Re: Evel Knievel start -up question

On Jun 27, 1:26 am, Mark Clayton <spamuser1...@xxxxxxx> wrote:
Yes, forgot to mention that.  If your CPU board has those light brown
sockets for the ROMs, there's another source of problems.  Handle
the chips very carefully.  The pins sometimes corrode and turn black,
and in extreme cases the pins can completely fall off from the slightest
touch.  Oh, and corrosion damage around the NiCd battery can also cause
start-up problems.  Even corrosion that was "fixed" years ago can still
slowly eat away at the board and cause problems years later.

-Mark
-----http://pinballpal.com



RJBAudio wrote:
On Jun 26, 5:59 pm, macmothership <jupit...@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Just getting my Evel Knievel powered up for the first time. Yesterday,
it started and played through a couple of games fine except for the
usual non-working lamps and the center target not working. Some things
to fix.
But then I powered it off and when I turned it back on, it lit up, but
didn't initiate the start-up. Just sat there lit up.
So purely on instinct, I unplugged it for about an hour, and when I
plugged it back in, and turned it on, it when right through to start-
up and played fine, Today it was fine at first, but again has gone to
the light up only, no start condition. It is sitting unplugged at the
moment, but I don't have much faith that this has anything to do with
it.

Any ideas?

Thanks,
Jim

We've had our EK since the early 80's and through the years the most
common issues had to do with the chips/sockets.  Just slightly lifting
each end of each chip and reseating them fixed the problem most of the
time but this method must be done very carefully or you'll risk
bending or breaking off one or more of the pins near the ends of a
chip if you lift it too far.  We had to do this quite a bit over the
years so I wouldn't consider it a permanent fix.

A few months ago I took every socketed chip (but one that had gold
plated pins) and used some very fine sandpaper (800 grit IIRC) on the
pins along with some De-Ox-it in the sockets and this seems to have
worked fairly well but the jury is still out because I haven't had
enough time to tell how long the fix will last.  However, I did notice
that every chip had discoloration where the pins touched the socket
contacts before I sanded them.

If you do take any of the chips out (or touch the pins at all) just
make sure that you don't "zap" them with an electrostatic discharge
(ESD) because that will damage the chip beyond repair.  A grounding
strap is the best method of avoiding ESD damage but I just made sure I
touched a ground point on the machine and avoided making any movements
that might generate static charge prior to handling each chip.

This may not be your problem and even if it is, may not be the best
solution.  My brother suggested taking the boards out and replacing
every socket but I took the lazy way out and so far it has worked
fairly well.

Keep us updated on your progress.  Hopefully things will work out for
you so you can spend more time playing one of the earliest SS pinball
machines and one that is still very fun to play after having one for
25+ years (and I really love the chimes).

Thank you for your suggestions. I will try them and let you know!

Jim
.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: Evel Knievel start -up question
    ... If your CPU board has the brown ROM sockets, ... The pins sometimes corrode and turn black, ... chip if you lift it too far. ... My brother suggested taking the boards out and replacing ...
    (rec.games.pinball)
  • Re: Evel Knievel start -up question
    ... chip if you lift it too far. ... years so I wouldn't consider it a permanent fix. ... plated pins) and used some very fine sandpaper on the ... that every chip had discoloration where the pins touched the socket ...
    (rec.games.pinball)
  • Re: Evel Knievel start -up question
    ... sockets for the ROMs, ... and in extreme cases the pins can completely fall off from the slightest ... chip if you lift it too far. ... years so I wouldn't consider it a permanent fix. ...
    (rec.games.pinball)
  • Re: Evel Knievel start -up question
    ... sockets for the ROMs, ... The pins sometimes corrode and turn black, ... chip if you lift it too far. ... years so I wouldn't consider it a permanent fix. ...
    (rec.games.pinball)
  • Re: Evel Knievel start -up question
    ... If your CPU board has those light brown ... sockets for the ROMs, ... The pins sometimes corrode and turn black, ... chip if you lift it too far. ...
    (rec.games.pinball)