100v. You'll likely have to replace it. Also, do the mods for the display voltage, it supposedly makes the displays last longer. I think it's just a couple of resistors and diodes from memory. READ THE GUIDE!!

Ok so....the guide calls for 1 to 2 watt, 39 kilohm "fire proof" resistor.
My local shop has it, but they said its not "fire proof", its made of porcelain......will this work?
  

Quoted from Bally Boy

PS the +100v issue sounds like the NTE 390 or 391 transistor off the top of my head. One is for the -100v and the other for the +100v. You'll likely have to replace it. Also, do the mods for the display voltage, it supposedly makes the displays last longer. I think it's just a couple of resistors and diodes from memory. READ THE GUIDE!!

Thanks for the help Dan, but are you sure this problem can't be caused by a bad R8? I'll test the transistors when I'm over next time (tonight Greg?)

Where can I find out about these mods you speak of?

Quoted from jonny_eh

Where can I find out about these mods you speak of?

Where else, but Clay's guides:
http://www.pinrepair.com/de/index3.htm#dots

(scroll down quite a ways past the DMD section to the Alpha-Numeric part)