tron helpzzzzz pcb garbage

mr.fixit

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hello, i obtained a tron of which i am having difficulty with, bear with me its my first post. Here is the story ,i started by cleaning out the machine electronics and all, powered it up and checked my voltages there all within .3 volt range.on power up i get white and blue rectangles on the top of the screen,so i checked my roms, my ribbon cables and all was good i then resorted to cutting the purple wire. My results were a screen that flashed and would cycle colors if i reconnect the reset while in play it freezes at the color shown at the time, none of the test switches work on the pcb, the audio amp board also has a shorted amp,and was not connected through any of this.So i purchased a new pcb from quarterarcade hooked it in and i get a half yellow half blue screen with static rain effect, without the reset i get the same cycling of colors with my first board. as a side note the led on the super sound io never flashed or blinked on either board.Next i ordered a switching power supply from arcade shop,assuming it was a reset issue, and with the reset connected on the new pcb from quarterarcade i get squat noting , without i get the garbage from when the reset was connected on the old power supply the half yellow half blue screen. on my old board with new power supply i get a diagonal line of scrolling static like a lighting strike per say, without the reset i get the blue and white squares thanks let me know this is where im
 
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yeah you put a lot of info in that first post, it's a bit hard to understand.

It sounds like you've tried a couple of boards, at least 1 known working?


If your reset line isn't working then the game won't boot.

you should consider www.arcadeshop.com for a switching power supply adapter until you get your original power supply fixed so you can trouble shoot a little better.
 
power supply

it has a switching power supply in it currently and this is what it had presented, the board was known working, but could have been damaged in shipping.
 
it has a switching power supply in it currently and this is what it had presented, the board was known working, but could have been damaged in shipping.

yeah if it was packed like shit, sure.

If you have tested the volts (on the pcb, not the power supply only) and they check out, and the board is still giving you issues, maybe you ought to contact cdjump on here.

the guy is an unreal pro at fixing these boards.
 
tron

sounds like a plan , the board was wrappedn 4 layers of bouble wrap and peanuts, it came with a 10 day waranty so i think ima return it or see if they will offer an exchange or repair it i purchased it from quarterarcade.com but if they cant fix or exchange it then i will give him a buzz and see if he cant fix the original that came withh it.
 
As tron guy stated, measure voltage at teh SSIO board and see what it says. Did you try re-seating all the chips? Are you certain the interconnect cables are 100%? I found that a bad Z80 can cause a garbage screen as well. Turn on your machine and give it up to an hour. I've had instances where the machine will reset itself and work properly after first booting to garbage.
 
Let's start with the simple stuff:

1. Clean your edge connector pins and the connectors. All of them (power brick, all boards)
2. Clean any other connectors on the board that are in use.
3. Check your voltages at the test points on the board. Are they in spec?

Why I'm suggesting this: Corroded connectors can cause voltage drops. if the connectors are between your board and your monitor, you can get all sorts of hash, since it can't sync and doesn't have the right level of signals. If your main board is dropping voltage across the connectors, you can't tell what you can get.

You said you cleaned the boards up - I can't tell if that meant you removed the dust from them, washed them, or burnished all the connectors.

Details like this help the people who are trying to help you understand what you did, so we don't tell you to do the same thing, and frustrate you.

Using the 10 day warranty isn't a bad idea, but you should eliminate as much as you can in the game, or you'll get the same results. Worse yet, you'll send the board back, and it will come back No Problems Found, so you pay round-trip shipping.
 
It's not so much the spelling, but the punctuation and formatting that makes me agree with him.

It's like a giant block of text. It was so difficult to follow, I stopped reading.

Good luck with the Tron PCB though.
 
tron

hello, tanks for the reply's, yes my voltages are in spec with a load ,i will check the z80 tonight, and yes i cleaned everything inside and out before i powered it up, but one thing that comes to mind there's 4 five folt rails one was putting out 1.8 found that issue , corroded molex,but im concerned if that could have damaged the board?
 
tron

when i used the term clean i washed the boards with rubing alchool and a tooth brush and dabing with a paper towel then rense with distilled water, same thing before and after the cleaning, the rest of the cab with vacume for big stuff, removed electronics, a bit of bleach, and mold remover, and a scrubbrush, let dry, remove electronics from power transformer board cleann with wetwipes, wires etc, repainted the capacitor metal unit black, but i put a switcher in.
 
having 1.8v won't damage the board (someone correct me if I'm wrong)

hopefully you let that board dry for a few days before putting it in for test


I wash boards/chassis all of the time, but they sit in my truck for a week getting pounded by the sun before I ever fire them up again.
 
yes, i hair dried it and waited 1 day

Sounds like you might have fried something from your cleaning. I would have waited a lot longer to power things up again after the bath.

The seller you mentioned has a good reputation -- if they were marked as tested and working they were tested and working when they were sent.
 
tron

ok, there seems to be some con fusion i have 2 board sets, the original, and the one i purchased, the one i purchased has not been monkeyed or touched in any way other than tried out. The pcb that was clesned is the one that came in the cab
 
ok, there seems to be some con fusion i have 2 board sets, the original, and the one i purchased, the one i purchased has not been monkeyed or touched in any way other than tried out. The pcb that was clesned is the one that came in the cab

OK. Sounds better. Is there anyone in your area that has a Tron? You can easily swap those boards into another game and tell right away if that's where your problems lie.
 
tron

actually i know a guy that has one im not buddys with him but its worth a call, good idea,i was going to check the z80 tonight and ssio board voltages but im cleaning for new years party.
 
If the problem does turn out to the boards -- and I'm guessing from what I've read here that it may not be -- you can always swap those boards in the boardset out one at a time too and quickly find your culprit.
 
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