Space Riders
Atari, 1978So I just picked up an Atari space riders. I've never owned or worked on an Atari before. It was going into attract mode and playing games but now it's throwing a code 05 in ball and 20 in credit. Anyone know what that is? Also displays cut in and out on score board sometimes work better than others but always pulsing and very dim....any thoughts?
Heh, I was eyeing the Space Riders listed in VT, but from what I recall, the ad said it wasn't working and wanted waaay too much for it a few weeks back. *shrugs*
In any case, intermittent issues are sometimes hard to pin down on any game. Considering that there's very little documentation available for Atari games, it makes it that much harder.
The first thing I would do is take a pink rubber eraser and clean off all the edge connector contacts.
Next, verify that all the fuses are the values that they are supposed to be. And then, measure voltages to make sure they are correct.
After that, then see where things stand. Go through the test features of the game.
I flipped through the manuals and the troubleshooting guide, but there were no references to error codes on the displays. Do you know if the game is set for 5-ball or 3-ball? How are you adding credits? How are the credits set for the game?
One thing i remember reading while contemplating buying a Middle Earth off CL: the main board sitting in the cabinet can apparently collect bits of metal over the years and sometimes they can cause trouble. I'd start by following everything force flow said above, and if there's still trouble give the board a real close inspection. Good luck!
Don't worry force flow I got it much cheaper than advertised. I went through all connections when I got it home thinking that must be the problem with the displays.....shockingly there all good. It's set to 3 ball and was working fine minus displays and a couple lights out I was just adjusting some contacts and changing some bulbs and next thing I know I had this error code, I can not find any documentation on it either. Test button is not working either. I'll start going through fuses tonight, there's like 50 of them! I reset the mpu as well with no success as soon as I power on the game I get the code.
So apperantly it's not a code. Just random numbers. Seems like it's stuck in lighting test mode as all lights are on. I'll rip the mpu off tomorrow and get a better look! I was adjusting some switches right before it happened maybe a peice of metal or metal shaving fell on board and is shorted something? Whoreable place for an mpu. Lol
I don't make adjustments with the power on unless having power is absolutely necessary.
If you need to adjust a switch and test for connectivity, clip multimeter leads to the switch then make your adjustments. This would prevent power from shorting to the wrong place and frying something on the MPU.
So upon further inspection I noticed a few more things. This rectangle chip on back of mpu was on fire after game ran for about 2 mins could this be causing the problem? This cap on power supply was cut I'll put a new one on tonight. and this bare wire is just hanging out. Pretty sure it goes into connector housing it's near but can anyone confirm?
Quoted from V_piscopo:So upon further inspection I noticed a few more things. This rectangle chip on back of mpu was on fire after game ran for about 2 mins could this be causing the problem? This cap on power supply was cut I'll put a new one on tonight. and this bare wire is just hanging out. Pretty sure it goes into connector housing it's near but can anyone confirm?
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I'm not sure what that loose wire is supposed to be doing. I'm pretty sure that connector isn't factory.
Like I mentioned in your PM, an overheating chip is usually a sign of voltage being directed through a leg on that chip where it isn't supposed to. As a result, this usually kills the chip, and can potentially kill other chips/components along the errant voltage's path. With 7400 series TTL chips, you can sometimes check them for shorts using a multimeter in the diode test mode.
http://www.pinwiki.com/wiki/index.php?title=General#Testing_an_integrated_circuit
I would never power up a game with boards that have obvious issues, like that broken capacitor. There's no telling what havoc it would cause, especially since it looks like it is connected to the ground plane of the MPU.
You should also vacuum those boards with a micro vacuum attachment kit. There's a possibility that the grime could be shorting something as well.
Ok so I pulled off the Aux board to fix that cap. Looks like someone cut it on purpose and hacked it but Seems to be doing the trick. This is the back side of where the cap used to be hooked. I pulled off the mpu and started to clean it and will start testing all chips tomorrow. Does anyone know what this rectangle chip controls or what could be overloading it? I've checked and corrected all fuses and fuse values and will get on the mpu in the next day or two.
The Aux board went through several revisions and had factory modifications done.
http://pinwiki.com/wiki/index.php?title=Atari_Repair#Auxiliary_Board
However, I'm not seeing the modifications on your board on any of the revisions listed in pinwiki. What board revision is yours? There should be a letter in a square box somewhere.
What rectangle chip are you referring to?
Looks to be a version D. I also noticed some bubbleing or burning on this rectifier. Does this need to be changed out? It turns out my buddy has a middle earth. Can I test space riders with his boards to narrow down what board / boards needs work? And test his displays in my game? This is the rectangle chip I'm talking about that's burning up. *top photo*
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Quoted from V_piscopo:I also noticed this bubbling on this....are they filled with some kind of fluid and this needs to be changed out?
I can't tell from the photos what you're indicating, but that sounds bad. Nothing should be bubbling or leaking. That would probably indicate a failing component.
Quoted from V_piscopo:This is the rectangle chip I'm talking about that's burning up.
Check all the voltages like I mentioned earlier. It sounds like there may be a short somewhere and volatage is going to the wrong place.
Quoted from V_piscopo:Can I test space riders with his boards to narrow down what board / boards needs work? And test his displays in my game?
Technically, yes, but the solenoids and lamps won't all work. The transistors are in different places between the boards for different games.
http://pinwiki.com/wiki/index.php?title=Atari_Repair#Solenoid_Transistors
Additionally, I wouldn't do any board swaps until you verify that your wiring is correct and that voltages are not appearing on the wrong wires.
Here is a better pic! Pretty sure it controls gi lighting as I have none 
. Playing well now except displays still dim and flickering. Could this cause problems with displays? Everything is reading good on dmm so far on the boards. Am going to check the display boards tonight. Reading a page now on best way to do that. Will dig in tonight! Def looks like player 4 comes in the clearest and everything elts is dimmer and flicker more. Maybe new ribbon cables will do the trick? When I unplug match credit board displays def get brighter. I am not getting + or - 90 V either 
Quoted from V_piscopo:So it looks like that is a 39 ohm 1/4W resistor. Should I replace with same value or does our modern day tech call for a different value?
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Are you sure that it's 1/4W? The stack of 4 resistors to the left in the photo are 1/4W. I'd guess the larger one is 1W at least.
Ok, looking at the schematics and parts list, it looks like there might be an error. R40 & 41 are 39 ohm 2W resistors. R46 & R47 (the big resistors in your photo) should also be 39 ohm 2W resistors.
Quoted from V_piscopo:Sweet! Your awesome force flow. Do you know if that resistor controls GI lighting? Do you think changing it will brighten my score displays?
Sorry, no idea. I haven't taken a thorough look at the schematics.
[edit]: Looks like lamp power passes through R35, though I could be mistaken since Atari schematics are tricky to read.
On the Aux board, lamp power comes off of J11, and display power comes off of J14.
Atari Gen 1 doesn't have GI. All the lighting is controlled and seperated in 4 rows which are switched by the 4 TO3 PNP transistors. These transistors are or fed with 12V by the big 2N6283 darlington which is used as a big zenerdiode (emmitter follower). From one of them, the 39 Ohm base resistor is burned as you found out already. It is at least 2W. I replace them by 39 Ohm wirewound 5W resistors. I would check the transistors as well which has the burned base resistor.
So all base resistors tested at around 41.5 (even the burnt one) and all transistors were around 0.5 are these acceptable readings? The transistor on the heat sink was 0.7 all of them look to be factory except for far left.
Update: re flowed solder on aux board on a couple cracked solder joints. Changed out all bulbs and now most top side lighting is working. Bent down pins to score display glass and now seem to make better contact and with match ball display unplugged can almost see my score!!! Gona go through mpu and score displays to check for more bad solder joints in the next few days. Match score display is def sucking power from score display. It looks like inside / underneath glass of score display some of the pins that go inside the glass of score display have broken and can be shifted. I would assume this is not normal? My buddy said I can test my display in his middle earth when he returns in late April!
Quoted from V_piscopo:It looks like inside / underneath glass of score display some of the pins that go inside the glass of score display have broken and can be shifted. I would assume this is not normal?
They aren't designed to wiggle and shift around inside the glass, no.
You could try some of the drill & fill techniques used on DMDs (there is a conductive material folks use to repair the pins). However, I would be hesitant to try that since if you mess up, you would be SOL. At least with DMDs, replacements are available.
Ya I don't think I would try that. I am going to test my display in my buddy's middle earth and see if it acts the same way. And test his in mine and see if it comes in clear. If so maybe I'll try to find one for sale. Ha hahahahah. Do you think if I retined it it would go under the glass enough to make contact?
i was going to say that ceramic resistor really looked like it had major cold solder joints. Atari's manuals are really good at taking you step by step when things go bad. tells you what chips to look at, which legs and what readings you should have. Love the atari manuals. I think clay has a guide on fixing atari games as well. A lot of times it's just connectors. you have to clean each pin one by one and make sure they are making good contact and clean. Those edge connectors suck and get fatigued really easy.
Quoted from V_piscopo:Do you think if I retined it it would go under the glass enough to make contact?
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Not sure.a Solder will only flow where there is heat. If you heat the contact long enough, it may heat the whole thing, but then your risk damaging the filliments in the glass.
Think I'll wait till I can test in middle earth. If everything works out I'll try something. In the mean time I'll look into the other boards.....solder joints and ic chips....maybe something will turn up. Have new rings on order as well as score cards and spinner decals!
Update: def the score display itself. Had a Chance to test with a different score display and came in clear as day. All new rubber and balls, waxed and cleaned up. Actually plays pretty sweet. Might even keep it. I don't know any one elts who owns an Atari pin. Last thing to figure out is why the only lights not working are my slings and right messenger and why the 1,000 pt switches on the far left and right lanes arnt working. Looks like I'm pulling off the auxiliary board again (for the 100th time) and going through all conectors again
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Burlington, VT
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