TOM Eddy Sensor Issue

Hi all,

 

I’m helping a mate fix a TOM that has been out of action for a few years and was hoping for some help.

 

We worked out that the left Eddy Sensor appeared to be faulty. The machine diagnostics confirmed this, we were unable to calibrate it and the LED light on the board wouldn’t illuminate at all.

 

We also found that the machine would blow a solenoid after playing for a few minutes. It seemed to happen when you have triggered the “Hocus Pocus” stand up targets which activate the left magnetic ball save attached to the sensor. It would also make a significant buzzing noise when it did so.

 

Eddy sensors are new to me but I’m guessing they are on the Solenoid chain for fuse purposes?

 

Anyhoo, so we bought a new board from PSPA and installed it last night.

 

The fuse no longer blows and the machine doesn’t detect a faulty left sensor anymore but the LED light won’t illuminate and we were still unable to calibrate it. The magnetic ball save also won’t work when triggered.

 

We then swapped the left and right eddy sensor boards as an experiment.

 

When the new board was on the right hand side neither of the magnetic ball saves would work and the LED light still wouldn’t illuminate.

 

It seems odd that a brand new board (whilst not blowing fuses anymore) is showing the same symptoms as the old (supposedly) broken board.🤯

 

Does anyone have any idea what may be going on! I would be very appreciative for help or advice of any kind.[emoji16]

 

Cheers!

 

[ATTACH]137323[/ATTACH]

 

 

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Edited November 26, 2018 by Muzac
SOLVED!

Was it a new pcb or reco? Maybe you blew it up as well. Did the rhs pcb work onbthe lhs?

Outside of the machine, if you connect J1 pin 1 to ground and J1 pin 2 to 12v and connect the inductor to J2. As you turn the potentiometer R4 the led should come on as you turn the pot clockwise and go off as you turn it counter clockwise, if not the board is faulty. From memory if the inductor is not connected the led will be on all the time. You can try a new inductor, I know i have purchased from Jaycar , i think they are 100uh, the colour code will tell you.

TOM Eddy Sensor Issue

 

Was it a new pcb or reco? Maybe you blew it up as well. Did the rhs pcb work onbthe lhs?

 

Thanks for your reply PG. [emoji16]

 

EDIT:

 

(Sorry it was a late night and I just remembered that what I just wrote was untrue🤦)

 

It was a new board and yes, I reckon the rhs did work on the lhs and it was still working again after we switched it back and forth a couple of times.

 

The moment the machine was turned on there was no sign of the LED working at all on the new lhs pcb. We attempted to calibrate it via the potentiometer before pressing start as well. Considering a fuse didn’t blow, surely it wouldn’t have blown the board?

 

 

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Edited October 17, 2018 by Muzac

Outside of the machine, if you connect J1 pin 1 to ground and J1 pin 2 to 12v and connect the inductor to J2. As you turn the potentiometer R4 the led should come on as you turn the pot clockwise and go off as you turn it counter clockwise, if not the board is faulty. From memory if the inductor is not connected the led will be on all the time. You can try a new inductor, I know i have purchased from Jaycar , i think they are 100uh, the colour code will tell you.

 

Thanks mate, I’ll give that a whirl. [emoji109]

 

For the record, the LED is off all the time and turning despite turning the pot on the potentiometer in either direction it didn’t illuminate...[emoji848]

 

 

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you know it illuminates when a ball is over it? I'll assume you had a ball sitting over it while adjusting the pot. I use a telescopic magnet with the ball on the end and adjust the threshold.

you know it illuminates when a ball is over it? I'll assume you had a ball sitting over it while adjusting the pot. I use a telescopic magnet with the ball on the end and adjust the threshold.

 

Oh, no I didn’t know that. I was however able to adjust the rhs with the machine In attract mode (and the other PCB near the trunk I think..)

 

Is that not how it’s done?

 

 

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I should clarify that I was able to turn the LED on and off again while adjusting the pot. I believe that was doing the job?

 

 

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oops didn't see above

Actually, the manuals tell you to adjust it without a ball. Turn pot till the led just illuminates, then back it off till the led goes out. That's how I have always done it.

Till I did this https://www.aussiearcade.com/showthread.php/82574-Auto-Eddy-Boards-for-Williams-STTNG?highlight=auto+eddy

Actually, the manuals tell you to adjust it without a ball. Turn pot till the led just illuminates, then back it off till the led goes out. That's how I have always done it.

Till I did this https://www.aussiearcade.com/showthread.php/82574-Auto-Eddy-Boards-for-Williams-STTNG?highlight=auto+eddy

 

yes that's correct now you mention it and then I did the ball on a magnet test to see if it goes on/off etc. Was just easier for me the test

TOM Eddy Sensor Issue

 

Actually, the manuals tell you to adjust it without a ball. Turn pot till the led just illuminates, then back it off till the led goes out. That's how I have always done it.

Till I did this https://www.aussiearcade.com/showthread.php/82574-Auto-Eddy-Boards-for-Williams-STTNG?highlight=auto+eddy

 

Amazing work man! Are you going to sell them?

 

By the looks of it too you’ve set your pcb up to be tested in the manner you’ve described above.

 

Really appreciate the help. 🤜🤛

 

 

 

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@Tangles has also engineered a replacement eddy board: https://www.aussiearcade.com/showthread.php?t=95178

UPDATE - SOLVED!

 

It’s been a long process as I’ve been a bit busy with life but I’ve finally cracked it!

 

Primarily, there was also an issue with a flipper opto causing the right flipper to go weak. Luckily found a new one on eBay and that problem is fixed[emoji106]

 

The Eddy sensor issue was a tricky one. I worked out that the transistors were being blown on the ES PCB and so replaced them on both the new and old board. The new board is still not working (from memory I only replaced Q1 & Q2 so Q3 may still be busted) but the old original one is working[emoji846]

 

Because the flippers and magnet coils share fuses I thought that that problem was all related to the dodgy opto. I managed to get a number of games out of it with no issue but then it started blowing fuses again.

 

On closer inspection I could hear that the magnet coil seemed to be activating at odd times during gameplay even though the ball wasn’t about to drain. Looking at the eddy sensor PCB again I noticed the LED flickering when I played with it. Eureka! The main culprit was the sensor cable. It was activating the magnet randomly and for extended periods of time and in turn blowing transistors on the Eddy PCB and fuses.

 

After having a bit of trouble finding cables online (6 for $60 on ebay[emoji33]) I decided to fix it myself. Two connectors and an inductor later and voila! I reckon we are all sweet!

 

Thanks a bunch for everyone’s help, I am still interested in finding those self calibrating eddy boards if anyone has any for sale but for now I can play the game properly at last. [emoji109]

 

Cheers!

 

 

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