Hi All,

Admitted new to 80Bs here, so I'm hoping for a relatively easy fix. I recently inherited a Spring Break with several new boards, but I'm having a few issues. Would love it if someone could point me in the right direction.

1) Game boots up to some sort of maintenance mode, flippers work, some insert lights flashing, flashers stay on solid - game won't start

2) Display is dead, so I can't see what mode it's in.

As you can see in the pic, guy before me replaced several molex connectors. I've cleaned connections (haven't repinned display molex yet), seem to get getting a solid 5v to the display, replaced a cap......nothing

Anyone able to point me in the right direction here who has some more familiarity with this system?

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Thanks. Reseated connectors and eproms multiple times - nothing.

I'm kind of working under the assumption one of the eproms may be bad? Possibly the previous owner stuck one in in reverse? Typically if that happens is there scaring or burning that occurs on the eprom? (both of these look just fine).

I'm going to check the workflow in the manual and see if one or the other is tied to the sound board AND the display. If so, maybe that's the culprit?

I know the original boards have the "notch" to indicate the right way to put the eprom in, but I'm not sure if these new boards do.

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....Last owner put one of the EPRoms in backwards...working on getting a new one and will go from there

Finally getting some time this weekend to get back into the project.

Got a new A1 Eprom, snapped it in....no luck. With the totally dead display still reading a good 5V, I'm still working under the assumption it's something with the Eproms. Especially because:

1) No eprom = small set of lights on
2) New Eprom = same small set of lights on
3) Old Eprom put in the correct way = several more lights on the boards and playfield

Could it be that the new A1 Eprom rom I got and the A2 rom were different versions? (I know Spring break has several different versions)

Maybe the answer is to get both a new A1 and A2 Eprom that I know are for the same version of the game?

As far as I can tell, the new Swemmer MPU looks like it's all good...

Mike - I agree. I just want some new context to what the old owner did. I love the fact that he replaced several of the boards, and I think most of the schematics are the same for them, but it definitely makes things a lot harder to troubleshoot when almost everything has been messed with from the original.

Definitely wish I had access to another 80B game to swap out displays. I was the one who replaced the cap with a new one (I noticed some scarring on the old one, so I was hoping that would do the trick. No luck).

Thanks @the9gman. One question I had was if the display is good will it show some sort of default message even in the Eproms are back, like a default "display good" message. Again, don't know the 80B system here at all. It seems like that is not the case and it'll just be blank.

Yup, no daughter board on this Swemmer board, just the Eprom. I'd like to think the boards, since they're newish, are fully functioning. I sent an email with a pic to Swemmer customer service. It's a long shot, but maybe they'll notice something on the board that was monkeyed with that I'm not seeing.

The fact that the game boots up to some sort of maintenance mode and not the game mode with no display board keeps me thinking it's the MPU. ''

I'll check the caps later today just in case. Easy enough.

So, I decided to shoot an email to Swemmer...Fred got back to me and said that based on the pics..the backup cap needs to be removed, the Qa transistor, and 2 other small mods.

He said he can fix them and check the EPROMS for a small fee, so I'm thinking this may just be worth sending in to the pro! Fingers crossed.

Well. Board is back and working which means I now get to see everything else that is wrong. Have been working through things pretty well, but finally met something that I need to reach out on.

One of the solenoids down in the trough works to hold the balls from ejecting out into the shooter later. The issue is that while the lane is open when the game shuts off, as soon as I turn on the machine, the solenoid activates and holds, blocking any ball, whatsoever, from being ejected out into the shooter lane. Not totally sure what the logic of the game is here, but it's odd to me that there's a solenoid that stays on constantly and then deactivates to allow the ball through....could something be backwards? It's the green solenoid and that right gate.

Switches are all checking out fine. Obviously the solenoid is good since it kicks in as soon as powered up.

I feel like this could be something simple....but I'm stuck.

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Pictures are super helpful, thanks! Not stupid at all haha. But, I actually did already try with the 4 balls, no luck. I'm going to attach a few more pictures here that will hopefully help. Basically:

I have the four balls aligned like your machine. As soon as I hit the power, the right solenoid engages and never releases after that. I'm working under the assumption right now that it's some sort of grounding issue since I just sent the driver in to be serviced (he said it was tested fully and no mention of a replaced transistor. Hopefully that's good unless I somehow blew it again). First picture down below is machine completely off (lane is open...solenoid disengaged....second picture is as soon as I hit the power....solenoid engages...closes the lane...never opens again)

Also, as you can see in the pictures, previous owner (actually previous, previous owner...guy I got it from picked it up as a project and it came with me as a project) did a ton of upgrades but also what makes this so tough to diagnose. Weirdly, found the wire on this solenoid was cut by the last guy...I reconnected them and immediately had this issue...so I'm thinking whatever problem I'm having right now is a problem the previous guy had too and his solution was to just disconnect the solenoid.

Also, cabinet ground mods have been done, but assuming the backbox mods haven't because a majority of the connectors have new molex?

Do you think doing the ground mods would help here? (Also, I'd have to email Swemmer to figure out where the best place to ground to these new boards is)

A side note that I'm also noticing - the GI is working on startup but goes out (and never comes back on) either when I start a new game (which looks like the GI is supposed to go off until you plunge the ball from gameplay videos online) .....or also goes out when in attract mode as soon as soon as the flashers go on for the first time (as soon as the flashers go on...kills the GI)

Again...thinking some sort of grounding?

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Awesome. I'll focus on the solenoid for now and worry about the GI later. A lot of progress already made since the beginning. The way you're describing the start up sequence makes perfect sense in my mind.

Appreciate your help a ton! Will let you know the outcome.

Checked out Q4, just fine. Decided to power it up with the driver out, just to see. Low and behold, it still fires the the solenoid and holds.

MPU issue?...which was supposedly just serviced. Hmmm

MPU disconnected....same thing. Ball release solenoid fires immediately and stays on.

So, MJ2955 was fried. Just had the replacement show up this morning - popped it in - solenoid is no longer firing, which is the good news.

Bad news is the game will no longer start a game. Pulled the fuse to the solenoid (like I did before) game won't start like it did before inserting the new MJ2955. Tried starting with balls, without balls, balls in on power, balls out on power...everything I cant think of.

Seems like these issues wouldn't be connected. Checked the wiring to the start button in case I pinched it...it's fine. Getting voltage to the start button although I'm not sure what exactly it's supposed to be reading at and the voltages are bouncing all over the place. Wondering if this might be related to my lights issue and I have a bad cap. somewhere.

One fixed thing produces another issue. Any pointers in the right direction are appreciated.

Thanks! Test mode is actually kind of the issue as well. I used to click the test button and "Left Coin Chute" would pop up - not an issue really since I put a line in to credit with the right arrow button.

BUT

I always used to be able to bypass that with the start button...that would jump me into the diagnostics to see switches. Only issue is, with the start button no working, can't get into the test menu at all. Haha

Good idea with the drive board. Don't have schematics or anything, but I can hit a couple switches and see if I'm seeing the LEDs light up. It's at least a start.

Yup. I’ve been through the menu before. Weird thing is that it says “test menu” on first press... then second press goes to “left coin chute” and freezes. I assume it’s throwing up an error - didn’t really pay attention to it before now because I don’t use the coin chutes at all as I have it wired for freeplay.

Only issue is i typically exist that coin chute error by pressing start... and it goes into the menu cycles you guys are referring to.

....but the start button doesn’t work and is the thing I’m troubleshooting.... so that’s the snag.

Unfortunately those LEDs don’t correspond to the start button... they’re only the light matrix....

So I either need to figure out how to fix the start button without the test menu or fix that left coin chute error so it’ll toggle through the test menu with the test button

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Thanks gMan. Yup, we're on the same page. Already popped out 1A7P1 out yesterday - diodes all check out. Slam switch soldered closed and covered.

It's odd. Start button seems to have good connections but I think I'm going to put new connection contacts on today just in case (the old ones appear to be original)

Any clue what I should be seeing in voltage on the start button? That or a bad connection to the control board (which all of the molex connections are new....so I'm thinking that is the last thing on my radar) are literally the only other things I can think that it could be according to the schematics.

I'll do a little light reading today. Thanks for pointing me in the right direction.

Coin chute freeze was happening before I tied in the line, so I don't think that's it.....but maybe.

...further thinking...almost 100% it's not the extra line as it was crediting and starting the game before I replaced the transistor

Alright so...took off credit line just in case - no change.

Still getting my strobe voltages over BOTH wires going to the credit button, not sure if this is supposed to be happening or not.

Re seated connection to credit button - no change.

Double checked the diode board, everything reads normal.

So....now I'm up to working with the ICs...on the board that I just sent in to be serviced. Is it possible that my solenoid issue that I fixed is somehow related to this or messed up something on the board? I find that tough to believe.

Getting into a new realm of knowledge for me here (I'm an English teacher...no electronics background except the self-taught stuff...haha) so I need to do more reading before I totally know what to do here.

Emailed Fred about the board. He suggested that the solenoid may have fed back into the MPU and to replace Z11-15, which I did, same issues.

I'm almost 100% positive that back when I was able to access the test menu that I checked all of the switches in the ball trough and they were all reading, so, unless I created an issue with one when I was reattached that solenoid, I don't think that would be it.

NOPE! Forgot to hook the wires back on the credit switch. Low and behold it WAS Z11-15 that must have been blown.

Working to the point I can get a game going now. Hoping those chips may have also solved my light issue as well.

Alright...now onto what I think is the last piece of the puzzle...those pesky GI lights.

Light up on power up, no problem. However, once either (A) flashers go off in attract mode or (B) game starts and lights go off on plunge. They never come back on.

Looks like this is true for all of the GI, the pop bumpers, and a number of inserts (but not all) near the lower section of the playfield.

Dip switch settings are good. In the self-test, I'm pretty sure the issue is something to do with "Lamp 1". It's odd. The game mechanically is 100% now (and I'm enjoying it a lot . However, basically I turn the power on, every light is working...BUT....as soon as those GI lights turn off for ball launch.....they just never turn back on.

Also, if I cycle the power too quickly (a fast shut off then turn on) the GI stays off.

If run the tests right away when the GI is on (before I start a game)....they all turn off at "Lamp 1" test....and never turn back on.

Almost seems like a capacitor with not enough juice? It has enough to power them on immediately then not enough as soon as it supplies to something else?

I've had lots of components needing complete replacement before, but this is the first time I've had something partially working. Not really sure where to start.

Maybe the aux. lamp driver?

Well, it's the weekend, so I have so more time for trouble shooting.

Checked out Z1 and seems to be good with what I can tell with my MM. Swapped it out for a new one for good measure, same issues.

Going to try to figure out what is all on the tilt relay to check today.