(Topic ID: 29021)

System 11C games: Abnormally loud volume levels?

By Frax

11 years ago


Topic Heartbeat

Topic Stats

  • 24 posts
  • 14 Pinsiders participating
  • Latest reply 4 years ago by DakotaMike
  • Topic is favorited by 2 Pinsiders

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Linked Games

#1 11 years ago

Okay, yes, I understand pins have to be loud to survive in an arcade..lol...

I got this Rollergames up and running and even with the volume pot ALL the way down, it's still really...REALLY...LOUD! Space Shuttle goes down pretty much all the way to nothing, LOTR's software went down to nothing, etc....

But Rollergames? It's either ROCK-ROCK-ROCKING loud or REALLY-REALLY-ROCK-ROCK-ROCKING loud! What can I do to give this thing some more downward adjustment? Is it just a matter of ohming out the current knob and then finding a replacement with a slightly higher resistance range?

#2 11 years ago

That doesn't sound right. Is the pot broken?

#3 11 years ago

Pot works fine. No static or anything. It's just....loud.

#4 11 years ago

Did you try reseating the sound ROMs? I doubt it will do any good, but it can't hurt.

#5 11 years ago

My Diner is the same way. Even with the pot at -0-, it's still relatively loud (loud enough that I always leave it at -0-). There's no minimum volume adjustment either to my knowledge. It's not overbearing, so haven't really investigated it yet.

#6 11 years ago

Don't think that's it, as these were newly-burned roms put in a replacement board when I got it a few weeks ago. No other sound glitches.

I think it's very possible this is just normal behavior for this game...just wondering if there's a way around it short of taping some rags to the speakers.

#7 11 years ago

I've noticed the same thing with my Whirlwind. It's not obnoxiously loud but even at 0 I want to turn it down a little more still. I was going to investigate switching the pot for a different one.

#8 11 years ago

I had an issue with my TFTC being way too loud . . . I know it's not sys 11, but I found the connector that's associated with with sound was not plugged in all the way. I re-seated it and my pot was able to control the sound again . . . from no sound to full blast.

#9 11 years ago

I've got some range of control, but that might be worth looking into actually, as I know the connector to the pot doesn't seat 100% correctly on the board. I may need to repin that sucker with some shiny new trifurcons. Thanks for the lead.

#10 11 years ago

My BK2K is set as low as I can get it and it still seems loud. Unfortunately it is under my kid's bedrooms so I don't want to play it at night and risk waking them up. The pot seems to work because I can adjust it louder, just not any quieter than minimum.

#11 11 years ago

Are you sure the POT is the original or correct one?
--
Chris Hibler - CARGPB #31
http://www.Team-EM.com
http://webpages.charter.net/chibler/Pinball.htm
http://www.PinWiki.com - The new place for pinball repair info

#12 11 years ago
Quoted from Frax:

Is it just a matter of ohming out the current knob and then finding a replacement with a slightly higher resistance range?

I think this should do the trick, Radio Shack sells volume knobs of this type. My Rollergames has the same behavior.

#13 11 years ago

My Rollergames shifts back & forth intermittently between a nice low level and a "normal" loud level. I assume that I just need to re-seat some connectors, but have not bothered to mess with it since I actually don't mind it when the sounds are sorta quiet. Not sure if it could be some other part that is starting to flake out.

#14 11 years ago
Quoted from ChrisHibler:

Are you sure the POT is the original or correct one?
--
Chris Hibler - CARGPB #31
http://www.Team-EM.com
http://webpages.charter.net/chibler/Pinball.htm
http://www.PinWiki.com - The new place for pinball repair info

Nope. Haven't had a chance to check it... and I just signed myself up for 29 hours of overtime this week, so I may not get to it for a bit.

#15 11 years ago

I am interested in this as I just got an F-14 Tomcat and have the exact opposite problem. I turn my pot up all the way and it's not loud enough! I was told to use electronic cleaner spray on my pot so I did that tonight but need to let it dry overnight. I will let you know if I have any success.

#16 11 years ago

Those 5k pots very, very frequently need to be replaced. Everyone should have a few on-hand -- I end up putting new ones into about 80% of System 11s that I work on. It almost always fixes any kind of volume flakiness/crackling. As for being too loud when turned all the way down, that's normal unless it's -crazy- loud. The lowest volume on all Sys 11s is a little loud for home use.

#17 11 years ago

For those with WPC games, notice you can't turn the volume down below "8" (without changing a system firmware Adjustment thru the menu.) Well, system11 has this same option, but it's in hardware. Quiet games don't make money. Hence Williams put hardware into the volume circuit on system11 games so they don't go "full off."

If you want to change this, it's pretty easy. There's just a resistor by the volume pot that controls this. Simply put a jumper wire around the resistor, and you can turn the volume all the way "off" with the volume pot. (This of course assumes the 5k volume pot is in good condition.)

#18 11 years ago
Quoted from bobbyconover:

Those 5k pots very, very frequently need to be replaced. Everyone should have a few on-hand -- I end up putting new ones into about 80% of System 11s that I work on. It almost always fixes any kind of volume flakiness/crackling. As for being too loud when turned all the way down, that's normal unless it's -crazy- loud. The lowest volume on all Sys 11s is a little loud for home use.

Quoted from cfh:

If you want to change this, it's pretty easy. There's just a resistor by the volume pot that controls this. Simply put a jumper wire around the resistor, and you can turn the volume all the way "off" with the volume pot. (This of course assumes the 5k volume pot is in good condition.)

Not to hijack the thread but do you have any insight as to how to help system 11 volume that is too low? With my pot turned all the way up the overall volume is really quiet. Would replacing the pot help this problem as well?

#19 11 years ago
Quoted from cfh:

For those with WPC games, notice you can't turn the volume down below "8" (without changing a system firmware Adjustment thru the menu.) Well, system11 has this same option, but it's in hardware. Quiet games don't make money. Hence Williams put hardware into the volume circuit on system11 games so they don't go "full off."
If you want to change this, it's pretty easy. There's just a resistor by the volume pot that controls this. Simply put a jumper wire around the resistor, and you can turn the volume all the way "off" with the volume pot. (This of course assumes the 5k volume pot is in good condition.)

I'll have to take a look at this. It sounds cheaper and easier than replacing the pot.

#20 11 years ago

Dang Clay, I love you man. And I don't want your Bud Light. I'm trying that tonight. AWESOME!

#21 11 years ago

Jumper fix works great. And that is why Clay is Clay. My wife thanks you. My kids thank you. And my wallet thanks you.

#22 11 years ago

Thank you as well Clay; I just always ASSumed that Sys 11's were really loud compared to other Pins, and any fixes to this would be more work than it was worth (never really a problem for me, more of a hmmm.... this does not seem to work like other pins in that the minimum volume is LOUD).

I will probably try this later just for the heck of it!

7 years later
#23 4 years ago

Bump. So bypassing the volume pot resistor with a jumper wire really works? After doing that the volume will get quieter, if desired? Sounds like a great mod for my house. Since this thread is really old, can anyone confirm? I guess it's easily reversed if I tried it and it didn't work right.

#24 4 years ago

Followup to myself. I went ahead and jumped the resistor and it worked like a charm. Now it can go from quiet to loud as needed. The only trouble is that if you have the audio too quiet, then you can't hear the call-outs if a storm comes in. What with the fan and the discs running.

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