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Playfield Dead - Scared Stiff

Dave Playman

Dave Playman

Site Supporter
5Years
Joined
Jul 31, 2019
Messages
501
Location
Cambridgeshire, United Kingdom
This afternoon I fired up SS and to my surprise I’ve lost GI, inserts and coils. I can start a game but can’t do anything else. To make matters worse, my trusty multimeter coincidentally died with a locked up display, but I could get the continuity test to work. I tested all fuses in the back box and all are good.

Please can anyone advise what the issue could potentially be? Until i purchase a replacement multimeter, I can’t test voltages though to diagnose further.

Any assistance to point me in the right direction would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!
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First thing I would do is get another multimeter and check all the fuses under the pf etc and then reseat all the cables, check power at coils etc and take it from there.
 
Strange, transformer maybe. Would have to have lost quite a few fuses at once for this to happen. F112/113 should be GI to playfield.
Which LEDs are on on the Power Board?
Check J105, that should carry GI to the playfield. The 6.3V need to be present as GI in the back box is working. As the CPU is running, blanking etc which would keep things from firing up will be there. Game wasn't moved or worked on?
 
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Thanks all for the suggestions so far. I’ve been out all day so haven’t had chance to look any further into this yet. Will check ribbon cables and connectors under playfield first (hopefully tomorrow evening) and then report back.
Thanks again!
 
drhex said:
Strange, transformer maybe. Would have to have lost quite a few fuses at once for this to happen. F112/113 should be GI to playfield.
Which LEDs are on on the Power Board?
Check J105, that should carry GI to the playfield. The 6.3V need to be present as GI in the back box is working. As the CPU is running, blanking etc which would keep things from firing up will be there. Game wasn't moved or worked on?
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Thanks for the advice. I’m aiming to take a look tomorrow evening. The game hasn’t moved for the 9 months it’s sat here. I changed the GI bulbs to comets 💡 about 8months ago but haven’t done anything else, no. Hopefully it’s something simple 🤞🏼
 
Evening all,
Update on SS is as follows.
I’ve reseated power connections on driver board, reseated ribbon cables (even swapped the small ribbon between CPU and driver board) reseated molex connectors in cabinet, and this all I can get out of it. Very flaky and intermittent operation. The back box GI stays lit but the inserts around the spider flicker on/off along with playfield inserts and GI.
All coils and lights work as such, put something is cutting power to them intermittently and I haven’t found what’s causing it yet.
Anyone got any wise ideas?? Thanks!
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Any burnt/brown connectors? Have a play around J101, J114, J120, J121 see if it has any effect and measure the 5/12v at the test points. If voltages are dropping the problem probably before distribution, bridge rectifiers,.connectors etc. If there solid id look at J120/J121. Could also be a ground strap issue but since it hasn't moved it's unlikely.
 
Dave Playman said:
Just to add, there is battery leakage on this cpu….is it at all possible that this could be the cause? I can start a game though…
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Almost certainly, you see all sorts of wierd happenings with battery corrosion, I strongly suggest you have that sorted first before doing any other work.
 
Again, what do the LEDs do? Measure the power supplies to make sure they are stable. Reseat the ASIC on the CPU. Try another CPU if you have one.
 
I’ve reseated connectors again and just been playing a game and watching the LEDs in the back. The blanking LED on the CPU is intermittently flashing or locking on, in sync with the loss of inserts, GI and coils. I presume this is certainly now pointing to a CPU board issue, quite possibly from previous alkaline battery leakage.
 

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Yes, highly likely. If you have battery damage on it you need to get that fixed. Post a photo. Reseat the AsIc by just pushing down on it and see if it moves. If you’re lucky that’s enough
 
drhex said:
Yes, highly likely. If you have battery damage on it you need to get that fixed. Post a photo. Reseat the AsIc by just pushing down on it and see if it moves. If you’re lucky that’s enough
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Dave Playman said:
Thanks David! Appreciate that. I will have to get the ok first from @Steve Arnold as it’s his game 👍🏼 If we get the nod from Steve, then we can make arrangements.
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I'm not sure if we'd sell it, (technically it's Claire's and I'm agreeing on stuff without her knowledge 🤣). But if it proves the boards at fault and keeps the game working while it's repaired I'm happy to let you borrow it.
 
Who puts in a NVRAM and leaves the battery holder plus damage. Doesn’t look too bad though. ASIC looks like someone tried to lever it out at some point. Check the socket for cracks (especially the corners) and see, if the chip seats on pushing down.
 
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