InterFlip Dragon Sound Issue

[quarter grabber]

I finally got my InterFlip Dragon sound board in the mail. After I hooked it up I played a game and noticed a WAAAAAAAA sound that kept happening while I was playing. The WAAAAA seems to stop once I hit the flippers or drain the ball. Could this be an issue with my new (refurbished) sound board??

I asked the person I bought it from and he said it is my game not the sound board. Here is his exact email:

"As for the screech - that most likely is a stuck contact on one of the relays that triggers one of the four 'tones'. If you touch the various parts on the playfield you should be able to figure out which scoring item it is - 10's, 100's 1000's, 10,000's to see which makes the same noise happen. Then using the schematics identify how the game triggers the sound by identifying which switch on which relay closes to enable that tone.

If the sound goes away when the ball drains, then it is likely related to the bonus scoring system, either when bonus is added or subtracted - and the corresponding contacts that do the sound for that feature has a problem with contacts that are just too close together and so not opening when they should to disable the sound.

If it was the sound board doing this, then the screech could happen at any time including before shooting the first ball - the fact that the screech stops when the ball drains pretty much elliminates the sound board as a problem, rather it is merely reporting the fact (Don't kill the messenger)."

Below is a video of my 10 year old son playing. You can hear the WAAAAA or screech sound while he is playing. Can anyone tell me how to fix this or if it is the sound board itself?

Thanks.

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TklY9fWmcZw&list=UUfmsmhqK7HNqNvBSzDD1uww[/youtube]

 

[DRANO]

Hey Ryan,
Sounds to me like the seller of the board has already given you some pretty good advice on attempting to diagnose, or at least narrow down, the source of the sound issues.
Have you already tried what he recommended?

 

[quarter grabber]

Hey Ryan,
Sounds to me like the seller of the board has already given you some pretty good advice on attempting to diagnose, or at least narrow down, the source of the sound issues.
Have you already tried what he recommended?

I haven't tried it yet because it doesn't make sense to me, I am too inexperienced. How do I trigger the 10's, 100's, 1000's?? I can press buttons on the playfield but it is never the same button that triggers it. Also what and where are the relays? When I lift the playfield I get overwhelmed, EM's have a TON of switches and wires under there and I don't know where to start. I guess I just feel overwhelmed by EM's because there is so much under there, I will start checking everything under there and see what I can find.
Thanks Drano

 

[DRANO]

Well, if that's the case, any other advice is probably gonna go the same way.
Not to be a smartass, but there's no magic "fix it" button located under the playfield :lol:
You just gotta dive in and learn.

His plan of attack seems to make good sense and it would not be hard to simply remove the glass, start a game and start hitting various switches. Some will score 10, 100, 1000 points, etc... You will see this on the score reels as you hit each different type of switch. It may not be the same exact switch every time, but it may very well always be a switch that scores the same value. If you can determine that, for example, the noise always happens during a switch hit for 1000pts, then you have narrowed it down and can investigate further.

Then you may need some help in locating the relay that is connected to the 1000pt switches and see if there is a stuck or dirty contact.
EMs can be very hard to diagnose, but once you find the source the fix is usually as simple as correcting the gap between the switch leaves or cleaning them with a file.

 

[quarter grabber]

Well, if that's the case, any other advice is probably gonna go the same way.
Not to be a smartass, but there's no magic "fix it" button located under the playfield :lol:
You just gotta dive in and learn.

His plan of attack seems to make good sense and it would not be hard to simply remove the glass, start a game and start hitting various switches. Some will score 10, 100, 1000 points, etc... You will see this on the score reels as you hit each different type of switch. It may not be the same exact switch every time, but it may very well always be a switch that scores the same value. If you can determine that, for example, the noise always happens during a switch hit for 1000pts, then you have narrowed it down and can investigate further.

Then you may need some help in locating the relay that is connected to the 1000pt switches and see if there is a stuck or dirty contact.
EMs can be very hard to diagnose, but once you find the source the fix is usually as simple as correcting the gap between the switch leaves or cleaning them with a file.

Thanks for the dumbed down version of the explanation Drano I actually understand what you said a lot better. I will remove the glass and look at the score reel to see what value makes the sound this weekend. But I might need some help with the schematics to track down which relay it is. Schematics just look like a bunch of lines to me. Also I noticed that especially on the first game then periodically after that, on a one player game all four score reels score? Maybe this is related to the screech?? Thanks again.

 

[movingpictures]

Sounds irreparable and a complete lost cause.
You should probably just sell it to me.

All jokes aside, you're gonna have to get dirty and do some digging.
Don't be scared, I'm sure when you bought your first DMD you were scared of that thing too.
I sure had no clue and was very intimidated at the beginning.
The more time you spend reading and fiddling the more comfortable you will be.
If you plan on keeping the game or every owning another EM, might as well get your feet wet now!

 

[spiroagnew]

I guess I just feel overwhelmed by EM's because there is so much under there, I will start checking everything under there and see what I can find.

Has this problem been solved? Have you worked up the courage to open the game up and have a look??

 

[quarter grabber]

Sounds irreparable and a complete lost cause.
You should probably just sell it to me.

All jokes aside, you're gonna have to get dirty and do some digging.
Don't be scared, I'm sure when you bought your first DMD you were scared of that thing too.
I sure had no clue and was very intimidated at the beginning.
The more time you spend reading and fiddling the more comfortable you will be.
If you plan on keeping the game or every owning another EM, might as well get your feet wet now!

Thanks. I will try to tackle this soon. Drano has first dibbs on this game when I'm done with it, at cost too. If he turns it down you are welcome to it.

 

[quarter grabber]

I guess I just feel overwhelmed by EM's because there is so much under there, I will start checking everything under there and see what I can find.

Has this problem been solved? Have you worked up the courage to open the game up and have a look??

No I was working really hard on the Flintstones. I put this on the back burner because I feel DMD games are so much easier to work on. I can tear apart a DMD from top to bottom and put it back together again but when I open an EM, this one at least I feel like a dear in the headlights. I will start to work on it now that the Flintstones is done. I will first try and figure out what scoring increment is causing the sound. It sounds like it might be more then one. But it has another problem on the first game every time the scoring is all messed up, it scores all four players scores and it gives you more then three balls. Then periodically after that it will score on other players score reels randomly.

 

[quarter grabber]

Ok I finally have the time to fix this sound issue. I started a game, took the ball out and touched everything on the playfield to see which scoring item (100's, 5,000's, 10,000's, ect...) is causing the that tone to stay stuck on all the time. I've discovered it is the 100's. When I press a trigger related to the 5,000's or 10,000's that tone comes on, the points score and the sound turns off. Even if I leave my finger on one of the switch, the sound comes on, scores the points, the sound turns off then the process repeats perfectly. But when I press a switch related to the 100's and leave my finger on it, it scores 100 points only once and the sound stays stuck on, it doesn't repeat the sound and scoring like the other switches. So now that I figured out it is the 100's causing it, I now have to look at the schematics and figure out what relay, I think, causes that sound to close or shut off. The only problem is I can't read schematics. Can someone help me out and tell me where to go from here? A link to the schematics is below. Thanks in advance.

http://mirror2.ipdb.org/files/3887/Inte ... inuous.pdf

 

[DRANO]

Way to get in there.
I'm terrible at reading schematics... especially old ones.
Hopefully someone can help.

 

[sylvain]

As provided on MAACA for the same post:

For the 5000 - this is 1000 pulsed 5 times and the process repeated through the 5000 pts relay
and impulses from the score motor, if you hold a 5000 scoring switch down, so it is normal
that points would be scored in a 5x1000 and sound pulsed even if you keep holding that switch.

However, there are no such pulse from the score motor for the 100 points targets, this is directly going from the switch
to the 100 pts relay, and it will stay activated if you hold that switch down... This is completely normal I believe, for your above test.

With regards to the stuck sound, you need to see if there is a 100 pts switch gapped too close anywhere on the playfield.
With the game started (and the ball removed), can you gently bang on the playfield with your fist and see if 100 pts are unexp. triggered ?
If so, you need to identify which switch is activated - pop bumper ? One of the 1-5 left buttons ?
Once identified, with the power off, regap the suspect switch and test the game afterwards.

- Sylvain.