Arcade Collecting > Restorations & repair
CHICKEN RESTORE LIKE A ROBOT (Berzerk) *IT LIVES*
ChadTower:
Very minor acid corrosion... nothing worth worrying about, though. All traces intact and no PCB enamel loss. Worst case is a few components need replacing because the battery outgassing got to the legs.
I've been trying to find someone to do the boards but it seems all of the local repair people don't answer emails now. It's a bit odd.
Got sidetracked with remodeling part of my bathroom, but now that that is nearly finished, I can get back to this project soon.
ChadTower:
Had some long overdue time off last week so I got back to this a bit. I decided to push the MAME config aside for the time being and get back to the boardset.
With a little guidance from a friend I managed to get the likely problem narrowed down. Did some reflow work and got the voltages back to proper ranges on all boards. Still no test flashes and garbage on the screen. Was advised to pull power from everything except the ZPU and a good ZPU alone should get the first three test flashes. Still nothing. Then was advised that the typical battery acid fallout zone is the z80's reset circuit. It did have some damage, not a ton, but whoever had it before me that took out the battery did leave some there. Cleaned up the rest of that, scraped off some residue, spent a lot of time with alcohol and Q tips, reflowing/cleaning, and still no change. At this point I was advised to check the reset pin on the z80 - which should be persistently high (around 4.5-5v). It's near zero so there is the problem. Next up is to trace the reset circuit back and find the problem, either an acid tweaked component or a bad trace. I don't see any likely bad traces so my guess is a pad that still needs to be redone or a dead transistor.
Of course, part of the way in, my old Weller station developed a major fault. I pulled the iron from the stand and it was glowing red from the tip to halfway down the iron shaft. My backup station is a 20/40 watt $20 model... 20 watts isn't hot enough and 40 is too close to trace lifting. So I need to pick up a new station when some money frees up.
javeryh:
I just watched Chasing Ghosts last night and the two guys couldn't get their Berzerk working - hopefully you have better luck than they did!
froggerman:
--- Quote from: ChadTower on February 23, 2009, 10:21:35 am ---Of course, part of the way in, my old Weller station developed a major fault. I pulled the iron from the stand and it was glowing red from the tip to halfway down the iron shaft. My backup station is a 20/40 watt $20 model... 20 watts isn't hot enough and 40 is too close to trace lifting. So I need to pick up a new station when some money frees up.
--- End quote ---
Is this a WTCPN type of Weller station? If that is the case, it is probably the element that is bad. This can be fixed inexpensively. What happens is that the tip stilcks to the heating element and the heat stays on 100% of the time. I have changed mine twice over the last 20 years...it is still working great.
Anyway, have a look.
ChadTower:
WTCPS, actually... so you're saying it could be a bad element even though it's still heating? How could I tell a bad one? I did take it apart and saw nothing failed looking.
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