AGE Challenger/Snack Attacker Crane Won't Start Game

runofkings

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Hi all,

Newbie here who is experiencing a frustrating error since picking up a 1993 AGE Challenger crane machine. The main board appears to be in good shape with sound, lighting, and voltage throughout testing at what it should be. At startup, the machine will move the claw back to home position and all switches and solenoids in the gantry appear to be functioning normally, including the claw lift and close/open solenoids. Now, and for as long as I've owned the machine, when I add a credit via the coin door, the credit momentarily appears on the credit screen before immediately reverting back to 0 and the credit is not recognized by the counter or any sound/action of the machine. This behavior is the same as when I disconnect the gantry wire harness connector (which I assume is normal behavior since the startup sequence cannot be completed if the gantry is not attached).

Does this indicate that there is a problematic switch or motor I've missed somewhere in the gantry that is preventing the test from completing at startup? There are no error messages, but I'm not sure if these old board sets even displayed error codes. This model is so old there isn't even a separate transformer -- it's on the main board itself! Continuity tests confirm that there are no wire breaks at each switch and solenoid to the main board. Should I suspect a main board component failure? Is it possibly related to dip-switch settings on the main board? Because I have been unable to find any schematic for this board set (labeled 1993 version "4393 J2.0") I have no idea what the dipswitch settings should be for this game (although I've tried many options).

I have attached a few pictures of relevant gantry switches and coils but can supply more if helpful. Just let me know what would be helpful to see. Thank you in advance for your patience and any assistance! I'm very grateful to this community for taking the time to help newbies like myself.

Best,
B
 

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Check your edge connectors. I had to fix one of those at The Imaginarium on 15th and Howard in Omaha, Nebraska. I found a bad pin on the board, just re-soldered it and got it going again.
 
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