Gang:

Scared Stiff recently started registering false opto closures.

It is sporadic and across what seems to be all (or at least, most) of the optos. All of a sudden, you will get credit for hitting a ramp, or a locked ball, or entering the crate.

Every once in a while you can play a game without issue, other times the false closures start immediately with Ball 1.

I have repinned the .156 connector on the 16 opto board under the playfield and confirmed that I was getting proper voltage there. When that didn't resolve the issue, I replaced the 16 opto board with a new one from DumbAss . Still no resolution.

So, it does not appear to be any one opto in particular, or a trough or a 16 opto board issue. I have not repinned the .100 connectors on the board, but they look good.

Again, the game was working 100% and was not moved or the target of an "event" which would provide a clue.

Any input is appreciated - thank you!

Turkey Day bump!

No corrosion on the board and NVRAM installed. I was doing some more observing last night and even experienced two resets.

Before I start doing more connector work, is it conceivable that I have an intermittent power issue that is contributing to both the simultaneous closure of multiple optos and now, system resets?

Ok, I have always wanted an excuse to try one of those reset boards. Order placed. I will report back once installed.

Installed the Kahr Pro Daughter board (man, that thing is sweet).

First night, the game played much better and I only detected one or two false opto closures over the span of 6 test games.

The next night it immediately began failing again with multiple false closures across simultaneously. False closures include: ramps, locks, crate, trough, etc.

Testing my voltage at the board, everything checks out on both the driver and the MPU. All of my LEDS are also lit/unlit/blinking as expected.

So, back at the well and looking for some help.

Thanks!

Well, I have not had any resets since the install. At one point, after all the switches went nuts, the Kahr board was lit solid blue (indicating that the 12V had dropped below 9V).

All of the optos are located between two columns (3&4) in the matrix (attached).

I don't think that the game warming up is a factor as I can power it up (after 24 hours of inactivity) and it immediately begin suffering from false switch openings.

SS Matrix (resized).jpg

So, further testing confirms I do NOT have a header pin or connector issue. Everything registers perfectly in test - both when closed or open.

BR1 and BR5 test OK.

I monitored my 12V and it consistently sits at 11.7 - and it does not dip during gameplay.

Today, when I test played with glass off, trying to strain the system, it never misbehaved. Again, it is erratic.

Bumping this back to the top. All optos are clean and check out.

My 12V regulated continues to sit at 11.7. Is that acceptable?

When I tried to play last night, the very first game had optos all over the place registering (as open) erroneously. The Kahr board is still lit steady green.

So, we know it is not header pins, the opto board, or bad opto switches.

eyeamred2u

Where did you have .062 connectors in the lower cab?

I can definitely replace any of those if suspect.

Going to revisit this thread and document what resolved my issues hoping that it may help someone else down the road.

For starters, a shout out to DumbAss ! He was awesome in helping me work through this and if you ever need a replacement board he is the man you need to see.

For starters, I removed the Kahr board to get a true baseline. All of my voltages were low and I had AC ripple across my test points. See below:

+5v = 5.1V
+12V = 11.78
+12VU= 11.5V
AC from +12VU to GND =.258-.256

After removing the Kahr board, I also started getting resets meaning I had both 5V and 12V/12VU problems.

I started by replacing C8 on the power driver PCB. I had zero issues, but was very careful. Those snap caps require that you have the correct tools and take your time. I removed solder, snipped the hook leads, added solder, and then removed the rest of the solder and they came right out.

I then purchased an external power board from DumbAss to take all the strain of my mods off of the Power Driver board. I didn't realize how many there were as I only installed half of them, but there were too many on that line. In summary:

Mods running on the 12V/12VU rail were: Pinwoofer amplifiers (x2), Color DMD, Under Cabinet LEDs, and Lit Hinge Magnets. Once I rerouted all of those to the external powerboard, my 12VU hit about 13.5VU (that's a 2V jump).

I then verified the integrity of the solder joints on header pins and repinned both the J127 and J129 connectors to the Power Driver PCB which are the paths for both the 5V and 12V/12VU. I took the time to properly make Y's in the looped cables and used trifurcon header pins.

Since then, I have played for several hours on different days and have not had the first reset or opto failure. So, I am considering this one "case closed".

Hope it helps, Gang!