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Bad Cats Help

Optimus Prime

Optimus Prime

Registered
Joined
Mar 8, 2016
Messages
101
Location
Ireland
Hi Guys, bought this a couple of weeks back for cheap as it was described as not working. Finally got it back to the house yesterday to have a look at it and need some advice, im new to pinball so dont have much experience with them, i do have a Getaway ive fixed a couple of things on but never had one this bad. its in ok condition i think, the side art is damaged but the playfield looks fine just needs to be cleaned top to bottom. here is the pic from when i bought it.

gamersireland.ie_wp_content_uploads_2016_05_InitialImage.jpg

I got it home and powered it on, turns out the guy just didnt know where the on switch was underneath, but its still not working. Lights come on, no scoreboard power, and nothing else. the lights just stay on and thats it.

gamersireland.ie_wp_content_uploads_2016_05_PoweredOnLights.jpg

Had a look inside, a couple of fuses had blown on the top right board which i think is related to the power? Two fuses on the bottom right board had been bypassed by using wired wrapped around them and pushed back in!

gamersireland.ie_wp_content_uploads_2016_05_Fusehack.jpg

Repalced them and also noticed the ribbon cable on the DMD seem to be in the wrong way around on one end. swapped that around and powered on and nothing. couldnt figure it out for a while until my wife noticed the TV was also off! it had tripped a switch in the house, tried it a few more times and same thing. had a quick look online and read it can sometimes be related to the power an older pin draws when first turned on, so plugged it into two extension cables then the wall and powered on. this time it came up and the scoreboard is working. still cant start a game though. no "attract mode" just all lights constantly (not flashing) on and the scoreboard now.

gamersireland.ie_wp_content_uploads_2016_05_badcatsdmdworking.jpg

Now there is a serious humming noise coming from it, i think its the speakers making it. Ive read online it could be a bad ground somewhere? Also inside the coin door there is a bunch of wires loose that i think are supposed to be connected to the test menu buttons?

gamersireland.ie_wp_content_uploads_2016_05_CoinDoorTestPanel.jpg

So I guess im looking for help here on the humming noise and the loose wires in the coin door. am i on the right track? I want to see if i can get it working before i waste money and new parts or time cleaning it up.

Thanks a lot
 
Thanks, i only had it on for a few seconds, they look like solid circles in that photo but are not like that in real life.
 
One battery had started leaking, but im pretty sure i got them out before damage was done to the board below, i cant see any damage on it anyways. Quick side question, does a pin need batterys in it to work correctly? i currently dont have any in it. I figured they where just for holding score\settings

gamersireland.ie_wp_content_uploads_2016_05_battery_1.jpg
 
Right now on power on lights come on and stay on, Display has a 0 on each line and the top one i think has a * on it too. then the loud humming noise.
 
They'll probably survive, then. The system 11 Cpu board has three red l.e.d's; one shows +5v, another the status of 'Blanking', which should stop coils, flash & feature lamps or displays working unless the Cpu's running, and the third is 'Diagnostic' - it usually blinks continually once the program starts, but if there's a problem it blinks a number of times to give an indication of the trouble.

On powering up, the 5v and blanking should light, then blanking should go out and diagnostic should begin blinking rapidly. At the same time, the separate Cpu on the audio board should make one audible 'ring' if it starts up alright.

Those later Sys 11 games have two power supply boards. The larger one (of which yours had botched-up fusing) supplies the feature bulbs, solenoids, flashbulbs and motors, while the smaller one (top Right) develops logic power and the display high voltage rails.
 
Ill have to check again when im home from work. But from memory one red light stays on constantly, you can see it above in one of the photos. There is no other red light on i dont think, definitely no flashing red light. There is also no ring on startup. Do the wires need to be wired into the test buttons inside the coin door for all this to start up?
 
No, the door doesn't need to be connected at all for the game to power up, but the buttons would need to be to access the test routines. The two important ones, Advance and Up/Down, have their own connector on the Cpu board, #14 I think. They're not 'matrix' switches, but inputs to the Cpu.
 
Cool thanks, those buttons are not wired up anyways all the wires are just bunched in the door. ill have to wire them up.
 
I'd unplug the display to avoid it burning out until you have the game booting properly... you'll know because the LED's will work as Jay describes and the playfield will go in to attract mode.
 
Thanks for the advise, ill unplug it until i get the rest sorted, will just the ribbon cable do or do i need to unplug everything?
 
I'd disconnect both the ribbon cable and the power connector, and maybe even take the display/speaker panel out altogether for better access. There's still the cabinet speaker (if it's okay) to listen out for.
 
I had a Jokerz System 11 game that developed a horrible hum. It eventually turned out to be a failing bridge rectifier that was introducing ripple into the DC circuit that the sound card needs.
 
Optimus Prime said:
One battery had started leaking, but im pretty sure i got them out before damage was done to the board below, i cant see any damage on it anyways. Quick side question, does a pin need batterys in it to work correctly? i currently dont have any in it. I figured they where just for holding score\settings

gamersireland.ie_wp_content_uploads_2016_05_battery_1.jpg
Click to expand...


With that much damage on the holder, I guarantee it's got onto the board as well. You need to get that battery holder removed asap and neutralise the board, else the corrosion will just start appearing later
 
Andrew Stockdale said:
I had a Jokerz System 11 game that developed a horrible hum. It eventually turned out to be a failing bridge rectifier that was introducing ripple into the DC circuit that the sound card needs.
Click to expand...

Interesting Andrew. I have a whirlwind which has an excessively loud hum. Which bridge rectifier was it? I've got some knocking around I might shotgun it and see if it makes a difference
 
Spandangler said:
Interesting Andrew. I have a whirlwind which has an excessively loud hum. Which bridge rectifier was it? I've got some knocking around I might shotgun it and see if it makes a difference
Click to expand...
I'm afraid I can't remember. Is there something like an 18v supply for the sound board ? Vaguely rings a bell.

Measure your DC voltages for AC ripple.
 
A bit more info.


  • Also check the -12 volt supply voltage on the CPU board. If this voltage is low (or AC ripple seems high), perform the following checks (you can check for ripple using your meter set to AC volts; more than .75 AC volts is probably too much AC ripple).
    • Check the gray and gray/green transformer secondary wires for 19.4 volts AC.
    • Check the CPU board filter capacitor C26 for -12 volts DC.
    • Check the CPU board filter capacitor C26 for AC ripple (over .75 volts AC).
 
lukewells said:
With that much damage on the holder, I guarantee it's got onto the board as well. You need to get that battery holder removed asap and neutralise the board, else the corrosion will just start appearing later
Click to expand...
Thanks guys for all the advice, ill remove that batter holder from the board and put a new one on. Can you tell me how to "neutralise the board" and not familiar with that, does that mean clean any batter stuff off it? thanks
 
Thanks Ian, i printed it out and stuck it in a folder and ive been keeping a log in the back of it of the repairs i make. Got that idea off cryptkeeper as he had one when for getaway when i bought it off him.
 
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