This is the best hobby - most times - but there are times!~!

[illawarra_steelers]

Have been working on a full rebuild of a Gottlieb World Fair from 1964 for about 8 weeks.

Now this game was an absolute mess, have never seen a game that needed more work to bring it back to life. She now has been fully rebuilt but there is one 'bug' that is just giving me the f**king shits so much I feel like setting it on fire 

The playfield lights have a short - do you think I can find it?

Have just blown the (lost count) 10 Amp fuse over the past few days...so have come into the house to vent my frustrations here....and I don't feel any better!

So an the title says, the hobby can be just the best, can give the best rush - just sometimes you want to pull your hair out 

[pinnies4me]

I feel your pain Tony! Having come into this hobby with nothing in the way of electronic knowledge (I still have most of what I started with! :) I have spent many an hour tracking down the silliest of things!

In fact recently spent hours trying to get the special lamps on a Gottlieb CEOTTK going - changed everything in sight as I worked though all the possible culprits. In the end I was back at the fuse that had initially tested good. So I changed it for the heck of it and they all worked! Bloody fuse tested OK but just didn't work in the system!

[Retropin]

Have been working on a full rebuild of a Gottlieb World Fair from 1964 for about 8 weeks.

Now this game was an absolute mess, have never seen a game that needed more work to bring it back to life. She now has been fully rebuilt but there is one 'bug' that is just giving me the f**king shits so much I feel like setting it on fire 

The playfield lights have a short - do you think I can find it?

Have just blown the (lost count) 10 Amp fuse over the past few days...so have come into the house to vent my frustrations here....and I don't feel any better!

So an the title says, the hobby can be just the best, can give the best rush - just sometimes you want to pull your hair out 

LOL!!! Mate,

I KNOW where you are coming from on this..
Is it GI lamp or feature?

If GI, disconnect the whole PF from the back board etc, take out ALL Gi lamps and put your meter across a socket. Is your short still there? If so you have no choice but to find the very last lamp in the series, disconnect one side and test the socket, should be no short here ( unless you are lucky and this is the one!).Shorts should still be seen across next lamp though. Continue up the line till you find it - can resolder as you go.

Painful job, but its the only way to find the bugger.

If the short disappears when you disconnect the PF then its elsewhere - maybe through the GI relay contact - those little frayed wires cause havok and are hard to see, maybe also on the female side of a socket, tiny bits of wire or solder splashes seem to migrate to these sockets, unscrew them and clean em up.

Good luck mate - i hate this job...but you will laugh in triumph when you find it- you know that!

[Strangeways]

Have been working on a full rebuild of a Gottlieb World Fair from 1964 for about 8 weeks.

Now this game was an absolute mess, have never seen a game that needed more work to bring it back to life. She now has been fully rebuilt but there is one 'bug' that is just giving me the f**king shits so much I feel like setting it on fire 

The playfield lights have a short - do you think I can find it?

Have just blown the (lost count) 10 Amp fuse over the past few days...so have come into the house to vent my frustrations here....and I don't feel any better!

So an the title says, the hobby can be just the best, can give the best rush - just sometimes you want to pull your hair out 

Send it down to me, Tony. I don't have that much hair left to tear out. I almost bought that machine !!

Gavin's on the right track.. Test the sockets..

[illawarra_steelers]

.....3 days later and do you still think I can find the short 

[pinnies4me]

OK Tony, now I'm really feeling your pain, so to amuse me and take my mind off your troubles, here's a thread to help out.

http://aussiepinball.com/index.php?topic=491.msg6154#msg6154

[markc]

Have been working on a full rebuild of a Gottlieb World Fair from 1964 for about 8 weeks.

Now this game was an absolute mess, have never seen a game that needed more work to bring it back to life. She now has been fully rebuilt but there is one 'bug' that is just giving me the f**king shits so much I feel like setting it on fire 

The playfield lights have a short - do you think I can find it?

Have just blown the (lost count) 10 Amp fuse over the past few days...so have come into the house to vent my frustrations here....and I don't feel any better!

So an the title says, the hobby can be just the best, can give the best rush - just sometimes you want to pull your hair out 

Send it down to me, Tony. I don't have that much hair left to tear out. I almost bought that machine !!

Gavin's on the right track.. Test the sockets..

you got hair Nino ...

[ddstoys]

Hey Tony
             Best thing ive ever done was to solder some circuit breakers across an old blown fuse.  That way when it shorts you just push the button.  Alot of the time if i look in the problem area when you reset the breaker you see and arc where its shorting out. But knowing you you already know this.
 DD

[Strangeways]

Hey Tony
             Best thing ive ever done was to solder some circuit breakers across an old blown fuse.  That way when it shorts you just push the button.  Alot of the time if i look in the problem area when you reset the breaker you see and arc where its shorting out. But knowing you you already know this.
 DD

That's a great tip !

 

[illawarra_steelers]

Hey Tony
             Best thing ive ever done was to solder some circuit breakers across an old blown fuse.  That way when it shorts you just push the button.  Alot of the time if i look in the problem area when you reset the breaker you see and arc where its shorting out. But knowing you you already know this.
 DD

Hey Daniel,

Thanks for the tip and have never heard of that before!

Have yet to find that fault, actually have not been in the gamesroom since I smashed the playfield glass over a week ago! Just needed a break (no pun) from the games for awhile. The glass would still be all over the floor, suppose I better get out there and clean it up one day

[Bayview]

yes....that does sound like a smart idea. Will have to try to remember that. Cheers

[Ric]

the tip now features on Clay's guide to fixing EM's

I only saw it recently and it looked neat

He also recommends which size circuit breaker to use