Or you have a short on one of the boards
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Low voltage Pole position board
- Thread starter Pitas_arcade
- Start date
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Pitas_arcade
Well-known member
How can I test if there is a short?
andrewb
Well-known member
From what you are describing, you don't have a short.
All you need to do is boost your AR voltage (on both AR's) until you get 5.00V on both game boards. Have you tried that?
And did you try replacing your big blue with the original one?
Those should be your next steps.
All you need to do is boost your AR voltage (on both AR's) until you get 5.00V on both game boards. Have you tried that?
And did you try replacing your big blue with the original one?
Those should be your next steps.
OP
OP
Pitas_arcade
Well-known member
The CPU board is getting the appropriate voltage the video board is low. I am getting 4.84V at the edge connecter without the video board plugged in. When the board is plugged I get 3.30V. One of the first things I tried was boosting the voltage on the Ar but I still couldn't get it to 5v. I will try swapping in the original big blue caps on Friday. I didn't clean or replace the connectors that screw on to the big blue caps can this cause problems?
andrewb
Well-known member
If this is a PP, you should have two AR's, and two big blues. Do you? Normally there are two separate AR's, and each one powers each game board (CPU and video).
OP
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Pitas_arcade
Well-known member
Yes there are two AR's, and two big blues. I have ensured that I am adjusting the right AR as well.
mecha
Well-known member
if ever you encounter something like this, stop trying to increase the power supply voltage because you have a separate issue. you're talking almost 2 volts difference, that's pretty tremendously awful. also where are you observing 3.30V, at the video board or the CPU board? because as has been stated, the 2 AR2s power each individual board. if the video board being connected is dropping the CPU board, you have major problems.
I'm not going back and reading all 3 pages here, if you haven't cleaned the edges or inspected for heat damage (you'll see noticeable browning around the +5 contacts), you will need to do this first. gamefixer is working remotely lately, but you may wind up needing to send boards to him to overhaul next.
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Pitas_arcade
Well-known member
I tested the voltage on both of the boards. The video board voltage is low and the CPU board voltage tested fine.
andrewb
Well-known member
Ok.
Have you tried swapping the two AR's, to see if you still have the same issue?
If you swap the AR's, and the low voltage issue moves to the CPU board (and the video board is fine), then you know it's an AR issue.
Else if you find that it isn't the AR, you might have a bad chip on the video board, that's drawing a lot of current (but isn't a dead short). Another thing you can do to test this is set the boards up, power them, let them warm up for a few minutes, then feel each chip with the back of your finger, and look to see if there are any that are scorching hot (meaning too hot to keep your finger on). That would indicate a chip that is drawing way too much current, which would be a problem.
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Pitas_arcade
Well-known member
I have swapped the AR's. On Friday I will make a update post to see if I can Fry an egg on one of the chips 
andrewb
Well-known member
I have swapped the AR's. On Friday I will make a update post to see if I can Fry an egg on one of the chips
Ok, cool.
Note that some chips may get warm or even pretty warm. That's normal. What you're really looking for are chips that will actually scorch you. So be careful as you're checking, you can actually burn yourself. I find that touching them quickly with the back of your finger is the best method.
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Pitas_arcade
Well-known member
Do you still repair pole position boards?
andrewb
Well-known member
OP
OP
Pitas_arcade
Well-known member
andrewb
Well-known member
Yes, he has a youtube channel.
mecha
Well-known member
+1 for using back of your finger
in my thousands of kills, I don't think I've ever come across a board with a chip that shorted it dropped the voltage to the board. it's a concept I'd completely forgotten could be a thing.
OP
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Pitas_arcade
Well-known member
Sorry for the late update. Yesterday I tried to see if one of the chips was shorted and over heating. All the chips seemed fine to me. Should I still send out the board?
