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Board repair anyone?

  • Thread starter Thread starter The Wraith
  • Start date Start date
T

The Wraith

HI chaps, I was wondering if anyone here is good at Bally board repair? I've had a go at sorting one of my boards but with no luck, in fact I think I probably made it worse. I have a board that gives two flahes but don't want to risk wrecking another so, was wondering if anyone is a Board master and would be willing to have a go at sorting it? I'm not sure what it needs exactly but it has to be a cheaper option than a Alltek surely! It's for a Mr & Mrs pacman that i'm currently sorting to rescue from a friend who's left it to rot for a few years. I've sorted all the wiring and despite needing a few mechanical bits under the PF it runs a beauty with an alltek in but thats my mates and he wants it back for his Trek Bally, here's hoping.
 
Depends on extent of repair - if it needs a lot doin and is gonna cost say £50+ (guessing ... I dont know how much Andy charges) then I personally would bite the bullet and go for an Alltek. You know then you are good to go for the forseeable future.
 
Just mailed pinball mania. Alltek boards are about £160 now aren't they? That's a lot of money to the likes of me. As much as I'd like to get more involved in the pinball scene, everything I do is on the flimsiest of shoestrings, that's why I can't come to any of the events, It's hand to mouth round here with little to spare for hobbies and petrol.
 
Put a photo (or photos) of the board on here and then we can see if it's possible to repair for a reasonable price or if you are wasting your time and need a new one...
 
The Wraith said:
Just mailed pinball mania. Alltek boards are about £160 now aren't they? That's a lot of money to the likes of me. As much as I'd like to get more involved in the pinball scene, everything I do is on the flimsiest of shoestrings, that's why I can't come to any of the events, It's hand to mouth round here with little to spare for hobbies and petrol.
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http://www.pinballdisplays.co.uk/

£139 Pinball Palace

But yeah ..I hear what you're saying - this hobby can be expensive :(
 
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here is a link to some pics i think, (having trouble with photobucket).
The board is quite clean I thought and surely worth a go. The state of the table doesn't warrant an Alltek, it's a state!!
Some muppet painted the whole cabinet with emulsion, there is a lot of paint missing from the playfield, I need a flipper rod that goes through the coil, some bits to rebuild a pop bumper, a couple of flipper coils and i'm still not sure it will look great.
Like I said in a previous post, my mate has little interest in maintenance or cleaning and just wants to play em, I'm interested in the overall aesthetics and learning how they work. A better machine would be preferable but in my case beggars can't be choosers and this my only means of getting a table in my gaff again despite it's ropeyness!!!
 
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That's what I thought, but i think I'll wait for Andy from Pinball Mania and hope that he will take a look, I'd probably do more harm than good.
 
Matt,

Are you sure that that board is for Mr. & Mrs. Pac-Man?. I may well be wrong, but I vaguely recall that the program was in two chips (U2 and U6) rather than three (U1,2 and 6). The pattern of chip-enable wire links (e.g. 'E9' to 'E11') doesn't look right either. But overall the board could be a lot worse.
 
Well spotted that man!! The board is from a space invaders which gave two flashes, but with the pacman Roms in I get a solid LED, so I think I might bite the bullet, save longer and do as GrizZ suggests and get an Altek. Like I said, the Playfield is a state and the cabinet has been painted, but I miss having a pinball in the house and this is my only opportunity.
By the time I get the bits sorted, the table should cost £200 to get up and running and I doubt it's worth much more than that due to it's condition! If and when I get to liberate it from my mates I will post some pics and horrify you all:eek:. Nightmares will be assured.
 
Invaders, eh? The M&M Pac-Man program wouldn't run (or even start) on that board as it stands because of the different jumper pattern fitted. But even then two flashes of the L.e.d. suggests a CMoS Ram failure, U8. That could just be due to battery leakage corroding the pins of the socket, or there could be traces eaten away on the board itself.
 
when you say jumper settings, is that all the dip switches or the small bits of wire routed about the board?
It's info like that, that helps a lot on the learning front because I thought the boards were all the same bar the ROMS.:oops:
I would love to have the original MPU in the game but I just don't have the knowledge to do it, and I don't know anyone around here who's savvy enough with electronics or pinball that would be willing to teach me about repair.
There must be some one, due to all the arcades that did have, and some that still have pinball machines. Mystery men for sure!
 
The Wraith said:
when you say jumper settings, is that all the dip switches or the small bits of wire routed about the board?
It's info like that, that helps a lot on the learning front because I thought the boards were all the same bar the ROMS.:oops:
I would love to have the original MPU in the game but I just don't have the knowledge to do it, and I don't know anyone around here who's savvy enough with electronics or pinball that would be willing to teach me about repair.
There must be some one, due to all the arcades that did have, and some that still have pinball machines. Mystery men for sure!
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Take a look here

http://www.pinwiki.com/wiki/index.php?title=Bally/Stern

section 3.17 is the section you need (3.17.1 for 2518-35 boards, Mr & Mrs Pacman and Space Invaders etc), take your time reading it, it does make sense eventually
 
That's the small lengths of wire soldered between various 'E'-numbered pads on the board, which vary with different Rom (or E-Prom) program chips. The dip switches select the options for each program, such as balls per game, difficulty settings, 'Match' feature On/Off, etc.

F'rinstance, I've just patched up an Mpu board, which is currently fitted with the program for "'6 Million $ Man", a 1978 game. To run a later game like PM or Elektra on it, the jumper links would need to be altered in addition to changing the program chips.
 
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