Archived from groups: rec.games.video.arcade.collecting (
More info?)
Chris,
I appreciate your help and feedback. I have most of what you listed except
the uncle. I think someone like that would be worth all of the test
equipment I have. I am having a real tough problem with a Slugfest I
bought. Would you be willing to help me with it if I pay you for your time?
I have the schematics. It is a real strange problem. One not listed at the
Marvin3m site. I bought it with no sound. I swapped in a working sound
board from my TZ and there was still no sound. And to make matters worse
when I put the TZ soundboard back in the TZ the sound was gone. So the
Slugfest damaged the TZ soundboard. I sent it off for repair but I am out
of working soundboards and I fear putting one in if it is going to damage
it. The voltages going in are correct. But kind of difficult to check.
+,- 24VAC and +5VDC. The resistance going to the speakers is .6 ohms? Does
that sound right? Fred said that was correct. But when I measure the
resistance on my TZ or Corvette I get 8 ohms. So I have no idea what to do.
It is WPC system pre DCS. So it has a analog and digital system on the one
board. Like I said I can pay you for your time. It has been sitting here
for 2 weeks and a location really wanted it. If you don't have the time do
you know someone who might?
Thanks very much.
Russ
"Chris Osborn" <fozztexx@fozztexx.com> wrote in message
news:UIR7e.2653$t85.2234@newssvr21.news.prodigy.com...
> In article <E547e.15041$9i7.14035@trnddc04>,
> Russ <StateStreetAmusements@hotmail.com> wrote:
>>So many times I am looking at a board with problems and all I can find is
>>a
>>blank look on my face. I have a pinball sound board that doesn't output
>>any
>>sound. I checked the obvious, connections, reseating chips, looking for
>>damaged parts. But what do I do next.
>
> Fixing these things is definitely a very steep learning curve. The
> number one thing you're going to need is the schematics. If you don't
> have schematics then stop now. It's really hard to fix something if
> you don't know how it is supposed to work and what's connected to
> what.
>
> You'll also need a multimeter and probably a logic probe. I have a
> scope, but I rarely use it. Most I've done with it was use it as an
> X/Y monitor for testing vector games.
>
> If you want to bench test, then you're going to need a power supply on
> your bench that puts out the correct voltages for whatever board
> you're working on. I use an old AT power supply that I mounted banana
> jacks, a light, and a rocker switch on. It works for most things, but
> can't put out enough -5 to power up Nintendo boards.
>
> For vid boards you're also going to want a monitor. I use an old Sony
> RGB monitor that can interface to an Apple //gs or Commodore Amiga.
>
> Another tool that I found handy in getting over the learning curve was
> my uncle. He is an EE and also did lots and lots of electronic repair
> in the '70s and '80s. I invited him over a couple of times and had him
> coach me as I tried to figure out where the problems were. One of the
> first things I learned (besides needing the schematics) is if
> something isn't working, back trace it until you find a part that *is*
> working. Sometimes you have to disconnect things as you go back to
> make sure they aren't shorting out the part farther back in the chain.
>
> --
> Please see my arcade and pinball items for sale:
> http://www.videoracer.com/forsale/
> Or check my repair logs:
> http://blog.videoracer.com/blog/
Everything above 
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