Q*bert. A man and his grail... FINISHED !!!

[speleo_de]

The PSU is 100% 115VAC however and I'll have to use a step-down (inside of course).

i was trying to convert the powersupply of my qbert to 230 volts primary... however it did not work...
according to the schematics there are 2 coils 115v each connected on _each end_ in the original 115v vac version... (see pic 1)
my thinking was to connect the two coils on one end (like on atari-transformers with the power-plug) and feed on 230vac on the 2 remaining ends...
after unsoldering the connections of the two coils on the transformer (they are well marked) i checked if they are really seperated coils in the transformer... and yes---they are.
soldered the wires like in pic 2

giving 230vac blew the fuse of my room (not the f1 in the schematics?)
maybe somebody here knows where the error in my thinking is?

Swap the connection of one of the 115VAC coils.

[ajhippel]

i checked if the coils are connected to ground and they are not...

i unplugged the secondary line on the J5/P5 and J1/P1..

[ajhippel]

Swap the connection of one of the 115VAC coils.

ahh..yes...that what i was just thinking of.... (the prob is the documention only marks one coil)

thanks i will try that the next days....

[level42]

The PSU is 100% 115VAC however and I'll have to use a step-down (inside of course).

i was trying to convert the powersupply of my qbert to 230 volts primary... however it did not work...
according to the schematics there are 2 coils 115v each connected on _each end_ in the original 115v vac version... (see pic 1)
my thinking was to connect the two coils on one end (like on atari-transformers with the power-plug) and feed on 230vac on the 2 remaining ends...
after unsoldering the connections of the two coils on the transformer (they are well marked) i checked if they are really seperated coils in the transformer... and yes---they are.
soldered the wires like in pic 2

giving 230vac blew the fuse of my room (not the f1 in the schematics?)
maybe somebody here knows where the error in my thinking is?

Swap the connection of one of the 115VAC coils.

Ok I'm puzzled.....if you hooked it up like your second picture and you'd swap one of those connections wouldn't you put 230VAc on the 115Vac coils ?

Thankfully I have to do many other things on the PSU (check diode bridges, fuses, fuse holders, huge cap ) before I can try it so I am afraid I will have to await your results first

[level42]

B.T.W, thanks For tuning in Andreas

While we are here with some great technicians ......some of the guys on the KLOV Forum seem to be allergic for the IDC connectors like used on the Q*bert harness. (An the one's I pictured).

Now, I can understand these things may not be the best idea in the top-box of a pinball machine that vibrates and shakes all the time but in a video game ?

Would I really need to replace them with regular crimp connectors ? I might be doing that for the connector that carries the voltages but the others ??

I remember these same connectors were in my Judge Dredd and it never showed issues because of those connectors.

[Etienne MacGyver]

Some people bitch about everything, ofcourse there are better connectors out there, but if crimped good and they work, why replace them.

you can Always change them if they give you a hard time.

i would first just test the stuff that is there.

[level42]

Agreed !

We used those connectors when I worked with ADT (my first job) for Alarm systems. The tool I had "punched" 4 wires at once because we only used that connector AFAIR.
The only times there were trouble with these connectors when you could see people didn't make the connections properly (read, they used a fucking screwdriver to push the wires in !!!).

Also....you should NOT pull on the wires to get the connector off the pins....

[ajhippel]

okay...i tried and it worked...


on original 115v, the line1 is connected to 115(A) and line2 is connected to common(B) - both bridged to the second coil 115(A->D) and common(B->C)

here is how to change for 230v
(see pic)

remove bridge (A)->(D)
remove bridge (B)->(C)
line1 stays on (A)
remove line2 (B)
Solder a wire from (B) to (D)
Solder line2 to (C)

:-)

my thanks going to speleo!

[level42]

EXCELLENT, and right on time, just finished disassembly/cleaning/assembly of the power brick ?

Thanks !!!!!   Really like it that I don't have to use an extra transformer

Now don't forget to change F1 to 2A instead of 4A


Question: The schematics say fuse F4 is 10A, is that correct ?

[ajhippel]

10 ampere is correct

[level42]

Thanks !!!

So here's the Power Brick right out of the cab...of course dirty and a bit corroded.

[level42]

It's complete and in original shape except for one fuse holder.

[level42]

They weren't kidding around with the filter cap at Gottlieb....compared to this giant of 50000uF it makes Atari's 27000uF "Big Blue" look like a dwarf....

The brand is Sprague, a very old and high quality capacitor brand. I believe it's now part of Vishay but I'm sure the quality isn't what it used to be.
My Seeburg jukebox is full of Sprague and Siemens caps. It's from 1971 and I've tested each and every cap in there and ALL are still in excellent condition.

So I wouldn't be surprised if this is still OK too

[level42]

I know that the Russian ESR tester that I've got is one of the few of this type of tester that can handle these big-ass caps but I thought this might be even too big for it....

However...this looks damn fine to me !!!

[level42]

OK let's disassemble it....

....why does the underside of those power brick always look like new......?