Restoration- Gottlieb SYS1 Cleopatra Restore (cpu alk dmg)

LovelyCoCoNuts

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Restoration- Gottlieb SYS1 Cleopatra Restore (cpu alk dmg)

Back story:

I have the original 77/78 Texas occupation tax stamp, the 79 stamp/permit was removed "void" lines remain where it was. And the 1980 Texas stamp/permit is intact. Showing 2-1/2 to 3 years of licensed use.

The old man I bought it from, stated he was a retired military person, moving to flordia, and did not want to take it on another move.

He had bought it with one of his first checks when he enlisted, and it "smoked" in the first couple of years he had it.

He was sent over seas, and left it with his parents in the garage, moved back and took it with him to California and back to Texas in around 1991. And it sat inside his house as a conversation piece since.

Fast forward 26 years later. I get a call from a guy saying he had a pinball that was not working I could have for parts for $45.

The next day I went and picked it up with the help of my brother.... Holy shit pinballs are heavy.

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Well Gottlieb boards are a pain in the ass. And usually not worth repairing due to the custom Rockwell spider chips.

There are no replacements for spider chips, the design sucks imho.

I got a pin, and the battery had leaked... Hello alkaline damage.

Before pic:
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Parts removed:
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After alkaline removal and scrubbing:
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I still need to repopulate and socket the board. I have the 7404 but my 7405 is backordered from a local supplier.

I have no idea if this board will work due to the spiderchips, however I am hopeful.
 
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There is only one broken trace.

Replaced the resistors, socketed the 7404 and 7405. Missing a 2.7k 1/4w and i have a 2.2k 1/4w... I dunno if it would make a difference since the 2.2 is a 1% and the 2.7 is a 5% may be too low... Ill have to wait until monday :(

The trace repair was a pain... It would just not stick.

And I retinned the edge. But i need to smooth it a bit on a couple pins for a thin layer instead of the little mounds on a few.

Its late. And I have work in the morning.


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My phone makes the bright copper traces look dingy bit ita the reflection from the overhead mag light bouncing off the green pcb.

I did two passes with the alkaline neutralizing process, and still in certian places it was difficult to unsolder and get things to stick in places, even with liquid flux. I had considered a circuit writer pen to replace that one blown trace... But went with wirewrap as a jumper, since the leg of a resistor would not stick.


So on this bit before I seal it. I need a new 7405 and a 2.7k 5% 1/4w resistor. I should replace those two 100uF axial caps... But I kinda want to see if the spider chips work before I add in more work, they are not puffed... So meh

Next will be the testing and then rebuild of the psb from the back box.
 
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Wow was i tired.... Caps will be replaced on this board before I test it. Regardless. This is from 77 so their....almost 40 yeara old?!?!? Bye bye
 
Thanks Ken. I said the same thing and reasons why in my first post.

While it may be a futile effort, (spider chips) I figured I would give it a shot.

Custom chips... Ugh
 
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Main hassle I've had repairing these was trying to get the corrosion off of the edge connectors and re-tin them to be smooth and work reliably.

If you've got extra parts boards, and a bit of patience, replacing the spider chips is not too bad. Key is making sure you match the correct version of chip when replacing them.

Remember to do the mod's documented for helping protect the spider chips from future damage (involves adding several in-line diodes).

If you *don't* have extra parts boards to pull from, and you're confident one or more of those chips are bad, you will be better off just buying one of the newer repro. boards as noted.
 
In general, if the board is damaged from leaking battery, you have to cleanup that problem first before you can determine if a spider chip is bad. These "primitive" electronics cpu boards can be a real hassle to work on. I used to repair these boards, but many times I spent 6+ hours only to find a bad spider chip. That's why I now simply recommend buying one of the replacement cpu boards. Plus the new boards do not use the -12 volts. They only need +5 volts to operate.

The new power supply boards have voltage test points and some also have power indicating LEDs installed. Another added bonus is you don't need to unsolder a huge transistor just to remove the board from the mounting bracket.
 
Gottlieb hour watch...... Total time in so far is about 2-1/2 hrs.


Imho if it works, i would look into a redundancy for the -12. Too bad the cheap led voltmeters i have seen do not do negative scale. Perhaps a cheap harborfreight multimeter wired in would work...


I will also have to look up the mods again... I know I read it somewhere.
 
Have to agree with Ken, I was working on a Buck Rogers that kept having power supply issues, then I discovered that the RAM was dead on the CPU board once I got the power supply to finally stay working (pretty much after replacing everything). The game would play fine and everything, it would just lose all the settings when powered off.

Then a problem with the sound board showed up - at that point I just said screw it and bought am all-in-one.

That being said, I still have a cpu board with good spider chips in it (for now - RAM still an issue) and a working driver board (for now) - well at least they were working when removed. Not sure what is up with the sound board, maybe bad ROM - don't know since I gave up at that point already. ;)

Too bad the cheap led voltmeters i have seen do not do negative scale.

You could still use them, just reverse the leads and "paint" a negative sign on them. ;)
 
Cr2032 mod or remote battery pack?

I am almost done with the cpu board. And the components check ok on the psb. The bottom board seems ok under no real load. I need to do the driver board ground mods and check some diodes on the coils. I still have to check the driver board... Id like to add some leds these boards suck



Edit.

Went with a cr2032 coin cell battery mod with a 1n4004 blocking diode to prevent charging of the coin cell. Used one of the battery mount holes and drilled a new one for the leads to pass through. Shrink wrapped then and added the blocking diode and heat shrink tube wrapped that too.



I am replacing the three caps on the cpu board, adding the ground mod wire(tomarrow... Dont have the round crimp on connectors). And defeating the slam switch for the time being tonight. Thats pretty much it for tonight. The cpu board should be done as far as repairs and mods by tomarrow.

I will add the psb ground wire mod tomarrow before I do the driver board ground mods.

I'll work on repinning the card edge connectors while catching up on some shows tonight before bed.

Then all that is left is to check the resistance on the coils under the playfield, and add in the 3 additional fuses for the small transformer.
 
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Fking ocd...

Cpu board - finished only needs ring crimp on new ground wire

Psb - only needs ring crimp on new ground wire

Driver board - has diodes installed, mandatory ground extension wire from c1 installed, needs ring crimp on wire

Tuesday night should be ring terminals, for 18awg wire, and the new fuse blocks installed.

Also need some small bolts for the psb backplane to bracket... Am considering wingnuts....



Working on repinning a few harnesses
 
Bolts found.

Ring crimps installed

Repinned the power pcb to cpu board edge connector

Repinned one side of the cpu to driver board harness.



Will be finishing the harness first, then the fuse mods, and install the psb test it, then the cpu, displays, under playfield. Then driverboard.


Hopefully tomarrow night i get some testing done.
 
Well did a butt load of work. About 5 hrs today on this bad boy...

I fused the small transformer with a 1amp slo blow. The 5v line with a 2amp slo blow.

Replaced the ratted ground missing power cord with a new 14ft one.

One of the coils on the underside had heated and lost a leg on the diode and another looked like the coated wire cut and had to resolder it down.



Issues.


Well i cant get the damned thing to start a game....

It did at one point... So I think its a loose connection in A loom somewhere. It was scoring and playing...

Makes noise on coin up but will not start a game.


Even the coin door diagnostics menu was working to test the selenoids..

However the credit 4 sigit display is very dim... And i guess ill have to do that wall wort 4 second heat trick...

All the other diaplays work and look great. Diagnostics showed all the numbers on both sides work it tested one side then the other.


Pics


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20170517_204334.md.jpg
 
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On closer inspection... I never noticed it the 4 credit display had 2 cut wires right where they meet the connector... I pull them, and repinned all the wires on the 4 display.

Works great now and displays the diagnostic menu. Very bright.


Still can not get it to start a game after i preas the start/credit button....

Next is to check the diodes on the bottom board again...

And the drop targets seem weak and do not popup all the way.... So there is another project. I forgot what the ohm measurement was on that coil... But I think it was high like 50ohms or smth....

I did a jumper on c2 on the cpu board. To defeat the slam switches. And i checked the coin lockout wires... Ill have to check them again...

I pulled the ball from the tilt switch. The plumb bob is open... And the under playfield tilt switxh is not touching so its open... But ill have to hook up the dmm and double check it.


Why the hell did I pick a pinball as a project... I know nothing about theae thinga... So its taking me a long time to figure it out.
 
Connector J6 on the cpu board is the switch matrix to the cabinet switches. Has it been repinned yet?



All cables touching the cpu board Except the display cables have been repinned.

I am going to clean the book keeping now that i can read the middle display.

Lets see what happens... And i will recheck J6 cable
 
She Lives!

Simulated a 1 player and a 4 player game.

I need to clean and touchup the playfield, and touchup the back glass. And work on the drop target bank which is sluggish while I wait for the rubber set to come in.

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20170519_211645.md.jpg




I thank everyone for their help, I got lucky the spider chips were not damaged.


If there was ever a project i was unsure I would get working.... It was this one.

Not bad for a $45 pinball pickup.


Special thanks to Esq. For his negative attitude so I kept pushing to get this working.
 
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I had contacted marcos about the rubber set for this game, but they were out of a few parts. Marcos is nice because they also take paypal, which is already setup for me and my prefered online paysment portal.

I didn't feel like waiting so I ordered a deluxe rebuild kit from pcx pinball on ebay.

It had the bits I was looking for, and a decent price shipped, it was hard to pass up.

Hopefully I will have the parts to play a game by friday. I have 3 days to clean up.

I will play a game or three, then work on touchup on the Playfield.


List of things left to work on:

1. Fuse the -12v line
2. Clean/wax playfield
3. Install rubber set
4. Install new bulbs
5. Install new shooter springs
6. Inspect/clean drop target assembly
7. Play a game
8. Strip wax touchup playfield
9. Decide what to do about the insert (fisheyes)
10. Address the back glass flaking issues


Aaannddd found out pbr does not take paypal or credit cards... So money orders or checks... Ugh
 
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