The Fire Escape: Sparky's repair blog

[Sparky]

So... yeah... a text came in this weekend. A good friend asked me to post once again on repairs, and what I work on. I wasn't too sure, but I told him I would give it a shot. He asked me to do a post like I did in the past... so, consider this a sequel to Bluffs, Borderland and Beyond, I guess. Lol. Kind of funny doing it, as I ran into Mr. Budman Friday, and I stated that I was out of all this. But... when a friend asks for help,I answer.

I have had a few reach out since I have been gone, asking what happened. I never really went into details, other that stating that I rarely post on social media anymore.

For those who don't know me, I am Ian. One of the crazies that founded this place. Sorry about that. Lol.

But I will summarize what's been happening in the following, and move on:

- I am ok. Still happily married, 3 kids doing great.
- I still fix stuff
- House burned down in October 2022, moved back in August 2023. House is great, but gameroom half size, as mom moved in, following my stepdad passing away 2 days after back in house. Son fell ill at same time , but all ok now.
- Years of working like a madman caught up to me. Diabetes, high blood pressure, and went partially blind in right eye. But on the mend. Still smiling.

But... I am ok. Looking for a "downgrade" in work to slow down. Little time for much other than my regular visit at Rob Illuiri's arcade on Fridays. I still find it funny that some think I run a business, or arcade, or other stuff in the background. Nope. Just Senior Dealer Development and Aftermarket Services Manager. Lol. A big title that means I deal with everyone's stuff at work. Still travelling like crazy. Heading to PEI Tuesday in fact

But enough on that. Moving on. Let's focus on the repairs...of everything. Not on me. The content is king. Nit the messenger. So here we go.

EPISODE 1: JAMES BOND 007, FLAKY POWER

Issue 1: intermittent power issues everywhere
Ok. So I got this pin a while back. Unfortunately, due to space, I need to sell it. So, time to make it reliable. Where to start? From the beginning... of the power chain.

I found the following:
- missing ground prong on plug
- fuses loose in holders
- original main cap is original
- no good grounds

Ok, so, always make sure you have a good ground on any machine. Cheap and quick fix. New plug head on power cable.

Second, new fuse holders. I replaced them all in the cabinet. A great source if near the West Island of Montreal is Acces Électronique on Brunswick Blvd. Other source is Digikey. Pricey, but quick.

Next, replace the big orange capacitor at bottom of the cabinet. The original Sprague 6800uf 25v caps are old, and cause a bunch of stuff to go bad. Take the time to replace it.

Lastly, ground mods. Gtbs are notorious for developing weird symptoms. Often due to piss-poor design. But there are videos on YouTube on how to do this.

And she lives!

What's left? Well we have a sound issue. Cuts out intermittently. And finish shopping it out.

More on that soon.

Also in the pipeline, and will post on it all soon, Rockola World Series refurbish, Williams Defender to bring back to life, Spy Hunter restoration, and countless more stuff.

So much for slowing down... lol

Ian

[tom_454]

Glad to hear from you Ian. Sounds like your life has been full of curve-balls but you seem to be doing a good job of fighting them off.

Cheers and all the best. Hopefully, you can find time for the hobby and it brings you some Zen moments.

[cait001]

Following! I love these threads of yours.
Condolences about your stepdad. And solidarity about losing vision! Uggh that sucked.

[Sparky]

EPISODE 2: JAMES BOND, GROUND MODS, CONNECTORS AND CAPS, OH MY!

Well, still working on making James Bond 100% reliable. As many know, à main thing to do is add grounds to any Gottlieb. They relied on connectors for all grounds. Not a great idea.

So, I did the typical ground mods,.and tied everything directly to the ground plate in the cabinet.

Recapped the sound board after this, and also repinned à few connectors.

Now, onwards with the shop job. It potentially is for sale this weekend...

Ian

[dos.reboot]

Following!

[Sparky]

Well, I have an offer being mulled over for James Bond. If it falls through, this pin will be listed at 1800$ Saturday.

My God... a reasonable price. Lol who knew they still existed. Lol

So, after James Bond.... Defender?

[Sparky]

EPISODE 3 : DEADFENDER

So recently I picked up a Defender vid. Always wanted one, but never found one. Funny considering how common they are.

Well, this one was in storage a very long time, and was assumed to be non working. Ok, no problem. So... let's try it.

Flipped the switch, and...

21339-8cec920b8778701a39caabd22917d512.jpg (30.64 KiB) Viewed 404 times

Well, no surprise. So, I started with the power supply.

Issue: 5v at 4.5v, and no -5v.

Okelydokely. So I recapped and rebuilt the original linear power supply, and all voltages are good. I try again... and... no Bueno.

Well, I know these Williams vid boards are like the Pinball boards, with awful Scanbe chip sockets. So, I do the cheap thing and reseat all the chips, and I get 2 flashes of the LEDs on the board. With a bit of research, I find out that this is the normal boot sequence! Yet... no image, and no BWAWAWAWAWA from the speakers.

Ok, next step, the monitor. Oof. Dirty as hell, and something seems off...

I cleaned it and found this:

To be fair, that is probably my fault. I encountered an issue when moving it. But, no worries, I have spares.

To be continued!

Ian

[Mrhide]

Can totally be fixed

[Sparky]

EPISODE 4 : DEADFENDER, part deux

10:30pm last night, I decided to get back on Defender. I received the new neck board and proceeded to go ahead and install it. And while there, ÙI recapped the monitor, and reflowed solder on all bad contacts. Every connector header pin had cold solder joints. I install the monitor and?

WOOHOO!!! ... uh.... wait... screen is frozen. No flashy flashy Defender logo...

I go ahead and reseat connectors. Now?

SWEET!!! But... small victory. If anything, that confirms that I need to resocket every chip, and replace every connector. OK...

Still no sound, and I am not crediting up, nor do the test buttons on the coindoor work. I do hear the coin counter click when hitting the credit switch, but no action on the screen. Well... let's start with the connectors and get that out of the way.

More soon!

Coming soon to a theater near you... Laser Ball, the flood / hackery victim.

El Sparko

[Azatotht]

Monitor looks good !