Jacks Open Cleanup

[Pintoxicated]

That looks great,everytime you add something new on the playfield it gets better and better,it is amazing how just putting new posts on how it brightens up the playfield.Top Stuff.

Thanks mate.  I should have bought the drop targets as well.  They can be next I think.  Just want to get the machne operational at the moment.

[Pintoxicated]

I tried the cardboard trick without any luck - the machine still died with cardboard in between the contacts on the 10's relay.  (Single piece of cardboard tried at various contacts, not all at once).

The machine seemed to die when a drop target was downed - cleaned all of those contacts as well as the plungers for the coils and still no better.  The machine has gone back into freeze mode, no flippers but the ball kicks out and no scoring at all.  I don't know whether it has got something to do with heat - as the machine warms up the fault seems to happen more often and then gets to a point where it just doesn't want to play anymore. 
This machine is well and truly doing my head in at the moment.

[Rod71]

Sure it's not a tilt problem?.  Does the tilt light come on?.

[Pintoxicated]

Sure it's not a tilt problem?.  Does the tilt light come on?.

No it doesn't tilt, it just dies mid ball.  Typically if I hit the 10's score relay it kicks off again and will launch the next ball like nothing happened.  Then after it hits a few scoring targets it will reset and become more prevalent the longer the machine is on until it gets to the point where it just dies - nothing will work on the playfield and no flippers.

I have replaced the 10's score reel coil - it was cooked so I don't know if something else somewhere has been damaged as well and becomes sensitive as the machine warms up.

EDIT - I can confirm that the fault is not present when the machine is first turned on and is cold.  I have tested this theory a couple of times now and it works well when it is cold.  As the machine warms up, the fault re-appears and then becomes more prevalent and gets to a point where it won't work.    

[Strangeways]

When it dies, what happens if you hit the 100 point relay - does it serve the next ball ?

[Pintoxicated]

When it dies, what happens if you hit the 100 point relay - does it serve the next ball ?

No nothing, it is just totally dead.  The first 10 or 20 minutes you can revive the game by the 10's score reel relay and that is about it.

[Pintoxicated]

This is my last guess at what may be wrong with the machine.  I am pretty much over it at the moment.

I thought about this the other day and then forgot all about it.  The jacks Open has a 25 micro farad capacitor in the backbox.  There is one wire coming from it that got the cogs turning, a black wire - when I had a look at the scematics, pretty much everything that isn't working is linked by a black wire.  Would a bad cap give these type of symptoms, i.e. heat sensitive to the point where even the warmer weather here today rendered the machine useless whereas it was fine this morning.

Also, edit to my post above, on occasions the 100's or the 1000's score relay will reset the machine, it seems to depend on which score was triggered at the time the machine died, typically though it the the 10's which is the predominant score feature on the machine.

[millsy]

Might be a stab in the dark - But check all Slam/Bounce Switches (CAB,BACKBOX,PF and COIN DOOR) -If they are supposed to be closed,clean contacts,if supposed to be open(Slide a piece of plastic over them) and finally check the Ball outhole contacts arent too close.
All quick checks but eliminate them as I spent 1 week solving resetting and dead machine symptoms  and these buggers were the culprit. 
And remember dont give up, leave it for a day or so and try again.
Kev

[Pintoxicated]

Might be a stab in the dark - But check all Slam/Bounce Switches (CAB,BACKBOX,PF and COIN DOOR) -If they are supposed to be closed,clean contacts,if supposed to be open(Slide a piece of plastic over them) and finally check the Ball outhole contacts arent too close.
All quick checks but eliminate them as I spent 1 week solving resetting and dead machine symptoms  and these buggers were the culprit. 
And remember dont give up, leave it for a day or so and try again.

Thanks, I will have another look at them and make sure they are right.  Don't give up...yeah I know I shouldn't but I am close.  The most frustrating part is that first thing in the morning it works fine then as it heats up she just dies a slow and painful death.
Kev

[Strangeways]

Might be a stab in the dark - But check all Slam/Bounce Switches (CAB,BACKBOX,PF and COIN DOOR) -If they are supposed to be closed,clean contacts,if supposed to be open(Slide a piece of plastic over them) and finally check the Ball outhole contacts arent too close.
All quick checks but eliminate them as I spent 1 week solving resetting and dead machine symptoms  and these buggers were the culprit. 
And remember dont give up, leave it for a day or so and try again.
Kev

I concur - and YES it is easy just to walk away and tackle the problem with a fresh mind.

Another obvious consideration - Have you checked that your "tilt" light is working ? You say it is "not tiliting" - but if the light is dead - how do you know ?

[millsy]

When the machine dies, is there any Playfield and backbox illumination ? Ball No still showing on backglass ? Is the Tilt and Game over showing when last ball drained ? How are you activating the 10,s ?

[Pintoxicated]

Tilt light is operational.  The machine isn't going into Tilt mode when it dies - the game can be resurrected by pressing one of the white relay tabs where the contacts poke through.  So when this does happen, the actual game that was being played is still alive.

I still have all lights working when the machine dies, just lose power to all the coils and scoring.

Checked the machine last night and again this morning and it won't start up a game, the best I can get it to do is kick out a ball but again, no flippers or scoring.

I also noticed I am getting tingles from alot of the metal parts this morning.

Something I am going to replace today - this machine has a 25 micro farad capacitor in the back box.  I'm not sure if all EMs have this but I noted that it was something new to Jacks Open.  I put the DMM on it last night and when I tried to boot up a game, the reading peaked out at 0.1?? but I can't get a reading with the machine under load.  The cap looks to be original or if it's not, it hasn't been replaced for a very long time.  I am assuming that I should replace it with a cap of the same value?

I have checked all the til switches again and they all operate as they should.  If I press the start button and then activate the various tilt switches, the machine tilts and stops as it should.

[Retropin]

Sounds like youve lost ground mate - tingles would suggest this.
Your Black wire from the cap would more than likely be the ground wire also.

Unplug your machine and follow ground through till you find the fault

[Pintoxicated]

Sounds like youve lost ground mate - tingles would suggest this.
Your Black wire from the cap would more than likely be the ground wire also.

Unplug your machine and follow ground through till you find the fault

What are the chances of a new capacitor fixing everything........I can only hope.

[Strangeways]

Sounds like youve lost ground mate - tingles would suggest this.
Your Black wire from the cap would more than likely be the ground wire also.

Unplug your machine and follow ground through till you find the fault

What are the chances of a new capacitor fixing everything........I can only hope.

I don't think so - I'll have to check pictures of my Jacks Open, but EMs operated before Caps were introduced. There was a cap installed on a small board - but I'll have to check.

Gav is right - You have lost ground "somewhere".

What are you touching when you are "tingled" ?

Maybe try cleaning the connectors that go into the head with a wire brush and look for any wires on these connectors that may either be lose or broken.