I just installed a battery pack replacement on my D&D pin. Four pack, with a blocking diode in one slot. How long should they last?

Reason I ask is that I re-worked some connectors yesterday, and it reset all settings, after being turned off last night, then powered on today. The batteries shouldn't be dead, they've only been in a month and were brand new at the time I installed the pack.

I used a 5817 blocking diode, as recommended per the repair site for 6803's.

Thanks for the tips. The blocking diode is banded side towards the positive end of the top battery slot. If I shut it off and leave it off for a short time, the settings are retained. For context, a short time to this point has been between 15 minutes and 1 hour.

Overnight, or more than 8 hours, and the game settings reset.

I'll try your tips and get back. I suspect that it's loose wiring, or something of that nature.

When I clipped the battery, and installed the new pack, I did not reset to factory defaults -BUT - I did change all of the settings to what I desired, e.g., Basic Options, Feature Options. Could this cause an issue of the nature I described earlier in the thread? Maybe the battery pack is functioning as designed, but the machine is getting confused because I did not reset to factory defaults?

IDK, just throwing it out there. I have seen issues of this nature with PC batteries and CMOS settings.

btw I installed the battery pack per the guidelines here http://www.pinrepair.com/6803/ - section 3d.

FYI - prior to checking for responses to my question, I cleared book-keeping and also reset the machine to factory defaults.

It was the wiring, testing with the repair made and game off.

https://www.pinitech.com/products/6116_nvram.php

is this helpful?

that link has a lot of good information, I probably should not only do my D&D pin, but also my Lord of the Rings pin.

My wife destroyed the ring in 36 seconds, and then we lost the batteries. She was very disappointed by that, because 36 seconds is pretty fast to do that on that pin

still testing, after the reset to default and re-soldering the positive lead to the battery pack

will let you know

and yes, there was some very strange garbage numbers, large numbers, in some of the settings prior to defaulting to factory.

But the game started up, and played and functioned normally

btw, can't say this enough

This was an old thread, but you folks responded quickly. Can't thank you all enough. Makes life a bit easier when tracking down a problem.

update, left the game off for approximately two hours, unplugged for the last half of that. All settings lost. And the junk in the registers was back.

I ordered the NVRAM for this game and for LOTR.

I did measure the voltage and it did drop below 2V with the machine off and unplugged. I measured 5.4V with power on, btw. Only measurements I have taken are at TP4.

I will. No worries on anything. The order is fine. This is not the only issue I am in the process of working with this 6803, I've also got an XPIN display issue, ongoing in another thread

I spent all last summer and half of fall on FBII, with the playfield swap and everything that followed. It's my contention that the other two pins are just getting jealous

eta

The D&D pin just needs a bit of love, which it has been getting since Thanksgiving. Most of it I've done myself, with a lot of source material and advice from Pinside and other sites to guide me. I appreciate the help, more than I can express. I hope to pay it forward, in a good and responsible manner, some day for somebody else that wants to jump right in LOL.

The first thing I ever really did with a pinball machine, wasn't playing it, it was that PF swap. I had no idea what I was doing, but I knew what it was going to be like.

Or so I thought

That is kind of backwards in the learning curve, but I am pleased that it has all went as well as it did. Information and help are critical, especially on these older games.

Each battery measured 1.6V, and I got 5.4VDC from the ground point on the MPU to the diode in the battery pack.

Took both measurements

Game on

Ground to cathode - 5.4V
Ground to anode - 1.9V

Game off

Ground to cathode - 3.4V and it drops fast
Ground to anode - 1.1V and it drops fast

Measured R28 - read 271

Ok, put in a spare battery pack. It's only a two slot pack, so only one battery. It measured 5.4V on cathode end with the game on, and 1.3V with the game off.

In the four slot pack I used a 5817 diode, in the two slot pack I used a 4007. I turned it off while cleaning up, approximately 3-4 minutes and all settings were saved when I powered it back up. I'll turn it off tonight and see what the morning brings.

The four slot pack was wired correctly, so I guess that leaves the diode as the culprit

eta

measured anode end, 1.6 volts with the game on and off. And it didn't drop with the game off.

I have it out and packed away, so I can't provide a picture, but the batteries were installed properly. I pulled them all out and re-seated different batteries in different slots. I did that several times.

After my post last night, I turned the game off at 2100, powered it back on at 2215 or so. All settings with the 2 slot pack installed, were saved. Left it on til around midnight and didn't turn it on until this morning at 0930. All settings were saved.

The NVRAM arrived this morning. I disconnected the battery pack from the board, installed the NVRAM, factory reset the machine and set it up again. All settings saved and good to go.

I am suspecting the diode, or some damage to the wiring when I soldered it. Here is something for consideration. When I un-installed the four slot battery pack, the wires (by my choice) were soldered to the back of the board. The 2 slot pack, I left the board installed and soldered the wires to the front of the board. It was a sloppy job because I knew the NVRAM was in the mail, and that it was only going to be temporary but it worked for the test.

Don't know why (not the sloppy part ) that configuration would have made a difference, but that is the only difference in how the packs were attached to the board, other than the number of batteries.

I copied the configuration from the 6803 repair site, for my four pack. That picture was posted somewhere earlier in this thread. That is, essentially, a picture of my setup.

eta

btw, I'm getting a bit long-winded here but a little story that emphasizes how I tend to go about things that I have working knowledge of - always look for the simplest thing first. I have a cartoon around here on paper, from back in the 90's, that is a funny mock-up of an S3-B simulator environment. I developed courseware for the S3-B, that emulated the simulator that the pilots trained on. Anyway, it's a total mock-up, two techs (one scratching their head, the other shrugging) because they can't figure out why the damn thing won't work. And off in the corner, out of site, is a power cord laying on the floor unplugged

LOLOL

Some people get offended by those types of questions. I learned a long time ago, if you're going to be stupid and miss the obvious, make sure there are no witnesses and learn it going forward

lmao, indeed.

Now, I have a few connectors on the MPU board I want to upgrade, then it's on to figuring out what's up with my XPIN display issue. The plasma's are working fine, btw. But I know a day will come when they will give up the ghost.

Thanks all for the help. And thanks to Pinitech for a great product, and excellent turnaround on my order