repairing my "Black box" power supply Vs buying a new one

[jwpowell19]

Hi all, I am missing the 24V line on my black box power supply from a Bally S5000. I am confronted with the decision to have it repaired or buy a new one here:

http://www.happcontrols.com/powersupplies/80117800.htm

What would you do ? How much am I looking at to have this repaired ? Thanks !

[stormrider]

Depends on you're repair skills or how much you want to spend
did you check for any leaky/blown caps and such.
I think foxsslots  might deal with the 5000 stuff who is a member here.

The Happ price isn't bad its just the mystery shipping charges they have.

Tim

[jwpowell19]

I did take apart the PS and noticed the caps were replaced at some point. As far as being able to look at the schematics and rule out what I have to replace I dont think I am capable of that.

[poppo]

'Switching' power supplies are inherently more difficult to troubleshoot than linear ones without an o'scope. I would just buy a new one.

Below are schematics for a typical linear supply on the top and a switching power supply on the bottom (not yours). The linear is fairly easy to troubleshoot with just a meter. The switching one is more complex, and one needs to see if the oscillator is running or not (most likely not). I've found that often less hassle to replace them then try to repair unless it's something obvius. But even a bad cap usually means something else has failed, or is about to.

[stormrider]

I did take apart the PS and noticed the caps were replaced at some point. As far as being able to look at the schematics and rule out what I have to replace I dont think I am capable of that.

Very good then well I guess other than the visual inspection you did
you might wait until another member chimes in that might have the board
or better advice.I would go new though unless you find a used one dirt cheap.

Tim

[jwpowell19]

Do any of you have experiance with the 40$ one from Suzo Happ ? I cant imagin having someone repair my original one would be much cheaper.

[blueridgeslots]

The Happ one is NOT for a 5000 (no matter what the ad states) it is for 5500 and newer, you will be better off repairing yours, do not buy a used one as you will be in same shape quickly, you can buy an aftermarket and make it work with some wire splicing however never seen a direct replacement that will fit right in, we have seen aftermarkets mounted in top box and wires ran down to transformer board, we sold hundreds of 5000 and trust me you will have 2 common problems, dead batteries and power supply issues if you don't correct them properly when needed, if you do rebuild yours replace every cap even if ok now, Larry Weber in Vegas was rebuilding the power supplies in the past but a local TV shop should be able to do it, for what it is worth we sell the power supply that Happ has listed for $29.99 and has more wattage for better life (for the 5500, 6000 & Gamemakers) and no hose job shipping either

[stormrider]

The Happ one is NOT for a 5000 (no matter what the ad states) it is for 5500 and newer, you will be better off repairing yours, do not buy a used one as you will be in same shape quickly, you can buy an aftermarket and make it work with some wire splicing however never seen a direct replacement that will fit right in, we have seen aftermarkets mounted in top box and wires ran down to transformer board, we sold hundreds of 5000 and trust me you will have 2 common problems, dead batteries and power supply issues if you don't correct them properly when needed, if you do rebuild yours replace every cap even if ok now, Larry Weber in Vegas was rebuilding the power supplies in the past but a local TV shop should be able to do it, for what it is worth we sell the power supply that Happ has listed for $29.99 and has more wattage for better life (for the 5500, 6000 & Gamemakers) and no hose job shipping either

There you have it jwpowell19
Jim blueridge is the best in the biz I would advise buying from him.

Tim

[jwpowell19]

Thanks for all the help guys. I have contacted a few people, including Larry about repairing it but never got any emails back. I will try again I guess. I dont think replacing the caps will work If I am getting NO voltage to the 24V lug, im not going to risk taking the change. Might as well Pay someone to fix it. Thanks again

[jwpowell19]

Was just told its 125$ to fix this PS. I guess I could try a shotgun type repair and replace pretty much everything on the board for a bit cheaper than that. Anyone have a used one for sale ?

[blueridgeslots]

Was just told its 125$ to fix this PS. I guess I could try a shotgun type repair and replace pretty much everything on the board for a bit cheaper than that. Anyone have a used one for sale ?

I will sell you a working 5000 machine for that, you can get a used one but in reality you won't have any assurance that the power supply won't go out on the next boot up, the caps on them dry up over time and just don't hold up, but used ones are around if that is what you want to try

[jwpowell19]

is it likely that something else is bad other than a cap ? Only reason I saw this Is I have no voltage at all on the 24 volt lug. If it was the caps wouldnt the 24volts just be low/high ?

[poppo]

is it likely that something else is bad other than a cap ? Only reason I saw this Is I have no voltage at all on the 24 volt lug. If it was the caps wouldnt the 24volts just be low/high ?

As noted above, switching power supplies work different than linear ones. Basically they first convert the AC into a high voltage DC which runs a high frequency oscillator. Then that more efficient high frequency is run through a transformer and converted to the DC voltage you need. So just about any component in the oscillator portion that fails will totally kill the output. Notice how in the sample schematic above the on/off switch is located in the R/C circuit effectively turning the unit off.

I'm assuming you have checked the fuse if there is one.

Also, this is assuming this is a switching power supply. I'm not familiar with the Bally one, and am only going by the picture posted.

[junkman]

Replace the caps.