Good afternoon everyone.

I have had this TAF since July 2016. Ever since I got it, I have had a reset issue that I keep thinking I got, and then it comes back.

It will happen mid game or attract mode. It is NOT activated solely by hitting the flippers together.

This game has a new RD Power Driver Board that I installed. This reset issue has been around since before I installed the RD PDB. It also came with a RD CPU/MPU Board that was already installed prior to me buying the game.

I have gone through the PinWiki article nearly step by step.

A. Wall Voltage: 118V-120V+. The game connects to a 4ft metal power strip identical to this: https://www.harborfreight.com/12-outlet-super-power-strip-96737.html . During the writing of this post, I have connected it directly to the wall to rule out that possibility. My TAF does not have an auxiliary power socket near the power switch, so I cannot run the "wall voltage vs auxiliary voltage" test mentioned in the article.

B. Ground screws for PDB. Secured tightly via use of a drill/driver within reasonable torque.

C. Cracked Power or Ground Header Pins and Cracked Solder Joints at the 5V Fuse. Brand new RD PDB. SHOULD be negligible.

D. Missing diodes, open diodes, or cold solder joints at the Flipper coils. This I have not checked; however, I can't see why these would cause a reset issue in attract mode.

E. Poor Connections between the Transformer Secondary and the Power/Driver Board. This is the one true variable left. I haven't replaced these connectors just yet. I am fine with doing it - can someone suggest for me the exact tool needed to get each pin out of the connectors, or should I just wire snip the connectors off and re-splice accordingly?

F. Poor Connection at J101 on the Power/Driver Board. Re-crimped them.

G. Poor Connections between the Power/Driver board, the CPU, and other PCBs. I re-crimped all of these: J101, J102, J114 (on PDB) and J210 (on CPU). Any "Z Connectors" I replaced with brand new ones. With the PDB being replaced, all male pins are obviously new.

H. Using a Multimeter to Test the Bridge Rectifier and Capacitors. This SHOULD be solid with a brand new RD PDB.

I. Failed Thermistor. I replaced it.

J. Failed Capacitors. This SHOULD be solid with a brand new RD PDB.

K. Failed Bridge Rectifier. This SHOULD be solid with a brand new RD PDB.

L. Failed Voltage Regulator. This SHOULD be solid with a brand new RD PDB.

M. Failed Electrolytic Capacitor on the MPU. With this game having a RD MPU Board prior to my purchase, I am assuming this is sound.

So, with putting in a new RD PDB, I have made a number of assumptions. Assuming the PDB is 100% sound, especially since this issue was around BEFORE the introduction of the RD PDB, what should I do next?

This issue does NOT depend on high voltage (HV). It will do it after the game has been in attract mode for 2+ hours. It will do it randomly in a game. There is no real set pattern to this problem.
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Now something I did note about 3 weeks ago, and this was the first time this ever happened:

The game was in attract mode, and it went to reset. When it tried to reset it "froze". All the lights went out, the game made the boot up "bong" noise, and the DMD was frozen.

I powered the game down, and tried to reboot about 5 seconds later, at which there was a decent loud "pop", and only the DMD came on, but it was "on" without graphics/video playing. All the lights were completely off: inserts, playfield GI, and backbox - and the startup "bong" noise did not happen. I powered it back down, and gave it a lil' more time before going to reboot, at which point the GI lights came back on, but that was it and no startup "bong". I left it powered down for a good 15-20 minutes and booted it up, and the game booted fine, but reset in attract mode after about 15-20 minutes. The game has not acted up like this since. Now, I just have the random reset issue.

I thought it was a weak 12V circuit issue as the game did not reset with the ColorDMD unhooked; however, it finally did reset with the ColorDMD unhooked today.

This is a bone-stock TAF with the introduction of Gold Edition game roms and ColorDMD. I removed ALL prior-owner mods to include the polar bear, telephone, knight, and train - all with flashing lights. I also removed all previous owner-introduced LEDS from the GI circuit.

This all sounds like power issues, but I really am a bit stumped. Looking to more experienced people from here.

Thanks!

Hey everyone,

I had someone recently reach out to me regarding this thread, and I completely forgot to come and update it. Here is the update from almost a year ago now:

This was a big hint as I was having either a U26 or U28 error come up completely randomly when I would boot the game. No pattern to it at all; it would "just happen" sporadically. Now, this was a RD board; however, new board can go bad/get weird, and I said "heck with it" and bought a brand-spanking new RD board with NVRAM and stock roms installed. I then realized I had some weird "PinLED" DMD Controller board, and I didn't trust that thing at all, so I bought a brand new RD DMD Controller board there as well. Finally, I bought an entire new set of ribbon cables from GPE.

After that, I have never had a reset issue since. That being said, I don't play TAF very often, but I have had some good games on it - ones that the game would definitely have reset in the past - and so far, so good.

It's not an exact "IT WAS THIS!!!!" conclusion; however, it seems others are having this issue now. Hopefully, others will benefit from this experience.

Mind me asking how you came to that conclusion? I'd love to learn how to properly diagnose this issue instead of shotgun blasting parts like I did.