The issue began about a year ago and is getting progressively worse as time goes on. It started with the sound not working when the machine was first turned on. After about 2 minutes of being on the sound would suddenly ‘flicker’ a few times then start working. This has not changed. But now when I turn the machine on all that happens is the GI turns on and nothing else. The display is out and no PF lights or sound. After about 1-2 minutes of ‘heating up’ the boot-up (“back in action!”) sound flickers a few times and the games boots. Sometimes it boots then resets a few times before finally starting permanently. I do hear relay’s click. Once the machine is warmed up it works perfectly. It’s just during a cold boot that I get the issue. As times goes on the lag time before it boots up properly slowly gets longer and longer.

That being said, any advice on what to check first or issues that can be ruled out by these symptoms? I’m not too familiar with troubleshooting DE games from this era.

Thanks!

I'll check and report back. Could a bad (or about to be bad) relay cause this?

When the game is first turned on from a cold boot, the PIA and 5v CPU LED's stay lit constantly. The blanking LED is not lit. At this point nothing except GI is on. Immediately, as soon as the power switch is turned ON, one of the solenoids clicks (i think its one that pops the ball from middle drain to the ball loader trough to get it ready to go into shooter lane). It sounds like one of the relays in the backbox flickers rapidly (like 30 times per second fast) for about 1 second then stops. After about 40-60 seconds of being frozen in that state the blanking LED turns on, the PIA LED turns off (as it should) and the game boots up. At this point the sound still does not work. About a minute after that the sound begins to flicker in and out and after about a 10 seconds of flickering starts to work consistently. At this point the game functions at 100% with no other issues.

Once the game is warmed up I can turn it off and on and it boots up immediately and perfectly as it should. It is only from a cold boot that this happens, but its consistent.

no, i was unaware that there was a thermistor. Could this possibly account for the sound issues as well?

Pardon my ignorance here but is this the correct part? I am having some difficulty identifying for DE games. Here is the link:

http://www.marcospecialties.com/pinball-parts/5016-12978-00

Also, where exactly does this go? Is this on the power supply board, CPU board, or inside the power supply unit inside the cab (where the volume pot is)?

Not yet, I will check it and report back. Do you know of any replacement kits that provide all of the necessary caps for the PS board in this DE system?

Possibly, I will let you know.

On the board you have has it recently been serviced or are all of the components original?

Anyone know if any place sells kits that include all of the components necessary to rebuild the 5v and/or 12v sections of these power supplies?