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Tim's STTNG thread

tim.sanderson

tim.sanderson

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Nov 17, 2012
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It's been quite a while since my last thread, so I figure my latest game deserves one.
Star Trek: The Next Generation, by Williams.
​
While the game is in fantastic condition, it does have some issues. The biggest problems seem to about the 5v and 12v power. As in a complete lack of it. From what I understand, I may have my work cut out for me.

This is where I will chronicle my fantastic new adventure. I will try my very best to routinely update this thread.
Questions and comments are always welcome!
 
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Chris Bardon

Chris Bardon

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Congrats on the pickup-where did you manage to score this one?

Good luck with it-the game is a beast to get and keep running-it's the only time I've actually had flames coming out of a game in my basement. Be careful with those Aux drivers, and have a look at the tieback voltage mod if you haven't already.
 
tim.sanderson

tim.sanderson

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chapter one: OFF WITH HER HEAD!

Here is the game, before it was torn down:
1pre-teardown.jpg

It had been at least a year since the last time it was (attempted to be) powered up, and possibly a lot longer since it was actually played. It had been affected by power issues for quite sometime. In the beginning, it had the ol' "game shuts off when the right-side flippers are activated" problem. This eventually progressed into the even crappier "game won't boot up at all anymore" problem. 'How hard could it be?', I thought to myself.
I'm going to find out.

First things first. Getting a regular sized folded game navigated through my door and down the stairs is tricky enough, a wide bodied SUPER PIN likely won't at all. The head's gotta come off.
After removing many heads from games, I've got a bit of a system... lots of photos, and label every single connector you pull off:
2pre-tearup.jpg

I pulled off a few more connectors than I really needed to, but many of the harnesses were tangled with each other.
A benefit of removing the head; it's a great way of inspecting connectors.
A few are less than perfect, like this melted GI connector:
3meltedgi.jpg

With the help of my buddy Mike and my terminally ill Honda Element, I brought the game back to Drydock. (aka home)

/tim
 
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tim.sanderson

tim.sanderson

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Chris Bardon said:
Congrats on the pickup-where did you manage to score this one?

... Be careful with those Aux drivers, and have a look at the tieback voltage mod if you haven't already.
Click to expand...

I actually bought it from my Boss, Tom. He wants to buy a new game, and this was the only game out of his collection that he was willing to part with. (I've been trying to get him to let go of his RoboCop for years now, but with no luck. Some day!)

I think the AUX mod was done, but I will take a better look later today.

I should point out that while Tom does tackle his modest repairs, the hacks and shenanigans you'll see a bit later in this thread were likely done by other people. (there, that should keep me out of trouble!)
 
mwong168

mwong168

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Maybe they needed a 5A but only had a 3A and 2A available? It sounds silly but I have heard this logic before because a piece of tin foil would have been so much easier otherwise.

Congrats on the pick up Tim and if you need me to check anything or send you picks from my STTNG let me know. When I removed the head on mine before the move I noticed that my J120 connector and pin headers were a bit burned too. Very common issue for J120 and J121 to be line this. Make sure you use molex instead of IDC when you redo the connector.
 
tim.sanderson

tim.sanderson

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In the back of my mind I'm worried I may have plugged something in wrong (or missed plugging something in), so I went through every boards connectors and checked each them off.
5checklist.jpg
It turns out I've got everything plugged in correctly, but I found a few wires missing from connectors. What they control aren't important at this stage, so I'll go back to them later. Now to start checking some voltages!

On the CPU, I get my 12v reading. But on my 5v, I get 0v. (that's what I was expecting seeing as the 5v LED on my AUX8 board isn't lit)

I tested the bridge rectifier BR2 (under what looks like a heatsink), as per the PinWiki page HERE.
6BR2.jpg
I should be getting 9v. If I get a reading of 7v, that means there's a problem. I get 8.45v. I'm still not sure if that's an acceptable voltage. Right now I'll assume that it is.

That's all I really had time for tonight. I hope to dig in a little more tomorrow.
 
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tim.sanderson

tim.sanderson

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spiroagnew said:
I think I may know the tech that last worked on your STTNG:

View attachment 8112
Click to expand...
Many people who know me, know I'm a huge Venture Bros fan. There's a scene in the A VERY VENTURE HALLOWEEN episode that has the Red Mantle and Dragoon (who get sewn together in a previous episode) go to a magic gathering dressed as the Thing with Two Heads. Red Mantel's Rosie Greer costume understandably gets gets mistaken for a blackface.
S03_03.jpg
 
tim.sanderson

tim.sanderson

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I've never bench tested a board before, so I figure now is as good a time as any. PinWiki suggests using either a PC power supply (PS from here on), or an arcade PS. I just happen to have a 60-in-1 cocktail machine that I am working on, so I poached the PS out of it.
1_CPU-LEDs.jpg

As per PinWIKI:
Boot-Up LED Sequence.
All three LEDs briefly flash on, then the top LED turns off
(while the bottom LED stays lit this whole time), and then the middle LED starting
pulsing rapidly on and off. If that's what happens, then the board is "booting" and
running. Booting and running means the top LED is off, the middle is pulsing quickly,
and the bottom LED is on. Anything else and there's a problem.
Click to expand...
All three LEDs stay on indefinitely. It would appear that there's a problem with the CPU. At least I know where to start.
 
websherpa

websherpa

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Interesting thread that I am watching, thank you. Oddly enough my current STTNG is the ONE machine of mine in active use that has been the most stable (apart from the ball launch optos which are a pain now and again).

One has to love machines that died early in their operating life, some operators were lazy and moved on to newer machines rather than go the repair route. Some of those machines have great playfields and plastics after many years in storage.
 
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tim.sanderson

tim.sanderson

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The playfield is very nice on this one! It's been in my boss's basement for some time, getting relatively very little play. I haven't looked too closely at them, but i am pretty sure I don't even have to change any rubbers.!
 
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Menace

Menace

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websherpa said:
One has to love machines that died early in their operating life, some operators were lazy and moved on to newer machines rather than go the repair route. Some of those machines have great playfields and plastics after many years in storage.
Click to expand...

My first TOTAN was one of those that sat untouched for YEARS in a warehouse because of a tech issue... She was dirty but cleaned up super nice.

D
 
tim.sanderson

tim.sanderson

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I was doing a little reading this morning, and realized something. The right side gun is spun all the way to to the left:
1gun.jpg
Here's what it says in the CPU error section:
1error.jpg

I can't help but feel like I'm getting closer! Unfortunately I have to spend today and tomorrow at work, so there won't be much progress for couple of days.
 
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