Me......the technician........please stop laughing

[Wotto]

Hi all

An old mate called me up and wants me to go look at his Mary Shelleys Frankenstein......yes me 
All is perfect - but the display 'just stopped working'
NO display at all.

I have never seen one of these games in the flesh and apart from the ( maybe) obvious, checking of connections....is there anything specific to these games / this title that has maybe seen this issue raised before?

Any tips before I go and make his game even worse than what it is now  ,,,,would be appreciated 

[beaky]

this is one of the few machines with the extra large dmd.
these have their own on board power supply for the high voltage, which runs off the 12 volt supply.

Things to look out for is make sure the display driver board is getting  +5 volts to it, they can have problems with the connections. and make sure the dmd is getting +12 volts to it.

I just replaced one of these displays in a baywatch and with the shipping the display over $500

[Wotto]

OK - have Multimeter.
Ya wanna talk me through that one 

[Steevsee]

Hi Wotto

Here's a link to a stern service bulletin about this problem

http://www.sternpinball.com/downloads/sb106.pdf

You can also make the cable if neccessary.

Don't worry. I'm sure your mate will be impressed with your technical abilities.

Edit: Just noticed Greg has the upgrade cable in stock

http://www.rtbb.com.au/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=22_85&products_id=2725

[Caveoftreasures]

Hi all

An old mate called me up and wants me to go look at his Mary Shelleys Frankenstein......yes me  
All is perfect - but the display 'just stopped working'
NO display at all.

I have never seen one of these games in the flesh and apart from the ( maybe) obvious, checking of connections....is there anything specific to these games / this title that has maybe seen this issue raised before?

Any tips before I go and make his game even worse than what it is now  ,,,,would be appreciated  

I have a FRANKENSTEIN pinball machine and on a irregular basis on power up, the fuse to the large dmd display blows. I have another member/friend who has one as well and his does the same thing. It is always the fuse (99percent) and if not the fuse, the cable for the dmd can play up which is why Bay Area/Marco Spec etc offer a replacement Upgraded cable for apx $14 to $20 which stops issues..

Grab the Franky Manual and u will see easily which fuse it is. I dont usually suggest installing a slightly higher value fuse than is normally reccommended, but I increased the value of the fuse only just slightly and it fixed the issue.  I note on these Sega models that do incorporate the largest DMD in them, they dont like being turned on and off very quickly. Turn the machine on and leave on for a few minutes, then turn off. If u turn it on, then decide 5 seconds later to turn straight off, then turn straight back on again, it usually blows the fuse for the large DMD. My machine is a Aust delivered low use machine, and my mates is from the UK, both share fuse issues for the large DMD if turned on and off too quick etc, otherwise the DMD screens are usually bullet proof, and its usually the fuse or cable as suggested.

Also, i did have a service bulletin stapled into my manual by the former owner, and its a factory issue which also raised the fuse value for the DMD screen by apx 20 percent, so it seems the fuse value here on release was too low.  

hope it helps !  

[beaky]

as the others have mentioned check these things first.

you will see a 2 pin plug going to the display driver board, check for +5 across these 2 wires (red and black)

On the dmd you will see a 4 pin plug that looks like a plug that plugs into a P.C. hard drive (older style PATA hard drive not the newer SATA hard drive) the 2 centre pins will be GND, on of the outer pins will be +12 the other outer pin will be +5

Even if you do have all the +5 and +12 voltages it is worth getting the upgrade cable just to be sure.

[Wotto]

Thankyou guys - that all makes sense 

[beaky]

I don't know if i had mentioned it but check the ribbon cable between the MPU board and DMD driver board, I repaired 1 sega that looked like it had a dead display, it wasn't even showing the display rom version at boot up, It ended up being the ribbon cable.

[pinball god]

Hey Wotto,

I didn't know you were a tech.    Mate you must have other hidden talents.....maybe you could have performed my bicep operation....I mean like what could have gone wrong apart from you maybe sewing my arms to my ears or something......go for the repair mate the worst that can happen if maybe FIRE 

Good luck with the job I'm sure all will work out 

[Wotto]

Hey Wotto......go for the repair mate the worst that can happen if maybe FIRE 

  fark - dont laugh - 

[Wotto]

Hahahaha - frickin pinballs HATE me these days 

Turn game on - all works OK - no DMD display as reported

So I am assuming the new cable will fix this 'common' issue.
I have pointed my mate Patrick to RTBB site to grab one.

I ask 'is the rest of the game OK .....

He tells me the ball 'count' is wrong and the game sometimes spits out a 2nd ball when it isnt meant to.
I check the ball trough switches and one of them is all F8cked up, bent and stuck.
With the machine off and out of the wall socket I remove microswitch, straighten blade, re-screw it in and it is all nice and free again.
SWEEEEEEEEEEEEEEET I think to myself

Plug game in, turn game on - COMPLETELY DEAD - NOTHING - not even a PEEP   
Arrrrrr FFS I think to myself and start to sweat bullets.
Meanwhile my mate is blowin joints in the confined space room - which I am sure wasnt assisting me 

Couple of panic calls to Nino....check main fuses etc - all good in test - try other fuses just in case- NOTHING.
Then it hits me......I grab a little thing he has plugged in to another power point- chuck it in this power point - DEAD.

So it wasnt me after all 

[Steevsee]

 
That's the best laugh I've had in a long while.

"..sweat bullets."