Another Asteroids repair thread

Robomayhem

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Well the Asteroids I aquired as non working doesn't, no surprise there.

So I have been browsing this section for Asteroids repairs, and have tentatively come to the conclusion that since I have +5.01 volts at the PCB and the monitor neck glows, but the 1 &2 player LEDs stay on and the spot killer is on that I probably have a bad board, right?
I have pulled/cleaned/reseated the socketed chips, eracered the PCB fingers and coaxed the pins of the connector to be nice and tight with no change. There is a hum, but i do not consider it loud, plus it is coming from the marquee light area.

Should I just forget about it and seek a board repair dude? Or is there more I should look at first to get it at least paying blind?

Whew, 3:30 AM, time to crash... lol

Thanx in advance for any help
 
I had the exact same issue in my Asteroids CT and it was a bad RAM. The spot killer is on probably because of a board problem.
 
Try flipping the test switch on the coin door and see what you get. I believe if it beeps a certain way that'll tell you what ram is bad (if there is a bad ram).
 
Try flipping the test switch on the coin door and see what you get. I believe if it beeps a certain way that'll tell you what ram is bad (if there is a bad ram).

Unfortunately, the switch is long gone... It surprises me because otherwise this machine seems to be well kept...

Three seconds after the game is turned on, there is a low "tone" that lasts about a second. Per the manual, 1 tone would point to D2 RAM, but that is in test mode..
 
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"Sounds" like a 2114 problem. Sometime (sometimes) piggybacking a couple of 2114s (try two then three) over the suspected bad 2114 will get the board to work or at least get further. It's a quick and dirty way to check but does not always work depending upon the failure mode of the 2114 (and they do fail). If one of the pair (there are two right next to each other) is bad, I'd replace both for good measure. Beyond that, time to seek a qualified repair person with the right diagnostic tools.

Bill
 
Hmmm did you hear that? It was the sound of the info in the previous post swooshing over my head ..lol.

So... what is a 2114, and where does it reside?
 
Hmmm did you hear that? It was the sound of the info in the previous post swooshing over my head ..lol.

So... what is a 2114, and where does it reside?

Time to call the Maytag repairman :004_stongue:. The 2114s are the static ram memory chips. The one at location D2 is the one that is suspect. If you have some extra 2114s (sounds like you do not), you would carefully stack them on top of the suspect IC. If you do it just right and all of the legs make contact with the legs of the suspected bad chip, the outputs of the good chip can sometimes override the incorrect signals from the bad chip. Stacking a couple ("piggybacking") makes the overriding outputs stronger and helps overcome the incorrect output signal from the bad IC. As I mentioned before - this is not a sure fire diagnostic tool but is a quick and dirty diagnostic to try.



Bill
 
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IC, well you can have a crack at it cause it's on its way to you already!

I would like to learn how to troubleshoot PCB's, but not quite there yet..

While the board is gone I am going to rebuild the A/R I board, just because. A new CPO and buttons will also grace it as well.

Thanx for helping me out!
 
It works!!

Well I changed out the PCB, no change. Swapped the A/R boards and it fired right up! So I rebuilt my A/R board and now it is working as well.

Asteroids2.jpg


My it has been a long time since I played this game!
In a few minutes I am going to put a new light fixture in for the marquee. I also have new buttons coming for it via a fellow KLOV'er, and I have a new CPO coming for it from Arcadeshop. I need to repaint the coin door, make new $0.25 signs and do a little touchup to the side art, then I will have a mighty sweet Asteroids!!!!! .. for sale.. :cool:
 
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