Captain Fantastic Help

[umcane88]

Hello all,

For the past couple months, I have been working on my first machine. It is an arcade Bally Captain Fantastic. I love the machine.

Anyway, I've been stepping through problem after problem and have made some good progress for a newbie. But I have now stumbled across an issue I can't seem to tackle. The last thing I did was clean the ball count unit and the player up unit (carefully and using instructions that were posted by seasoned pinball people). Cleaning those mechanisms actually solved 2 big problems I was having (was only getting 4 total balls per game, was only being allowed to play multi-player games).

My new problem arose as soon as I was done with those tasks. Basically, the fuse that controls the lights behind the back glass blows as soon as I start a new game. It's fine when I turn the machine on, but as soon as I press the start button it blows that fuse (the middle fuse of the three that are mounted to the left just inside the front coin door). This has never been a problem before. I took out all the bulbs from behind the back glass, but the fuse still blows as soon as I hit the start button.

I would truly appreciate any thoughts? Remember, I'm a newbie.



Thanks.



Ian

[islost]

Sounds like a short

[umcane88]

Thanks. But looking at the work I was doing, what might be cuaing the short and how might I find out and fix the problem?

Ian

[Coil_Smoke]

A quick look at this schematic{http://mirror2.ipdb.org/files/438/Ba..._Schematic.pdf }shows many circuits powered by that 15A fuse. These include the units that were cleaned and others including general illumination.

[umcane88]

Thanks, though reading those diagrams is a little like Chinese to me. Thinking ab out it, I'd have to guess that the problem came specifically after cleaning the Ball Count Unit, as I'm pretty sure I tested the machine after cleaning the Player Up Unit and didn't have the blown fuse.

What might the problem even look like? How can I test for it? As I said, I'm a newbie, but I've been working my way slowly through these problems successfully and seem close to getting everything done.

[Coil_Smoke]

It looks like the only set of contacts on the ball counter powered by that fuse(disc 1?) light the ball count lamps. Assuming the unit is reset to ball one, only current from that contact should be flowing to the ball 1 lamp. It looks like a brown wire w/ a green trace. the 'ball count' unit is energized through a set of normally closed contacts on the 'game over' relay. It may prove helpful to know that normally closed, n/c, in pinball schematics means with the game on and ready to play ball 1. Also don't be tempted to skimp on the fuses. They should help from burning something else up.

[umcane88]

Thank you very much for your thoughts. I will look further into them.

Ironically, the only lights that didn't work on the machine before this problem started were the ball count lights. Maybe in cleaning the ball count unit I did something to somehow make them work again, but one of them has a short that is causing the fuse to blow? Does that make sense. If so, how might i be able to fix this?

[Coil_Smoke]

Having another look at your schematic has me wondering which fuse is actually blowing? Is it the 15A that powers the bottom buss or the 15A that goes to the front door and on to the ball counter Etc.

[Coil_Smoke]

Some times it may be helpful to un-solder a supply connection to a unit to try to isolate a shorted circuit.

[umcane88]

Just inside the coin door on the left is a bank of 3 fusses that are aligned one above the next. The fuse that keeps blowing is the middle one (connected to a brown wire and also actually connected to the bottom fuse). It appears to control the back glass lights and also 2 little lights on the coin door.

The top fuse appears to control some other non-lighting mechanism on the coin door. The bottom fuse controls the playfield lights. These are both fine.

Let me know if you need more info and I will find it.

Again, thank you so much for the help.

Ian

[Coil_Smoke]

Yes that is the fuse that powers the ball counter and many other circuits.

[umcane88]

Any other thoughts out there from anyone that might be of help to me? I am stuck here, and I would love to move forward.

Thanks,

Ian

[umcane88]

I will make one more plea for help here, as the few local pinball repairmen I have called refuse to even give estimates on fixing this without charging $100 just to show up at my house with no guarantees. Then the clock immediately starts on their hourly rates. I'd love to avoid that.
Anyway, the fuse controlling the back glass bulbs still keeps blowing upon start up. I have removed all the bulbs behind the back glass and it's still blowing. Please respond with any suggestions.
I also have one other problem that I'd like to solve. For Player two (and only player 2), the scoring is insanely high. It seems that whenever a ball ends for player 2, the ten thousand column kicks up one notch on the scoreboard no matter what. Thoughts?
Than you,
Ian

[umcane88]

I fixed it! There was an issue with the switch stack on the BCU where the little plastic screw guards weren't sticking out far enough, causing a situation where the metal end piece was touching a metal switch leaf. Sweet! This also fixed the ball count light problem.
Now the only problem I have is with player 2 scoring too high. Actually, when I just checked it the Player 2 10,000 (highest) reel spun uncontrollably (like it was possessed) after ball 2. I had to turn the machine off to stop it. But the normal problem, again, involves that 10,000 reel clicking up an extra notch after every single ball, creating an obscenely high score. I think this is my last problem. Any thoughts?
Thanks,
Ian

[faralos]

I am guessing you own the EM one so look for a stuck leaf switch or a couple
that run the scoring reels. from this site looking at the pics of the lower cab area I think a stuck set of switches is causing the reels to add score, also the reels themselves should have a pin on its edge to catch the next one in succession if I remember right
And all those switches must be cleaned and adjusted, yeah each and every one!
http://www.ipdb.org/showpic.pl?id=438&picno=23467

[umcane88]

Thank for the info. I'm still trying to find the offending switch stack, and will keep you updated. I did now notice that it only seems to do this extra high scoring on player 2, ball 1.

I also just uncovered another new problem as well. Seems like I can only play up to 2 players. It will not let me play 3 or 4 player. That problem didn't exist a few days ago. Something I did must've created it.

Also, some of the numbers buzz very badly on certain reels. Like player 1, only if the 10,000 reel is stopped on 9. This has been going on for awhile now, but doesn't effect anything game play wise.

Any thoughts on any of this would be greatly appreciated. I know I'm asking a million questions, but I'm really trying to get this thing going right.

Thanks,

Ian

[umcane88]

I fixed all of the problems except one. The buzzing issues were being caused by a spring not being strong enough, so I chopped it down. A switch stack issue was causing the Player 2 scores too high problem.

Now I only have only that problem that the machine will now only let me play 1 or 2 players, but won't let me play 3 or 4 players. Any thoughts?

I also have a question about making the game harder. The bonuses increase too quickly, and the score gets high too quick. How do I change these settings?

I'm almost there!

Thanks,

Ian

[umcane88]

Alright. I got through those problems I was having before, but now I have run into an issue involving the Player 1 scoring reel. I just cleaned all the reels (I followed directions and used alcohol only on the plastic pieces and a green pad to scrape off the grime from the contact points). Now, the middle 2 reels will not reset at the start of a new game. They just sit dead as the #1 and #2 Score Reset switches click continuously. However, if I manually reset these reels to zero to start a new game, they will score normally during the course of the game. They just again won't reset when I start a new one.

I don't think it's switch position causing this, as I followed the pattern of the other switches. They are all open at zero, then 2 close and stay closed as the reel clicks all the way around. At the last click the last switch closes. Then at the next click they all reset to open.

I'd really appreciate any help here.

Thanks,

Ian

[umcane88]

Ok. I figured out how to fix all the other problems, and I'm left with one other issue. On all the player score reels (except number 1, which I somehow fixed), I have a problem where when the highest reel (10,000) is on 0 and the second highest reel is on 9, there is a major buzzing sound. When I searched further, I found that this is caused by the coil plunger being stuck in the IN position, thereby holding the smaller switch stack against the metal frame and the vibrations cause the buzz. I have cleaned the plunger and the mechanisms, so cleanliness is not the problem. I also don't think it's stuck in because it's jammed or anything because the second I turn the machine off and it's not getting any sort of electric current, the plunger pops right back out. This doesn't effect game play, it's just annoying during that little bit of time that the reel is on 9, and I doubt it's too good for the machine.

Any thoughts?

Thank in advance for the help.

Best,

Ian