MCR Boards suck! Journeys dead yet again!

[ThisOldGame]

first a quick history
Journey Boardset no problems played reguarly.
prepping it for a show over the summer I went to install a free play chip.
and the board never came on again.
completly dead no pic no sounds nada.

So I reassembled back with orignial rom set and
sent it off to Eldorado, John checked it out and the boards tested fine indivaiiually
but when assembled there was a short. so he reassembled them and re tested.
and sent it back.

Well I installed it last night it came right on starting in self test mode.
Flipped the game switch, coined it up and started a game.
game played for about a min then froze
was completly unrepsonsive and dosnot go into self test mode.
turned it off and waited turned it back on and now just get this non moving pattern
and still no self test.

All volts to main harness check at 5.04vdc and 12.04vdc
so outside of taking the board back out and taking it apart again to reseat chips
putting me back where I started anyone have any suggestions??

I sent Eldorado an email along with the pic.
whos crying now
Im crying now

 

[Jedidentist]

Mine seems to get garbage frequently as well when I power up other games near it. Fortunately, turning it off and on seems to work fine for me. However, it's further proof that there's something suspect about these boards. Certainly not good news for the future... Hopefully you get it worked out.

 

[tron guy]

pm cdjump, he may be able to help.

 

[ELutz]

When you checked the power supply voltages, did you also check the reset circuit voltage that exits the power supply? It's the one lone purple wire.....it should be 5VDC.

Edward

 

[ThisOldGame]

thats what John at eldorado suggested as well.
I thought when that was faulty the game would just reset, no?
thats what my Tron did before I cut the purple wire and its been playing ever since.

but strange as this game has always worked perfectly fine before removing it
for a damm freeplay chip

 

[Robran68]

thats what John at eldorado suggested as well.
I thought when that was faulty the game would just reset, no?
thats what my Tron did before I cut the purple wire and its been playing ever since.

but strange as this game has always worked perfectly fine before removing it
for a damm freeplay chip

Swap out the Z80 from the sound board to the CPU board and see if it clears up.

 

[ELutz]

thats what John at eldorado suggested as well.
I thought when that was faulty the game would just reset, no?
thats what my Tron did before I cut the purple wire and its been playing ever since.

but strange as this game has always worked perfectly fine before removing it
for a damm freeplay chip

MCR games are weird in regards to the reset signal. Some need it.....others don't. There isn't much to the reset circuit.....generally, only 2 or 3 parts commonly die. First thing, check voltage at the purple wire.

Edward

 

[mjenison]

If the game was working fine before but now doesn't, my first reaction with MCR boards is to reseat the chips. The three-sandwich boards are particularly flexible, so working with them often causes socketed chips to lose good contact with their sockets. Also, often they'll loosen just due to thermal changes. I have an eDOT, Tapper, and Demolition Derby that all occasionally give errors (graphics glitches, ROM errors) that are fixed by simply reseating the socketed ROMs.

 

[ThisOldGame]

yes agreed.
thats kinda what brought me to this problem.
as I had a perfectly working Journey. removed the boardset to install a freeplay chip
If it aint broke...

and obviuosly something went wrong in the handling and reassemably.
I put the orignal rom back in threw the free play chip in the trash.
reseated all other chips and checked all points of the ribbon cable for continutity.
still nothing.
So I sent the boards off to be looked at.
when I got them back it played for about a minette untill I got what was shown above.
which is more than I got before I sent them in.

I still need to check the reset line
and unless its just a coinedence Ill swap out the PS in my wacko or something.

 

[ThisOldGame]

Well I finally got tio testing and call it a coiedence but no 5v on the reset line
So now its repairing the PS or adapting to a ArcadeShops switcher/adapter.

I leaning towards keeping it orginal
any thoughts, pros or cons either way??

 

[cleverlyj]

have you checked the +5 at the boardset or at the power supply? mcr games have decent voltage drops through the wiring harness, so if it's 5.04 at the power supply, it may only be like 4.6 or so at the boardset. just a thought.

 

[Jedidentist]

Some people are hell bent on keeping the original power supply because they say rebuilding it will last longer and it's better to keep it "original". On both my Tron and DOT, I had some PS issues. Since I'm not so electronically savvy, I opted to just use a switcher and adapter. I have not had any issues with either. Some people report a loud humming...I haven't had that with either of them. I did notice that my Tron gave off a slight hum, but it wasn't from the speakers. However as I added games, the noise of fans, etc. made it unnoticeable. So, bottom line, if you don't want to waste time, want to be sure that the power supply isn't the issue, and have money to spend, I'd go with a switcher. That said, my Journey is still on the original power supply, but that's only because I haven't had any problems so far.

Derek

 

[ELutz]

There's not much to the reset circuit. Likely culprits.....LM3900 at U3, 4N28 at U4, and the 2N4401 at Q201.......15-20 minutes to remove and replace....under $2.00 in parts.

While you're in there, check diodes at D201, D202, and D203.....though, I've never seen these bad.

Edward

 

[ThisOldGame]

looks like those parts come with Bobs rebuild kit
and Ive got some other things to order from him as well so Ill give that a shot.
thanks

 

[ThisOldGame]

have you checked the +5 at the boardset or at the power supply? mcr games have decent voltage drops through the wiring harness, so if it's 5.04 at the power supply, it may only be like 4.6 or so at the boardset. just a thought.

was checking these only at the harness to the board and got 5.04 on all red pins and 12.02 on the orange pin
but nothing on the purple pin on the harness.

 

[cleverlyj]

was checking these only at the harness to the board and got 5.04 on all red pins and 12.02 on the orange pin
but nothing on the purple pin on the harness.

if you're checking this at the harness where it terminates at the board, it should be there. if you're checking at the p/s side, though, you may be getting less than that at the board.

 

[tron guy]

I find I get some loud humming from the light fixture in my spy hunter.
It is random though.

sometimes I turn it on and it hums loud, sometimes, I don't hear it.

random post here

 

[ThisOldGame]

so either a complete coiendence or maybe the short in the board stack cause the 5v reset line to go out

I ordered in a PS switcher adapter from Arcade shop primiarly for testing purposes
and Journey fired right up. I dont particulary care for how these look and mount
so my plan is to rebuild the orginal PS and an order to BOB is on the way!!
like I said for testing Ive got the switcher wired to a extention cord I cut and just plug it into the service jack on the brick. I know it live even when the game is off its not staying inside.
These are kinda neat boards to have on hand for quick ps testing
Now its on to the Sound Mod!!!

 

[LUCKYMAN]

theres no reason for a freeplay chip for this game....

 

[ThisOldGame]

theres no reason for a freeplay chip for this game....

LOL lesson learned

actually I dont have any of my games on freeplay I was going to bring Journey to a local show and thought it would be a temperary convience