I need help from a Melbourne Bally pinball owner 1981-2 (Squawk & Talk)

[solar value]

Hi All,

I have a problem with the Squawk & Talk (sound board) in my Fathom. The board is not booting up in the game. I am unsure whether I have a board problem or a connector problem so I would like to test my sound board in someone else's game. If it boots, then I will know that I have a problem with the connectors on my game, if not, then I will know that I have a board problem. So I am looking for someone in the Melbourne region who owns a working Bally game that uses the Squawk & Talk board, that's any of the games listed below:

Flash Gordon, Eight Ball Deluxe, Fireball II, Embryon, Fathom, Medusa, Elektra, Rapid Fire, Mr. & Mrs. Pac-Man, Spectrum, Vector

It's a very simple test, just a matter of removing the single connector from your sound board and connecting it to mine and turning the game on.

Please contact me if you can help, thanks.

[ralph67]

Will the game boot with the sound board disconnected? 
It may be the sound board needs repairing ,  cracked connector pins on sound board ? ,  the  caps should be replaced to , These cap kits are available from great plains electronics  , good luck

[solar value]

Will the game boot with the sound board disconnected? 
It may be the sound board needs repairing ,  cracked connector pins on sound board ? ,  the  caps should be replaced to , These cap kits are available from great plains electronics  , good luck

Hi Ralph,

Yes the game boots no problem. It's just the sound board that doesn't boot, the led on the sound board is locked on at start-up. The sound board has been gone-over and tested recently (all caps were replaced , etc.) so it may be a (female) connector problem, or something may have failed again on the board. That's why I want to test it in someone else's game to make sure that it is definitely a board problem before I start replacing things on the board again.

[ralph67]

yes good idea to test in working game ,
 but do you have the repair guides? , it says the reset cap may be at fault C1 (47uf 16 volt) or the reset transistors .
It mentions the test button  on S/B sometimes causing the board to lock up to , if you have problems with the sound stuttering. turn game off then on to reboot ,
 good luck

[solar value]

...do you have the repair guides? , it says the reset cap may be at fault C1 (47uf 16 volt) or the reset transistors .
It mentions the test button  on S/B sometimes causing the board to lock up to , if you have problems with the sound stuttering. turn game off then on to reboot...

Thanks, yes, I have the repair guides, I just read the section you are referring to. I may try replacing C1. Do you know which are the reset transistors? Looking at the schematic, it looks like they would be Q3, Q4 and Q5

I don't think it is the test button, I haven't had stuttering and have rebooted the game many times.

The Bally repair guide also mentions the following possible causes for a locked on LED:

Faulty U5, Faulty U15, leaky C1, open R1, leaky CR1 or faulty U17

So I'll probably go through those as well after I have made sure the problem is on the board.

[benpin]

Where are you?

[solar value]

Thornbury but will travel.

[benpin]

PM Me with your contact number

[solar value]

Went over to Ben's house today and tested the board is his machine. It didn't boot up so I now know there is a problem on the board.

Many thanks to Ben for his help!