My first pin - a freebie

[smalltownguy2]

OK, NOW I've replaced the interconnect. What a pain in the ass THAT was.

I am getting better readings on the PIAs now though.

 

[smalltownguy2]

PIA IC5 tests fine, as does PIA IC10. Both show strobing on pins 2-17, and high blanking signal on 37.

PIA IC11 acts differently, you say? I read in the pinrepair guide that you have to fabricate a connector to tie all the switches to ground in order to test the PIA properly. It also mentioned other ways to test the strobing signal, but I think I will try to do the connector jumper method.

What next?

 

[smalltownguy2]

Ok, I made a custom 'looped' connector out of a spare IDC plug I had laying around. I tied it to ground, and booted the board with Leon's test rom in. I tested IC11. Everything checks out as it should.

One thing I've noticed - since replacing the 40 pin connector, my flipper relay doesn't click any more when running Leon's test rom. I'm going to test the voltage at pin 37 of the interconnect to be sure the blanking signal is correct, but I just thought I would note that.

Also, I noticed that pins 1 and 4 on IJ3 (the display blanking connector) have been bridged with a jumper wire. Not sure if that is important enough to warrant mentioning it, but it doesn't appear factory, so I thought I'd mention it. Looking at the schematics for the CPU board, it does not appear that pin 1 is used for anything, so I'm not sure why it would be bridged to pin 4.

The pin repair guide suggests replacing each of the game's original IC chips and making sure they don't freeze the board with Leon's test rom installed. Then I guess my next step is to see if the game boots with the original roms installed, and test the blanking circuit.

Am I skipping anything?

 

[HHaase]

Ok, I made a custom 'looped' connector out of a spare IDC plug I had laying around. I tied it to ground, and booted the board with Leon's test rom in. I tested IC11. Everything checks out as it should.

One thing I've noticed - since replacing the 40 pin connector, my flipper relay doesn't click any more when running Leon's test rom. I'm going to test the voltage at pin 37 of the interconnect to be sure the blanking signal is correct, but I just thought I would note that.

Also, I noticed that pins 1 and 4 on IJ3 (the display blanking connector) have been bridged with a jumper wire. Not sure if that is important enough to warrant mentioning it, but it doesn't appear factory, so I thought I'd mention it. Looking at the schematics for the CPU board, it does not appear that pin 1 is used for anything, so I'm not sure why it would be bridged to pin 4.

The pin repair guide suggests replacing each of the game's original IC chips and making sure they don't freeze the board with Leon's test rom installed. Then I guess my next step is to see if the game boots with the original roms installed, and test the blanking circuit.

Am I skipping anything?

Flipper relay doesn't always click with LEON's rom. Since both the blanking and the PIA outputs are pulsing, but not necessarily at the same time, it doesn't always match up passing through the logic circuits.

But I think you're on the right track, time to try firing it up again and seeing what happens.

-Hans

 

[smalltownguy2]

Flipper relay doesn't always click with LEON's rom. Since both the blanking and the PIA outputs are pulsing, but not necessarily at the same time, it doesn't always match up passing through the logic circuits.

But I think you're on the right track, time to try firing it up again and seeing what happens.

-Hans

Okay! We're making some progress! Put all of the original roms back in, plugged it in, and woo hoo! I've got CPU controlled lamps! But no displays.

Then I opened the coin door and the displays came on!

I coined it up and was actually able to play a game. Flippers are very snappy

Other than a few spots on the playfield that are dirty and the ball hangs up, I was actually able to finish a few games. Yay!

But I've got no sound

So, here's what needs attention now:

• SOUND (where do I start!?)
• bottom left jet bumper (20) needs the switch adjusted, it's too loose (doesn't always fire unless the ball hits it hard)
• P1 and P2 displays are missing the top row
• Right eject hole (5) needs switch adjusted, it's too loose (had to press down on the ball to get it to fire)
• Left eject hole (4) needs switch adjusted, it's too tight (once it kept firing after ejecting the ball)

Here's what needs attention soon:

• rubbers all around
• plastics flattened
• playfield cleaned
• all lights tested, replace as necessary

As far as the 'NOW' attention items, of course the sound is my primary concern. This game ain't no fun without sound....

The other item that worries me a bit is the left eject solenoid. When put a ball in it, the ball ejected fine, but then the solenoid fired another 10-15 times before it stopped. What do I do with that? Is my switch stuck closed?

Also, why does my coin door need to be open in order to get my displays to stay on? Shouldn't that be the other way around? Is my interlock switch wired backwards?

Nice to actually get some life out of this machine. Looks like replacing the 40 pin interconnect was the major issue needed here.

Thanks folks for reading this thread...and please keep sending helpful comments my way!

I promise I'll get some pics up (and a video!) when I get her 100% operational.

 

[Geese]

So, here's what needs attention now:

• SOUND (where do I start!?)
• bottom left jet bumper (20) needs the switch adjusted, it's too loose (doesn't always fire unless the ball hits it hard)
• P1 and P2 displays are missing the top row
• Right eject hole (5) needs switch adjusted, it's too loose (had to press down on the ball to get it to fire)
• Left eject hole (4) needs switch adjusted, it's too tight (once it kept firing after ejecting the ball)

You sure have made a lot of progress, and you are getting really close to a fully working game!

1) Sound: Do the easy things first, check the connections to the speaker. Check the connections to the volume control that is on the left side by the tilt assembly, are they there? are they connected? (there is a seperate cable and connector for the volume, if it is disconnected when you re-assemble the head on the body there will be no sound) Reseat the cables going to the sound board. There is a pushbutton the is on the sound board that plays the test sounds. There is also a couple of dip switches on the board, I do not remember what they do, but check the manual and make sure that they are set to the correct positions. Finally you can re-seat the PROMs. Most likely the issue is a bad connector, or bad connection.

2)Correct, just an adjustment on the pop bumper switch should fix that one.

3)Displays 1,2 are missing the top row. This is a tougher one to track down. Swap the player 3 or 4 into 1 or 2 and see if the problem follows the location, or the display. If it follows the location, there probably is an issue on the master display board. There are two types, one with lots of transistors, that is easy to fix and one that has IC's that is a bear to fix. Fortunately, this is issue will still allow you to play the game until you figure it out.

4) Eject hole loose. First, clean the contacts by running a business card through them. then adjust the gap.

5) Eject hole tight, and keeps firing after the ball leaves. Most likely the contacts are too close together and the vibrations from ejecting the ball are causing then to bounce and close again, causing the solenoid to fire, which causes them to vibrate and close again, which causes the solenoid to fire.... you get the idea. Just open the gap on the switch points slightly and that should cure this issue.

 

[smalltownguy2]

Just a quick update to this project. I was starting to have some problems with the start button not starting a game every time I would power this pin on, and it turned out that the ball trough under the apron needed some cleanup work. The balls were not seating properly upon draining, and 1 or 2 of the switches were not being engaged. No 3 balls = no start game.

Once I ensured that all 3 balls were properly seated in the trough, the game started right up.

I have not yet started testing the sound board, but I'm confident I can get it working.

I have adjusted the switch on the jet bumper and it's working much better now.

I have cleaned the switch on the left eject hole and it's performing much better now.

I still need to adjust the switch for the right eject hole. It's too loose.

Playing a few more games, I noticed that the rollover switch for the 'R' only gets actuated when the ball rolls south-to-north, not north-to-south. Probably an adjustment issue.

The display issue isn't that concerning to me at this point, since I can either replace the master board if I need to, or start checking resistors on my existing one. Since my top row is missing on both P1, P2, AND the credit/ball-in-play displays, I'm inclined to say that it's NOT the glasses themselves, but I'll swap one with P3 to be sure.

Looking more closely at the playfield, I'm learning about how these were treated to protect them from damage while in the field back in the day. Apparently my playfield has something on it called a 'mylar' overlay. Up top by the rollover lanes, the edge of the mylar is causing my balls to hang up at the top of the travel of the lane. It's because the edge of the mylar has lifted up a bit. I'm not sure how to address this. I don't want to remove the mylar, because it looks good everywhere else, but I need to figure out how to level off that edge or I'll be nudging this pin all the time when balls get hung up there.

 

[HHaase]

The dispaly problem isn't going to be the glass most likely, it's probably just a resistor on the master display board. I just forget which master display you have, but either way you will see horizontal rows of resistors. Throw an ohmmeter on them, and look for the bad one. Usually it's easy to find, because it will look fried too.

-Hans

 

[smalltownguy2]

I know I haven't posted a lot pics in this thread, but this was a situation that I thought could be used as a learning experience for others in the future.

I am diagnosing sound issues with my firepower, and I decided that I'd better remove the sound PCB and give it a good examination.

Close inspection revealed quite a few cracked joints on the header pins.

I've attached a pic showing the pins that have cracked joints, with red arrows pointing to the obvious offenders. I will resolder them all, but I just wanted to document this for others.

This is why it's SO important to resolder your header pins.

 

[HHaase]

With electonics that old, I hate reflowing them. Too much oxidation already, and you get poor contacts. I just get rid of all the old solder and apply fresh.

-Hans

 

[smalltownguy2]

With electonics that old, I hate reflowing them. Too much oxidation already, and you get poor contacts. I just get rid of all the old solder and apply fresh.

-Hans

Sorry, you're exactly right. I meant to say 'resolder.'

I changed it.

 

[smalltownguy2]

Working!!

Ladies and gentlemen, we have sound!!!

I resoldered all of the header pins on the sound PCB, resoldered the sound amp, and when I hooked it up, everything worked!!

I am so pumped. This table has been in pieces in my shop for months, and I wasn't sure I'd get it working.

I just have a few small details to work out on this, and she'll be ready to be buttoned up:

1. Troubleshoot top line of the displays on P1, P2 and credit/ball-inplay
2. figure out coin door interconnect / memory protect wiring issue
3. Clean playfield, get new rubbers.

But for now, she's playable!

 

[smalltownguy2]

Just a followup post to my 'cracked solder joints' post from before.

As HHaase mentioned before, it's better to remove the solder and re-solder these pins rather than just using a soldering iron and melting the solder once again.

My trusty $10 Radio Shack desoldering pump strikes again:

Nice clean pads and pins. Next, I (crudely) soldered them:

Now I'm by no means a soldering expert, but I feel that these joints should outlast me. Or at least my desire to play this pinball machine, anyways.

 

[smalltownguy2]

Little bit more to update here....I'm having a small get-together this Monday for Memorial Day, so in lieu of the fact that this machine is playable (still needs a rubbers kit) I'm buttoning it up for the weekend. I never got the leg bolts, so I picked them up today at our local Ace Hardware.

I've got some time on my hands this weekend so I'll look a bit more closely at the score displays problem I have.

Don't suppose anyone out there has a spare master display board they'd be willing to loan me while I fix mine?

 

[smalltownguy2]

The dispaly problem isn't going to be the glass most likely, it's probably just a resistor on the master display board. I just forget which master display you have, but either way you will see horizontal rows of resistors. Throw an ohmmeter on them, and look for the bad one. Usually it's easy to find, because it will look fried too.

-Hans

Thanks for the tip, HHaase. I metered out the resistors, and found 4 of them that were out of spec - in the 13K range.

One wouldn't even show me a reading. It didn't show a short, either.

I replaced the 3 'out of spec' resistors, and fired up the game, starting with just the master display board and P1 connected. No change.

Then I replaced the other resistor that was acting strange, R1. I started the machine again with the master display board and P1 display only. Fully working! I shut it down and connected P2 as well - fully working! I shut it down, connected everything, and rebooted.

Fully working!

Sweet! I played about 15-20 games on it to be sure I wasn't going to cook one of my new resistors. So far so good!

On a side note, I have one rubber that broke a while back, so while I wait (for my birthday, hopefully!) on a full set of new rubbers for this pin, I placed a rubber band in its place.

I adjusted the switch on the 'R' lane.

I adjusted the switch on the right eject hole.

I also gave the playfield a good wipedown and vacuuming. That'll do for now, until I get some Novus in my restore kit.

So that's it! I'm calling this one done. Everything works!

A HUGE thanks to everyone who contributed in this thread. This was my first ever adventure into a pinball machine, and I have to say, I learned a TON! It was very rewarding to bring this one back from the dead. I know I have more 'preventative maintenance' things to do (like changing out IDC's & stuff like that) but that will come with time.

Woo Hoo! A free pin!

 

[stangbat]

That looks great. What an awesome story and thanks for documenting it.

 

[smalltownguy2]

I just re-read my own thread again. While I'm excited that my pin has continued to work all this time, I realized there's some things that aren't done on this one that I should revisit:

• Replace rubbers
• Flatten plastics
• address Mylar bubbles
• Repair coin door wiring issue, and get coin door working
• Replace IDC connectors on sound board harness
• Replace balls
• replace lamps
• install upgraded mission chip

I guess there's a few things on this pin that still need work. I was so excited to get it playable, I kinda stopped with the 'other' stuff I felt wasn't so important. Time to get back on track.