First make sure the batteries that power the 5101 Ram IC are good (or even exist). If they are then it's very possible that IC has gone bad. One trick that works sometimes is to turn it on-off-on real fast when first turning it on. If that works that IC needs to be replaced. You can buy them at Jameco Electronics.

Read this repair guide also:

http://www.pinrepair.com/sys37

You will find a wealth of information there including what I mentioned above.

We'll get you running in no time. Welcome to the forum.

When I got my Gorgar (my 1st pin also) the same thing was happening,
I had to keep resetting the game every time I wanted to play.
turns out the operator who owned it had a big cap. installed across the Bat. area
I guess the pins he had on location were on for long periods of time so installing a new holder and new batteries was the cure.
How does your boards look? are they stock or hacked?

Remember, Doug is not technically proficient. Cap. is Capacitor. IC's are computer chips.

First, change the batteries. While doing that, look to see if the holder has corrosion on it.
Read the section in Pinrepair on Batteries and corrosion to see what to look for.

If just changing the batteries doesn't fix it, I recommend emailing Tom at http://pin-logic.com/index.shtm to have your board cleaned and repaired. His email is [email protected] He is quick to reply. He does great work, will usually have it repaired the same day he gets it and shipped the next day. He's done 4 of my boards and each time I had them back within a week (and I'm in Alaska). That board will look like new.

I own Gorgar and while I am no expert at electronics, I do enjoy fixing it from time to time. Mine had the same problem and it was the batteries. Change them and post your results. There are some other mods you should really perform to prevent a short from burning down the machine and worse (change the two bridge rectifiers and install fuses between them and the AC source of power from the power supply). Also, look to replace that large capacitor at some point for more reliable operation.

Email me direct super8filmaker AT yahoo DOT com or simply post here.

Post a picture of your machine sometime, eh. Here's mine:

http://pinside.com/pinball/archive/gorgar/stories/my-second-pin

Cheers.
Mike

Doug,

I'm pretty new here myself, when it comes to repairs, but people here will definitely try to help you quickly with any question.

Here's Gorgar on the IPDB - http://ipdb.org/machine.cgi?id=1062

The Instruction Manual link is near the bottom. Page 5, Note 7 states -

"Setting Maximum Credits (Function 18) to zero places the game in free play mode."

It is only a 12 page manual, but at least it's something.

Keep up the enthusiasm Doug, that's the spirit! Yeah, need two different manuals for that machine, the instruction booklet found here:

http://www.ipdb.org/files/1062/Williams_1979_Gorgar_Instruction_Booklet.pdf

and then you need the one with the blue/green cover that has the fold out schematics:

Like this one:

Ebay Item Number: 300138977733

While that price is a bit high (and its in Australia), if you keep an eye out they come up all the time.

And, if you happen to need any plastic pieces for it, NOW is the time to get a new set:

Ebay Item number: 150443222772

I bought a brand new set for my Mata Hari and they were fantastic (save the old set of course!!).

Cheers,
Mike

One of your best bets for a manuals and schematics is Steve Young. If he doesn't have them nobody does.

www.pbresource.com

Often they are out of production but he has them on file and makes wonderful copies in the size and clarity of the originals. He was the only person with even copies of the original schematics for my 1966 A-Go-Go. He can also sell those items for certain companies others can't as he has an agreement with them. Some of the pinball companies are very protective of their stuff still while others could care less.

Glad it's working out for you,
those early Williams Systems are a good starting point when getting into solid state games. I know I learned a lot on Gorgar and guess still learning

Glad to hear it was an easy and cheap fix. If it works fine after being turned off overnight it should be good to go for quite a while.

Oh, while I know it's great to watch all those blinking lights in attract mode (and if I could, I would leave mine on for weeks at a time), I personally think it's best to turn the game off after playing it. Since we are 30 years after the fact, it's best to save the old electronics form use (and dreaded heat build up). And, they consumer about 250 watts and draw about 2 amps while on. So, unless your power is nice and cheap (say 5 or cents a kWh like in BC) it's best to save yourself some money too. I pay somewhere from 13-40 cents a kWh here in California so it does add up. You should find no difference in play if you leave it off for long periods of time. Sounds like everything is working right. But do investigate the bridge rectifier fuse situation. Especially if you leave it on unattended - a dead short can cause a fire and there is no fuse for that part of the machine - a situation apparently addressed in later models of games...

Look for this string of text in this link:

Adding Two Fuses to a System3 to System7 Games.
All Williams games prior to 1987 do *not* have fuses on the input side of the backbox mounted bridge rectifiers. This is a bad design, and one that Williams later fixed.

The two bridge rectifiers mounted to the backbox are the lamp matrix and solenoid bridge rectifiers. If either of these bridges shorts, or the large backbox mounted 30,000 mfd lamp matrix capacitor shorts, the main power fuse *should* blow. But if this single fuse was "over fused", a fire could result!

http://www.pinrepair.com/sys37/index1.htm

Cheers,
Mike

Great tip super8man might save someones house or apt. complex from going up in flames