(Topic ID: 191277)

Meteor display issues

By spandol

6 years ago


Topic Heartbeat

Topic Stats

  • 29 posts
  • 10 Pinsiders participating
  • Latest reply 6 years ago by spandol
  • Topic is favorited by 2 Pinsiders

You

Linked Games

  • Meteor Stern Electronics, 1979

You're currently viewing posts by Pinsider spandol.
Click here to go back to viewing the entire thread.

#1 6 years ago

I need a little guidance on an issue I'm having with Meteor. The player 3 and 4 displays don't work properly. In test, they work fine though. The issue I don't understand is player 3 is missing the last digit at times, but the game isn't working correctly when player 3 is up. I had all the meteor targets down and they wouldn't reset, but would correctly reset for the other players. Also, when the game is done, the high score on the 4th player display is different than the first three. The game has an Alltek MPU and LED board as well as a Rottendog rectifier board. Where should I be looking for issues?

Thanks.

#2 6 years ago

bump

#4 6 years ago
Quoted from silver_spinner:

have you ever swapped displays around with other displays in the game? if you unplug display 3 and play player 3, do the drops reset?

No, I'll give that a try. I thought the displays were ok and maybe it's with the MPU since the game is acting strange on player 3. Would the displays have anything to do with this?

#7 6 years ago
Quoted from silver_spinner:

i know if there is a bad display connected it can make other displays have issues.

Thanks for the info. Both 3&4 are acting strange. When I get time, I'll do some troubleshooting and switch solenoid boards and displays.

#10 6 years ago
Quoted from JT-Pinball:

Do you know if female connectors have been repined on this game? I agree with recommendations to swap displays. Look at back of the display boards, a solder bridge between the pins of J1 can cause issues.

Thanks for the info. I'll check everything out and report back when I have time. Appreciate the help!

3 weeks later
#11 6 years ago

Ok, so, I've solved one of the issues. Switching solenoid driver board solved the drop target issue for player 3. The only issue now is player 3s display. In self test, all of the digits light the way they are suppose to.

If I start a 3 player game, player 3 always has a '5' as the last digit at the beginning of ball one, last digit being the 1s place. Once it's player 2's turn, player 3's last digit goes out. It's out until player 3 plays their ball for awhile, then works as it should. This happens each time it comes to player 2. If I turn on the game, all displays show the high score correctly. Is it losing power somewhere? If anyone can let me know what to check, I'd appreciate it.

#13 6 years ago
Quoted from barakandl:

First guess would be cracked header pin on the offending displays 1's digit strobe. Can you move the display to a different spot to see if the problem moves with the display or stays at the player 3 position?
While you have the display out, put your peepers on the display board's connector header pin solder joints. They crack really bad being a single sided PCB and the harness flexing when the door swings open.

I put in a brand new pin score display and it still occurs so it's not that.

#14 6 years ago

Bump

#15 6 years ago

Here's some key points to help so someone doesn't have to read everything.

1) new displays (pinscore), MPU, light board and solenoid board, all Alltek
2) player 3 display works correctly in self test
3) new game player 3 - 1's digit show '5' and not '0'
4) player 3s '1' digit goes out completely when player 2 starts, comes back on showing correct digit after player 3 plays for a short time

Same thing happens every time. Any help would be appreciated! Thanks!

#17 6 years ago
Quoted from Coyote:

Honestly, I would try a different MPU.

Ok, thanks. I have one I can switch it with

#19 6 years ago
Quoted from Coyote:

Thought was that it seems too random to be off the board (i.e. Wiring issue..) - at least switching out boards will rule it out.

I switched with another Alltek MPU and the same issue occurs. I don't have an original MPU I'm afraid. It's not intermittent either, happens every time. Player 3 always begins the game with 5 points, which changes to blank until player 3 hits around 8500, then the display is correct. Odd. So, I guess everything is ruled out except for wiring and/or power rectifier board. Unless there's an odd glitch with the Alltek game chip and Meteor. Can someone with a Meteor and an Alltek board put in a 3 player game and see if player 3 works correctly?

#21 6 years ago
Quoted from Enaud:

Spandol, I have a Meteor on route with an Alltek MPU. No problems with the displays at all. It sounds like wiring problem on the display chain. Try reseating the display connectors on all displays and see if anything happens differently.

Thanks enaud, I've reseated the connectors, but maybe I'll try reseating the wires into the connectors. Or maybe that's what you meant.

#25 6 years ago
Quoted from JT-Pinball:

I would get schematic and verify pin by pin each wire in all display connectors and J1 on MPU.

Quoted from snyper2099:

This is a VERY common Bally/Stern display problem. It is actually caused by one bad display affecting how the other displays show digits. You will need to unplug each display one at a time to determine which one is causing the issue. In other words, the display showing wrong data is not necessarily the faulty display.

Quoted from Dr_Dude:

Yes, try swapping displays as well: If the problem does not move with the display, then it is likely a flakey spring-clip on the female-side of the connector. I have found these by pulling each wire-spring one-by-one on the problematic connector, and the bad ones will usually be quite obvious (either broken completely, or with almost no spring left)

Thanks very much for the info. Maybe player 2's display is the culprit. I will check it out. If that doesn't work, I'll start diagnosing the wires and pins.

#27 6 years ago
Quoted from MrBally:

Once you confirm it is not a display, which you have already done, use a schematic to verify the strobe/data line for the digit on the display that is acting up. You have a broken/intermittent wire on one of the connector pins that has two wires crimped into the pin. Replace. It could be on the affected display connector or the display "before" the affected one. Use standard troubleshooting techniques to verify.

Thanks for the info. I confirmed it's not the displays so now it's on to the connectors. I will concentrate on the two wire pins.
Thanks!

#29 6 years ago
Quoted from Enaud:

I had a troublesome issue similar to this on a Bally Star Trek that I was restoring. I repinned connectors but the intermittent display issues persisted. I could wiggle a wire a little and sometimes the display issues would go away, but then come back. It ended up that I was working at the wrong end. The bad connector pin was at the other end where it connects to the MPU.
So, verify those header pins there, as well. Good luck!

Thanks, I will!

Promoted items from the Pinside Marketplace
$ 3.00
Cabinet Parts
20eyes
Cabinet parts
$ 10.00
Lighting
Yoppsicle
Lighting
$ 29.00
Boards
RoyGBev Pinball
Boards

You're currently viewing posts by Pinsider spandol.
Click here to go back to viewing the entire thread.

Reply

Wanna join the discussion? Please sign in to reply to this topic.

Hey there! Welcome to Pinside!

Donate to Pinside

Great to see you're enjoying Pinside! Did you know Pinside is able to run without any 3rd-party banners or ads, thanks to the support from our visitors? Please consider a donation to Pinside and get anext to your username to show for it! Or better yet, subscribe to Pinside+!


This page was printed from https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/meteor-display-issues?tu=spandol and we tried optimising it for printing. Some page elements may have been deliberately hidden.

Scan the QR code on the left to jump to the URL this document was printed from.