If you have opened up the back box of your machine, and assuming it is not
electro-mechanical , it might look something like this.
These are the main components in the machine that make the machine work. In the first image the top bored is called the MPU board. This is where all the points and scoring happen. The MPU runs the machine with anything processing related. The board below that is the Lamp drive assembly, this drives all of the lamps in the playing field, like what lights should turn on when I hit a certain area or score. The second image is the solenoid drive assy (short hand for assembly). This drive all of the moving parts in the machine. Ever wonder what makes knocking sounds, or makes chimes go off, or maybe even how the pop bumpers work? Well all of that is done here, sending signals to the solenoids activating them and giving you an enjoyable playing experience. The last picture is the rectifier board, or the PSU i believe. This is what powers all of the boards listed above, and without it nothing would work. On Bally machines, which is the brand of the machine being worked on, the rectifier board is often troublesome causing fuses to blow and wafer connections to burn out. All of these boards work together to bring you a playable pinball game.
Although this all may look extremely complicated if your are completely new to this line of work, it can be easily simplified and understood just by understanding what parts do and how they should act, which is what the next blog post is about, Troubleshooting. Along with the different portions of the play field on this particular machine. Feel free to give feedback and ask questions I am more than happy to help.
