Not sure what to try next here. Fathom just stopped booting one day. I cannot get into test menu at all. I can test the sound from the sound board and it works fine.

I have an Altek MPU installed in the game. It was working fine.
Swapped in another working Altek MPU - no change
Swapped in working Solenoid Driver - no change
Swapped in working Lamp Driver board - no change

When attempting to boot, the LED on the MPU flickers once, then blinks an additional 6 times.

From Pinwiki:
image (resized).png

I am not getting the 7th Flash.

Again from Pinwiki:

"The last flash waits for an external input on U10 pin 18 from the zero crossing detector circuit, which occurs 120 times a second (as the AC waveform passes or "crosses" 0 volts). Diagnosis of issues with the 7th flash are similar to the 6th flash. You can measure the input to pin 18 to determine if the signal is present or not. A signal present, but no flash could mean a bad U10 PIA. A missing signal usually points to missing solenoid voltage. The source of the zero crossing signal is derived from the solenoid voltage delivered from the rectifier board. Equally, if a signal is present, there may be an issue with the zero crossing detection circuit itself."

Tested voltages at the Power Module rectifier board and here are my results

TP1 = +7.07
TP2 = +215
TP3 = +14.86
TP4 = 0.00
TP5 = 0.00

According to Pinwiki the readings should be:

Captureee (resized).PNG

I have also tested both bridge rectifiers on the rectifier board and they test good.
All fuses in the game test good as well.

What should I look at next?

I reseated the connectors on the rectifier board and everywhere else, but nothing changed.

Yes it's definitely set up for fathom. It was working one day and not the next.

Right, I guess I'm wondering why there is no 43V. And also nothing at TP4.

All fuses test good with a DMM.

Thanks everyone for the help so far.

F4 and all of the fuses test good. I tested both bridge rectifiers on the power rectifier board, and they both test good with my DMM.

Stumped.

Sure, I can do this when I get home this afternoon. Any idea what the ac volts should be? I assume I should check ac on all of the fuses on the rectifier board. Thanks.

Also, not sure if this helps but this problem has come and gone once or twice before. The game will stop booting, but a few days later it will play perfectly. Then this problem will arise again. This time though, it has not been booting for several days and I just want to find and fix whatever the issue is.

OK I checked the ac volts on the fuses/fuse clips and here is what I get:

F1 8.3
F2 180
F3 13.6
F4 00.0 on both ends of the fuse and both ends of fuse clip
F5 5.8

I pulled the F4 fuse and triple checked it with my DMM set to continuity and it tests good. Does this mean that the fuse, although testing good, is bad? Thanks for the help!

Edit: I changed the fuse with a known working one from a different game and still the game will not boot.

I found a known working rectifier board and swapped it in. Here is what I got with the new board:

TP1 = +6.4
TP2 = +211
TP3 = +14.00
TP4 = 0.00
TP5 = +42

Also with this board in, I got -45 ac volts on F4

The game would make it all the way to the 7th flash but no solenoids are working.

Thanks. I just tested it and it's good. Weird that the game somewhere boots with this new rectifier board, but no solenoids are working. You turn the game on and you can hear the solenoid expander under the playfield going click click click click but the saucers don't eject and the drops don't pop up.

Thanks, I will do that. But I just don't see how that could be the source of the issue of no 43 volts.

Like I mentioned, when I swapped in a known working rectifier board I got 43volts on TP5 but still nothing on TP4.

Someone must know the answer to this puzzle.

I don't see any cracked solder joints.

Can someone explain why I am getting a 0.00 reading at TP4 with the good rectifier board, and why no solenoids are working?

I am so stumped....

Yes the GI works.

no I wasn't! Thanks for catching that, Shawn!

TP4 is 5.7 ac volts with the original board installed.

Does this change anything?

Ok so with the good rectifier board in, I'm getting readings at all Test Points and fuses. The game boots and can go into test but still no solenoids will work.

The solenoids do have 43 volts though.

In solenoid test, nothing fires except when switches 14-19 are supposed to fire you can hear the solenoid expander going click click click. These are the solenoids that are supposed to fire when the game boots up (but instead I hear the solenoid expander). These solenoids control the drop targets which reset at boot up.

So the game is trying to fire solenoids 14-19 but instead the light and "clicking" noise are coming from the solenoid expander. No other solenoids work.

I also replaced the fuse holder under the playfield as recommended.

Also, if you start a game, you can hit one switch then it ends your ball as if the ball just drained.

Thanks. Just did this and no switches are closed in test. Just a flashing "0". The switches are registering correctly in the test as well.

Yes all 3 balls are installed, except when I did the solenoid test that mattmarr recommended. The light next to the expander is flashing, yes.

Thanks for the suggestion.

While I haven't yet done this, I did put in a known working solenoid driver board this morning while the working rectifier board was in.

Same result. Maybe my solenoid expander is now the problem? That would seem strange because it was working fine before the issue with the rectifier board wouldn't allow the game to boot.

Would a bad solenoid expander cause no solenoids to fire? I wouldn't think so...?

So, what would cause all solenoids to not work?

I've done everything you suggested in post 28.

All coils have 43 volts.

I replaced the fuse holder and fuse(s). Nothing changed.

I haven't done the test suggested in post 36, but I did replace the entire board and nothing changed. So I don't think it is a board issue. I will run the test though if you feel it is still necessary and will help. Thanks! Also for the test suggested in post 36, will the gauge of wire matter for this?

Thanks, and I appreciate the explanation!

Ok I did the test. All of the transistors fire a solenoid when touched except for the 7th 17th and 18th counting from left to right (with the transistor that mk1mod marked being #1).

No there is no sound at all during solenoid test mode other than 14-19 I can hear the solenoid expander board under the playfield clicking 7 times.

No I don't...

I'll check when I get home, but I am almost 100% positive that I have already done that. If not, I will repin them and report back.

No the flippers do not work. No solenoid will work when starting a game. And when a switch is hit, the bonus counts down and the game acts as though the ball drained. When I start a game, instead of the drop targets resetting and the saucer kick outs firing, you can just hear the solenoid expander board click click clicking. Thanks again for the help so far!

It would have been before. I think that J4 on the MPU has been repinned, but J4 on the solenoid driver may not have been repinned yet. I will confirm once I get home and report back.

No the flippers do not work. No solenoid will work when starting a game. And when a switch is hit, the bonus counts down and the game acts as though the ball drained. When I start a game, instead of the drop targets resetting and the saucer kick outs firing, you can just hear the solenoid expander board click click clicking. Thanks again for the help so far!

Confirmed last night that J4 on the MPU has been re-pinned. J4 on the solenoid driver board has not been re-pinned. I will re-pin it this afternoon, but reseating that connection a dozen times and playing with the wires did not do anything.

OK, I will do this and report back. Can you tell me what this will be testing for? I feel like the board is good, since I swapped in a known working one and had the same issues. Thanks!

I get a reading on pins 20-23 but nothing on pin 19.

Just repinned J4 on the solenoid driver board. No change at all.

I just started a game (still no solenoids work), this time I could hit switches and this wasn't happening:

Well crap. I put the working rectifier board back in the other game, and now that game won't boot.

Edit. See below

Ok this time they all stayed around 4.9. At times dipping down quickly to around 2.5. but mostly staying at 4.9ish.

Except 19. There is nothing there.

Yes it is 0 volts on pin 19. You are right, when I am in sound test I do get 5 volts on 19. I tried it again during solenoid test and still nothing on 19 pin.

Yes they are mostly sitting around 5 volts it seems, and sometimes will drop down as low as 2.5ish at what appears to be random times during solenoid test.

Yes the SDB was 100% working, it came from a working game. This is the same game I pulled the working rectifier board from.

However:

There is 0 volts on pin 13. In fact, the only pins that have any voltage whatsoever are pins 20-23. All other pins on U2 are 0 volts.

Thanks for all of your help so far.

Man, thank you SO much for all of your help with this problem!!

You were EXACTLY right. I looked at J3 closely this morning and tugged on pins 13 and 25. 25 came right out with a light tug. Re-pinned J3 and boom. Everything is working correctly now.

Seriously can't thank you and everyone that contributed to this thread enough. This is what makes pinside great.

Thanks everyone. I think I'll go play some Fathom now.