Questions about a Monte Carlo (1987)

anubisdeath6

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I have someone who would like me to take a look at his Gottileb Monte Carlo and see if I can diagnose/repair it. He approached me and said that it powers up like it's ready to start a game, but there is nothing on the display (Credits, etc.) And there is no response to the start button.

What would be your first things to look at with this issue? Fuses? Connectors? Wiring?
 
Memorize this, or print it all out and take it with you (really!)

http://www.pinrepair.com/sys80/index1.htm#list


"powers up like it's ready to start a game"....what that probably means is the GI lights come up, but nothing else. Which probably means the board isn't booting (assuming you don't have a slam switch problem).

Check for battery damage on the CPU. If you are lucky enough to avoid that, check fuses then voltages at the power supply - they are known to be problematic. And yes, the connectors probably need to be fixed too.

the pinrepair guide will guide you towards the problem if you take your time and follow everything that is written. The "mandatory" fixes for the GTB games really need to be viewed as just that - mandatory and not simply nice suggestions.
 
Well, I went over to his house today and took a look at the game, the basics checked out alright. Battery corrosion is pretty bad, I think I'll start by replacing the reset section, Great Plains Electronics is out of the kits, damn. So I either have to buy each piece individually or consider the Dallas DS1811.

The board it seems doesn't boot. I'm guessing this would be my first step.
 
Well, I went over to his house today and took a look at the game, the basics checked out alright. Battery corrosion is pretty bad, I think I'll start by replacing the reset section, Great Plains Electronics is out of the kits, damn. So I either have to buy each piece individually or consider the Dallas DS1811.

The board it seems doesn't boot. I'm guessing this would be my first step.

Besides the battery corrision.... You have to make sure the power supply is putting out that +5v! First take out that trim pot out and replace! And reflow the the solder on BOTH top and bottom headers pins.....
 
I think I'll start by replacing the reset section, Great Plains Electronics is out of the kits, damn. So I either have to buy each piece individually or consider the Dallas DS1811.

The board it seems doesn't boot. I'm guessing this would be my first step.

No... replacing the reset section without testing anything is definitely NOT the first thing to do.

What's the situation here? Is this person a friend and you're planning to learn together or is this person paying you to fix their game? If it's the latter I would suggest you pass on the job and tell them to find someone else. I say that not as a dick but a friend because a System 80B game can be a nightmare. Especially when you're starting basically from scratch in terms of pinball repair experience and ESPECIALLY if there is "bad acid damage".

If it's the former then give more details and we'll try to help you. You'll probably need to repair the corrosion on the MPU first which could require a bunch of parts beyond just the reset section.

I hate to piss on the parade but let's keep it real ;)
 
It's a buddy, he said he wants me to give it a shot for him, I figured I'll give it a try. Basically the game worked perfectly, he's never touched a thing on it, then one day it just stopped working. I've attached a picture of the board corrosion.
 

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It's a buddy, he said he wants me to give it a shot for him, I figured I'll give it a try. Basically the game worked perfectly, he's never touched a thing on it, then one day it just stopped working. I've attached a picture of the board corrosion.

Cool :)

In that case it sounds like an excellent opportunity for both of you. The acid damage doesn't look THAT but but it will definitely need to be addressed. The first thing I would do is get that battery off there and scrub away the corrosion with some vinegar. From there you can assess how much work you're going to need to do and which parts will need to be replaced.

As far as the reset is concerned it should go low for a brief period then high and stay high. You should check the reset with a logic probe before doing any work on that section of the board. If you do find a problem with the reset I would suggest going with a Dallas reset IC but I haven't done that conversion on System 80B so I can't speak to any specific issues there may be with that conversion. If it comes to that I can help you through the conversion.
 
I would bank on those transistors or voltage regulators being shot as well. Test the traces end to end with a multimeter set to continuity and see if they buzz out. Also, my sys80b game had a dedicated reset board. It's on the far right hand side of my Ice Fever, its pretty small. I just unplugged it and left it mounted. I think they can also cause the game to not start. Try that too.
 
Mine doesn't have a separate reset board. I cleaned off the corrosion best I could. All this information seems somewhat overwhelming. I'm going to check the reset later (I lost my aligator clips) Hopefully it will be bad and all I have to do is fix that.
 
Mine doesn't have a separate reset board. I cleaned off the corrosion best I could. All this information seems somewhat overwhelming. I'm going to check the reset later (I lost my aligator clips) Hopefully it will be bad and all I have to do is fix that.

Unfortunately, if you want to fix it and have it last you're going to need to remove all of the components in the badly corroded area and sand the board to completely remove the corrosion. Looking at the picture it looks like there will probably be some trace repairs as a result. I would replace any of the components that are corroded. Resistors and transistors are cheap.

But... like I said it doesn't look too serious as far as corrosion repairs go. There could also be other problems with the game. Connector problems are common and the ground mods should be done if they have not already.
 
Could be the crystal is bad.... Did you check w/ Ed (Great Plains) to see if he has these back in stock? It will save you a TON of trouble....
 
Like I said previously... You have to make sure that power supply is putting around 5volts.... So that means isolate that first then go from there....
 
All I have is the board. I'm using an external power supply that is putting out +5.

According to his site, they're still out of stock on it, which sucks, if I got it, I would have no problem replacing the parts.
 
I would email him still if he has any available..... I've done it before when part were out of stock and he just got them in....
 
man I missed out on one of these monte carlo pins today on craigslist for $100. I wonder if someone on here snagged it. I just hope it wasn't epic games. I'm so tired of seeing them grabbing all the deals in michigan...that and the over posting.

Hope it's an easy fix for you anubis.
 
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