Tech: Black hole Sound + power

[Guest]

Archived from groups: rec.games.pinball (More info?)

Problem 1
The sound on my newly acquired black hole (lucky #10 ) is working
but:

Sound is low and if I turn the volume up, there's no real gain until I
hit the MAX , then there's a BIG DIFFERENCE and is WAY too loud.

I've tried playing with the pots (R16 & R15), it's making a little
difference but not enough (for me) to be ok to play and enjoy the
sounds.



My next step is to change the volume pot in the coindoor. Is this a
good assumption ? I'm reading Clay's guide on it and it seems I should
be happy to have sounds at all !


Problem 2

I never thought I would say this about a gottlieb but MAN those
flippers are powerfull ! Is this normal ? The middle playfields
slings are also very powerfull ?


thanks
Phil
http://mrhide.pinnesota.org/gallery/blackhole

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: rec.games.pinball (More info?)

Hi Phil,

congratulations on your fine pinball taste!!

Some people advocate spraying electrical contact cleaner into the coin door
pot, twist it back and forth, to clean it. I never have had to do that, but
it is a possibility. Otherwise, replacement is always an option.

The flippers are nice and strong on my Black Hole, Haunted House, and
Spider-Man; just wait until after you Novus/carnauba wax the playfield (wax
the balls, too!). The speeds will be awesome! However, to make sure it is
always a good idea to consult the manual and compare what is in there versus
what SHOULD be in there.

Regards,
Dan

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: rec.games.pinball (More info?)

Dan,

Thanks

contact cleaner: didn't work and I think I know why !

I've replaced the pot with one from Pinbot and bingo ! much better !
PROBLEM RESOLVED !! VICTO... wait a moment ... what's that smell ?!
electronic burn ! ARG! shutdown the machine.

smell around and... it's the pot ! (not pot... _the_ pot)

I put another one (100k like the original) start the machine, look at
the pot and insert coin: I see a glow within the pot ! ...another coin,
another glow and smoke !

So that would probably explain the problem with the original

How come I have so much juice that it cooks the pot ?(I can hear
someone saying "measure how much is coming with a meter"...will do )


I'm looking at page 33 of the manual and I see that when exiting the
LM379 at 10, there's a C36 470 UF 35V and then it's audio out to the
pot.

Strange indeed
ideas?

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: rec.games.pinball (More info?)

Hi Phil,

nice to see you have a manual!

> I put another one (100k like the original)

I think therein lies your problem. According to the schematic on page 48
the volume pot is a 100 ohm, 2 watt unit, not 100k. I am no electrical
engineer by any stretch, but I would think that is a significant difference
in resistance rating, not to mention possible wattage differences between
the original pot, and the Pinbot pot you used.


> I'm looking at page 33 of the manual and I see that when exiting the
> LM379 at 10, there's a C36 470 UF 35V and then it's audio out to the


Certainly that large electrolytic cap at C36 may be dried out, and need to
be replaced, but I would make sure you have the correct size volume pot
first.

Regards,
Dan

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: rec.games.pinball (More info?)

and yet another update about the power:

There's actually 3 different voltage at the transformer_s_
(more-then-meets-the-eye)
100,115, and 130v.

They were both at 115 so I move them up to 130 (lower = more power to
coils)

It's a little better but I think it will still break targets and
plastics but at least the reentry stopped banging the glass everytime.

Any other way of bumping down coil strenght short or replacing the coil
?

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: rec.games.pinball (More info?)

Gosh, I have always felt the 115 VAC was plenty for me. Maybe just switch
that back?

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: rec.games.pinball (More info?)

Dan,

check
http://www.marvin3m.com/em/index2.htm#perform

High-Tap.
All the manufacturers have a transformer setting for locations with
"low line voltage". Low line voltage happens most often in the summer
when your game is plugged into a power line that shares an air
conditioner.

The high-tap transformer setting will bump up the solenoid voltages
(only) about 4 or 5 volts. This gives your pop bumpers, kickers, and
flippers a bit of extra power. Don't worry, you won't burn out coils
faster with this setting. I set all my EM games to high-tap and it
gives them just a bit more punch.
[end quote]

 

[Tom]

Archived from groups: rec.games.pinball (More info?)

I think there's some confusion here. The marvin link is talking about
the secondary windings (output side) of the transformer, not the
primary (input) side. The input side taps are used to match the
expected transformer input with whatever your wall is putting out.
(mine tends to sit around 122 volts). Changing the input tap is only
good for making sure you are not overworking the input transformer.
Set it to the closest higher voltage to whatever you measure on average
coming out of the wall. (a device like a Kill-A-Watt meter is useful
for these kinds of things).