(Topic ID: 317946)

Anybody know how to test a 7533 DAC chip?

By sbmania

1 year ago



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  • 8 posts
  • 4 Pinsiders participating
  • Latest reply 1 year ago by sbmania
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    #1 1 year ago

    I have a Sounds Deluxe board with no sound. It boots up with all the required flashes. I am suspicious of the 7533 DAC chip. Anybody know if it can be tested with a multimeter?

    #2 1 year ago

    Can the 7533 not be tested with a multimeter? If not, i guess I'll just have to buy one and try it.

    #3 1 year ago
    Quoted from sbmania:

    I am suspicious of the 7533 DAC chip. Anybody know if it can be tested with a multimeter?

    You'd have to compare against a known good one and even that won't validate the internal circuitry the mulit-meter can't reach between the pins. The datasheet shows the internal circuit if you're curious.

    What makes you suspicious of the 7533 DAC? Is there activity on the DAC inputs? Have you checked the downstream filter pre-amps and final output amplifier stages?

    #4 1 year ago

    Especially the small coupling electrolytic caps in amplifier circuitry tend to dry out, muting sound.

    #5 1 year ago

    I tested the caps with a cap meter and all tested around the correct microfarid ratings. I assume that means they're good?
    I'll have to dig out the logic probe and see if I can figure out how to check the inputs to the DAC and outputs. What should I be looking for?

    #6 1 year ago
    Quoted from sbmania:

    I tested the caps with a cap meter and all tested around the correct microfarid ratings.

    You need a capacitor ESR tester to check capacitors. A capacitance meter that gives you micro-farad readings somewhat in spec doesn't tell you it's a good cap.

    Quoted from sbmania:

    What should I be looking for?

    The 7533 is a Digital to Analog Converter. The digital inputs should have pulsing activity when it should be playing sound.

    Do you get any clicks/pops/hum when you poke around any of the audio inputs in the amplifier stages?
    Or any scratching sounds when adjusting the trimmer volume control?

    #7 1 year ago
    Quoted from sbmania:

    Can the 7533 not be tested with a multimeter? If not, i guess I'll just have to buy one and try it.

    Chips are not QUITE a mystery, sometimes they can fail in obvious enough ways that a simple multimeter check can find an obvious short or open.

    Most chips in your pinball are digital, and by their nature they should be 'on' or 'off'. Others are power sources, and because of their nature they handle a lot of power and when they fail they usually fail spectacularly, going full on or full off. These kinds of failures can be found with a multimeter.

    Analog circuits are different, and they can fail in ways that a multimeter won't show.

    For ease of board repair, I follow Randy Fromm's advice:

    Get a schematic. Figure out the section of the schematic that the problem is in. Photocopy that section (enlarge it if necessary).

    Grab a yellow highlighter. Start testing parts following the schematic.

    Test by replacing the parts with known good parts whenever it makes sense. If I lift one leg of a resistor and measure the resistance and it's within specification I won't replace it, I'll put it back.

    Definitely replace any electrolytic capacitors, tantalum capacitors.

    Replace anything you can't test easily. DAC chips fall into this category for me. Even $15.00 DAC chips are cheaper to replace than to spend TIME not getting your board fixed!

    Highlight each part and each wire connection on the schematic that you have tested/replaced.

    When the schematic is all yellow you've fixed the problem.

    (shrugs)

    Sound board problems can be the most difficult type of board repair in pinball.

    Keep at it, but I think that a lot of board repair guys would agree... test by substitution, replace the part. It gets things fixed.

    2 weeks later
    #8 1 year ago

    Finally got back to my Party Animal. I replaced the 7533 DAC and the sound returned! Since the cap was not cut out as mentioned in the service bulletin, I wondered if the chip might have been taken out. Apparently it was!

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