Arachnid English Mark Darts Super 6

[ethan1082]

I bought an English Mark Darts Super 6 machine from a local American Legion that was upgrading. It kind of works but mostly doesnt. I am pretty sure the monitor just needs a cap kit and it will be fine. The thing I am having trouble with is the game freezes or sometimes wont boot up. You power on the machine and hit the reset switch and sometimes the game will fire up but most of the time immediately freeze and other times it wont boot. I have a few times managed to add a credit then get into a game and things seem to work fairly well. I have replaced a couple of the inexpensive chips and some of the RAM. I am down to either the processor or the ROM itself. I found a source for the EEPROM 27256 but I do not have a file to burn to it. The sticker on my machine shows V2.7 and I was hoping someone had the ROM file. Thanks.

http://therealbobroberts.net/parts.html#eproms This is where I found the EEPROM.

*edit* I suppose it is possible the power supply is right on the tippy edge of working / not working. The rails seemed pretty close but maybe under operation ripple is enough to cause a hang?

[paigeoliver]

You sure your voltages are good?

I am sure the rom on this game is already dumped but if for some reason it isn't then I can do it as I have a working one in storage. Don't know the software revision off hand though.

I have a lot of parts for these games OTHER than the motherboards, so let me know if you need anything.

[pbj]

Just hook up a TV to it.  The cap kits being sold for this aren't completely accurate.   

Make sure you don't have the screws too tight on the dartboard membrane.  Your problem sounds almost as if it's got a stuck input and someone muted the speakers. 

[ethan1082]

Voltages were close when I measured. I suppose if I am just a hair low logic will die. I know I have one segment that sticks but I have been pretty careful to make sure it isn't stuck when I test.

Sounds have been working when I get in game. And I am pretty sure there is a sound that plays when you add a credit.

Interesting note. I added two small fans to the supply that feeds the monitor fairly recently. I like to keep supplies cool. If you have the monitor plugged in the fan speed decreases (audible change) suggesting a drop in voltage.

External TV
http://www.ehoward.alyrica.net/images/super6/super6_301.jpg
http://www.ehoward.alyrica.net/images/super6/super6_cricket.jpg
Near the top of the 17 in cricket you can see a bit of scrambled video. This aberration is a horizontal line that scrolls upwards at a slower pace. I do not know what this is.

I will check voltages again when I have a chance.

[ethan1082]

I checked voltages again real quick.
5V ~ 4.89V
12V ~ 9.65V lower than I expected
21V ~ 23V

I was thinking the logic was good to 4.80V but maybe someone can confirm?

Monitor issue:
http://www.ehoward.alyrica.net/images/super6/super6_scrambled_vid.jpg
It looks like you stamped the image on a cylinder and started rolling it down the street. It continues to do this even when the system has frozen.
Any thoughts whether this could be caused by the low 12V? Can anyone measure theirs to verify?

So the freeze thing I am talking about. I power on the system, it starts to go through its demo / attract mode and then will suddenly stop cycling through the various screens. (The case above was cut-throat cricket or something.) It sits on one screen and if you try to add a credit, the system is unresponsive. The video is still clear on the external TV.

I can if I get lucky quickly add a credit after power up and may be able to select a game on the next screen. Very rarely I can actually play.

[paigeoliver]

Does the monitor in this game not have its own internal power supply and instead take voltage from the power supply? Either way I would recap the monitor. If the cap kits online are wrong then write down all the caps on your PCB and order a custom one.

I have a couple spare power supplies for these, not sure of their status though.

[ethan1082]

I intend to recap this monitor but I still have to get the game to work. The monitor runs off one of the +12V from the main game supply.

I found the cap kit here http://homearcade.org/BBBB/caps.html when I was looking for audio and video caps for a Donkey Kong cocktail cab.

Kristel Display Cap Kit Used In Arachnid 6000   $8.00
Omnivision Display Cap Kit Used In Arachnid 6000   $10.00

[pbj]

My monitors do the exact same thing unless I let them warm up for 20 minutes or so.  I did cap kits on both, I recall that the kits were missing non-polarized 1uFs and substituted a wonky value for a high frequency cap.  I saw no improvement in either monitor after the kit.

A scrolling vertical distortion on your TV is likely a sync issue and not a board problem.  I will defer to Paige's opinion on that one.

I've got a complete harness with working boards and power supply I stripped out of the donor machine, and I'll try to measure voltages tomorrow.  We'll get you going.   

[paigeoliver]

pbj, I know someone else who needs the boards if the original poster ends up not needing them. I gave a complete -boards machine to a guy who has been pretty good about doing favors for other guys.

Video problems normally originate on the monitor or with the wiring, not in the boards (in theory they can originate with the boards but in my experience they never do). I have probably 4 of those monitors sitting around right now.

I also tend to skip the non-polars myself as I haven't figured out which ones to stock yet, and it isn't all that strange to get a wonky sub for a big cap. Those are often just AC filters and could have been anything in a fairly wide range and a lot of the old games tended to use voltage and uF combos on the really big caps that are all but obsolete now.

[ethan1082]

Any word on the voltages? I am going to try to get a check in the mail for the cap kits this weekend.

I have contemplated rebuilding the power supply to whatever extent I can, but the +5 seems reasonable.

[compute]

Getting 4.89v on the 5v line sounds suspect to me.  Not sure how sensitive dart machines are, but I know a lot of our stuff won't run for crap at that voltage.  Is that with the board plugged in?  As a standard we make sure our games are running at 5.1v measured at the cpu board.  I would try swapping it out if you have a spare or can get one easily.

[ethan1082]

I have a rework tool arriving Monday so I can change out components easily. It was here today but nobody was around to sign for UPS.

Do you think the best route is to just replace the 5V reg? Or can I change out a feedback resistor to slightly bump up the voltage? Either should be feasible.

I think this is the one I ordered. I have to do cap kits on two machines so way I am doing it with an iron alone. Heat wand FTW!
http://www.amazon.com/REWORK-SOLDERING-IRON-STATION-handles/dp/B004ZB9D4O/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1384571190&sr=8-1&keywords=rework+station

[ethan1082]

I replaced all of the caps in the kit tonight. I noticed an additional 3 or 4 caps that are ceramic or something that have cracks. The monitor looks better than before but isnt quite perfect yet.

I think I am going to order parts to rebuild most of the supply and see where that gets me.

[ethan1082]

Replaced all the caps on the main power supply board (except the two huge ones which I couldn't find replacements at my normal parts shop). Also replaced two of the three voltage regulators. The game is stable now and can be played with the use of an external TV. Woo!

My monitor still has scrolling issues. I am wondering of one of the adjustment potentiometers is having problems? I will look at it in the near future. I did not get the 12V reg that supplies the monitor replaced because I could not find one. I may try a PC power supply to see if that clears things up.

[ethan1082]

I tried the vhold and other adjustments with no luck.

I also got a computer power supply and attempted to test the monitor but I have run into a snag. The game does not seem to run when you have the monitor unplugged. I am not entirely sure why.

I have considered converting entirely to a computer supply but I am a little unsure how to incorporate the dimmer function for the main illumination. I would prefer to just replace a transistor or something rather than the whole custom power solution.