Recently my DE - Star Trek 25th's audio crackles, like its picking up some kind of static/interference. Trying to track down any bare wires or something. Cant narrow it down.. Anyone?
(Topic ID: 103098)
Lake Bluff, IL
Not sure if this will help, but did you try reseating the connectors to the sound and power boards? I have had tons of issues with mine and finally decided to replace the power board as I wasn't getting a constant clean power supply.
I did not reseat them. But I did give them all a push. Let me turn off the game and try that. Btw, it comes and goes. Totally random. May work for 30 mins, then static. I know Potentiometers can go bad, they get stuck in-between levels and can crackle.
Re-seated everything. Crackled at boot. Then clean... But, it is unpredictable. sometimes runs for a day fine. Then the next day. Crrwwqqqqxxxqqqrrerrrrrrackle.
Quoted from Jean-Luc-Picard:Re-seated everything. Crackled at boot. Then clean... But, it is unpredictable. sometimes runs for a day fine. Then the next day. Crrwwqqqqxxxqqqrrerrrrrrackle.
edit: Right after I pressed post I heard a crackle from the arcade room.
Bummer. I'm curious though, are there any other symptoms? For me, a bunch of seemingly unrelated minor issues (weird cooling fan changes in speed, etc.) turned out to have a common cause back on the power board. Really drove me nuts as I went so far as trying a new sound board and cables. The intermittent nature made it a pain to diagnose.
Quoted from krivoap:Bummer. I'm curious though, are there any other symptoms? For me, a bunch of seemingly unrelated minor issues (weird cooling fan changes in speed, etc.) turned out to have a common cause back on the power board. Really drove me nuts as I went so far as trying a new sound board and cables. The intermittent nature made it a pain to diagnose.
I only have "random" crackle. When I am tinkering with wires trying to find a raw wire. It goes in and out when I touch metal. This could be a coincidence but it made me think the audio has a bad ground? But, I still think the problem is with the Potentiometer or wiring leading to it.
ok. I touch/ push on one of the sound roms while the game is on. And I get..... SCOTTY HEAR. Clearly something is wrong.... Anyone?
edit: This was incorrect
Quoted from Jean-Luc-Picard:ok. I touch/ push on one of the sound roms while the game is on. And I get..... SCOTTY HEAR. Clearly something is wrong.... Anyone?
It sounds like your sound card is rebooting when you do that. That's the first thing he says when the game boots. So, perhaps the 5v dropping out at the connection to the sound board, or earlier? My hunch is you have a bad connection on the board somewhere if it's doing it when you press down. Perhaps a cracked solder point somewhere on the sound board. If it were me, I'd test the 5v game supply with a DMM, and if that's good, I would verify all wires are seated in the 3 or 4? sound board IDC connectors well, if not redo them all (which I did to try to improve mine), and then I would reflow all the solder to the sound board contacts on the back for those IDC connectors. Try that and see if it clears it up.
DE sound is tricky. Suffers from ground hum. Common fix is to float the sound board.
But to your crackling, I'd try and determine if it's on one channel or every channel - this would help you to isolate where it is on the board. Disconnect two speakers and see if you still have the cracking on the third. Then disconnect the first and add the second and check again.
viperrwk
Sounds good, I will check if it needs to be re-flowed, wires, channels ect.. One thing I noticed, after awhile or actually after I play a game. It goes away, and stays good for the entire time it's on.
Quoted from Jean-Luc-Picard:Sounds good, I will check if it needs to be re-flowed, wires, channels ect.. One thing I noticed, after awhile or actually after I play a game. It goes away, and stays good for the entire time it's on.
That could very well be a cracked solder point warming up over time. With that in mind, I'd run through resolder all the contacts. Easy enough to just heat them all up, adding solder where necessary.
1 month later
Some things I have done so far.
1. Removed 1 speaker at a time. It cracks on all 3.
2. Re-flowed dry solder points/connectors.
3. Re-seated everything.
4. Secured all nuts for solid ground.
Since it goes away after it warms up, could it be something else on the board. Some people had issues with C30 for humming?
I toyed with the idea of getting the pinsound board. So I could add more cast voices to the game and not just scrotty. The $400 is the only thing holding me back at this point. I will first try replacing what I need. Is C30 and C31 the only thing I should replace or?
EDIT: I pre-ordered the pinsound board. I think it will be really fun. The nice thing it is universal and will work on all my DE, and Williams machines.
5 months later
Quoted from Jean-Luc-Picard:Some things I have done so far.
1. Removed 1 speaker at a time. It cracks on all 3.
2. Re-flowed dry solder points/connectors.
3. Re-seated everything.
4. Secured all nuts for solid ground.
Since it goes away after it warms up, could it be something else on the board. Some people had issues with C30 for humming?
I toyed with the idea of getting the pinsound board. So I could add more cast voices to the game and not just scrotty. The $400 is the only thing holding me back at this point. I will first try replacing what I need. Is C30 and C31 the only thing I should replace or?
EDIT: I pre-ordered the pinsound board. I think it will be really fun. The nice thing it is universal and will work on all my DE, and Williams machines.
Any update with using pinsound with this machine?
Promoted items from Pinside Marketplace and Pinside Shops!
Reply
Wanna join the discussion? Please sign in to reply to this topic.
Hey there! Welcome to Pinside!
Donate to PinsideGreat to see you're enjoying Pinside! Did you know Pinside is able to run without any 3rd-party banners or ads, thanks to the support from our visitors? Please consider a donation to Pinside and get anext to your username to show for it! Or better yet, subscribe to Pinside+!
