I'm working on a Williams Hurricane belonging to a cousin of mine. He's owned it for about a year or so and it's been working fine until recently. Quite often, the volume suddenly goes to maximum despite whatever the volume setting is. Looking at info on Pinwiki (https://pinwiki.com/wiki/index.php?title=Williams_WPC#Volume_Suddenly_at_Maximum), it points to some sound card components. Well, I installed the Hurricane sound card (ROMs and all) on my Getaway since it's basically the same sound card (different ROMs, and different rev). I tested it for a good 20 minutes and didn't experience the problem once. It just played Hurricane sounds on my Getaway. I haven't reinstalled the sound board back into Hurricane yet but what else could cause the erratic, sudden maximum volume problem other than something on the sound card? Could one of the cables or cable connections cause this? Could the MPU cause this?

Thanks,
Leebo

Thanks @crash. I'll start w/ replacing the blue Philips caps and reflowing the header pins and even U5 (digital potentiometer). It just seemed strange that the problem didn't seem to follow the sound board when putting it in my Getaway, but I guess that doesn't totally rule it out (e.g. loose solder joint or flaky cap). I'm just wondering if something outside the sound board could cause the same behavior. Sounds like it's more likely something w/ the sound board itself though.

Thanks for the tips. Caps are ordered, so it will at least get those refreshed. Sounds like the ribbon cable connection could be related. When the sound goes loud, the volume setting is unchanged. I did notice that if I tapped one of the volume buttons to change the setting, the actual loudness would intermittently go from normal to full and back and forth. Again, not the setting… the actual loudness. Hoping it’s a loose connection. So if after swapping caps, reseating or replacing the ribbon cable, switches, the volume digital pot is next on the list. Actually, I’m sorta hoping for a combo meal here with the caps in case any are related to sound quality. The sound on this game has been a little weak in my opinion.

Thanks for the tip! Since the problem didn't follow the board when I installed it in another game, I'm going to check the cable/cable connection first, then try the digital pot and caps.

Got it. Thanks! Very helpful.

Just wanted to follow up with this thread. The issue seems to be fixed! The digital pot at U5 was the culprit. Prior to removing the chip and installing a socket (and replacement chip), I installed new caps and a new ribbon cable. They didn't fix or change anything that I was able to notice. Eventually changing out U5 is what solved the problem. One thing I don't understand is that while troubleshooting, at one point I installed this board w/ the original U5 chip in my Getaway and the problem did not seem to follow the board. Putting the board back in Hurricane and the problem returned. It was after that board-swap test that I replaced the U5 chip. Not sure why the problem didn't show itself while in Getaway. Nonetheless, it's working good now and wanted to thank everyone for their help with this.
2AEDC144-95C5-471E-81FF-1CA82F22D877 (resized).jpeg