Pinball info
Register a free account today to become a member! Once signed in, you'll be able to participate on this site by adding your own topics and posts, as well as connect with other members through your own private inbox!
Maybe it’s not “just a fuse”
- Thread starter johnwhitfield
- Start date
OP
OP
Ouch, what machine is that?
OP
OP
OP
OP
The games aT2. Bought it from the angry farmer on eBay. In his defence he was actually really easy to deal with despite the weird ranty listing
Think I’ve found the source of all the problems though. There’s a sticker saying it was refurbished by “arcade warehouse”.
Think I’ve found the source of all the problems though. There’s a sticker saying it was refurbished by “arcade warehouse”.
That'll buff right out, what's yer problem.
Joking aside. Vinegar bath that sod, scrub to bloody heck with a toothbrush, once the corrosion is removed (along with any compromised solder mask) hold the board up to a very bright light source and visually inspect both sides for broken traces, which will show up crystal clear, at least all of the ones where an IC socket is not obscuring your view - for those you'll need to multimeter.
Use these images as guides for how to buzz continuity for all of the pins:
http://pinwiki.com/wiki/index.php?title=File:WPC89_CPU_compnt-side_ZAZ_FEB2017-10.jpg
http://pinwiki.com/wiki/index.php?title=File:WPC89_CPU_solder-side_ZAZ_FEB2017.PNG
Good luck - it's honestly just a tedious job rather than a difficult one. I dare say that all of the components still work. The one I've been most fooled by is U20's 12V pin as if that isn't present, an annoying mixture of things don't work - specifically the coin door buttons.
Though that nasty-ass 9-pin Molex that's hacked to bits is just ug-lee.
Joking aside. Vinegar bath that sod, scrub to bloody heck with a toothbrush, once the corrosion is removed (along with any compromised solder mask) hold the board up to a very bright light source and visually inspect both sides for broken traces, which will show up crystal clear, at least all of the ones where an IC socket is not obscuring your view - for those you'll need to multimeter.
Use these images as guides for how to buzz continuity for all of the pins:
http://pinwiki.com/wiki/index.php?title=File:WPC89_CPU_compnt-side_ZAZ_FEB2017-10.jpg
http://pinwiki.com/wiki/index.php?title=File:WPC89_CPU_solder-side_ZAZ_FEB2017.PNG
Good luck - it's honestly just a tedious job rather than a difficult one. I dare say that all of the components still work. The one I've been most fooled by is U20's 12V pin as if that isn't present, an annoying mixture of things don't work - specifically the coin door buttons.
Though that nasty-ass 9-pin Molex that's hacked to bits is just ug-lee.
OP
OP
Thanks for the advice. To be honest I took one look and thought sod it and ordered s new one off phil
I might play around with this one though and see if I can save it.
I might play around with this one though and see if I can save it.
Nothing wrong with that - you could get lucky and have it totally repaired in less than an hour, or it could be a solid weekend's job. Buying a replacement means one less thing to worry about and no time pressure to get it working. No telling until you scrub n' see what's left under all the fuzz. If it comes out good, you'll have a spare or a way to get the money back by selling on.
It can be bloody fiddly sometimes but I've saved a laptop in the past that had suffered water damage, and had no working USB ports. Opened it up, the USB interface chip and the surrounding area was a mess of green fuzz. Just cleaning off the corrosion and reflowing the solder brought it completely back to life. I was convinced I'd have to at least replace the interface IC, but nah... just needed the solder reflowed and the parasitic capacitance of the corrosion removed. And that's much higher frequency gear than what we see in pinballs...
For pins with acid damage, rather than failed parts, traces that have hairline breaks in them are what seem to cause the damage in my experience.
Whoa!
Yeah, I've seen that video before - that dude is a nutter (but knows what he's doing.) Don't use etching fluid unless you have a bloody good feel for that chemical!!!
Not just a new board John, you'll need a complete set of new connectors as well...
OP
OP
Because the leads are ****ed or because the corrosion travels along the wires?
Because they look like an absolute mangled dog's breakfast, there's no way they're making good electrical contact because, frankly even from new, those connections on Williams games are marginal at best, any drop in conductivity results in a lot of heat. There's a reason a lot of these connectors are burnt, particularly on the lamps connectors.
It's not related to the battery damage, so no worries there.
OP
OP
Thanks for all the feedback. I suspect this one is going to be a money pit but I’ve always loved T2.
Battery acid transfers on to the connectors and starts eating them. With the new board it'll transfer from the old connectors on to the new board causing issues further down the line, both connector wise and / or board wise...
The pictured connector is not from the CPU board, so that's already a bloody long way away from the source of the leak - and even then a neutralising rinse halts the problem.
But if not cleaned? Absolutely.
I was referring to those on the mpu not the driver board. Not convinced a neutralising rinse on the connectors will be sufficient but if John is prepared to risk the new board then perhaps that might be way forward.
Fair comment!
Had the same problem on my T2. Batteries were 12 years old. Replaced board. Cut the wires back on the connectors until there was no visible green battery fluid and put new connectors on. Came up good with a bit of tlc.
OP
OP
Well don’t I feel like a horses ****.
Got the new board from Phil this morning. Installed it and still had exactly the same problem
Started to check through and you guessed it. It’s a bloody fuse that had gone
So I’ve technically just paid £250 for a 99p fix. Although to be honest it’s only a matter of time until the board goes judging by the acid damage.
Something I find a touch worrying is that the bloke who sold it claimed it was serviced regularly.
Ancient leaking batteries. Half the bulbs are blown. And check out this slight issue with the auto plunger
Got the new board from Phil this morning. Installed it and still had exactly the same problem
Started to check through and you guessed it. It’s a bloody fuse that had gone
So I’ve technically just paid £250 for a 99p fix. Although to be honest it’s only a matter of time until the board goes judging by the acid damage.
Something I find a touch worrying is that the bloke who sold it claimed it was serviced regularly.
Ancient leaking batteries. Half the bulbs are blown. And check out this slight issue with the auto plunger
Attachments
OP
OP
The bulb thing has thrown me a bit. I’d say 75%+ of them were blown. Easy enough to change but I’ve never had a machine where so many of them were blown.
Found one of the light boards had been installed upside down, so the wrong inserts were lighting up
Given that I don’t think the seller did any of his own maintenance, is this typical of the quality of repairs done by arcade warehouse?
Found one of the light boards had been installed upside down, so the wrong inserts were lighting up
Given that I don’t think the seller did any of his own maintenance, is this typical of the quality of repairs done by arcade warehouse?
Depends who you ask, but if you ask pinballinfo, then it seems to be one for those who are prepared to work on the games - https://www.pinballinfo.com/community/threads/quick-question.43315/#post-308218