Go over your connections again and make sure you did'nt
miss any pins on the connectors and make sure they are seated
properly.

When did the problems occur?Were you working on it?

Pertinent post skye, since I am considering an IJ right now! Good luck...

I ran into a problem like this awhile back on my TAF and
it turned out to be a ribbon cable going to the CPU was
off a little bit.

and you are leaving? common. broke dad is gone. that's great advice.

Well,Could you please sir tell Skyemont what the problem is and
where to start...

Did you check the connectors on the CPU and make sure they are
in the correct locations?

Have you had a look at the bridge rectifiers, front and back? I had a similar problem with an I500 where the board looked good from the front, but was hacked soldered on the back.

I guess you need to sell it to me skyemont. I will make it happen. (cheap)

Could be the bridge rectifier and the filter cap. Especially if you had resets in the past.

I think BR/cap replacement is not as common as most think. Connector issues, in my experience, cause more reset issues.

When you say all the things you mentioned are "ok", what does that mean? Does it mean you checked all the voltages and everything checks out in range, or that they just appear to be visually ok? I’m not trying to be condescending with this remark, just have no idea what your experience level is.

When resets occur, it's usually due to a very slight voltage drop, which again, usually can be rectified with the re-seating of power connectors. I also disconnect and reconnect all the large connectors in the cab from the transformer. All you need is another .05 of a volt sometimes.

What are your 5v test point readings?

Agreed about the connectors, much more common. That doesn't mean that the rectifier wasn't replaced by some hack who set it too close to the board. It is worth a check, especially if you have low voltage coming off your wall.

Also, I'd like to add that if re-seating a connector makes the problem go away, you haven't fixed the issue. It means that the connector needs to be dealt with, the problem will come back.

Connectors cause issues for sure, especially GI connectors. On the other hand, I only own two WPC games so far and both of them had bridge rectifier hacks. Resets were a common problem until I addressed it. One was as easy as re-flowing the solder on the back of the board. Good luck.

Yes I agree, this sounds like a connection problem. I would take a close look at the "Z" connector as well, TZ, IJ etc have this connector and it is prone to issues. If you can see any burned plugs anywhere, that is where you need to start. Replace them as per the guides, with Molex connectors and Trifurcon pins and headers, don't skimp on the headers unless you know they were replaced recently and with the correct pins.

Keep us updated

BR hacks are because clay states this is the main cause and everyone replaced them. This has lead to hacks, and the associated capacitor, which needs replacing too (don't do one without the other), is a tough thing to remove for novices.

Clay is a god as for as pinball knowledge is concerned, however connectors have always been the thing I find to be the main problem with low 5v, not always, but almost.

I wish he would frickin get over the previous BS and place all the guides back up for newbs, but that's another story. I mean everyone he was trying to give the finger too is either good enough and doesn't need the guides, or has them downloaded anyway, so this only hurts noobs to which we can't simply point to a link anymore....

Anyway, back on topic. Although this seems like a band aid solution, in my experience it will still last years. There is no concern, unlike with GI connector issues, for anything to get damages from not dealing with the connector, so if you laze out on this one, it’s cool =)

How were they tested? Did someone test them in their game, or booted them on the bench? Issues like this become more difficult without being there.

Again, do you have clay's WPC guides? I would start there, as this is very clear in starting at ground zero with testing everything.

Did you measure any voltages, or are you comfortable with that? Can you enter diagnostic settings?

Did you say the CPU board was tested as well?

I think you have a low 5v issue, but it’s hard to tell at this point. The first step, as you have obviously re-seated all connectors by this point a couple times, is to confirm that the 5v is over at least 4.92 all the way to the MPU.

I’m also sceptical about the testing on the bench. Do you know how it was tested? Was it just booted on the bench and confirmed to be running the program, or did someone have the equipment to simulate the game starting and running? Did someone test in their game?

I don’t know... I have a bunch of possibilities rolling around in my head, but the fact of the matter is that many things need to be verified before guessing.

Anyone have a working link for the pinrepair guides, all the ones I have are no good. I have the zip but it's 200M. Start with the basics here:

http://www.pinrepair.com/begin/index.htm

Other than that, you could try posting for a tech in your city on RGP. Did you re-seat the z connector as someone mentioned? Do you know what that is? Don't be shy here in stating what you don't know. I wish I could help you more, but there are too many unknowns.

If there is a low 5v issues, it would likely be in the connectors, or not board related, which is why it may boot fine on he bench. If it makes you feel better, I think you are likely one replaced pin away from having it work. Buuuuut it's finding what is dragging down the 5v that is the issue.

I'll pm you about the guide you need.

As for your trade idea, I haven't played POTC, but people love it or hate it, but some people that I trust in reviews like it. Having said that, I don't really care for MB. I could have had a couple nice ones, but I've never really been thrilled with it when I played it, and it's known for not being too deep.

To each their own though, and some love it. My recommendation would be for something else though, but again, many love it.

This guy Skyemont lives two blocks from me but made up a bunch of lies about me on RGP after I had him in my house to play.

Here is the thread he started http://groups.google.com/group/rec.games.pinball/browse_thread/thread/547752c5fbd370e9/d398e93f7ebda25d

I can't be on Pinside with guys like this. I really like what Robin is doing but this is like having lunch with someone that just stole your lunch money.

My suggestion to people here is to do your homework before dealing with anyone on line.

Well, that’s a shame given you both are so close to each other. It’s not my business, so I don’t want to get involved, but maybe there is a chance that you guys can somehow find a way to move past it, given your ridiculously close proximity to each other and your niche interest here.

It sucks that it happened to you, but it could have happened to anyone. It's not a Pinside thing as he even took it over to RGP. I guess I don't understand the quitting Pinside part and not quitting RGP. Again, it sucks, but the inevitable happened. You got trolled and your rep prevailed, or at least that's my opinion by reading the thread.

No matter how good of a seller, or how nice of a guy you are, metaphorically, only 9 out of 10 deals, meets, interactions will go well. There's just too much crazy out there.... everywhere. Has nothing to do with Pinside.

Had the same problem with my IJ and it was the ribbon cable, the one from cpu to fliptronics to sound pcb etc. Got it running then the idol would not stop turning.

Good luck Skyemont and hopefully it will be fixed so you can get
back to enjoying it again.

damn what a pain for sure, not sure why that woulda went flakey on you all of a sudden