Star Wars 10.3v issue

JC Arcade

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So I can't get my restored Star Wars working -- not playing blind, etc. Nothing. Finally had a chance to check voltages, and +5v was good (5.05), but when I tested 10.3V on the PCB and I got...nothing. The meter doesn't give me a read at all. What should I be looking at as the culprit(s)?
 
Check for the power on the power supply board. If you have power on the supply but not on the main board then you either have a problem with the connector(s) or wire.
 
And if I have no power on the PS board? Haven't checked yet, just asking.
 
If there is no power on the power supply you will need to rebuild it and possibly the power supply brick. Honestly, it is good practice to rebuild the power brick and power supply for any game you intend to keep...
 
I'm asking because I did rebuild the brick. ;)

Only part I didn't replace was the bridge rectifier, and it's because I'm an idiot and I'm unsure which wires go to which tabs on the rectifier.
 
Bob Roberts has a tutorial on his website for replacing bridge rectifiers. You can check for power output from the brick at the fuses; at least then you'll know if your brick is fully functional.
 
Okay, I'm getting the 10.3v at the ARII (13.5 actually) and I still get nothing on the PCB board. I tried cleaning the edge connector. Nothing.
 
You are confused.

The Power Brick puts out 10.3vdc (unregulated, usually around 13.5vdc) to the A/R II.

It is used to make +5vdc on the A/R II. There is NO 10.3vdc on the Star Wars board at all from what I recall.
 
Maybe I am confused (wouldn't be the first time), but I was looking at this pinout and saw the 10.3v..

http://www.crazykong.com/pins/Starwars.pin.txt

And there is also a 10.3v test spot on the board, which is where I get nothing.

The 10.3vdc at pin "E" on the boardset comes from the power brick J5 pin 1. Take the reading at pin "E" and see if the voltage is present.
 
I'll check it out tomorrow, as I've called it a night on the troubleshooting. On a separate note, all my red lights stay lit on the boards. Is there a troubleshooting sequence I should be trying aside from the voltage checks?
 
The 10.3vdc at pin "E" on the boardset comes from the power brick J5 pin 1. Take the reading at pin "E" and see if the voltage is present.
Couldn't go to sleep without trying this. No voltage at pin E. I also tested it at the molex plug between the PS and the PCB connector and got nothing. Seems like the PS is not supplying the 10.3v at J5 pin 1. :(
 
The +5v is derived from the 10.3v. Therefore if you have 5v present then the 10.3v is already known to be good and you don't have to worry about it. You could be measuring it incorrectly or maybe the test point is dirty.

You need to measure and set +5 from the game boards, not the AR II. There are test points on each of the boards in the PCB stack, use the ones on the main board. Make sure the edge connector is clean and set voltage to 5v (some SW boards won't boot unless they're closer to 5.1v). While you have the meter on the PCB's +5VDC test points, switch the meter to read AC volts, and if you read more than .2vac or thereabouts then you need to replace the "big blue" capacitor--The game will likely not boot up otherwise, and it's a common issue. SW is seemingly more sensitive to voltage and AC ripple than just about anything else Atari made in my experience. You will also need +/- 22V present on the game board or else you will not have any video, though this is a rare failure--check the +/- 15V test points found in the output section of the AVG board.

If the boards are booting correctly the +5 LEDs on each board will be lit steady and the 3 other LEDs on the main board will flash on for about a second before extinguishing. If they stay lit (and voltages are correct) the board has issues of it's own.
 
Thanks Pat. The +5v is tested good at the game board. But are you telling me it's okay not to have 10.3v coming from J5 pin 1 or at the harness? That doesn't seem right to me.
 
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So I can't get my restored Star Wars working -- not playing blind, etc. Nothing. Finally had a chance to check voltages, and +5v was good (5.05), but when I tested 10.3V on the PCB and I got...nothing. The meter doesn't give me a read at all. What should I be looking at as the culprit(s)?


Where are you checking?

It's literally impossible for that to happen if you're testing on the ARII, since the +10.3V is regulated down to 5V on it.
 
Mark, I got 13.5 for the 10.3v check on the ARII. When I check the 10.3v on the main pcb (at the test point tab) I get nothing. When I checked pin E on the harness, I got nothing. I followed the 10.3v wire from pin E down to the molex connector that's between the PS and the pcb connector (wanted to see if I had a bad connection) and got no voltage when I test there as well.
 
Thanks Pat. The +5v is tested good at the game board. But are you telling me it's okay not to have 10.3v coming from J5 pin 1 or at the harness? That doesn't seem right to me.

dokert and mark have already made this clear as well, but I'll repeat:
The +5v is derived from the 10.3v.

if all voltages are correct on the game boards and you have minimal AC ripple on the +5, start looking elsewhere for problems, the power supply is fine.
 
Okay, thanks. I'll forget about the PS. I guess I still don't understand why it's okay to have no voltage reading for the orange/black wire that is supposed to carry 10.3v to pin E of the edge connector, but I'll assume what you're saying is that is normal.
 
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