(Topic ID: 108571)

WB "Taxi" electronic bugs for an utter beginner

By taxi_for_one

9 years ago


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  • Taxi Williams, 1988

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#1 9 years ago

Just bought my first PB and absolutely love it.. Had no idea how much maintenance/love they needed
Wonder if someone could help me plse .The main tune is now playing a really wobbly version. sounds really bad.. (I played with the musical test buttons and it started it doing it from then on. (agh)
But can I continue to play it or is running it doing more damage to the board?
The displays are also showing iiregular segments lighting up. Same question should I still use it?
Even Bigger question is Is there a simple fix for these problems... Have changed hole kicker mech .. striped and clean repaired the ramps.. but electronics and Forums are something I have no experince of. Just bought the service manual and it pretty much makes no sense to me.. Here's hoping for guidence Thanks Toby

#2 9 years ago

I would start by checking/reseating the ribbon cable that connects the audio and display boards

#3 9 years ago

Will do nerdygrrl ... Thanks very much. Will report back after I've put the kids to bed!

#4 9 years ago

Excellent Thanks, I just reseated most of the connections and the sound track has improved (not perfect) the new bonus diplay is now working perfectly but still have lines on the main VDU. I noticed alot of the connections and wires were dirty. What would be the best way to clean them.. Is like a WD40 a bad idea? Thanks again for your help

#5 9 years ago

Nooooo WD40! You can clean the pins with isopropyl alcohol and qtips. Go through, clean and reseat. You may need to find someone local to you that can reflow the solder pins.

As per the main display, have you tried running a test mode?

#6 9 years ago

strange sound and display problems usually point to battery corrosion on the MPU board. The battery holder is positioned right over the traces on the circuit boards right under the ribbon connectors for the music and display boards. Check for traces of corrosion on the board and or holder. Or put up a few photos here on pinside for us to inspect.

#7 9 years ago

So after reseating.. the display problems vanished then re-occurred 20mins later. However the sound/music is 100% now thanks . Think the connectors need cleaning judging by the colour of my fingers.Just off to see If I can find isopropyl alcohol. Have also checked for battery corrosion. To find there's no battery holder at all just a pack of duracell with the wires soldered directly onto the terminals. Certainly doesn't look like a genuine Williams factory set up.
Is learning to reflow solder pins a killer (have got an old VDU that I could pratice on) as living in rural France am going to strugle to find anybody accept maybe a farmer.
Thanks to you both of you for your expertise, It's appreciated..

#8 9 years ago
Quoted from taxi_for_one:

Have also checked for battery corrosion. To find there's no battery holder at all just a pack of duracell with the wires soldered directly onto the terminals. Certainly doesn't look like a genuine Williams factory set up.

This is probably good news. It sounds like some previous owner installed a remote battery holder. This is great since now if the batteries leak acid, the acid will not drip and damage the circuit boards. Typically this type of installation is not pretty, just effective.

#9 9 years ago

If you get a chance post some pics of the area of the board with the batteries/holder. It may be good to shoot a pic of your display as well. The problem disappearing and going away could be the connector, it could be a cold solder joint, or a failed spot on your board.

#10 9 years ago

I'll try and get some photos up later today.. Thanks for the heads up..

#11 9 years ago

Sorry for the delay.. Plse see pics - Sadly the music has returned to sounding kind of wrong and all over the place.. As you can see so have the displays. However I've ordered some isopropyl alcohol so I can clean the connectors - Just waiting for it to arrive.
Q) Plse can you tell me if I should stop playing the PB until I fix the problem i.e Will I damage it?
Q) Any suggestions on my next step to fixing the prob?
Thanks again for your help
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#12 9 years ago

You are correct, that is not factory, and will make it a little tough to replace the batteries every year. Buy yourself a remote battery holder and replace that hack (just google "pinball remote battery holder"). You could also buy the parts at a local electronics store and make your own. Any fix is going to require some soldering.

Since most of the problems seem to at least temporarily go away with reseating connectors you either have a bad ribbon cable, cold solder joint or corrosion on the contacts. First I would spray the contacts with DeOXIT contact cleaner and then install and remove the connectors a few times. Next I would reflow the solder on the pins. If neither of those provide a permanent solution I would try a new ribbon cable.

See the info below on soldering. Use something besides your pinball game to practice.

http://pinballrehab.com/1-articles/solid-state-repair/tutorials/161-basic-soldering-tutorial

#13 9 years ago

Thanks Terryb.. awesome breakdown of exactly what to do.. Thanks again and have a great rest of the weekend

#14 9 years ago

Odd that someone replaced the battery holder, and left it mounted on the board.
Yes, install a remote battery holder. You want your batteries away from the board.

1 month later
#15 9 years ago

So the "pro" contact cleaner spray arrived - used it and no improvement - then someone suggested that I flip the ribbon cables end to end (sometimes that helps create a better connection). So I did this and AGGGHHH the digital displays all but disappeared. So I ordered new ribbon cables and installed them.. thinking Christmas has come early and I'm no turkey. Result Zero maybe 5% of what I had before... (no way to read a score or anything useful like that Sound track still duff too) This is doing my head in as I haven't been able to play it for like a month now. The only other thing I did was there were 2 x mounting screws on the main board were missing so I fitted new ones.. Any suggestions gratefully received.. Thanks

#16 9 years ago

Would there be anyone in your area that has a game with the same display so you could try it out. The manual has a section on testing display segments. If the game plays and you cant read the scores let it go for now. If the sound comes and goes you might need new caps. Id reseat & clean all plugs again.

#17 9 years ago

Thanks TK .. I replaced the bonus display and is was working great when it went in so was the main display - it was only when I flipped the cable did I loose the score (and the plot) so I'll give it another clean and reseat it again.. Cheers

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