Star Explorer Sound Issue

steve8091

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I've got a Star Explorer that I refurbed a few years back in my son's room, and recently one of the chimes got stuck on. The sound is constant, and is only silenced either when the game goes on tilt, or when you hold the left-hand (when viewing from the back) circuit breaker. the game plays normally otherwise, and all chimes (bumpers, lanes, slings, hole, etc.) function appropriately. I've done some searching, but have only seen posts with solutions to solenoid issues, which seem to be corrected by replacing transistors.

Any help would be greatly appreciated!
 
Start HERE.

Lots of good background information (I believe Ken Layton built this page), including the manual and schematics.

If it's truly just the sound getting stuck on, vs. a switch that's gotten jammed closed, then you can hopefully dig through the schematic to find out which part of the board triggers that sound, and troubleshoot accordingly.
 
Thanks for that - Ken is the man. I'm going to try and clean and re-seat the audio board as a first step, then dig in deeper. If anyone else has had this specific issue, I'd love to know how you fixed it.
 
It could be one of the small transistors on the sound board getting "stuck" on. Possibly IC201 also on sound board has gone "flaky".

Also, the machine was made in 1977 and there are several electrolytic capacitors on the sound board. They are probably due for replacement.
 
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Well I let this sit (apparently for about a year), but have been working on it again. I tested the sound board, and I found a short from emitter to collector on transistor Q206, so I replaced it. No luck though - I'm still getting that short, so I'm thinking that it's coming from IC201. I'm not sure whether this matters, but if I trace upstream a bit, I get the same short (reading about 6000 ohms) between pins 11 and 12 on the IC.

I'm not confident in my ability to replace the chip without shorting pins, and I'm considering just cutting one of the legs on the chip to get that sound to stop (maybe sacrificing some other functionality). Any thoughts..?
 
Quick update. I replaced a few transistors and all of the caps, and I still have a tone stuck on. In doing so, however, I think I've gained enough confidence to replace the IC, so I'm going to get one on order and give that a shot.
 
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