Trouble in Congo Bongo Country

[Superully]

ok guys, i'm having trouble with my congo bongo: when i turn it on, all i get is a green screen . but let me back up and go into greater detail: when i picked up the congo bongo, the seller had told me that occasionally the game doesn't work, because there seems to be some kind of shortage / loose connection on the power assembly. in order to prevent this, he came up with a "very modern fix": he stuck a beer coaster behind the connector to prevent it from "jumping out". obviously this seemed to work, because i never had any troubles with the game and therefore didn't investigate any further. here's a picture of the power assembly and the beer coaster - i have already removed the cable, but i'm sure you get the picture, right?



closer with out the beer coaster



even closer: one can clearly see the burn marks on two pins



view from the back. note that the two pins with the burn marks obviously have been bridged with a wire! what's the use of that?



and finally the "burned" connector !



questions:
- do i have to replace the connector?
- what are your suggestions?

[Muerto]

Beers are clearly getting back at you, switch the beer-coaster to a soda-coaster and it will work again... 

[level42]

Looks like you will need to replace the pins AND the connector.

Be sure to use "pins" IN the connector that have THREE contact surfaces ! Very often they use a pine with only 1 surface (this I learned from Andreas).

[Superully]

Looks like you will need to replace the pins AND the connector.
Be sure to use "pins" IN the connector that have THREE contact surfaces ! Very often they use a pine with only 1 surface (this I learned from Andreas).

thx andré, a couple more questions:
- where do i get the connector and the pin thingy?
- any idea what the function of that bridging wire could be?
- what caused the connection to "burn" and how can i prevent that from happening again?

[Etienne MacGyver]

i had something simular in the past, not in arcade hardware though, but in a old server

it could be high current through a bad connection, so its "sparking" in the connector, its acting like a resistor causing heat

that was the case in my situation, but i dont know if this is the case in your situation

a new "inside" in my connector and cleaning the pin was doing the trick in my case

i took a new "inside" from another simular connector and solderd the wire to the replacement connector

[Superully]

i took a new "inside" from another simular connector

what do you mean with "new inside"?

and if there is high current flowing though that connector, what prevents if from happening again once i've changed the parts?

[liquidx]

Looks like you will need to replace the pins AND the connector.
Be sure to use "pins" IN the connector that have THREE contact surfaces ! Very often they use a pine with only 1 surface (this I learned from Andreas).

thx andré, a couple more questions:
- where do i get the connector and the pin thingy?
- any idea what the function of that bridging wire could be?
- what caused the connection to "burn" and how can i prevent that from happening again?

The pins you need are called trifurcon pins.

The best source is GPE - http://greatplainselectronics.com/
I'm guessing those are 0.156 connectors but measure to be sure.

I'm guessing the bridge was either to replace a physical bridge on the PCB that got damaged or both pins carry the same thing so someone just "reinforced" them.

The burn is most probably due to a bad connection (as Andre says, the trifurcon connectors will get you a better hold, as they grab from multiple sides of the pin). It could also be bad design and a cable that's not the right gauge for the current carried (the wires looks smaller to those pins on the photo), it's more unusual but some pinballs are known to have that problem if I remember correctly.

It's an extra expense, but if you can, order a crimper for the connectors also, it'll make your life much easier (and I just rebuilt a pinball connector for someone who did it without the proper tools, I speak from experience )

Colin

[DarthNuno]

Got a similar problem 5 years ago... 



...it was on my Mesa Boogie 2:90 power amp.
I had to replace the burned connector ( now, it's directly fix on the board...not the best option I know now  ) and change one transistor. Done by the official technician from my guitar shop.

[Superully]

The pins you need are called trifurcon pins.

thx colin! those trifurcon pins are the ones which go into the white connector, right? but where do i get the connector itself? link would be great ... 

PLUS: do i have to replace this part as well?



if so, where can i get that?

sorry for those seemingly stupid questions, but this is totally new territory, so every help i can get is appreciated!

[Superully]

forgot something: which crimper would you suggest to order?

[Etienne MacGyver]

its nice to have a connector ofcourse, but you can solder the wires straight to the pins / board, this eliminates bad contacts..

[Etienne MacGyver]

i took a new "inside" from another simular connector

what do you mean with "new inside"?

and if there is high current flowing though that connector, what prevents if from happening again once i've changed the parts?

i mean the "clamping pieces of metal" inside the wire connector 
dont know how else to explain 

[liquidx]

The pins you need are called trifurcon pins.

thx colin! those trifurcon pins are the ones which go into the white connector, right? but where do i get the connector itself? link would be great ... 

PLUS: do i have to replace this part as well?

<photo>

if so, where can i get that?

sorry for those seemingly stupid questions, but this is totally new territory, so every help i can get is appreciated!

Yeah, there are so many of those connectors it gets complicated.

The female connector should be this one - http://greatplainselectronics.com/search.asp?pg=1&stext=CS156-10-LR&sprice=&stype=&scat=

that one locks/clicks into place, which seems to be the case on yours (the white edge at the back).

The contacts are these ones - http://greatplainselectronics.com/search.asp?pg=1&stext=08-52-0113&sprice=&stype=&scat=

The cheap crimper at the bottom of that page will do ($15). I have that one, it's only problem is the plastic sleeves one the handles kept slipping off, so I put some super glue in there and they've been fine ever since.


I don't think you need to change the header pins, they're already the square ones so will make good contact. You probably just need to sand/clean them.

In case you do it's this one - http://greatplainselectronics.com/search.asp?pg=1&stext=CH156-10A-SFL-T&sprice=&stype=&scat=

But it's out of stock right now. You can, however, just get an 11 pin one and cut the lats pin off.

Make sure the size is right first though. (3.96mm = 0.156")

Colin

[Superully]

Make sure the size is right first though. (3.96mm = 0.156")

thx a lot for those links, colin  ! what does the size stand for? the length of the pins?

[liquidx]

Make sure the size is right first though. (3.96mm = 0.156")

thx a lot for those links, colin  ! what does the size stand for? the length of the pins?

The spacing between the pins, from center to center.

Colin