anyone here own a tron arcade? Have a quick question...

[postmortem]

I finally bought myself a tron arcade.. It was the first arcade game i ever played and its been my holy grail ever since. The problem im having with this arcade is it wont save high scores, and if I change anything in the options, the change will take effect but once i turn the system off and on i get a ram error B2 message. I found the ram chip in B2 and pull it out and put it back in again and everything is set to default and works again. Normally on my other arcades its just the litium battery that needs to be changed but I find no battery on tron. Anyone know how to fix this? thanks in advance

[CheffoJeffo]

The battery should be at B101 on the MCR power board (upper left right in the pic below).



More info on the PS board from Bob Roberts:

http://www.therealbobroberts.net/midway.html

EDIT: Thanks Derv.

[alfonzotan]

Those old MCR power supplies are notorious for having bad batteries that would fail, rupture, and damage the board (I'd guess whoever owned that Tron before you Derv knew that and clipped it off this card). I just got a Kickman with the same power board (which was shot in my case) working.  Yours looks like it's in much better shape than mine (the battery on my board had ruptured and leaked crap all the way down the card), but I replaced mine completely with a standard switching power supply and an MCR power supply adapter from arcadeshop.com.

That's a more expensive solution than just soldering in a new battery, but it's likely a better long-term fix... Something to consider.

The exact battery part number should be in the Tron manual.  Should be able to locate that on Google...

UPDATE:  Sorry, for some reason I thought the first two posts were both by the same author.  OP should check inside his cab to see whether he has the original power supply, or if it's been replaced.  And as noted above, the battery is normally in the top right-hand corner of that board as pictured above (you can even see the outline of the battery traced on the board).

Either way, that's a great cab... congrats on landing it.

[Dervacumen]

CheffoJeffo means upper right in the picture, by the yellow dot on the PCB.

[Paladin]

You can replace the original linear supply with a switching power supply kit, but be warned that this causes a hum in some cabinets.
You can run wires from the linear supply to a battery placed in the bottom of the cabinet to prevent future battery corrosion in case of a leaky battery.
You can install a lithium battery conversion.  Here's Bob Roberts page on the MCR supply, including lithium battery:
http://arcadecontrols.com/BBBB/midway.html
You can also replace one of the RAM chips with a NVRAM.  This thread has part numbers:
http://forums.arcade-museum.com/showthread.php?t=90255&highlight=Tron+save

I'm still working on my Tron restore and haven't addressed they issue on my cab yet. I did buy the switching power supply kit and it got the game running, but there was a loud hum in the speakers.  I rebuilt the original supply which eliminated the hum.

[postmortem]

mine actually has a white battery lookin thing in that spot. im guessing that this is the battery that leaks over time. Might be a good idea to take it out and replace with the lithium battery. thanks for the help!

[alfonzotan]

mine actually has a white battery lookin thing in that spot. im guessing that this is the battery that leaks over time. Might be a good idea to take it out and replace with the lithium battery. thanks for the help!

A GREAT idea to take it out, especially since it's apparently already failed, and likely to start leaking if you leave it in there.  Be careful in replacing it, though; Lithium-ion batteries can catch fire (yes, really) if they are left on "permanent recharge."  No doubt the Bob Roberts plans are fine, but be cautious about jamming any old Li battery in there.  Bad stuff can happen.

[postmortem]

You can run wires from the linear supply to a battery placed in the bottom of the cabinet to prevent future battery corrosion in case of a leaky battery.

how would I do this?

[alfonzotan]

You can run wires from the linear supply to a battery placed in the bottom of the cabinet to prevent future battery corrosion in case of a leaky battery.

how would I do this?

Solder wires to the + and - points where the battery would be connected on the board, then run those wires to the bottom of the cab and attach them to an appropriate battery you mount there.

[postmortem]

thanks for the info... i ultimately went with the lithium ion battery. i got the battery and the diode mentioned on bob roberts' website. I think im going to install it tonight. ill let you know what happens.

[postmortem]

so.. i installed the battery and diode and i turn the machine on and it boots to  "RAM Error B2". I removed the chip in B2 and put it back in but i still get the error. any ideas?

[postmortem]

Update: I switched the ram chip in B2 with a new one and put in a new diode and everything works great. thanks all for the advice!