System 80, ground mods, and Ni-Wumpf

patchboston

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Throughout the past year I have been working on and off on my Devil's Dare restoration. I'm almost to the point where the game runs 100%, but there's just one problem holding be back!

I replaced the majority of the header pin connectors, sprayed with dexoit on others, and have installed a new rotten dog power supply and Ni-Wumpf driver board. I wasn't going to go with the driver board, but since I plan on picking up another system 80 game or two in the future, I figured it would be a good idea as a quick diagnostic tool. The board is great because theres lights indicating circuit failure..

this is where my problem comes in:
--the lights on my replacement board all indicate a ground issue (i think). "E10, "E7", "E4" are all lit and from what I gather on the ni-wumpf website, they should not be on.
--I know I need to perform the grounding mod, but I don't see how I would incorporate these modern boards into the modification...

why I believe I have a problem (symptoms)
when I finish a 3 ball game, the solenoid located under the right flipper will automatically "knock" 3 times in a row and credit my game. I have played devils dare at funspot and this issue is not there.

sounds can be intermittent - sometimes they work great without issue, other times certain sounds/music will be distorted. I ran the sound board test and I get the "ahhhhh" and "beeepbeeep" sounds, which I think that indicates a working board. the system diagnostics has issues when it arrives on 17. The sound cuts out...
 
The rottendog driver board has a terminal on it for attaching a ground wire. The 3 knocks at the end of the game sounds like a normal knocking sequence. The other game you speak of may of had a bad knocker or had it disabled.
 
The rottendog driver board has a terminal on it for attaching a ground wire. The 3 knocks at the end of the game sounds like a normal knocking sequence. The other game you speak of may of had a bad knocker or had it disabled.

True, true. I had a manual, but I misplaced it a long time ago. I'll have to find the dip switch settings and see if thats the case..I have the rotten dog power supply. The driver board is ni-wumpf.
 
sprayed with dexoit on others...

--I know I need to perform the grounding mod

replace ALL the pins with new ones
thats a lot or work huh ?

wouldnt run a brand new board without the ground mods. that thing is expensive and you dont want to damage it

test the capacitors on the sound card with my ESR meter and see if any are out of spec and replace. check the sound card for cold solder joints
 
I should eventually replace the caps on the sound pcb, but for now I might have fixed my sound issues. I checked over the sound pcb with a DMM and couldn't come up with cold solder joints. For shits 'n giggles I unseated the prom chips and low and behold one had traces of oxidization...hrmm. Cleaned off, reseated, and started the game up and everything seems "okay". I'll have to examine things closer on Saturday.

Yeah, it's a total pain to replace those header pins! I won't even beat around the bush with that one, ha. I ran out of the header pins and decided to try the dexoit. That stuff is amazing, but I will do the proper thing and install new pins in the next week or two :)
 
btw, Dave @ ni-wumpf was super helpful and pointed out that the 3 knocks was a memory issue! After he said that, I remembered I took off the battery pack and never replaced with a remote AA pack. doh! the three knocks is recorded as a high score, but my game doesn't can't save a high score, so it sees each game as a new record breaker.
 
over the sound pcb with a DMM and couldn't come up with cold solder joints

as you probably know, cold solder joints can for the most part, be seen by the naked eye

nice job on detecting the IC leg being oxidized
funny how just one trace with too much resistance, can keep a game from playing

just think how much you saved by not having to hire a tech to come out and fix your problem. buy another pinball !
 
Unrelated topic but do you like your devils dare pinball? A guy here keeps posting it on craigslist daily for the past month and I have a feeling I could probably talk him down to around $300 at this point since he obviously has had zero takers.

Just wondering if it is that fun of a pin since I have never seen or played one.
 
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