RFM Reset

[pinball god]

I just had another pearler of a game that may have gone for 20+ minutes on my RFM. Unfortunately I didn't get to complete it as it reset on me. I had this happen once before during a long game when it was Ver 1.1

This reset occurred with Ver 1.5. Th eonly common threads I can attribute to the two resets is

1. Both were longs games wit scores 800K+
2 Both occurred when th emachine has been on for say 1 hour plus (I think???)

Option one is a definite but I have highscores that are in the 900k's without incident.

I know the quality of expertise on AP probably have come across this before or at least can point me in the right direction.

Things I have checked prior:
1. both fans work ok in pc (logic box)
2 reseated prism card
3 update roms
4 probably totally unrelated but F112?? blew after the rom update and has not been replaced yet (its for lighting purposes)

Thanks in anticpation of ideas

[ajlaird]

First place I would look is capacitors. Check the PC mainboard, check the PC power supply, check the main power supply.

[pinball god]

First place I would look is capacitors. Check the PC mainboard, check the PC power supply, check the main power supply.

I'm not majorly technical unless its spelt out pretty much to the max. How do I check say the caps and the pc mboard first off? Thanks

[Strangeways]

Sounds like a thermal issue - Can you leave the game on for more than one hour with the backbox off ?

[ajlaird]

First place I would look is capacitors. Check the PC mainboard, check the PC power supply, check the main power supply.

I'm not majorly technical unless its spelt out pretty much to the max. How do I check say the caps and the pc mboard first off? Thanks

A visual inspection is probably all that is necessary to start with.

You are looking for any electrolytic capacitors that are bulging at the top, or discoloured. If you do a Google image search for leaky capacitor you will find pictures of what to look for. Any leaky caps will need replacing - you will need to be reasonably skilled at desoldering and soldering to achieve this.

RFM has a computer case in the backbox which houses a computer. You will need to open the case to check the computer inside it for leaky caps.

In my experience, these caps are often damaged by heat over time, and tend to cause problems when the environment is heated - such as when the pinball is on for a length of time.

[pinball god]

Thanks very much AJ, I check it out tomorrow. I've had the PC out once before so that won't be a problem. What I plan to do tomorrow first off is leave the game on for an hour or two and see what goes on. So I'll post the result.

Thanks Nino for your input as well

BTW any idea where to get SB T5A 5x 20mm fuses from? RTBB is down for maint so I'm out of luck there. I put in a 3amp I had lying around but it didn't last the power up.

Something off the subject and I might start a thread is What pisses me Off....but it seems whenever I do one thing to fix or improve a machine, I get rewarded with something else failing, like updating the rom and the fuse then goes.

Does this happen to you "more seasoned" pinball guys or is it just my dumb luck?

[ajlaird]

Thanks very much AJ, I check it out tomorrow. I've had the PC out once before so that won't be a problem. What I plan to do tomorrow first off is leave the game on for an hour or two and see what goes on. So I'll post the result.

Thanks Nino for your input as well

BTW any idea where to get SB T5A 5x 20mm fuses from? RTBB is down for maint so I'm out of luck there. I put in a 3amp I had lying around but it didn't last the power up.

Something off the subject and I might start a thread is What pisses me Off....but it seems whenever I do one thing to fix or improve a machine, I get rewarded with something else failing, like updating the rom and the fuse then goes.

Does this happen to you "more seasoned" pinball guys or is it just my dumb luck?

There is a difference between leaving it on, and actually playing it. I suspect the second will heat it up more quickly.

5A slow blow - Jaycar, DSE?

Pinballs require fairly constant maintenance - one of the reasons they became economically inviable, which led to their decline. Welcome to life with a pinball machine.

[ddstoys]

Well said AJ dosent matter how well you do them up you can just switch em on one day and bam its dead.      For example at the moment my riviera stepper wont reset and magnatron has a ball stuck and i cant remember the last time i sold em

[Strangeways]

PSP (Markc) might have the fuses - or Jaycar / Dick Smith.

I've heard many horror stories of machines working perfectly in a gamesroom, and then after being moved, they develop issues which defy any explanation.

[pinball god]

Well AJ I guess you could be right. I have had the beast on for about 8 hours straight, playing say 1-3 games at a time then leave it standing. No reset at all. Must admit the highest score I got was around the 500K and I didn't start Mars attack either.

Is a ram issue a possibility? Just thinkng this because the last rest occurred after mars attack and during a furious multiball where I was hitting lots of target simulataneously.

When I say it reset, the screen went blue amd then off, no error msgs whatsoever.

As far as fuses go, I checked PSP no go and jaycar had high amp fuses 10+. Will investigate further and will try playing the game to death as the next test

[ajlaird]

I would still do a visual inspection of all capacitors as a starting point. These are a fairly obvious and relatively inexpensive fix, although could be tricky to remove and replace depending on your desoldering and soldering skills. (If a leaky cap is on the PC mainboard then it can be difficult to dislodge.)

Could be RAM - if certain areas of the RAM are only used occasionally this could explain the symptoms. But start with heat as the most likely cause of the symptom.

You can always get a hair dryer or heat gun on to different areas to see if the reset occurs (use with caution!!). Get someone else to play while you heat up different areas of the main board, power supplies and then driver boards. This will narrow it down for you, most likely.

[pinball god]

thanks mate, I'll do the cap inspect during the week and see if anything seems dodgey. Will also try to find some fuses so I can see if there are any other problems that caused it to blow (I hope not)