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System 11 volume pots

Spandangler

Spandangler

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Jul 21, 2011
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hey gang

So I stand a fighting chance of playing Banzai Run after 7pm, is there anyway of lowering the volume beyond what the pot lets you?

It's waaaay louder than taxi and whirly, even at its lowest.

Short of stuffing rags in the holes, anyone know if anything can be done?

Help me obi wan kenobis, you're my only hope

Cheers
Gaz
 
Short of cutting a speaker's wires completely or adding a resistor in series... not a real lot.
 
Why not swap one in from another system 11. See if that cures it.
 
When I had trouble with the sound on my br I board and component swapped with my bk2k to isolate the problem.
 
Take it out. Spray loads of switch cleaner into it - or WD40 works well too - and then rotate the ******** out of it, to and fro and to and fro etc. Let it dry. Put it back in. Volume pot fixed.
 
cooldan said:
Take it out. Spray loads of switch cleaner into it - or WD40 works well too - and then rotate the ******** out of it, to and fro and to and fro etc. Let it dry. Put it back in. Volume pot fixed.
Click to expand...

Done that mate. The pot works fine it just doesn’t go quiet enough. I wasn’t sure if it was possible to do something witch crafty to silence the thing.
 
Spandangler said:
Done that mate. The pot works fine it just doesn’t go quiet enough. I wasn’t sure if it was possible to do something witch crafty to silence the thing.
Click to expand...
My earlier post was tinged with the impression that it 'has to be fixed tonight'. If you can afford the time to do it properly then honestly, the 100% fix without having to start replacing your speakers (impedance levels) and diagnosing whatever else is causing the audio line to be hot, then just adding a resistor in-line behind or ahead of the volume pot will give you a universal volume reduction and allow the volume pot to keep doing its job. Just make sure to get one that is rated for a decent wattage (half a watt or better.) If you want to get an precise reduction in volume, you could do a bit of math with the output power and the speaker's current resistance rating, but you can honestly just start from a 100Ohm resistor and go higher from there.

A couple of pence and a little rewiring for the permanent solution ain't bad!
 
Re. Paul's reply above, the later System 11 games did have a hard-wired predecessor of the Wpc systems' "Minimum Volume" set-up. The volume control in the cabinet has a resistor attached, to peg the minimum value (and hence the input to a volume control chip on the audio board) above zero Ohms/0V, so that the sound can't be turned down very low or fully off. Eliminate this resistor, if present, and connect the lead it's concerned with to the volume control. Refer to an earlier game without the resistor if necessary.

Mayg*y fruit machines had a similar arrangement, but in that case the pegging resistor and volume control were on the circuit board.
 
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Jay Walker said:
Re. Paul's reply above, the later System 11 games did have a hard-wired predecessor of the Wpc systems' "Minimum Volume" set-up. The volume control in the cabinet has a resistor attached, to peg the minimum value (and hence the input to a volume control chip on the audio board) above zero Ohms/0V, so that the sound can't be turned down very low or fully off. Eliminate this resistor, if present, and connect the lead it's concerned with to the volume control.
Click to expand...
That would explain my ignorance, my F14 doesn't have this!
 
I'm not sure exactly when it started, but I had to alter it on Rollergames, when the first location to have the machine complained it was too loud. Mind you, there was a tiny solder splat (possibly, if not probably, introduced by me*) drifting around the area, which sent the volume to maximum when it made contact.

* Rollergames required more preparation work than usual when new - after a short while playing it at the workshop, a Test Report announced 'Check Switch 15, Not Used'. A report for a switch that wasn't even fitted, nice, eh?. Rather than get later software (this was a brand new game, and at the time the update/catch-up race wasn't really under way) I added a switch where it seemed there was room, in a double-length slot at the upper kickback, right above the volume control
 
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My game was full of Operator Special mods and repairs when I got it, so I wouldn't know if it was representative or not ;)
 
Jay Walker said:
Re. Paul's reply above, the later System 11 games did have a hard-wired predecessor of the Wpc systems' "Minimum Volume" set-up. The volume control in the cabinet has a resistor attached, to peg the minimum value (and hence the input to a volume control chip on the audio board) above zero Ohms/0V, so that the sound can't be turned down very low or fully off. Eliminate this resistor, if present, and connect the lead it's concerned with to the volume control.

Mayg*y fruit machines had a similar arrangement, but in that case the pegging resistor was on the circuit board.
Click to expand...

Thanks Jay. I’ll have a look tonight and report back. It’d be awesome if it’s that simple
 
oh and btw i didn't mean WD40, don't use that stuff anywhere in a pin, i meant Isopropyl alcohol. felt embarassed reading that back this morning, and glad you didn't do it.
 
cooldan said:
oh and btw i didn't mean WD40, don't use that stuff anywhere in a pin, i meant Isopropyl alcohol. felt embarassed reading that back this morning, and glad you didn't do it.
Click to expand...
Isopropyl is the nectar of the gods, WD40 is Satan's ****.
 
Jay Walker said:
Re. Paul's reply above, the later System 11 games did have a hard-wired predecessor of the Wpc systems' "Minimum Volume" set-up. The volume control in the cabinet has a resistor attached, to peg the minimum value (and hence the input to a volume control chip on the audio board) above zero Ohms/0V, so that the sound can't be turned down very low or fully off. Eliminate this resistor, if present, and connect the lead it's concerned with to the volume control. Refer to an earlier game without the resistor if necessary.

Mayg*y fruit machines had a similar arrangement, but in that case the pegging resistor and volume control were on the circuit board.
Click to expand...


Hi mate
Here’s a pic of what it looks like. So I’ve got to get rid of that resistor and solder the bare wire on to the tab that the resistor was on?? If that makes sense??

963C2517-C90B-40B9-8024-05B0EDFBC088.jpeg
 
Spandangler said:
Hi mate
Here’s a pic of what it looks like. So I’ve got to get rid of that resistor and solder the bare wire on to the tab that the resistor was on?? If that makes sense??

View attachment 53273
Click to expand...
Yep. Simple as that - remove resistor, directly attach wire to that tab. I would get rid of that screwed-down tab too, but that's just me.

My own F-14's volume pot looks like this, and I can assure you it can be muted via this volume pot.

No resistors, just wires on tabs and a bit of plastic tubing.
 

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PBrookfield said:
Yep. Simple as that - remove resistor, directly attach wire to that tab. I would get rid of that screwed-down tab too, but that's just me.

My own F-14's volume pot looks like this, and I can assure you it can be muted via this volume pot.

No resistors, just wires on tabs and a bit of plastic tubing.
Click to expand...

Awesome cheers dude. I’ll report back later
 
Update.
Thanks guys. I removed the resistor and although it doesn’t go mute it’s made a difference and is now bearable to the rest of the house. Thanks very much for your help.

Now Taxi and Whirly are for the snip :eek:
 
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