PlayChoice 10 Dual Control Problems

ceelston

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Donor 2012
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[PROBLEM SOLVED]

Controls are acting as if wires are crossed. The second player controls are working perfectly fine, the first player controls cause the B button and R joystick to activate when going to the right and the game controls move to the right and activate the B button when pressing the B button. I have traced the wires back to the connection to the PCB and no crossed or spliced wiring is present. I also checked to make sure there weren't any grounding issues.

Relavent machine info:
Purchased the PC10 ~3 weeks ago without a PCB or filter board. Picked up a PCB (no filter board) 12/02/12 and installed into the system without a filter board. The seller tested multiple games without issue and was even nice enough to contact me when seeing my issues in this post hoping I had found a solution and offering any help he might be able to give (nice to see in a seller!). I received 2 of the cartridges the PCB was tested with as part of the transaction. This problem has been occurring since installing into my PC10 cabinet.

Example in Galaga:
Only go R on joystick = ship moving R and B button activated (shoots guns)
Only pressing B button = B button activated (shoots guns) and ship moves R

Example in Donkey Kong:
Only go R on joystick = Mario moving to the R and B button activated (Mario jumps)
Only pressing B button = B button activated (Mario Jumps) and moves to the right

Things I have tried (All references to button or joystick wires/problems are for player 1)
1. Cleaning the backside of the PCB where the controls connect to make sure there was no cross contact.
2. Disconnect buttons one at a time and both at the same time, when pushing the joystick right the B button continues to activate as before.
3. Change out the microswitch that controls joystick movement to the right with and without the buttons connected. In both cases it had the same problem of activating the B button when moving to the right.
4. Change out the microswitch that controls B button with and without the R joystick microswitch connected. In both cases it had the same problem of moving right when pressing the B button.
5. I attempted using all other grounds on the control panel with both the B button wire and R joystick wire. The same issue ensues.
6. The traces on the PCB from the player 1 connector for the B button and R microswitch happen to be next to each other (About 2mm apart) and nothing is making contact, I cleaned around those traces thoroughly to prove no contact.
7. Disconnected the CP from the molex coming from the PCB. Using the molex from the PCB, I made contact from one ground pin inside the molex to each button/joystick pin. Everything works as it should except for the B button and R joystick pins continuing to have the same problem.
8. Ran continuity checks on all wires from 12pin molex to 20 pin wire to board. All wires checked out fine and no wire had continuity to any others.

There don't seem to be any obvious crossed circuits on the PCB and all other buttons/joysticks seem to be operating properly. If anyone has any tips or other things I should try, I would really appreciate the advise.

Thanks!
 
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Perhaps some background information would help. How long has the machine been exhibiting these symptoms? Did anything unusual happen to the machine prior that may have caused it?

I have heard that the controls can act up when the power supply needs adjusting. Perhaps you could try checking the voltages coming off the supply. There may be a thread discussing how to adjust this somewhere on the forums as well.

Hope this helps...
 
playchoice

change the fcc filter board..if you dont have another, bypass it all together.. see if that helps.had a similar problem and it was the filter board.
 
change the fcc filter board..if you dont have another, bypass it all together.. see if that helps.had a similar problem and it was the filter board.

Agreed. Filter board causes many weird problems.
 
After adding background information and trying a few more things, I traced the problems across the board to 2 solder points that had been bent just enough to touch, looking like a single contact at a quick glance. Thanks everyone for your help.

On a side note, I'm still deciding whether or not to get a filter board and the fact you guys are mentioning a lot of problems with them is making me debate whether or not I want one. I'll be looking into them a bit more before deciding whether or not to bother with it.
 
I have one and no issues in the two years i've had the cab. Glad you found the issue. :)

Edit: poor wording. Lol
 
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