Defender Help

wraywray

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got an issue i need some help with. while playing the game it just shut off completely. no marquee monitor etc. i thought maybe the transformer fuse but its good. the transfer is getting power and supplying power to the on off switch but the marquee and monitor wont come on. its reading 117 volts and the switch and the interlock switch. it wouldnt be the power supply or boards since nothing is working at all i would guess. anyone have an idea i could check? all fuses are good.
 
that sounds like the interlock switch. did you try pulling the switch out to see if it turns on?
 
yes multiple times. i have been kicking it around and think the same thing.i am considering removing it and see what happens
 
Would a bad interlock keep power from the Marque and monitor? It's getting the voltage so would those?
 
Would a bad interlock keep power from the Marque and monitor? It's getting the voltage so would those?

Its been a while since Ive owned a defender, so forgive me if I am way off here... just a thought.

I think the switch on the door has something to do with the game settings and what not, so probably not keep power from the marque and monitor like you would see on an atari cabinet. If your defender has an interlock switch on the back door, thats what you want to check.. Ive had games with the backs screwed on tight, but go dead because the cab shifted and disengaged the interlock. Sounds impossible, but it happens alot. Open the back, hold down the interlock (or pull it out until it stays locked) and let us know what happens.

Good luck
 
Its been a while since Ive owned a defender, so forgive me if I am way off here... just a thought.

I think the switch on the door has something to do with the game settings and what not, so probably not keep power from the marque and monitor like you would see on an atari cabinet. If your defender has an interlock switch on the back door, thats what you want to check.. Ive had games with the backs screwed on tight, but go dead because the cab shifted and disengaged the interlock. Sounds impossible, but it happens alot. Open the back, hold down the interlock (or pull it out until it stays locked) and let us know what happens.

Good luck

that's the one in the coin door. different monster.

the interlock is a safety switch, it prevents power from coming on with the back door off. chances are it's dirty inside and not registering that the switch is closed.
 
I have done both of these and it's dead. I have another interlock that I am going to swap out and see if the switch just went bad.
 
ok i switched out the cherry interlocks with 2 others and nothing changed. so i tested the voltage to the switch and now its zero. so i am assuming my transformer died. would you agree? i did check the fuse again to make sure it didnt pop after replacing the switch.
 
if you have input voltage to the transformer but no output voltage than it must be bad if your fuses are all good for that supply voltage.
 
I found this picture of my Defender transformer the other night.

852_10101212171830039_282005552_n.jpg


see the violet-yellow wires? that appears to be the AC out. I would measure voltage there to rule out the transformer. the wires were chopped off my transformer flush, so that was exciting trying to piece that all back together with dead PC power supply wiring. :)

the hot side from the power cord obviously runs through the fuse, and the neutral goes to the side of the line filter with the black-yellow wire. MAYBE the line filter crapped out, could testing that be as simple as jumpering the input side over to the output side?

additionally, maybe you had a solder breakdown somewhere in the block. also, the power switch is under the front left side of the game. it's a weird spot to put it, but convenient.
 
no, the marquee light runs off of 120v ac
so its not the transformer

theres 2 interlock switches, one on the back door and one on the coin door

I would look at the on/off switch as being the culprit if you've ruled out the 2 interlock switches


good luck
 
no, the marquee light runs off of 120v ac
so its not the transformer

theres 2 interlock switches, one on the back door and one on the coin door

I would look at the on/off switch as being the culprit if you've ruled out the 2 interlock switches


good luck

the coin door switch isn't for power. it's just a simple switch that has to be open in order for the game to save changes to the CMOS. it's an arrangement that derives from Williams pinball (maybe others).

the transformer should be exclusively for the monitor (isolation) and the various voltages for the linear power supply.
 
my bad, I was thinking of the Asteroids wiring configuration

check out the wiring to/from main on/off switch if not the switch itself

remember* just because a wire has continuity, doesn't mean it can transfer enough electrons to make the game run. so the continuity test wont work here in this situation

check the connectors going to/from interlock switch for damage/wear
 
Update. Checked everything on the transformer, soldering etc. Still no luck. Pulled the ac plug from the wall and for some reason 2 of the wires came out when I pulled it. No idea why they did but I replaced the ac plug and game fired right up. I guess you should always start at the wall and move backwards. Just didn't think with what happened it would be the plug. I appreciate everyone's time and efforts in helping me
 
2 of the wires came out

nice !

now with the game up and running again, I want you to start a new game and with your first "guy", see if you can "catch" all 10 of your people and don't put them down on the suface. tough thing to do but its do able

what happens is catching all your dudes, slows down the ram to the point where you can go baiter hunting
if it looks like youre about to die, just fire a couple times and it gorks out the baiters to another part of the world. I do this for a while and then lay down all my guys for a great score on the first spaceship. usually I get around 30,000 points and extra smart bombs, spaceships to really start the game with a bang

see if you can do it

if this were my game, I would replace all the capacitors on the sound card and power supply immediately for long life. the game pcb too
also cleaning all the header pins with a dremel tool cant hurt either. shinying up them pins gives the pins inside the connectors a fresh contact to touch. some even replace the header pins with square ones for better electron flow.
the round pins give less surface area for the connector pins to touch

once you get real good at it, maybe you can flip the game over and get a million points if you can defend good enough


good luck
 
nice !

now with the game up and running again, I want you to start a new game and with your first "guy", see if you can "catch" all 10 of your people and don't put them down on the suface. tough thing to do but its do able

what happens is catching all your dudes, slows down the ram to the point where you can go baiter hunting
if it looks like youre about to die, just fire a couple times and it gorks out the baiters to another part of the world. I do this for a while and then lay down all my guys for a great score on the first spaceship. usually I get around 30,000 points and extra smart bombs, spaceships to really start the game with a bang

see if you can do it

if this were my game, I would replace all the capacitors on the sound card and power supply immediately for long life. the game pcb too
also cleaning all the header pins with a dremel tool cant hurt either. shinying up them pins gives the pins inside the connectors a fresh contact to touch. some even replace the header pins with square ones for better electron flow.
the round pins give less surface area for the connector pins to touch

once you get real good at it, maybe you can flip the game over and get a million points if you can defend good enough


good luck

i will give it a try. its one hard ass game. i am not very good right now, i barely get to stage 3.... but i love playing it.
 
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