Sharkey's Shootout - What do you think?

bungy

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I went to look at one today, but it's not working. It turns on, things light up, tries to make sound, but just keeps "clicking". The game looked like it was in decent shape, the playfield had very little wear on it. Seller wanted $500 for it.

The question is, is it worth it? I'm pretty good at fixing video games, but I have never worked on a pinball, this would be my first. Do you think it might cost a lot of time or money to fix? If I do get it working, is it a fun game? I've never played it, but it looked fun to me.
 
Never really heard of this one but is it related too Pool Sharks? I used too have that Pin and it would have the Shark and say Wellcome too Sharkey's!
 
I went to look at one today, but it's not working. It turns on, things light up, tries to make sound, but just keeps "clicking". The game looked like it was in decent shape, the playfield had very little wear on it. Seller wanted $500 for it.

The question is, is it worth it? I'm pretty good at fixing video games, but I have never worked on a pinball, this would be my first. Do you think it might cost a lot of time or money to fix? If I do get it working, is it a fun game? I've never played it, but it looked fun to me.
500 dollars doesnt sound too bad for a sharkeys but the problem is you can buy a pinball really cheap from some people and thinking its a real easy fix but can become a nightmare if theres major issues with the machine.Things start to really add up if you start replacing boards and parts.Ask the seller if a tech or someone has looked into the machine about whats wrong with it that would be a good start before you purchase.I hope this helps and Good luck
 
That's a great price for that game complete, even if it is dead. It is worth more than 500 in parts.

When you go to pick it up, ask if the game had the CPU swapped out of it prior to it not working. Sharkey's Shootout uses a different PIC chip on the CPU than any other Whitestar game. The game will not boot with any other Whitestar CPU if this chip is different! If the board was swapped, I believe the chip is available from Marco for less than $20, and it should be socketed as opposed to solderede on the board. Or, maybe the chip is bad.

When you say "clicking", are you talking about solenoids, or an audio click? Might just need batteries or some connectors re-seated. Of course, Sterns are notorious for acid damage down the right side of the CPU board. there aren't a whole lot of components there, but at worst case, you'd have to repair a couple of chips, resistors, and diodes.

It isn't the greatest game, but I don't think it sucks. At 500, I'd go get it, no questions asked.

-Mike
 
Another way to tell without bringing up the CPU to the seller is to check the serial number on the CPU board. If it differs dramatically from the serial number on the game (found either inside the game cabinet or outside on the back of the cabinet), chances are the board was swapped with another game.

-Mike
 
That's a great price for that game complete, even if it is dead. It is worth more than 500 in parts.

When you go to pick it up, ask if the game had the CPU swapped out of it prior to it not working. Sharkey's Shootout uses a different PIC chip on the CPU than any other Whitestar game. The game will not boot with any other Whitestar CPU if this chip is different! If the board was swapped, I believe the chip is available from Marco for less than $20, and it should be socketed as opposed to solderede on the board. Or, maybe the chip is bad.

When you say "clicking", are you talking about solenoids, or an audio click? Might just need batteries or some connectors re-seated. Of course, Sterns are notorious for acid damage down the right side of the CPU board. there aren't a whole lot of components there, but at worst case, you'd have to repair a couple of chips, resistors, and diodes.

It isn't the greatest game, but I don't think it sucks. At 500, I'd go get it, no questions asked.

-Mike

The game was at an arcade and the person I talked to said she was the "tech". She had the backglass off and we were looking at it, but she just kept tapping the boards with her flashlight. She was putting her hands all over the fuses while it was trying to turn on, I thought I was going to have to call an ambulance. She was trying to open the fluorescent bulb transformer because she thought there might be a problem in there; I had to tell her it was for the bulb and was probably not the problem. She definitely did not know what she was doing.

I noticed the batteries were missing, would that cause the problem? What do the batteries do? The clicking was part audio from the speakers, like it was trying to make sounds, and there was what looked like a relay on power i/o board that was clicking. That board looked clean (no acid damage), but there was some obvious bad soldering done on one of the transistors at the bottom.

The lady told me the game was working fine and then just stopped, I don't think she has the knowhow to replace the boards or chips. But I do think she has the knowhow to make the problems worse!
 
run, don't walk to buy that game for $500. Sharkey's has a deep multiplier and features, shots are smooth and it's a lot of fun- A fantastic game.


Thanks, James
 
I played a few games on a Sharkey's Shootout at Expo this year, and thought it was a fun game. For $500, I would buy it any day of the week.
 
Yikes. Check the logic fuse on the power driver board (lower big board). Se if it is blown. Also check the fuse holder and see if the ears are gapped or fatigued. Sega/Stern used some cheap ass fuse holders BITD. You really have to look at the fuse holder and pull the fuse to tell if it is bad. There shoud be a diagram on the inside of the backbox indicating which fuse is for logic power (5V)... I can't remember off the top of my head. If the fuse holder looks gapped, pinch the top and bottom ear pairs together slightly and see if they bite the fuse better.

Does the display ever show anything? Words, garbage... anything? If there are no batteries and the door is shut while the game is turned on, the game will not boot. It should display a message that says "open the door", and would flash such until the door is open. Try booting it and then simply open the door to see if it completes the boot sequence. Of course, throw some new AA's in. The batteries hold the set memory like free play, balls per game, that you would set besides what was set at the factory. It also holds high scores.

Reseat all socketed chips on the CPU, as well as all ribbon cables and the display chip on the master display board (backside of the actual display).

The game was at an arcade and the person I talked to said she was the "tech". She had the backglass off and we were looking at it, but she just kept tapping the boards with her flashlight. She was putting her hands all over the fuses while it was trying to turn on, I thought I was going to have to call an ambulance. She was trying to open the fluorescent bulb transformer because she thought there might be a problem in there; I had to tell her it was for the bulb and was probably not the problem. She definitely did not know what she was doing.

I noticed the batteries were missing, would that cause the problem? What do the batteries do? The clicking was part audio from the speakers, like it was trying to make sounds, and there was what looked like a relay on power i/o board that was clicking. That board looked clean (no acid damage), but there was some obvious bad soldering done on one of the transistors at the bottom.

The lady told me the game was working fine and then just stopped, I don't think she has the knowhow to replace the boards or chips. But I do think she has the knowhow to make the problems worse!
 
i would jump all over that machine for that price.i think it a fun game i own one.if you have someone fix you main cpu make sure to up grade the roms. this game has had other issues but the updated rom fixes this. thats what i did i believe i read about the problems on the sega sight but that was a while ago so i dont remenber
 
Well here she is. Glad to have my pinball cherry popped by Jeanette Lee!

Overall, the machine looks beautiful. There was a fuse missing on the power board on the top left. Put one in and the DMD came up, but not for long. It said to "Open The Door". I opened the coin door and figured out how to get to the diagnostic menu, but then the DMD and sounds went dark, but the playfield was still lit. Turning the game off and then back on will sometimes bring it back, but not all the time. What could cause an intermittent problem like that?

At one point I was able to close the coin door and start a game. I launched the ball, but after I fired the flipper once the game crapped out. I was able to do this a couple times.

Where should I start looking for problems?

The CPU board seems to be original - the serial numbers match on all the boards except the Power I/O board which is a sega board (Stern bought Sega's pinball division right around 2000, right?). For now, I will try reseating all cables and chips. Any other help is very much appreciated!
 
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Was going to point you to the pinrepair.com guide, but it does not seem there is a section for those games there. Checked the stern site too. On ipdb it does not list how many units were made. What up with that?
 
I reseated all the chips and connectors in the backbox, but no change in behavior. I am sometimes able to get into the service menu for a few minutes, but I don't know what to check. Is there anything in there worth looking at? Seem like it is all switch checks and such.
 
Did you get some batteries in there? Not that it will make a huge difference, but will not put you into from factory mode when turned on. (I believe)
 
Did you check the fuse holder for the logic fuse? If it is snug, you might have a bad bridge rectifier on the driver board. Also check the plug from the transformer to the pdb. It is the square plg with red, blue, etc., wires at the top center of the pdb. Turn the game on and wiggle the plug, see if it drops out
 
Did you check the fuse holder for the logic fuse? If it is snug, you might have a bad bridge rectifier on the driver board. Also check the plug from the transformer to the pdb. It is the square plg with red, blue, etc., wires at the top center of the pdb. Turn the game on and wiggle the plug, see if it drops out

I checked all the fuse holders and squeezed and that were even a little loose, no change. All the bridge rectifiers checked out fine. The square plug was one of the first things I checked. I checked that all the pins were in securely and wiggled it while it was on.

It seems that I can get it to run for a few mins and get into the service menu before it dies - meaning the DMD goes blank, all sounds stop, but all lights stay on solid. Sometimes it will die right after it tries to boot, sometimes it will reset a few times and either boot or die. When it does boot it will only last a few seconds or a minute or two before dying. After it dies, it is completely non responsive to any probing / wiggling connectors in the backbox.

I added batteries, but that didn't help anything.
 
the 4 LED's are lit ?

get the manual...

take the i/o power board out and re-flow any cold solder joints on the header pins, bridge rectifiers and
use your ESR meter to test the capacitors...
could be you have a bad cap that is letting ripple in and either its re-setting or not letting it boot or something

maybe try disconnecting the playfield wiring connectors and see if it boots
 
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I got the manual with the game and have been looking it over. Yes, the 4 LEDs are lit. I couldn't get it to boot by disconnecting any of the playfield connectors. I'm getting 4.97v at the test points on the CPU board. Don't have an ESR meter to test the caps.
 
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