MK5PFC

CIRCUIT
ANALYSIS

© 2008 Slot Tech Magazine

All rights reserved
 Slot Tech Feature Article

SETEC MK5PFC
Circuit Analysis
T
he SETEC MK5PFC florescent lamps or shut
power supply is one of down the monitor and you
the most complex begin to see its complexity.
power supplies we see in Top it all off with over-
the gaming industry. It current protection and
incorporates the latest over-voltage protection,
advancements in modern sprinkle a little temperature
power supply design includ- control on top and you have
ing Power Factor Correction a complex system that
and DC to DC conversion. quickly reminds you that
Add to that some very gam- there are still some very
ing-oriented features such interesting analog circuits
as the ability to control the in this mostly digital world.

R119

R146

R234
R238
R237
R212
R168 R174
116
R129 117
R128 118
R127 R198 D37 D41 88 R194

R228
173 212 175 2 86 Q9
124 185 174 73 U6 R158
119
R199 120
R214 121
R213 122
R121 123
R122 R154 C67 R203 R204 Q10 C114 90 87
200 76 103 U10 R187
E5 102

C86
R229 R152
222

25

R226

R232
125
R147 126
R134 127
R133 R144 C84 188 95R191201R161

R162
R190 R157 R179

R125
R126
C64 C63 194

C68
85
R148

R116

193

R235
128
R149 129
R140 130
R139 131
R137 U2 96
27 29 21 U8 106 R231 R192
28 C74 190

R123
191

R171
192 139 R173
97
R185

R186

R113 R230 R196

C53

C56

C76

C81

U3
R135

R132

R170

R178
210 132 154 141 195 R233 177 178 R208

C99
38 L6 91 U1
R138

211 142 R150 180 R239

C52 176R160 164 Q2
C121

R209
D17

D16

183 140

R142

R111
26 R124
R136

197 R165 R216

217
D31 94

R241

R240
133 C79 R176 D28 Q12 111 R181 98

R182
L5 182 R223 109
184 U5 80 R172 99R130

R156
110
C66

42 R221 Q3
R222

R118 196 75 74 U11

R143

R188

R159

R195

R177
D27 D22

R163
R117

C93
R183
134 D36 D26
U14 100
C120

R114
C87

35 D40 199 55 168

R205

U4
C70

R219 187 157

C119
R103
143

R92
R193

C89
R82

D39
C54
C55

44 U9 X10
167
R200

C117 R141 158 165 92

C75

16 C78 136 Q4 198

Q11
D35 113
C82

34 7 156 148

R189
115 D33 Q8 R197

R93

C90

R97

R96
3 R220 C118
R86 147
R131

C116 144
D43

C72

C61 145 114

R115

R100
R94
C108

C58 205 D8
C73

C94
R184

D4

D3 R90
206 46 181 146 204
R151
R120

D7 D6
E4

228
20 23 61 60

Q1 D12 33

D11 15 13
48 47 79
C122

H1
U15 C97
208
6

X9
14 31 30 17 C95
D1 U13
C57

Q5 D30 C88
D21 L8 C96
R85

D5218 138 R81 C101

U7
R108 R84 69 C91
22
D38 D19
R88
C59 207
K1 12
C100

72 R243 R87 R244

C125 R245

10 213 203
5 4 R23 19 R1
L7

R95

C92
C16 18 C104
56
83 R236
24 C2 8 D42
T1
C106
209 R242 57 58 172
R211

R217

R99
R218
R91

Q7 U12
159
E1 L4 160
223

C98 163 169

63
R202

161 171
S1

R77

C5 R104 R98
82 Q6
F3
66 C102
59 162 C105
C14 R102
R89

9
224

62
D18

67
225

E3 E2
226

227

32 11 X8 X7
X6b X5b

Page 2 Slot Tech Magazine SETEC MK5PFC

AC (mains) Input
Filtering and Monitor Control

Switched-mode power sup-

plies are noisy. They gener-
ate a lot of electromagnetic
interference (EMI). Like all
modern power supplies,
this one starts off with an
EMI filter on the mains
input (Although we don’t
use the term in North
America, in the rest of the
world, household AC cur-
rent is referred to as the
“mains.”). This filter system
lives on the appropriately
named “Filter Board.” It is
comprised of a network of
capacitors and an inductor
(C1-C6, L1) and prevents
EMI from escaping the
power supply and taking a
free ride on the mains
where it might wreck havoc
on the rest of the system. It
doesn’t actually change the
AC current in any signifi-
cant way.
R8 is a varistor, the self-
sacrificing surge protector
that absorbs the energy
from things like lightning
strikes and freak power
surges. If you see that it
has blown up, you will
naturally have to replace it.
But don’t think badly of it.
Don’t think it failed. It likely
was just doing its job. You
might want to look at every-
thing else plugged into the
same power source. It’s
usually a one-shot device. If
it’s blown open, you might
not even realize it because
it did its job and the game
still works perfectly. How-
ever, you’ve lost a layer of
protection and the next hit
will likely be fatal (and
maybe costly).
From here, the AC current
passes through fuse F2 to
the female mains connec-
tor. This is an unswitched
mains outlet. At the same
time, a double pole, single
throw mains switch com-
pletely isolates both the hot
and neutral lines when it’s
in the off position. When
the switch is in the on
position, it applies the
mains to the Main Board of
the power supply through
yet another line filter cir-
cuit, this time comprised of
coils L2 and L3, and capaci-
tors C7-C11. It also applies
power to the monitor but
not directly.
Zero-Crossing
Before applying AC power to
the monitor, the AC current
passes through a “zero-
crossing” circuit made from
U1 and a TRIAC.

The “zero-crossing” is the instant in time that the voltage and current are both
zero. By switching only during this time, AC loads such as the monitor can be
safely connected to the mains without excessive inrush current.

SETEC MK5PFC Slot Tech Magazine Page 3

A zero-crossing circuit zero crossing. But this so-called “Filter
assures that the only time Board” has another func-
that the monitor will actu- The rest of the monitor’s tion as well and it’s really
ally make the connection to mains control circuit is important to realize that
the mains is when the straightforward. The hot the monitor power is not
instantaneous voltage of the side of the AC power passes only controlled by the zero-
mains is precisely zero. At from pin 2 of the mains crossing circuit but that
that exact moment in time, switch, through fuse F1 the zero-crossing circuit
there is no current flowing and, when gated, through itself is controlled. It is
through the mains and the the TRIAC to the monitor controlled by the all-power-
monitor can be connected receptacle. The neutral ful “Low Power” signal that
safely without causing connection is between pin 1 comes from the game itself.
excessive inrush current or of the mains switch and the
freaking out the degaussing monitor receptacle. The Low Power signal is an
circuit in a CRT monitor. active low signal that
Essentially, it’s like the
difference between hot
plugging something and not
hot plugging it. If the
monitor’s power is con-
nected only when the volt-
age is zero, it can ramp up
slowly as the sine wave
voltage increases. It’s a
much nicer and less de-
structive way to turn things
on and prevents things like
fuses that seem to blow for
no reason or destruction of
input rectifiers.

At the heart of the zero-

crossing circuit is the zero-
crossing detector itself, an
MOC3083. The MOC3083
consist of a normal, infra-
red light emitting diode
that’s optically coupled to a
detector. Sounds like a
normal opto-isolator,
doesn’t it? It would be ex-
cept that on the same little
silicon chip that contains
the photo-detector, there is
a bit of circuitry that de-
tects the zero crossing and
gates the TRIAC (labeled D1
on the schematic but that’s
an odd designation for a
TRIAC) with an output from
pin 6 only at the moment of
Page 4 Slot Tech Magazine SETEC MK5PFC
comes from an open collec-
tor output on game itself.
When the signal is low, it
turns on the LED in the
opto-detector-zero-crossing-
IC-thingy, activating (gat-
ing) the TRIAC and turning
on the monitor. The bottom
line is this, if this signal is
not active, your monitor will
not have AC power. Neither
will the florescent lights but
more about that later.
Inrush Current Limiting
From the filter board, the
mains is connected to the
AC input of the main board
of the power supply. After
passing through Fuse F3,
the AC passes through yet
another line filter (L4 and
associated capacitors). Now
it’s time to apply the AC to
the input rectifiers—or is it?
Not quite yet. One of the
manufacturer’s specifica-
tions for this power supply
(driven by OEM require-
ments, I assume) is that the
inrush current be less than
25 Amps peak when turned
on at either 120 Vac or 240
Vac. In order to help ac-
complish this, the MK5PFC
uses a couple of series
resistors and a relay to
achieve a two step, “soft
start” procedure.
When power is first applied
to the unit, relay contact K1
is open. You can see that
the contact is drawn on the
schematic in its “normally
open” position. The AC
input must pass through
two, high-wattage, ceramic,
wire wound resistors (R77
and R202, each 9.1 ohms, 7
SETEC MK5PFC
watts) before it reaches the
bridge rectifier, D1 (al-
though I suppose it would
be more precisely correct to
say that the resistors are
actually in the return path,
between the bridge and the
neutral side of the AC line
and that the AC current
passes through Fuse F3,
through the line filter to the
top side of the bridge and
returns through the resis-
tors to neutral).
However you want to look
at it, there is a total of 18.2
ohms of resistance in series
with the AC input, limiting
the AC current to less than
.5 Amp before the 7 watt
dissipation rating of the
resistors is exceeded.
The concept is this: Power
is applied to the unit. At
first, the current-limited
power is applied, activating
the power factor correction
circuitry which, as you will
read anon, controls the
charge rate of the primary
electrolytic capacitor, the
main culprit in the genera-
tion of both high inrush
current and third harmon-
ics, a pair of nasty phenom-
ena we can do without,
thank you very much.
After a few seconds, when
the primary filter capacitor
(C52) is fully charged and
everything has stabilized,
relay K1 energizes “<click>”
and the resistors are by-
passed by the relay contact.
The mains is now con-
nected directly to the power
supply which then proceeds
to connect power to the
Slot Tech Magazine
loads such as switching on
the monitor AC and the +24
Vdc outputs for the flores-
cent lamps. Please keep in
mind that the game cir-
cuitry has ultimate power
through the Low Power
signal and that the loads
will not be energized until
the signal is pulled low.
Also notice that there is a
130 degree Celsius thermal
switch (S1) in series with
the resistors as well. It
opens at 130 degrees Cel-
sius. That’s 266 degrees
Fahrenheit. The thermal
switch is visible in the lower
left corner of the PCB. It is
physically mounted directly
on top of the two inrush
current limiting resistors,
R70 and R202. It’s a safety.
If the power supply doesn’t
fire up immediately and
energize relay K1, these
resistors will get hot. If the
temperature exceeds 130 C,
S1 opens and the current
flow stops. Keep this in
mind when you’re trouble-
shooting. If these resistors
are hot, don’t assume that
something is shorted on the
AC input, drawing too
much current through the
The two inrush current limiting
resistors with the 130 degree
thermal switch mounted on top.
Page 5
resistors. ANYTHING that
prevents the power supply
from energizing relay K1
(and that’s just about any-
thing that fails in the power
supply) will result in these
resistors getting hot.
Power Failure Detection
Before we leave the AC area
and enter the DC world,
look back at the top of the
line filter L4 and find diode
D3, a common 1000 volt, 1
amp 1N4007. This is the
start of our “power fail”
detector. It is connected to
the hot side of the mains
and passes half the AC
cycle through a string of
voltage dividing resistors to
a comparator circuit that
we’ll look at later on. If the
comparator sees a single
missing cycle or even a few
cycles, it will do nothing at
all. However, if the power
really has failed (perhaps a
half-dozen missing cycles) it
generates a PFAIL signal.
This signals the game’s
computer which then does
all the housekeeping neces-
sary to retain the integrity
of the game prior to the
imminent loss of power. The
power supply itself will
remain operational long
enough to accomplish these
tasks (even to the point of
operating the mechanical
meters). It does this by
virtue of the energy stored
in the primary filter capaci-
tor, extended by instantly
shedding loads such as the
florescent lamps. This is
one smart power supply
and it does it all with ana-
log electronics as you’ll see
Page 6
later.
To the Bridge and Beyond
We have finally made it to
the bridge rectifier, D1. Of
course the bridge rectifies
the AC input, turning it into
full-wave, pulsating DC.
Following D1, we find a
departure from traditional
power supplies. The pri-
mary filter capacitor is not
connected immediately
following the bridge rectifier
as we have seen in all
power supply designs of the
past. Instead, a power fac-
tor correction circuit is
inserted between the output
of the bridge rectifier and
the primary filter capacitor,
C52.
Let’s follow the positive
output of the bridge rectifier
and see where it leads.
There are two paths here
for the current to flow. One
path passes through diode
D43 and then to C52. But
why do we need the diode?
It’s already DC, isn’t it?
Sure it is. It’s the output of
a bridge rectifier and bridge
rectifiers turn AC into DC.
Is the current being
“double-rectified” or some-
thing? Seems mysterious,
doesn’t it?
The answer lies down the
other path so let’s go back
to the positive output of the
bridge rectifier and follow it
straight across to coil L5.
This is a large toroidal coil.
From the right side of L5,
we can follow the current
path through diodes D12
and D11 and then to the
Slot Tech Magazine
positive lead of the C52, the
primary filter capacitor.
What is going on here? Why
are there two paths and
why do we have the “extra”
diodes?
Harmonic Currents and
Active Power Factor Correction
If you’re a regular reader of
Slot Tech Magazine, you
know all about harmonics
and switched-mode power
supplies. You know about
the power-sapping third
harmonic and how it robs
your casino of power. If you
need a refresher, the topic
was covered extensively in
the August 2004 issue.
Harmonic currents are a
direct result of the way in
which a switched-mode
power supply (SMPS) draws
current from the system.
The input circuit of an
SMPS is a bridge rectifier
that changes the 120 volt
AC input to DC. A capacitor
smoothes this DC to elimi-
nate voltage ripples and the
resultant DC bus has a
voltage of about 170 volts
when the AC rms input is
120 volts. Although the AC
voltage is a sine wave, the
rectifier draws its current in
spikes. These spikes require
that the AC supply system
provide harmonic currents,
primarily 3rd, 5th and 7th.
These harmonic currents do
not provide power to the
SMPS, but they do take up
distribution system capac-
ity. The principal harmonic
current is the 3rd (180 Hz)
and the amplitude of this
current can be equal to or
SETEC MK5PFC
even greater than that of
the fundamental current.
We solve this problem with
power factor correction.
Look at the circuit made
from MOSFET Q1 and its
associated driver, U7. It
kind of looks like it is its
own SMPS, doesn’t it?
However, the drain of the
MOSFET is connected to
the big toroid coil, L5.
What’s this all about?
This, my friends, is a tricky
little circuit called a “boost”
power supply. In this case,
it’s more specifically called
a “follower boost.” We are
using the coil’s ability to
store energy, not as a
charge (as we do with a
capacitor) but in the form of
a magnetic field.
Our goal here is to change
the way the monitor’s filter
capacitor draws current
from the bridge rectifier
and, subsequently, the AC
(mains). We’re looking for a
way to boost the pulsating
DC output of the bridge
rectifier so that instead of
charging the filter capacitor
with narrow, harmonic-
producing spikes of cur-
rent, we have a steady flow
of current flowing from the
bridge rectifier into the filter
capacitor.
We accomplish this feat by
pulsing MOSFET Q1. When
Q1 is turned on, current
will flow from the positive
output of the bridge recti-
fier, through L5 and
through Q1 to the high
voltage return path at the
SETEC MK5PFC
negative side of the bridge
rectifier (not technically
“ground” in this case as the
entire primary side is iso-
lated, as usual, from the
secondary). The coil is our
load and it builds up a nice
big magnetic field. When Q1
is turned off, the magnetic
field collapses. This rapidly
collapsing magnetic field
slices across the coils of
copper wire and turns the
coil into an electric genera-
tor in a process called “in-
duction.” This newly gener-
ated voltage (you can kind
of think of the coil as a
battery for this moment in
time) is now in series with
the output of the bridge
rectifier and, just like two
or more dry cell batteries in
series in a flashlight, the
voltages are added together.
It’s called a “follower boost”
circuit because this newly
generated voltage is added
to the incoming voltage. If
the incoming AC rises, the
boost follows along, rising
as well. We don’t care about
regulating the voltage at
this point because we’re
going to do that next with
the PWM part of the SMPS.
The result is that we are
taking a sine wave in and
producing a constant volt-
age out and the upshot of
this whole thing is that
instead of charging the filter
capacitor only during the
brief peak period of the AC
sine wave, we can keep a
constant charge on it and
substantially reduce (or
eliminate altogether) the
third-harmonic content of
the system. This is known
Slot Tech Magazine
as “active power factor
correction” or PFC.
The diodes we were talking
about at the beginning of
this discussion (D11, D12
and D43) are a sort of elec-
tronic “anti-siphon” valve.
They are used to ensure
that the current doesn’t
“backflow” when, for ex-
ample, the output voltage of
the boost follower circuit is
higher than the output
voltage of the bridge recti-
fier.
The “brains” of the outfit is
the UCC38503 combination
PFC/PWM controller IC,
U14. Because modern
power supplies often in-
clude active PFC, this IC
simply includes both PFC
and traditional PWM tech-
nology in one package. On
the PFC side, the
UCC38503 samples both
the pulsating DC output of
the bridge rectifier and the
voltage at the positive ter-
minal of the filter through a
couple of resistor voltage
divider networks. You’ll see
a lot of these in this power
supply, where an extremely
high voltage (as high as
+400 Vdc on the primary) is
passed through a divider
network of five or seven
resistors in order to cut the
voltage down before apply-
ing it to the low voltage
input of a voltage compara-
tor or other IC such as this
one. In this case, the volt-
age sense input is pin 3.
Pin 18 checks to see what’s
coming out of the bridge
rectifier. The UCC38503
figures out what to do
Page 7
based on these inputs and
in turn, sends an output
from pin 12 to U7 which in
turn controls Q1, turning it
rapidly on and off, alter-
nately storing and releasing
energy in L5 in order to
maintain a smooth flow of
current into the primary
filter capacitor, C52.
UCC38503 PFC/PWM Con-
troller needs a power source
before it can do anything at
all. So does the MOSFET
driver, U7. Nothing’s going
to happen unless we get
power to these devices. At
the moment, our only DC
supply is the +400 Vdc at
the positive terminal of the
primary filter capacitor.
To accomplish this task, we
have a power supply within
a power supply here. It’s a
remarkable little high volt-
age, three terminal linear
regulator (U13, a type

Are You High?

Yes. Very high. I am speak-

ing of course, about the
voltage on the primary filter
capacitor. The schematic
diagram pegs it at +400
Vdc. Of course, we’re even-
tually going to cut that
down to +24 Vdc. That’s the
output voltage of the unit.
But before we move on to
the secondary side of
things, there is a very im-
portant aspect of this de-
sign that needs to be
pointed out. U14, the

UCC38503 PFC/PWM Controller

Page 8 Slot Tech Magazine SETEC MK5PFC

VB408) that takes the +400
volt, unregulated voltage at
the primary and regulates it
to an output voltage that
can be anything between
+1.25 Vdc to just 30 volts
below the input voltage. In
this case, we can create a
nice regulated power supply
of +13.25 volts DC by peg-
ging the reference voltage at
pin 1 with a 12 volt Zener
diode, D38. The output of
the device is 1.25 volt
higher than the reference
input at pin 1. The output
current is limited to just 40
milliamps but it’s enough to
power the few low voltage
things we need to operate
before the main power
supply output comes on
line, specifically U7 and
U14 as well as an LM339
Quad Comparator (U2) and
the relay, K1 (remember the
inrush current limiting
system and the relay con-
tact that bypasses the re-
sistors? All of that has to
operate BEFORE the power
supply kicks in!).
PWM Controller
We have looked at the PFC
half of the UCC38503
combination PFC/PWM
controller IC. Let’s continue
by looking at the other half
of U14. I guess I’d have to
say that this is the only
“boring” part of this power
supply. The PWM controller
part of U14 is totally
normal in every respect. Pin
10 is the “Gate 2” output
that controls MOSFET Q5,
the primary switching
transistor that switches the
primary current on and off
SETEC MK5PFC
through the primary
winding of power
transformer T1. Totally
normal.
You can see the typical
regulation feedback
provided by the transistor
half of an opto-isolator (U4)
and you can see that the
LED half of U4 is powered
by the +24 VDC output of
the supply with a
frequency-compensated
TL431 (U9) providing a nice
reference voltage on the
cathode of the device.
We light up the LED in the
opto-isolator with voltage
from the secondary output
of the power supply. The
higher the voltage, the
brighter the LED shines.
We read the brightness of
the LED with the
phototransistor in the opto-
isolator, which is connected
to the PWM control circuitry
in U14 on the primary side
of the transformer. In this
way, the secondary can
“talk” to the primary
without actually touching
it.
But in order to maintain
tight voltage regulation, we
need to go just one step
further. We need to control
the brightness of the LED
under a variety of changing
load conditions of both high
and low frequencies. There
is another element in the
chain of regulation and in
this case it’s U9, a type
TL431. Get to know the
TL431 because there are
four of them in this power
supply.
Slot Tech Magazine
You can think of the TL431
as a sort of programmable
Zener diode. It is a “shunt
regulator” that can be
programmed to be any
voltage from a minimum of
2.5 volts to a maximum of
37 volts. Inside the device,
an internal 2.5 volt
reference is compared to
the voltage that is applied
at the reference pin input.
This reference voltage is
derived by a resistor voltage
divider (R96, R97, and
R100). The TL431 provides
the gain that is needed at
low frequencies so that the
LED in the opto-isolator will
produce enough of a change
in brightness in order to
signal the primary side and
compensate for the low
frequency changes in the
load.
But this gain is not needed
at high frequencies. The
gain of the opto-isolator
itself (the CTR or current
transfer ratio) works just
fine, without any assistance
from the TL431’s gain,
thank you very much. This
leads to a sort of
engineering dilemma where
high frequency changes in
load can produce larger
voltage swings than low
frequency loads, making
tight regulation impossible.
Compensation
In this case “compensation”
is “frequency
compensation” which is the
way we can control the
frequency response of
various circuitry. By using
a combination of resistors
Page 9
and capacitors primarily,
we can integrate the various
load frequencies and “tell”
the TL431 how to behave at
certain frequencies. In this
power supply, the
compensation network is
made from C119, R103 and
C89, a 1 uf, bipolar
capacitor. The
compensation network
allows the TL431 to
maximize its contribution at
very low frequencies and to
remove its influence at
higher frequencies. The
connection of C89 and
R103 between the cathode
and the reference terminal
of the TL431 allows
maximum loop gain at DC
for the best voltage
regulation.
What else can you say
about this totally normal
SMPS design? The output of
power transformer T1 is
rectified by D30 and filtered
by C88 (2200 mF 35 V).
After passing through a
choke (L8), C106 (also 2200
mf 35V) provides additional
filtering. At the same time,
of course, C88 and C106
are “reservoir capacitors”
that, along with the energy
stored in C52 (the primary
filter capacitor) will be all
the energy that the power
supply has in case of a
power failure.
Cut the Juice, Bruce!
Do you remember the Low
Power signal from last
month? Remember that the
Low Power signal must be
dragged to ground in order
to energize the monitor AC
Page 10
power. Well, the Low Power
signal is doing something
else at the same time,
something sort of unrelated
(electronically speaking) to
monitor control but
something that a slot
machine needs to take care
of and that is surviving a
blackout. In the case of an
immediate and unpredicted
loss of AC power, a slot
machine has some serious
business to attend to before
the energy stored in the
power supply’s electrolytic
filter capacitors is fully
dissipated. Mostly, the CPU
simply has to store a small
amount of data (things like
customer credits and
current game condition)
and perform an orderly
shutdown but in some
cases, the slot machine
might even want to run long
enough to continue to
increment the hard coin
meters (the
electromechanical units
themselves) until the
correct count is obtained.
The MK5PFC makes this
possible by quickly
shedding some of the +24
VDC load and it does it with
a remarkable little device
called a UCC3913 Negative
Voltage Hot Swap Manager,
also known as a circuit
breaker! Both of these
terms are familiar to us, of
course. We know all about
hot swapping (and the
damage it can cause in a
slot machine) and a circuit
breaker is, well, a circuit
breaker.
Slot Tech Magazine
When the Low Power signal
(it comes from the slot
machine, remember?) goes
high, the LED in U1 on the
filter board turns off. We
covered that in part one.
But what we didn’t cover is
where the LED in U1 gets
its power source at the
anode. This is very clever.
Let’s look at the entire
control circuit.
U13 is the UCC3913. Let’s
follow the green path. This
is the +24 VDC power bus.
It’s the output from the
secondary winding of T1,
rectified by D30 and filtered
by C88. It’s the actual
output of the power supply,
its Raison d’être. The +24
VDC bus is connected to
the florescent lamps at
connectors X7 and X8, pin
4. However (and here comes
the interesting part) we
need a return path to
complete the circuit for the
florescent lamps. The
return path is through pin
2. Follow the checkered
green path, remembering as
you do that this is the
return path and we’re
headed for ground
somewhere, the shorter the
path (least resistance) the
better. In this case, the
shortest path (the only
path) is through MOSFET
Q7 and its source resistor
R236 (just 15 milliohms
used, naturally, for over-
current sensing) to ground.
Naturally, Q7 has to be
turned on for this to
happen and you can see
where all this is headed.
U13 is the thingy that
SETEC MK5PFC
controls the gate voltage of
Q7. Obviously, U13 has to
have power in order for this
to happen. That power
source (Vdd-pin3) comes
from the +24 VDC bus
through transistor, Q6. It’s
a PNP transistor with its
emitter connected to the
+24 VDC bus and its base
(which must be dragged
down in voltage in order to
energize Q6 because it’s
PNP) connected to—TA
DA!—the Low Power signal!
That’s an interesting
connection between the
circuit that controls the
monitor AC and the circuit
that controls the florescent
lamps. At the same time
that the Low Power signal is
lighting the LED in U1
(thus controlling the
monitor) it is pulling down
the voltage at the base of
Q6, shooting the power
source to U13 which
energizes Q7, completing
the return path to ground
and lighting the florescent
lamps.
In the case of a power
failure, the Low Power
signal goes high. This
instantly shuts off the
TRIAC providing AC power
to the monitor (which at
first glance seems sort of
silly since there actually is
no AC at the moment but
it’s part of the whole load
control circuit) and, at the
same time, turns off the
florescent lamps. By
shedding some of the load
from the +24 VDC power
bus, the energy stored in
the power supply will be
sufficient to take care of
SETEC MK5PFC
business before everything
decays to zero.
Correction
Actually, it’s more of an
addendum but I admit to
an error in our discussion
of U13, the type VB408. I
had mentioned that the
output current is limited to
just 40 milliamps but
mentioned that it was
enough to power the few
low voltage things we need
to operate before the main
power supply output comes
on line. It is not. Not
without some assistance.
What I had failed to
mention is a pretty darned
clever little part of this
“power supply within a
power supply.”
If you recall from our
discussion, coil L5 is an
energy storage device used
in the PFC circuit. We
looked at L5 as part of the
PFC circuit but there is yet
another winding on L5,
wound around the same
toroidal ferrite core. It’s
connected to pins 5 and 6
and can be found on the
schematic diagram just to
the right and below the
voltage regulator, U13.
Once the PFC circuit kicks
in (and Q1 is operating)
there is a ton of energy in
L5. The winding between
pins 5 and 6 simply picks
up some of this energy.
Sounds like a transformer,
doesn’t it? For all intents
and purposes, it is. It’s just
a really cool and efficient,
high-frequency, toroidal
transformer that keeps all
Slot Tech Magazine
of its precious energy
tightly held within its
donut-shaped core until we
tap into it when we need to.
And we need it now. Once
the PFC circuit has kicked
in, we take this low voltage
output from L5 and rectify
it with D17. From there, the
current passes through R82
and onto the power bus.
Diode D19 prevents the
current from flowing
backward when the output
voltage of this little “supply
within a supply” is greater
than the output voltage of
the regulator. Also, we can’t
allow the output voltage of
U13 to exceed the input
voltage as can occur when
the main AC power is
removed. The primary filter
capacitor can (will)
discharge faster than the
secondary filter capacitors
because it uses the last bit
of its energy charging them!
In general, voltage
regulators don’t do well
when the output voltage
exceeds the input voltage.
By their Grounds Ye Shall
Know Them
As with all switched-mode
power supplies, it is very
important to realize the
isolation between the
primary circuits and the
secondary circuits. In this
power supply, there is quite
a bit of low-voltage circuitry
connected to the primary
return (0v) which is totally
and completely isolated
from the secondary ground!
This “hot return” (meaning
that although it represents
Page 11
Page 12 Slot Tech Magazine SETEC MK5PFC
SETEC MK5PFC Slot Tech Magazine Page 13
a common return path (0v)
for all of our primary
circuitry, it is hot in respect
to Earth ground) is marked
on the schematic diagram
with a black and red
checkerboard pattern.
When you are making
voltage measurements in
the primary, you must have
your meter ground
connected to the proper
point. If you are using an
oscilloscope, you must have
the power supply plugged
into an isolation
transformer before
connecting your ‘scope
ground to this point or you
will vaporize portions of
both the power supply and
the oscilloscope ground.
The “cold return” is the
secondary ground. It’s
marked on the schematic
with a blue and black
checkerboard. This is
totally normal and
connected to all of the
grounds throughout the slot
machine, including the
Earth ground and all DC
grounds everywhere.
As you look at the two
return paths (the primary,
with its red checkerboard
and the secondary in blue)
the schematic diagram sort
of resolves itself and you
can more readily visualize
that the circuits in the
lower left hand corner of the
schematic (U1, U3 and
associated components—
they’re fault detection
circuits that we’ll get to
shortly) actually belong on
the right side of the
schematic (to the right of
Page 14
the secondary winding of
power transformer T1) if
you wanted to follow hard
and strict rules of drawing
inputs (the primary circuits)
on the left and outputs (the
secondary(s)) on the right.
Once you realize that, it’s
much easier to visualize
how the circuits actually
operate and the schematic
diagram is way less
intimidating. Of course,
there is no way to draw the
schematic that way in any
sort of acceptable aspect
ratio. It would be way too
wide. Honestly, it’s a
miracle the engineers were
able to fit it all on one page
and it is, in fact, a very
well-drawn schematic
diagram. I’ve just made it
even better by adding the
colored busses so we can
identify, at a glance, the
overall structure of the
unit.
Fault Detection and
Protection
We want to keep an eye on
a few different functions.
We certainly want to look at
the output voltage to make
sure it doesn’t go too high.
If something fails and the
24 VDC output climbs as
high as 28 volts, we want to
do something about it
(pronto) before anything
becomes damaged.
Likewise, if the output
voltage drops below 22.5
VDC, we’d like to know that
as well. It’s not likely to
cause any damage but if
the voltage is dropping, we
will want to start shedding
loads and at the same time,
Slot Tech Magazine
inform the CPU so it can
start an orderly shutdown.
We also measure the
internal temperature as well
(you’ll see why in a minute).
All of these are analog
measurements but we
really don’t need to
measure these actual
values so much as we
simply need to know when
we have crossed a preset
threshold. As long as the
output voltage is between
22.5 and 28, we really don’t
care what the actual voltage
is.
This comparison between
two values (our sampled
value and the preset)
perfectly describes the
function of a comparator
and that’s what U3 is. It’s
an LM339 quad
comparator. The “quad”
part means that there are
actually four identical
comparators in a single
package so what appears at
first to be four individual
devices is really just one
component.
In a single-ended
configuration like this one,
its operation couldn’t be
simpler. There are two
inputs and one output. The
two inputs are labeled +
and -. The + input is also
known as the “non-
inverting input” while the –
input is also called the
“inverting input.” The
LM339 compares the two
voltages at the inputs. If the
– input is a higher voltage
than the + input, the
SETEC MK5PFC
output pin goes to zero
volts (the voltage at pin 1).

However, rather than

thinking of it as “putting
out zero volts” it’s much
better to think of the output
as what it really is, a
connection to ground. It’s
an open collector output,
Q8 on the schematic of the
comparator. When the –
input is higher in voltage
than the + input, the
comparator is “activated”
and the output is connected
to ground through the
transistor. Anything
connected to the output pin
will become grounded. It is
a “current sink.” It is NOT a
current source.

On the other hand, if the +

input is a higher voltage
than the – input, the output
pin essentially becomes
disconnected from
everything (Q8 is turned off)
and will be just swinging in
the breeze with its open
collector. Of course, the
voltage on the pin will
swing up to the voltage
determined by what ever
pull up resistor or resistor
voltage divider network we
have on the output. We
don’t really even care what
this voltage is all the time.
We can often just think of it
in digital terms as being
“high” or even just “not
grounded” and leave it at
that.

With this concept firmly in

place, let’s start on the left
side with U15, the LM35C
Temperature Sensor. This Inside the LM339 Comparator
power supply has an
SETEC MK5PFC Slot Tech Magazine Page 15
internal temperature
sensor that is part of the
over-current protection
system. It’s is a really
great place to see the
comparator in action. In a
nutshell, if too much
current is drawn from the
power supply for an
extended period of time
(causing the power supply
to overheat) or if the
machine is operating in an
environment that exceeds
the maximum temperature
rating (causing the power
supply to overheat) we
want to turn off the power
supply. U15 has just three
leads: a power supply
input, a ground and an
output. Want to guess how
it works? If you said “the
output voltage changes reference (connected to the
with temperature” you’re comparator output sits at – input of U3C at pin 8) it
right. It operates in a range about 3 volts (R142 and will trigger the output of
of -55 to +150 C. The higher R111 form a voltage divider U3C at pin 14 to go high as
the temperature, the higher that does this). However, if well. As you can see, the
the output voltage (it rises it becomes too hot inside output of U3C is connected
at 10 millivolts per degree the power supply, the to the gate of MOSFET Q10
Centigrade). You can see voltage at the – input will so this high signal will turn
the output is connected to exceed the reference voltage on the device.
pin 10, the – input of the at the + input and the
LM339, U3A. output at pin 13 will go to Please remember that what
ground. is REALLY happening here
For the other input to the is that the gate of Q10 is
comparator, we generate a This low signal is felt at the normally HELD DOWN TO
+2.5 VDC reference voltage – input of U3B at pin 6. The ZERO VOLTS by the
using a TL431. This + input of U3B is tied ACTIVE output of U3C. It is
reference gives us a precise directly to the 2.5 VDC only when the temperature
and unchanging voltage to reference voltage so as the – RISES that the output of
which we can compare input drops from 3 volts to U3C goes high (meaning its
other voltages. In this case, zero, the output voltage of internal open collector
we set the “trip” level of the U3B (pin 1) swings high. transistor is now turned off)
circuit with a voltage This signal is connected to and the gate is allowed to
divider made from R124 the + input of U3C at pin 9. be pulled high by resistor
and R231. As the voltage rises from 0 R229. This “negative logic”
(which is what it will be if is carried out throughout
As long as things are cool, the temperature is OK) and the design of this power
the – input voltage is lower passes the +2.5 VDC supply. The active devices
than the + input and the
Page 16 Slot Tech Magazine SETEC MK5PFC
are almost never sourcing
current (Q6 being the
notable exception as it
sources the Vdd for U12).
The current source instead
comes from some sort of
power bus, through a
resistor or some resistors as
a voltage divider. We shunt
this current to ground (or 0
volts or whatever you want
to call it here) when the
comparator’s – input
voltage exceeds the voltage
at the + input.
So, after all of this, here is
where we stand: If the
temperature is normal, Q10
will be off. If it gets too hot,
Q10 will be turned on.
What is Q10 doing and why
is it so important in this
chain of events? The drain
of Q10 is connected to the
cathode of the LED in opto-
isolator U5. When Q10
turns on, the LED lights up.
Directly above the LED half
of U5 is the phototransistor
half of U5, connected (as
you can see by the red
checkered return path) to
the primary side of the
power supply. Now we’re
getting somewhere because
we have not only detected
the high temperature
condition but we have a
way to tell the primary side
of things (where all the
action is!) that we have a
problem and that it might
be a really good idea to shut
down before things get any
hotter.
So turn your attention now
to the phototransistor half
of U5 and the + input of U2
SETEC MK5PFC
to which it is connected. As
you can see, if the
phototransistor in U5 is
turned on by the light from
the “high temp” LED half of
U5, it’s going to drag the +
input down to zero volts
and, since the – input will
now be higher in voltage
than the + input, the
output of U2D at pin 13 will
go low. This will drag down
the gate of MOSFET Q4,
turning it off and when that
happens, finally, at long
last, we arrive at the final
goal of this circuit.
When Q4 is turned off, the
relay, K1, drops out. Do you
remember K1 from part one
of this discussion? Relay
contact K1 shorts out the
18.2 Ohms of series
resistance on the AC input.
If the temperature rises too
high, the relay drops out
and the power supply
enters an operating mode
that places resistors in
series with the AC input
once again.
It’s also time to shut down
the power supply. This is
easily accomplished be-
cause U14, the UCC38503
PWM Controller has an
“Enable” input. Pin 4 has to
be high (typically, it’s
around 8 volts) for the
device to operate. All we
have to do is to drag pin 4
low and the GT2 output at
pin 10 turns off, turning off
the entire primary circuit.
Of course, the +24 VDC
output goes down as well.
As covered previously, when
an over-temperature condi-
Slot Tech Magazine
tion occurs, U2, pin 13 goes
low. The cathode of diode
D28 is connected to this
pin. The anode of D28 is
connected to the Enable pin
of U14. When U2, pin 13
goes low, it drags down the
Enable pin and shuts down
the power supply.
OVP
In this same area, we find
the over-voltage protection
circuit as well. Like the
Over-Temperature control,
it’s U3. It’s the one remain-
ing section of U3, input
pins 4 and 5 with the out-
put at pin 2. Like an over-
temperature condition, an
over-voltage condition in a
power supply needs to be
dealt with swiftly and force-
fully. Over-temp might
destroy a power supply but
a severe over-voltage condi-
tion has the potential of
creating a lot of damage all
over the system so we need
to take care of it right away.
Pin 4, the inverting input of
the comparator, is always
looking at the +24 VDC
output of the power supply.
It’s the green colored buss
on the schematic diagram
(if you don’t have last
month’s schematic handy,
you can download a copy
from tinyurl.com/mk5pfc).
It does it through a voltage
divider made from resistors
R113, R150 and R216. I
really like the way these
engineers think at SITEC
because the total resistance
of all three of these resis-
tors is very close (less than
5% away) to 24K ohms.
Page 17
That makes it easy to see
that you have one volt per
ohm, making the voltage
(when everything is normal)
at pin 4, 2.2 volts. Compare
that to the 2.5 volt refer-
ence and you can see that
when all is well, the output
of U3, pin 2 will be high
and we will not be turning
on the LED in U5. As you
recall from the Over-Tem-
perature Sensor discussion,
as soon as we energize the
LED in U5, the power sup-
ply is going to shut down
and you can easily see now
how that’s going to happen.
When the power supply
output rises above +28
VDC, the voltage at pin 4
rises above 2.5 volts, mak-
ing the “-“ input higher in
voltage than the reference
at the “+” input and forcing
the output at pin 2 to go to
ground. Of course, this
completes the ground con-
nection for the LED in U5,
turning it on and subse-
quently (and immediately)
turning off the power sup-
ply as explained earlier in
the Over-Temperature Sen-
sor discussion.
Recap: Bad things such as
over-temperature or over
voltage will turn on U5.
Let’s go back to relay K1
and recall that when bad
things happen to the power
supply and energize U5, K1
drops out and no longer
shorts out the 18 ohms
worth of resistance that is
in series with the mains at
the AC input. Let’s see how
the power supply is going to
react to this series resis-
Page 18
tance.
Naturally, putting 18 ohms
in series is going to have a
noticeable effect on things.
Specifically, the unregu-
lated primary voltage is
going to drop. This is where
having the colored busses
really comes in handy be-
cause if you follow the sort
of pink colored primary DC
buss all the way to the left,
you’ll see a voltage divider
made of seven resistors,
R199, R214, R213, R121,
R122, R154 and R156. Our
divided voltage is applied to
pin 6, the inverting input of
one of the four devices
inside integrated circuit U2,
an LM339.
You can see from the fact
that these guys are all .5%
resistors that this is some-
thing important. This is
where we keep an eye on
the primary DC voltage.
This is another comparator
circuit. Our reference volt-
age is at pin 7, connected to
the 2.5 volt reference buss
through precisely 1000
ohms (again, .5% precision
resistors are used).
It is worthy to note that the
12 volt power supply for the
LM339 U2 and the refer-
ence voltage generated by
U8, the TL431 comes from
U13, the three-terminal
regulator we discussed in
part 1. Because the 12 volt
output of this regulator is
so low in comparison to the
+360 VDC or so that is its
input (when the mains
input is 240 VAC) the out-
put of the regulator will
Slot Tech Magazine
remain perfectly stable,
regardless of the fact that
we may have dropped the
primary DC voltage some-
what with the inclusion of
the 18 ohms of series resis-
tance or even in the case of
a serious problem with the
mains input. This +12 volt
supply will remain up and
perfect for quite some time,
even as the world collapses
around it as the input only
needs to be a few volts
higher than the output in
order to function perfectly.
Normally (when everything
is operating properly) the
voltage at pin 6 is higher
than pin 7, activating the
output and dragging pin 1
down to ground. Notice that
it is the “hot ground” on the
primary side since that’s
what we’re looking at here.
This turns on the LED half
of opto-isolator U6.
When we throw the 18
ohms of resistance in series
with AC input, the unregu-
lated primary voltage drops.
The voltage at U2, pin 6
drops below the reference
voltage and the output at
pin 1 will swing high, leav-
ing the LED without a re-
turn path, its cathode
swinging in the electronic
breeze without a path to
ground. Of course, this
turns off the LED.
Resistor R160 straps the
output voltage back into the
non-inverting input, assur-
ing that the output at pin 1
remains latched “off” and
that the circuit doesn’t
reassert itself. The specific
SETEC MK5PFC
circumstances of this
reassertion do not warrant
discussion in this article.
So to recap, if the primary
voltage is good, U6 LED is
on. If the primary voltage
begins to drop (whether
caused by the 18 ohms of
series resistance OR by an
actual drop in primary
voltage caused by a signifi-
cant drop in the mains
voltage) U6 LED is off.
If we’re driving the LED half
of an opto-isolator we must
be getting ready to talk to
the outside world. We are,
but in a surprise move, all
of this primary voltage
detection that we just per-
formed has absolutely noth-
ing to do with the actual
power supply. That is to
say, it has nothing at all to
do with the generation of
the +24 VDC output of the
power supply. It is a detec-
tion circuit that talks to the
slot machine itself. It exam-
ines the condition of the
primary DC voltage (from
which it infers the condition
of the mains-when we add
the series resistance, we are
actually “tricking” the
power supply into thinking
that the mains voltage is
dropping) and signals the
CPU in the slot machine
through the status of the
“Power Fail” signal. You can
see it on the schematic
diagram at pin 9 of connec-
tor X9. Follow it back and
you’ll see it’s connected to
the drain of Q2 so obvi-
ously, when Q2 turns on,
the PFAIL signal will go low.
SETEC MK5PFC
We’ll back up and look at
the entire circuit in just a
moment but I want to
pause and reinforce this
concept to those of you who
have been wondering just
how it is possible that you
can have a power supply
that works perfectly on the
workbench, producing a
perfect +24 volt output
under a massive test load
but fails to operate in a slot
machine. This circuit is
totally separate from the
+24 VDC power supply. The
circuit lives in this box and
on this PCB because this is
the only place where the
slot machine actually physi-
cally touches the mains
and, as you have seen and
as you will continue to see
in this article, we need to
watch the mains so that in
case of power failure, we
can tell the slot machine to
store data and perform an
orderly shutdown. This is
one of the ways we do it.
This circuit really has noth-
ing at all to do with gener-
ating the +24 VDC output.
It just lives in the same box,
looking at the primary DC
voltage and telling the CPU
what is happening through
the “Power Fail” output
signal.
Let’s go back to opto-isola-
tor U6. This time, let’s look
at the transistor half. We
are now on the isolated,
secondary side of course,
where everything in the slot
machine is all grounded
together.
This is an interesting design
in that you see the transis-
Slot Tech Magazine
tor in the source path
rather than simply acting
as a ground switch. If the
transistor in U6 is on, the
+24 VDC output buss is
connected through the
transistor to pin 6, the
inverting input of U1. A 6.8
volt Zener diode pegs the
voltage at no higher than
6.8 volts. I have an engi-
neering issue with this
circuit as there is no resis-
tive current limiting here
other than semiconductor
junctions. I am going to run
this by the engineers at
SETEC for comment.
This circuit compares the
voltage at pin 6 to the refer-
ence voltage at pin 7, the
non-inverting input. As long
as the power is good, pin 6
will be higher than pin 7
and the comparator will be
active, its output voltage
dragged to ground at pin 1.
When the power fails, U6
turns off and the voltage at
the non-inverting input (the
reference voltage) will ex-
ceed the voltage at pin 6.
The comparator “turns off”
and pin 1 is pulled up to
the +24 volt buss by R187.
Of course, you can see that
what we are really doing
here is controlling the gate
of MOSFET Q9, which is
connected directly to the
comparator output at pin 1.
When everything is normal,
pin 1 is low and Q9 is off.
Upon power failure, Q9
turns on.
Now, it’s on to the next
stage. It’s also U1, this time
pins 4 and 5 are the inputs
Page 19
and pin 2 is the output.
Our reference voltage is
connected to the “+” input
while the voltage at the “-“
input is determined by Q9.
If Q9 is off (normal opera-
tion) the voltage at the
inverting input will be
higher than the reference
and the comparator output
at pin 2 will be low. Upon
power failure (when Q9 is
turned on) the voltage at
the inverting input drops
and the comparator turns
off, allowing the voltage at
pin 2 to rise, pulled up by
R179. This, of course, gates
MOSFET Q2 and when Q2
turns on, it generates the
“Power Fail” signal, more
correctly referred to as
“Power Fail Not” as it is an
“active low” output. You’ll
notice that the signal is
labeled PF with a bar over
the top. The bar on top
indicates an active low
signal. Oddly enough, the
same signal is labeled
“PFAIL” at the connector,
without the bar over the
top. I think that’s just an
oversight.
That’s it. That is the whole
point of that circuit. You
can see that it has nothing
to do with the creation of
the +24 VDC output nor
does it have to ability to
perform any sort of shut-
down of the power supply
on its own. It can only talk
to the CPU. It’s a sort of
tattletale circuit, a Rat
Fink, a Stool Pigeon, a
squealer (I gotta stop
watching old prison mov-
ies).
Page 20
Output Monitor
While we’re in this area,
let’s take a look at another
circuit that is used to moni-
tor something, this time the
+24 VDC output itself. We
have already seen how the
power supply will respond
(immediately) to an over-
voltage condition by shut-
ting down the power supply
before damage can occur.
On the other hand, in the
case of a loss of the +24
VDC output, we don’t have
to worry about damage and
we don’t have to shut down
the power supply. It’s al-
ready going down! However,
if the +24 VDC output isn’t
up and running (or, more
specifically, if it is in the
process of failing during
otherwise normal operation)
it would be nice to let the
CPU know about it so it can
do some housekeeping.
The output monitor uses
the remaining two sections
of U1, the LM339 Quad
Comparator. At first glance,
it may look like this is some
sort of circuit without an
input. You can see that the
non-inverting input at pin 9
is connected to the refer-
ence buss but what’s up
with the “-“ input at pin 8?
It looks like it’s just hooked
up to the +24 VDC buss
through some more of those
.5% precision resistors,
R173 and R208 (both 1.8 k
in series for a total of 3600
ohms) and R181 and R209,
both 2k ohms in parallel for
a total of 1000 ohms. The
use of precision resistors
tells us we’re monitoring
Slot Tech Magazine
something important here
and in this case, we’re
looking at the +24 VDC
buss itself, the same buss
that is powering U1. That’s
our “input!”
Of course, first semester
electronics students learn
all about the voltage divider
and we have sure seen a lot
of them in this power sup-
ply. This is another classic
example of why we learn
about this stuff in school.
The problem is that in
school, we aren’t shown
WHY or WHERE we use
voltage dividers. This is a
beautiful (and easy to un-
derstand) example of volt-
age division using resistors.
When the output voltage is
+24 VDC, the voltage at pin
8 will be 5.2 volts. This is
higher than the reference
voltage at pin 9 and so the
comparator is active; the
output at pin 14 is zero
volts. You can see that this
output is connected to the
gate of MOSFET Q8. As
long as the output voltage
of the power supply is
greater than 22.5 VDC, Q8
remains off. However, if the
output voltage drops below
22.5 VDC, the reference
voltage at the “+” input will
be the higher than the
voltage at the “-“ input and
the comparator turns off.
Resistor R189 pulls up the
gate and Q8 turns on.
Recap: +24 VDC output
normal, Q8 off. Output less
than +22.5 VDC, Q8 on.
When Q8 turns on, it com-
pletes the ground connec-
SETEC MK5PFC
tion for resistor R195. What
this is really doing is drag-
ging down pin 10 (as part of
a voltage divider-again!), the
inverting input of the fol-
lowing comparator stage.
It’s the normal deal as we’ve
seen again and again in this
design: pin 11 (the + input)
is tied to a reference voltage
and the condition of the –
input determines the out-
put. When the voltage at
pin 10 drops below the
reference voltage at the +
input, the output at pin 13
swings high and gates the
following MOSFET, in this
case Q3.
This creates our “Output
Fail” signal. Like the Power
Fail signal, it’s an “active
low” signal that speaks
directly to the CPU through
a dedicated connection at
X9, pin 2. If the output
voltage drops below 22.5
VDC, this output goes low.
The CPU then decides what
to do next. Again, this sig-
nal actually has nothing to
do with the generation of
the +24 VDC directly nor
does it have any sort of
protection or shut-down
facilities of its own. If there
is any shutting-down to do,
these two circuits (Power
Fail and Output Fail) don’t
do it directly. They can only
tell the CPU what is hap-
pening.
Remember the Mains!
Of all the things that can go
bad while a machine is in
operation, loss of AC power
is by far the most common
occurrence. From the
SETEC MK5PFC
machine’s point of view,
this happens a lot. It hap-
pened a bunch of times
before the machine ever
made it to the slot floor!
Every time the power switch
is turned off or the machine
is unplugged or discon-
nected from the mains
(accidentally or otherwise)
the machine (obviously)
loses power but as we have
seen, the entire system
doesn’t actually lose power
immediately. Because of the
energy stored in the electro-
lytic capacitors, we have a
little bit of time to put
things in order before we
lose power completely.
Our goal here is to detect
when we have lost the AC
input power right away,
before the +24 VDC output
of the power supply fails.
However, we don’t want to
jump the gun and start
shutting things down too
soon. We don’t want the
loss of a single cycle of AC
(or even two or three cycles)
to trigger a shutdown. A
momentary loss of AC
shouldn’t affect the ma-
chine if the +24 VDC output
remains perfect. On the
other hand, you don’t want
to delay in starting the
shutdown procedure if the
problem is a genuine loss of
AC power. By the time the
output of the power supply
really is affected, it may be
too late to do anything
about all the data in the
CPU if we haven’t com-
pleted housekeeping before
the power supply craps out.
What we need then is a
Slot Tech Magazine
compromise and that’s
what the MK5PFC does. It
looks at the AC input and
after around a half-dozen
missing cycles decides that
that there is a real and
persistent loss of AC power
and it does something
about it.
And what it does is pretty
darned interesting and now,
since you already know all
about how all the other
stuff in the power supply
operates, we can see how
the AC input detection
works and what it does to
the power supply.
Let’s start with the detec-
tion circuit. We want to
know when we have lost AC
power so we use a single
diode (D3, a common
1N4007) to look at the
positive half cycle of the
waveform. We’ll get 50 or 60
pulses a second here. The
voltage of this pulse is
divided down to a more
reasonable level and ap-
plied to the inverting input
of U2 at pin 8. The trick
here is that we want to be
able to miss one or two or
even a few pulses without
triggering the CPU to begin
a machine shutdown. This
is accomplished by hanging
an electrolytic capacitor
(C67-22uf) from pin 8 to
ground. The larger the
value of the capacitor, the
longer the time constant
and so this value was cho-
sen to allow the system to
remain operational with the
loss of a few cycles but
trigger the “Power Fail”
signal when there is a real
Page 21
loss of AC power as the
voltage on C67 (and pin 8)
will quickly bleed off
through R212 and the
input structure of U2 when
the AC goes missing. As the
voltage on pin 8 drops
below the reference on pin
9, the output at pin 14 goes
high, gating MOSFET Q11.
At this point, a couple of
things are going to happen
more or less simulta-
neously. One is that the
unit will generate the
“Power Fail” signal that tells
the CPU to store data and
shut down properly. The
other is that the power
supply itself will shut down,
killing the +24 VDC output.
Let’s look at generating the
“Power Fail” signal first.
This is easy because we’ve
already seen how a drop in
the primary DC voltage will
trigger the “Power Fail”
signal. We just have to see
how the two circuits are
connected and the way
they’re connected is by
diode D26. The anode is
connected to the “-“ input
at U2, pin 6. This is the pin
that is also watching the
primary DC voltage. The
cathode of D26 is connected
to the drain of MOSFET
Q11. When Q11 is ener-
gized (due to a loss of a
half-dozen cycles of AC
power) the cathode of D26
is essentially grounded,
dragging the inverting input
at U2 pin 6 down in voltage.
The result is precisely the
same as it is when the
primary DC voltage drops,
eventually resulting in the
Page 22
active low “Power Fail”
signal being generated.
At the same time, when AC
power is lost and Q11 has
energized, it will drag down
the voltage at U2 pin 4, the
inverting input. This will
turn off the comparator,
allowing Q12 to turn on (it
gets its gate voltage from
R232 and R233).
Once Q12 is turned on,
we’re really going to kill
some things. Firstly, take a
look at diode D27. The
cathode is connected to the
drain of Q12 and anode is
connected to our old friend,
the Enable input of U14,
the UCC38503 PWM con-
troller IC. When Q12 is
turned on, we’re going to
kill the +24 VDC power
supply immediately. We are
going to turn off all primary
activity and that’s a good
thing because we don’t
want to waste any of our
precious stored energy
messing around. By
grounding the Enable input
through Q12, we turn off all
PWM activity and now rely
on the charge stored in the
secondary electrolytic filter
capacitors.
Secondly, you can see
through the connection of
diode D39 between the
exact same drain of Q12
and the gate of Q4 that
when Q12 turns on due to a
loss of AC power, it will also
drop out relay K1. You can
go right back to the very
beginning of this discussion
if you need to refresh your-
self on all that that entails.
Slot Tech Magazine
The Stuff That Fails
So, that’s how the unit
works. It’s hard not to call
it a complex system full of
circuits that create, control,
regulate, signal and shut
down but broken up into its
individual functions (and
with familiarity and an
annotated schematic dia-
gram) it becomes manage-
able. This is not a cheap,
disposable power supply
but they can fail from years
of 24/7 operation inside a
hot slot machine. Some-
body has to repair these
things and now that you
know all about the unit,
that someone can be you.
On the other hand, many
technicians (me included)
are just as happy to have a
list of the stuff that fails as
we are to have a detailed
and exact knowledge of how
the system operates. As a
technician, my job is to fix
stuff as quickly and accu-
rately as possible. My job is
not to prove to my co-work-
ers how smart I am. If
someone can tell me what
to replace, I am happy to
have the advice and if I
have it, I am happy to share
it.
To that end, I asked the
folks at Aristocrat and
SETEC to name the top
dozen faults for MK5PFC.
You can now totally forget
everything you just learned
about this remarkable
power supply.
- STM
SETEC MK5PFC
 1944 Falmouth Dr. El Cajon, CA 92020 tel.619.593.6131 slot-techs.com

MK5PFC High Failure Items

Low output voltage -> C89 leaky

Unit unstable -> C52 failed
No power up -> C66 leaky
T1 noisy
No power up -> Q1 failed
No power up -> U7 failed
No power up -> R127 open circuit
R77, R202 wire wound
U13 Voltage Regulator
U14 Surface Mount IC
D1 Bridge Rectifier
D11, D12, D43, D50 Diodes
Pin pushed back in X3
S1
Monitor fuse holder damaged in transit, no monitor O/P

SETEC MK5PFC Slot Tech Magazine Page 23

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Page 24 Slot Tech Magazine SETEC MK5PFC