(Topic ID: 113070)

5V problem on MPU in DE Time Machine

By oohlou

9 years ago



Topic Stats

  • 3 posts
  • 2 Pinsiders participating
  • Latest reply 9 years ago by oohlou
  • No one calls this topic a favorite

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#1 9 years ago

My game won't boot. I thought it was a power supply problem but after debugging and I now think the problem is on the MPU.

With nothing connected to the power supply other than the transformer input: 5V = 4.92V.
With the MPU connected to the power supply: 5V = 0.68V

Strangely the game does boot sometimes but will only work for a few minutes before 5V dies. So I suspect there is a short or leak on 5V on the MPU board but I don't have a good idea of how to debug. Any suggestions?

It is worth noting that I have no batteries in the machine and I'm using a anyPin NVRAM. I am thinking about removing D25 and D23 as they are no longer needed and perhaps they could be the source of the problem.

More history here:
https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/rehabilitating-a-de-time-machine#post-2121359

#2 9 years ago

Sounds a lot like a component problem, not so much like a shorted trace, etc.. Especially since it works for a few minutes intermittently. It can be tough to find these types of problems.

Start by using your senses: Touch, sight, smell to look for clues. Overheating or very hot components can sometimes be found by touching them briefly (Please be careful, sometimes components can get very hot) or looking for signs of brown/burnt components such as dark "rings" on ICs.

You can remove D23, and that will completely remove the battery memory retention circuit from the equation.

If nothing is found then I usually start by removing socketed ICs to see if any of those are causing the problem. After that it starts to get tricky. A lot of ICs are usually soldered in, and there are other components connected to the 5V rail. There's techniques you can use with more sensitive DMMs or specialized instruments. There is a also a technique of slowly ramping up the supply voltage until the culprit cooks - it's not an elegant way to find the trouble and can be risky, but it sometimes works.

#3 9 years ago

Thanks for the advice!

I think I got lucky. Taking D23 out seems to have solved the problem. I cannot say with 100% certainty until the pin works for an extended period of time but so far so good.

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