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Part 5: 1985 Bally Cybernaut Pinball Project. Lamp issues resolved & Barry Visits!

Pinball Shenanigans·video·25m 44s·analyzed·Dec 5, 2025
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Analysis

claude-haiku-4-5-20251001 · $0.018

TL;DR

Cybernaut lamp issues resolved via reflowed connector headers; misc maintenance completed.

Summary

Mike Dus continues restoration of a 1985 Bally Cybernaut pinball machine, focusing on resolving lamp/lighting issues caused by LED conversion. Through systematic troubleshooting using alligator clips and multimeter testing, he identifies bad solder joints on the auxiliary lamp driver board connectors and successfully reflowed them. The episode also covers minor maintenance tasks including shooter spring replacement, switch capacitor repairs, and slingshot bracket tightening. A guest appearance by Barry the cat provides comedic relief throughout.

Key Claims

  • The L lamp and 270 lamp were not working after LED conversion due to bad/cracked solder on auxiliary lamp driver board connectors

    high confidence · Visual inspection of board revealed cracked solder on first three pins; reflowing the headers resolved both issues

  • One remaining non-working lamp (green 'Gate open when lit') operates during gameplay but is not programmed into attract mode

    high confidence · Mike tested during actual gameplay and confirmed the light works when gate opens; determined it's not a hardware failure

  • Power to one lamp socket runs through the gate relay rather than direct lamp driver circuit

    high confidence · Traced thick gray wire from lamp socket, confirmed relay closure triggers lamp illumination

  • Auxiliary lamp driver board LED adapters purchased were incompatible (for -52 board variant, machine has -43)

    high confidence · Mike attempted to install adapters, discovered pinout differences between -52 and -43 variants

  • Siegecraft is the brand name for LED adapters

    medium confidence · Mike identifies product packaging while installing LED adapters, though stated somewhat tentatively

Notable Quotes

  • “I don't think it is a me problem, sadly. So I'm going to have to try and deal without schematics”

    Mike Dus @ mid-episode — Internet Pinball Database was inaccessible for two days, forcing troubleshooting without schematic reference

  • “It's a silicon controlled rectifier, but it's easier to say transistor than SCR. Why? I don't know, but that's just the way it's going to be.”

    Mike Dus @ mid-episode — Self-aware comment about terminology shortcuts in pinball repair community

  • “There's no real reason to be removing the connector on the auxiliary lamp driver board multiple times, but you know, if you do remove them, then the ends—when you're pulling off that connector and you're doing that to pull it off—strains the ends most of all”

    Mike Dus @ late-episode — Root cause analysis of connector damage from repeated removal/reinstallation

  • “I don't know if you could tell at all, but it looks real nice now. Nice and smooth transitioning of on off with no more flickery ion generator.”

    Mike Dus @ late-episode — Confirmation that LED adapter installation resolved visible flicker in ion generator lamp section

Entities

Mike DuspersonPinball Shenanigansorganization1985 Bally CybernautgameBarrypersonElliepersonCorey CookpersonEddie DazziopersonSiegecraftcompanyInternet Pinball DatabaseorganizationElectragame

Signals

  • ?

    design_philosophy: Detailed troubleshooting methodology using alligator clips, multimeter testing, and schematic analysis to isolate lamp circuit failures

    high · Mike methodically tested each SCR transistor pin, traced relay circuits, and verified solder quality before and after reflowing

  • ?

    product_strategy: Systematic LED conversion of Cybernaut requiring troubleshooting of compatibility issues between lamp driver board variants and adapter availability

    high · Multiple lamp circuits required investigation; auxiliary lamp driver -52 vs -43 pinout incompatibility discovered; LED adapter installation on compatible circuits eliminated flicker

  • ?

    technology_signal: LED conversion creating downstream issues with aging connector hardware; reflowing solder joints became necessary maintenance task

    high · Cracked solder on connector headers identified as root cause; connector strain from previous removal/reinstallation contributed to degradation

Transcript

youtube_auto_sub · $0.000

0:02
Okay, it's time for another episode of Cybernot. And I don't know if you heard that, but on today's episode, we have a very special guest. It's Barry. You only know Barry if you've been watching Pinball Shenanigans for uh I don't know, it's been a while since Barry's been here. He used to make frequent appearances, but uh ever since we got Ellie, he's just very very hissy fit type cat. When he gets anywhere near Ellie, he just starts hissing. And I don't know that he's trying to put up a fight, but he just uh maybe gets stressed out. He doesn't like other cats. So, his um basically his family moved. They lived next door and uh they didn't take Barry. So, we're just temporarily housing him. Uh he had a we had a sleepover last night and Barry stayed in the basement and Ellie stayed upstairs. We kept them separate and they're at the bathroom door trying to like meow at each other and hiss at each other. And well, it's Barry doing the hissing, not so much Ellie. But anyway, Barry's gonna hang out with us today while we work on some cybernet. I'm Mike Dus and [music] this is Pinball Shenanigans.
1:34
The first goal of this episode is to get all of the lights 100% working. Install these uh LED adapters that I got off of Corey Cook of London Pinball. Hey, it says Siegecraft. I didn't know that this was the actual Siegecraft brand. the ones from um Eddie Dazzio at pinballledds. Let me try and say that again. pinballledds.ca.
2:08
Those are just sufficient too. But Siegecraft is the brand name for LED adapters. Isn't that right, Barry? Do you agree? Yeah, I thought so. So, that's the plan. Yeah, I thought so. So, that's the plan. That's the starter. gonna get the lights working and then once that happens, we'll move on to other things. Okay, so uh if you watched the last video, then you know that the L was not working. This light, I believe, wasn't working. And this light was not working after removing all the incandescent bulbs and LEDing the machine. So, I just turned it on and noticed a couple things and I turned it back off so I could show you. Thing number one, when I turn on the machine, this light just kind of locks on. And then, of course, we get the Cyber Knot sound [snorts] and L all of a sudden spontaneously started working. But our 270 is definitely out. So, I don't know what happened there. Let's hit the um lamp test. Okay, so L is definitely working. But this guy doesn't want to work in lamp test. 270 is official. So, oh right, this green uh light is also out. Gate open when lit. And I was looking at the schematics and I'll show you. Hey, look. L just went out that it's going to be more of a socket or connector thing rather than a lamp driver component aka SCR thing. So that should be an easy fix. But uh on the schematics uh I found what resistor uh I mean transistor I mean SCR is responsible for 270. I found which one is responsible for L. And I think I was not able to find what this one was called. So, we're going to have to investigate. But first thing I want to see if this light actually operates during game play. Okay, let's start up a game here.
4:39
Uh, all guardians all guardian targets down opens the right gate. [snorts] So, what happens if we knock these guys down?
4:52
Look at that. That light does work. It just is not programmed into attract mode. That happens from time to time. So, I guess we don't have to worry about that. And uh now I'm going to go check out actually I'll deal with this L first cuz that's the easiest one. Okay. So, uh I believe this is the L right here. And I swapped it with the adjacent socket. And then here's the connector for this lamp driver board. I receeded that and then it was working and then it wasn't. So don't think it is socket or that particular connector. So, now it's time to pull up the schematics and see uh where that wire goes in the back box. I know you want to go back outside. You love it outside, but it's too cold out there. And uh we may not lure you back in here, you know. So, you're going to have to stick around with us for a bit. Okay. Our challenge is going to be a slight bit greater today because um for the last two days I haven't been able to access the internet pinball database and I don't think it is a me problem sadly. So I'm going to uh I'm going to have to try and deal without schematics except for the fact that I took some notes on the 270K light and the L light last week. So at least I have that information. J2 pin 20 which is the auxiliary lamp driver board and J2 pin one also auxiliary lamp driver board. So I think I'll start by pulling that board and refflowing the connector headers. Or maybe for at least the 270K light, maybe I'll jumper Q10 to see if that lights up the light. If not, then it might be uh flaky header pin. So, we'll try that. Okay. I got my alligator clip here. One end on ground. A little nail here for some precision assist. And these MCR transistors are labeled clearly on the board. There's Q10 there. I think there's the middle leg you want to ground. So let's see if I can uh do that. Okay. Now it's 270 lighting up. I'll try some other pins on the transistor. I'll try the right leg. I'm always afraid to do that and then blow up the transistor al together. Here's the other leg. No. What about Q12? Let's hit the middle leg on Q12.
8:03
It's kind of hard when everything's uh blinking. So, what I what you can do is just go into uh let's see. I'm going to go into like this switch test. zero switches are closed. So now if I ground the middle leg of Q12, let's see if anything happens. Look at that. Okay, so it is the middle leg. That's confirmed. But that's not happening with Q. Here's a Q11. That was the 3X. I don't know if you saw that. I'll show you again. Okay, now Q10.
8:46
Nothing happening there. That makes me think it's uh connector related. So, I'm going to remove this board. Refflow the headers on both those connectors. And what was the other? The L was uh Q1. And that is way down here. That's kind of bent. So, let's see if this lights up our L. Oh, it does. H. Okay. Well, the uh jury is still out on that one. Means the socket's good. The bulb's good. The connector on this board is probably good. So, I think I will go ahead and reflow these headers. Okay. Okay, first thing we're going to do is just run a quick little uh test here on these uh SCRs. This is Q12, 11, 10, 9, etc. And got 1.7, 1.7, 1.7. So those all test fine. They all test the same. And then we got a 66.
10:20
Why is nothing reading anymore? Here we go. Oh, outside legs. Okay. 67 67 68 68 So they all test the same. So makes me not be too suspicious of the MCR transistor. I'm going to call it a transistor. Okay. It's a silicon controlled rectifier, but it's easier to say transistor than STR. Why? I don't know, but that's just the way it's going to be. [snorts] Okay, now let's check the headers. Look at that.
11:11
That looks really bad. The first three look pretty bad. The rest seem okay. Oh, look at that. I think we might have found a problem here. Just old cracked solder. Yeah, even that le leftmost pin.
11:39
There's no real reason to be removing the connector on the auxiliary lamp driver board multiple times, but you know, if you do remove them, then um the ends when you're pulling off that connector and you're doing that to pull it off strains the ends most of all, and those are the ones that end up cracked. So, I guess maybe you have to remove those connectors to um remove the head, but this head hinges down. So, I don't imagine these connectors have been on and off a million times over the years. But, nonetheless, it's got some bad solder. And I think uh refflowing that should fix us up.
12:42
All right, that's done. And um we can take a quick peek here. Should be good. It's kind of hard to tell,
13:00
but uh I have high hopes for this. So, I'm going to pop this in and we'll see what happens. Okay, the auxiliary lamp driver board is reinstalled. Not going to mount it just yet till I know that our problems are resolved. So, let's see what happens here. We're hoping for an L to be working and we're hoping for a 270 to be working. All right, we know this works. This works and this works. Hopefully that stays working. I'm sure it will. We're down to one last light bulb. I got to figure out uh what is going on with this. So, I'll be right back. Okay, the first test I'm going to do is just make sure that this socket itself is good and that the bulb is seated in there properly. So, I'm going to jumper the power from this neighboring LED here and socket and bulb are good. Okay, I learned a little something new today. So, I was just trying to see what wire color was tied to this socket here. And we got this giant thick gray wire like typically wiring to lamp sock. It's not this gauge. So [snorts] I follow this down. Goes around here and it's tied to the relay, also known as a relay.
14:36
Um, I'm trying to determine like do I need to follow this green yellow wire back to the back box. It comes around here and loops around and it ends up at what looks like this general illumination light. That didn't make any sense to me. So then I thought, well, maybe the relay is what contributes power to the lamp socket. If it closes
15:11
this switch here, then maybe that's what lights up the light. So, put the test put the theory to test. And look at that. See the gate? So when the gate opens, that actually sends power to the lamp. So that means here, I'll show you this one too. This guy. Like so. Watch over here.
15:55
So, power runs through the gate relay, which means I think we have got 100% of our bulbs working. Okay, let's have a final look here. Make sure there's no non- workinging bulbs. And also, this can be a bit of a before the LED adapters go in. I don't know if you can tell, but guys in the middle here are especially flickery. We can turn on that light now that we know how to do that and this light over here.
16:36
I think we are good to go. I don't see any bulbs that are out, including the back box.
16:46
And I just realized that because I've got the auxiliary lamp driver board, I need special LED adapters for an auxiliary lamp driver board. And I purchased one a while ago for Electra cuz I thought I was going to be able to LED that, but I wasn't able to. So, I think this is it right here. Yeah, look at that. I think we're in business. I didn't know that I'd ever find a use for these things, but they've been sitting here since Electra, which is probably a couple years ago. So, we got the complete set. Now, I'll install those and then get rid of our flicker. Before we do that, let's just check in on Barry. He's meowing over here. Well, I see you found my uh moving blanket. Yeah, you like that, eh? Yeah, you like that, eh? It's much better inside. I trust me, Barry. I know you are a wanderer. But we're going to find you a new home. But we're going to find you a new home. And uh you'll be one happy kitty. All right. Sadly, these are not going to work because there's more than one auxiliary lamp driver board for Bali. And this is for the -52 which looks like that. And I have a -43.
18:28
So the pin outs are just not the same and it's not going to work sadly. But at least I've got the other guys installed here. We'll power on the machine, throw it in lamp test, and then we'll hook this up to the correct line and see what things look like. So, let's throw this in lamp test here.
19:03
The whole ion generator is pretty flickery. Let's see if uh I can show that off a little better. Does that look flickery to you? Not really. Might not just may not show very well through the uh camera, but I believe this needs to go to this spot right here. So, got that open right now. And we'll have a look. I see crazy flicker. And now flicker is all gone. I don't know if you could tell at all, but it looks real nice now. Nice and smooth transitioning of on off with no more flickery ion generator. Hey, wait a minute. We may not need the auxiliary lamp driver LED adapters after all. They definitely control a bunch of this lighting, but somehow we got no flicker. What about the back box? How's that looking? Looking just fine and dandy. Okay. Well, I was a little bit sad about that, but now I am happy. Hey, time to do some uh minor miscellaneous things. My Guardian targets were a little bit dirty, so got them cleaned up. This barrel spring has seen better days. This is a pretty seriously thick uh shooter spring, and I think I'm going to move on to something a little lighter. Okay, new barrel spring, different shooter spring, new shooter tip, and looks good. Let's try it top side, though. There are basically two sizes of barrel springs. Uh, one's a little shorter than the other. I went with a longer one because every time I lift the playfield, I have to pull out the shooter rod. But with this longer barrel spring, check it out. No longer have to do that. That's how you lose your shooter tips from time to time. But for the ultimate test, where did my ball go? Hello, ball. Where did you go? Oh, in my pocket. All right, now let's see how it actually works. Perfect. Next on the list is this very loose switch. I think it wasn't registering very well. So, I'll check on um the screws and the cap and see if it's uh still even there. Okay. So, here's the two screws. You can see it's very loose. I just need to tighten those guys up. And also, there was a cap on here, but it is cut off. So, I will install a new one. Okay. I had to remove this uh lamp board to gain access to the screws. But these two screws are nice and tight now. I got a new capacitor on here. And I cleaned up the switch contacts with my Dremel. So that should be good. So I remember that my ion generator switches were not registering very well. Just having a look right now. And that cap is cut. That cap is also cut. And it doesn't even look like there's one on this switch. So they feel pretty tight, though. Don't think I need to remove them. and tighten the screws. But definitely have to add capacitors on these guys. So since Ellie can't hang out down here for the moment, Barry's taking over as the new assistant. And you're doing a mighty fine job there, buddy. So I've got the three capacitors installed on these switches here. So, that will uh definitely help in the ion generation cause. And um I think I'm going to kind of clean up this cabinet, just double check all these fuses are the correct values, and then uh vacuum this cabinet up. I made a bit of a mess. Okay, before I can get to the cabinet, I thought I'd check the last two standup targets. And sure enough, clipped and clipped. I think somebody thought they were trying to solve a problem by doing that, but uh you know, it can't work if a switch is like stuck closed or something. I don't know what they're trying to resolve. Anyway, I got to replace these two guys first. Okay, I've got caps installed on these two switches. And I've got the cabinet all cleaned up and vacuumed out. And while I had the hood up, I dremelled my uh flipper switches. So, those are now good to go. Oh, and I checked all the fuses and made sure they were all the correct amperages. So, I can check a bunch of things off the list. Okay, I think I'm going to do one more minor thing before I take off. These slingshot brackets are a little loose. I don't know if I need to um do the toothpick and wood glue thing or not, but I'm missing a screw there. So, probably. And a screw there. So, I will uh tend to those now. Okay. I added the couple missing screws. Tightened everything up. This is rock solid now. I also tightened up all four of the slingshot switches. Did not need to deal with the wood glue and toothpick thing. The holes were not stripped. Plus, I used a little bit beefier of a screw than might have originally been in there. So, going to call that a wrap and uh check on Barry and say goodbye. He looks like he's having a good old time here, hanging out. Are you having a good time, buddy? Are you having a good time, buddy? Yeah, I thought