How to Repair Pinball Boards That Are Burnt

Ensure the pinball machine is unplugged and powered off. Shine your work light into the area near the burnt circuit board.

Unplug any jumpers, cables and connectors that join the bad circuit board to other boards or other components within the pinball machine. Mark the connectors and their connection points with markers to make reassembly easier. Unscrew the board from the posts using a Phillips-head screwdriver. If the board is clipped in place, pull the release clips to slide it out.

Place the burnt circuit board on a towel or protected area on your work desk. Using your work light and a magnifying glass, carefully examine the entire board, looking for burn marks, out of place components, loose components and wires, or missing solder.

Resolder any areas that seem to be missing solder, or around components that wiggle at their solder connections. Touch the soldering iron to the existing solder joint. Touch a piece of new solder onto the iron and let the liquid solder run onto the circuit board. Smooth the new solder connections, if necessary, by running the soldering iron over it. Gently flip the board over and inspect and repair that side in the same manner.

Remove and replace any components that seem visibly damaged. If a component is suspected to be bad, a working substitute part from another, similar pinball machine can be tested in its place.

Remove any stray solder splashes that may be disrupting some of the circuits. Using your soldering iron, touch the solder splash with the hot tip and melt the solder. Suck up the liquid with the desoldering tool.

Re-install the circuit board once all circuits seem correct and everything appears to be in good order. Replace the screws, if any, using the Phillips-head screwdriver. Reattach the connector cables, jumpers and anything else previously disconnected from the board.

Plug the pinball machine back in and power the machine on. Play a game to test the machine.