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This Board Will Help You Diagnose Lamp Matrix Issues

Cary Hardy·video·15m 12s·analyzed·Oct 26, 2020
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Analysis

claude-haiku-4-5-20251001 · $0.015

TL;DR

Lamp matrix tester board demo for System 11 diagnosis and transistor failure isolation.

Summary

Cary Hardy demonstrates the use of a lamp matrix tester board (by Siegecraft Electronics) to diagnose and isolate lamp matrix issues on a Williams System 11 pinball machine (Swords of Fury). He uses the device to identify a failed transistor (Q58) controlling column 5 of the lamp matrix, then verifies the diagnosis with a multimeter and confirms the repair by testing with and without the playfield connected.

Key Claims

  • The lamp matrix tester board is manufactured by Siegecraft Electronics and available through marcospecialties.com for $25

    high confidence · Direct statement: 'This device is done by Siegecraft Electronics... I purchased this off of marcospecialties.com for $25.'

  • The most common issue when dealing with switch/lamp matrix problems is failure of the initial transistors on the board rather than chips or PIAs upstream

    high confidence · Direct assertion: 'the chances are this is the most common issue when dealing with your switch matrix or your lamp matrix is your initial transistors right here.'

  • Testing the lamp matrix without the playfield connected allows isolation of whether a short is caused by the playfield or the board itself

    high confidence · Methodological explanation: 'if this transistor shorts when turning on the machine and it still does what it does then I know it's not the playfield because the playfield doesn't connect to it.'

  • Q58 transistor on the Swords of Fury board was visibly darker than other transistors, indicating a failed component

    high confidence · Observation: 'you can even see from this camera angle that this one in particular is even much darker than the others.'

  • The lamp matrix tester board is compatible with Williams System 9, System 11, and WPC machines

    high confidence · Device specifications: 'They've also got a WPC version... This is between System 9 and 11 for Williams.'

Notable Quotes

  • “This gives you a really good visual and a small little diagram on which ones are going and which ones shouldn't be.”

    Cary Hardy@ 5:17 — Explains the primary utility of the lamp matrix tester board for visual diagnosis without requiring manual consultation

  • “the chances are this is the most common issue when dealing with your switch matrix or your lamp matrix is your initial transistors right here”

    Cary Hardy@ 7:17 — Key insight about lamp matrix failure modes and troubleshooting priorities

  • “this also like I said negates 50% of your possible problems with your lamp matrix by negating the play field”

    Cary Hardy@ 14:14 — Emphasizes the diagnostic value of isolating board-level issues from playfield-level issues

  • “Swords of Fury is now 100% working. And due to a little assistance from this board right here.”

    Cary Hardy@ 12:46 — Confirms successful diagnosis and repair outcome using the lamp matrix tester

Entities

Cary HardypersonSwords of FurygameSiegecraft ElectronicscompanyMarco SpecialtiescompanyStraight Down the MiddleeventWilliams System 11productQ58product

Signals

  • ?

    community_signal: Cary Hardy producing educational technical content on pinball restoration for newer hobbyists and experienced restorers

    high · Explicit mention: 'I'm starting to do more content for you new people to the hobby out there... this is something that I definitely recommend for you new guys but it's also good for us veterans'

  • ?

    technology_signal: Lamp matrix tester board represents adoption of dedicated diagnostic hardware to replace traditional troubleshooting methods relying on full playfield connection and manual matrix charts

    high · Hardy contrasts old method ('typically we would have to go through our lamp matrix test and use the whole play field as judgment') with new board-based approach

Transcript

youtube_groq_whisper · $0.046

0:00
So I was working on my Swords of Fury that I'm doing for Straight Down the Middle and I thought I was done. I honestly thought everything was good to go. I finally got the rest of my LED ordering, installed the new LEDs, and it's the first time that I have seen the game entirely lit up. And then I noticed that I had a problem. now what i was going to do originally was just order the parts that i needed replace it and be done with it but then i was like you know what let's take this a step a little further and let's do some content for you guys out there on how to go about fixing the problem but the thing is i already know what the issue is and i haven't repaired it yet but i saw something on their website and i was like you know what i'm gonna order this and maybe this will be beneficial to me now as well as down the road and we're gonna try it out together to see if it works and that is a lamp matrix tester if i get that just right i'll get some better content footage of that but it's a lamp matrix uh led little board that gives you a readout of what your lamp matrix is doing right there in front of you without having to stare at your playbill to figure out what's going on so this will give you guys a better visual of what i already know the issue to be and then we're gonna get this board fixed up and then we're gonna move on so let's get started guys just so you know I realize I didn't hold this board up. I've been looking down a lot, and I realize that you probably didn't know what I was looking down at. I've been looking at the board for Swords of Fury.
1:44
All right, so let's get it back in the machine. Okay, now that we've got our board back in there, let's open this thing up.
2:27
And we get two components in here. I got this through Marco, just so you know. Here's our main board. This shows our rows and columns that we're going to be connecting to.
2:38
And here is the provided wire harness. So these two are going to go onto the board, whereas this end is going to go onto this.
2:53
So let's get a little closer view. All right, we're doing this on a System 11. So this is my columns. now according to this right here my columns are the far region over here which means holding it up right here this one should go to this one should slide right in there and then this end would be my rows and that one should go right in there to that one that's how that's gonna go in there and my columns will be on this end so I'll just match up the pins and then
3:41
slide that into place and there we go that board is officially hooked up so now we can power this on and see what we get
4:05
All right so So looks like, okay, let's go to the lamp test real quick. All right, we are currently on all lamps. Let me get this camera moved around a little better.
4:23
That's on all lamps. Now notice how this particular column right here seems to be even brighter than the other ones as well. so let's move over to separate bulbs here
4:48
all right so now we're on single lamps and as I go through you're going to notice that instead of just one lamp right here now we're on two this is gonna be three four so as you can see I'm always getting that column is always going so this gives you a really good visual and a small little diagram on which ones are going and which ones shouldn't be.
5:26
So I can go through all of these one at a time, and you can see that that column is always going until finally just that column.
5:42
But then we're back to having two columns again. So right back to the beginning again. So this is column 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. Column 5. Oh, it even tells you the top right here if I get the camera down enough and you can see that, yeah, column 5 is sorted. now that's when you boot out your trusty dusty trusty dusty whatever your manual and get out your lamp matrix which is always going to be in the manual somewhere or another and figure out which transistor controls column five now we're going to do that using our multimeter as well but if you look on the manual for this particular game this system this is gonna be q58 q58 is right here this is the transistor hell you can even see from this camera angle that this one in particular is even much darker than the others hmm so you've even got a visual sign of an issue that's kind of funny so So this one right here is our bad apple more than likely. Now, there's always a possibility that up here on these chips and even all the way up to the PIAs, there could be an issue. But the chances are this is the most common issue when dealing with your switch matrix or your lamp matrix is your initial transistors right here. So this is more than likely the only problem Hopefully it is but I just stopping immediately at my first point right here and that is this one right here so let get the board out and fix this transistor something i want you to notice right here also is that immediately when i turn the machine on you can see that there's obviously a short because only that column turns on so i'm going to turn the machine off bam So now also when I turn the machine off, that is the only column that remains lit until the power subsides and we no longer have anything lit. So that tells me right there that we definitely have an issue with the Q58. All right, now let's say if the visualization of the tester just isn't enough and we want to confirm that, in fact, that transistor is bad. We'll go through the entire column and row to figure out which one is bad by just testing the looks All right, that's good
8:39
That's good, that's good That one's shorted we know that the one two three four fourth one down is shorted And the fourth one down is one, two, three, four,
9:03
Q58. So that's double confirmation that this bad baby is not good. So let's take this out. All right. now that we've got all the transistors in there let's test them to see if they're all the same all right so this is the one that was bad all right getting around 600 for all of them sweet all right let's get it back on the machine guys we are hooked back up to the machine and I'm not just going to hook up the playfield guys because what this board is going to be useful for is really determining if the reason for the short on that transistor was due to the playfield because I'm negating the playfield from the formula right now so if this transistor shorts when turning on the machine and it still does what it does then I know it's not the playfield because the playfield doesn't connect it to it so then we'd have another issue.
10:51
So this works completely with this board, but then I hook the playfield up to it, and that column goes out again, then I know I've got a short somewhere on my playfield, which I really hope I don't. So let's turn it on and see what we get.
11:11
Oh, that looks good. That looks really good. I don't have a really bright column or anything like that.
11:19
Nice Alright let go to the lamp test and see if we still get the same thing So that is all lamp test Every column every row flashing together It beautiful Let's go to the single lamp test. Yes. is working the way it's supposed to. Yay!
11:53
Every lamp is corresponding correctly. Alright, we are ready to attach the playfield guys. And then hopefully it still works good.
12:06
Alright, here we go. There's no balls in it, so all right or as before i wouldn't know immediately because these two bulbs like these two bulbs up here and as well as up there would be always on and there we go guys i believe this machine is finally 100 percent working good outro music there So there you have it. Swords of Fury is now 100% working. And due to a little assistance from this board right here. This device is done by Siegecraft Electronics. They have a number of other different types of devices and different systems that work the same way. So this is between System 9 and 11 for Williams. They've also got a WPC version. and more than likely even more other items than that. I purchased this off of marcospecialties.com for $25.
13:15
I didn't even bother searching around for a better deal. I was already adding plenty of items to my cart, so I decided to do this video for you guys, and I will be using this in the future now that I have it. I've typically just used a play field to pinpoint any type of problems with my lamp matrix, but now that I've got this, now I've got a good little testing object between my systems 9 and 11 so I'm glad that I do have this it was not a waste and there you go if you would like to add this little test kit to your toolbox then by all means click on the link that I have in the description down below now I'm starting to do more content for you new people to the hobby out there so this is something that I definitely recommend for you new guys but it's also good for us veterans out there because like I said typically we would have to go through our lamp matrix test and use the whole play field as judgment whereas we could just focus on a little bitty board like this to deter what our lamp matrix problem is and this also like I said negates 50% of your possible problems with your lamp matrix by negating the play field so there you would have it if everything looks good on this board but you're having issues with your play field then you know at least the problem is on your play field and you don't have any board problems so that's going to be it for this video if you liked it and or learned something then give me that thumbs up and if you haven't already hit that subscribe button down below that way you can be notified or whenever i upload something for your viewing pleasure and until next time guys peace out
15:00
I'll see you next time.