SkeeBall Lighting Issue

Chug-Pub

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Hello ! New to the board , seeking help and also contributing to the learning pool.

I have a Skeeball Lighting unit "NICN2ATC"

Upon start up, the unit will flash on and off.
- Ball release will click on and off multiple times
- LED lights on the PCB board Red and Green will flicker, then red LED would just stay on.
- Rope lights up and down the rail will flicker
Then everything would stop dead...

Rope light stays on

No display, No sound upon startup, No sound when I input coins (Bill acceptor). Dead

I would turn the unit off till the PCB red LED dissipates... upon start up it will go through the same cycle.

I've checked all fuses on the PDB they look good, checked all connections good.

Where should i start troubleshooting ?

Please advise, thank you
 
Checking voltages would be a good start. The Skeeball Lighting
and Extreme need a high 5 volts to run. Problem is if it's too
high it will blow one or both of the two security chips. The
power in at the board needs to be around 5.40 volts although
Skeeball will tell you to make it even higher (BAD IDEA).

Assuming good, then reseat the CPU, they tend to come loose
and sometimes the pins don't make good contact. You'll need
an extractor to get it out.

Unfortunately Skeeball no longer supports or repairs this
board :(

JD
 
You have a N1C- the second generation Skeeball Lightning. The N1C was produced for a very short time before it was replaced with the N1E. The N1E is very similar to the N1C, and was used on many machines, and much more available. When I was working for Skeeball, we had a conversion kit to go from the N1C to N1E. You would have to make adaptors or change the connectors for the AC power in, DC power in, and AC power out, but I believe all the connectors are the same. So long story short you can use a Skeeball Extreme, or Tower of Power PCB etc, and swap the ROM's from your board- if you can't repair it. In the near future, I may be offering repairs on these boards.
-Mark
 
I checked the power supply, power is good. 5.5v ... though the fan cuts out when I twist the knob on the power supply, but will kick back on after a manual reset.

The red and yellow light is bouncing back and forth upon start up, then it goes dead. I thought something was shorting it out. Disconnected all the connectors except for the AC + DC power supply. The LED lights are still jumping upon start up.

Im feeling its def a board problem.

Waiting for my chip extractor coming from AMAZON. Which one is the CPU ? Square chip next to the 3 LED lights?

Mark : how near future are you in repairing these boards ? I NEED HELP !
I see a couple sellers on EBAY selling Tower of power PCB boards, according to the picture everything looks the same except the positioning of the led display output. It would def need a extension and the 2 plugs coming from the power supply has different inputs and outs like you mentioned.

Where can I get my hands a conversion kit from N1C to N1E?

Thanks in advance for your input !
 
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My test bench is not completed yet for these (need a display) and it would be for the N1E first. (many more of those PCB's produced) I would then I would make adapters to work with the N1C. The CPU is the square IC on the PCB. It is in a PLCC socket.
 
Mark,

Which display do you need ?

- I will try to reset the CPU when my extractor tool comes in.
- Next will purchase a N1E board swap out the ROMS,
- Will using a different power supply with correct inputs for the N1E board solve the adapter issue ?
 
A new power supply is not likely going to fix the issue, but if you can find one with the correct connections on it, it will save you some work. You will still need to adapt the AC out from the PCB to the N1E connector. It sounds like you a have a logic failure on the main PCB. You can try reseating the CPU, just be careful not to crack the socket. I would say fix this CPU or go for the N1E conversion. I need the LED matrix display (found on Lightning and Skeeball Too) for my bench.
-Mark
 
Chip reseted, NO DICE.

Mark,

If I purchase N1E PCB. Send you the purchased N1E PCB, along with my N1C board and my LED matrix display.

Will you be open to swap roms, make connectors, work your magic and create a working board for me?
 
Thanks for all your help TEC9, purchased a compatible board on eBay, purchased jumper cables from All electronics, swapped ROMS, rewired units harness. Converted PCB boards and got it working.

TEC9 you are the man ! Thanks again
 
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