No, have'nt replaced headers or pins, will give that a try when I get a spare minute.
The reset doesn't happen when flippers are used, only when certain switches are activated.
Thanks for the tip Nino, I will update here when I have solved it.
Chris,
Couple of things.
Did you remove the middle bracket (which use to sit on the top edge of driver board?
Also on the r/h/s of the rottendog board - from memory it doesn't use the middle screw hole. The factory bracket is three holes and it may be grounding out part of your switch matrix. If its there I'd cut the hole off the bracket (if this makes sense)...
Yes, Marty bracket was removed long ago, but I do see what you mean about the middle screw hole on the RHS bracket grounding out the board. Rottendog just put a blob of silicone under the header to insulate it. Thats not good enough in my book so have removed the middle "tab"altogether.
Chris, here's a few thoughts that may assist or narrow down the problem?
I'd first isolate what is causing the problem, could be board related or play field related. With new boards it's unlikely to be a board fault, but it could be installation issues like Marty has mentioned. So disconnect switch row and col inputs and test the board side. Clay's guide has a de******ion on how to do this with diagnostic mode and an alligator lead. I'd guess this will all be ok, but best to prove it.
With the playfield plugs removed give them a really good visual examination - I use a big magnifying glass. For a few bucks and an hour or so repin them, Same detailed close visual examination of all switches - you're looking for blobs of solder or whiskers of wire that are out of place. In desperation you could replace all switch diodes., but this is only really an issue for simultaneously closed switches.
In diagnostic mode with play field connected I'd repeatedly exercise the switch that are causing the resets and examine which switch shows up. If it's not the correct one that should give you some leads.
With a game up I'd fire all the solenoids a few time each, one at a time - if no resets occur I'd say this rules out power supply issues.
I take it you've got the game manuals? The firepower site www.firepowerpinball.com has wiring diagrams and just use the switch matrix table in the manuals for equivalence.
In normal game operation does slam tilt cause a total game over, whereas pendulum tilt looses just a ball? I don't know but am wondering about the different resets going on?
Hope this gives you a few ideas.
Thanks David that helps quite a bit.
Have tried firing all solenoids manually and that seems ok, but one pop bumper activates itself and its neighbour while the neighbouring pop bumper does the same. The third one is all ok and fires only itself. Not sure whats going on there.
Did the diagnostics check and most switches come up ok, but 2 of the rhs standup switches wont indicate at all when manually closed and heres the funny thing, everything else on the same column doesn't register either eg eject hole, a few drop targets etc.
In the Flash manual they are all listed as being in the 4th column and the common wire being a Green/Yellow.
I traced that back to the header in the backbox and that all seems to be ok ie: no breaks so, not sure where to go next.
If there was a stuffed diode in that chain would that be likely to cause all those switches to not indicate during diagnostics check?
