Star Wars problem - resets

[johnvv]

I have a completely restored Star Wars upgright that was fully working about 4 months ago.   It was left in dry storage during the interim and recently moved inside. 

Since it has been moved, it randomly resets during gameplay.  The entire reset takes about 2 seconds and the play is returned to the initial 'welcome' screen.  The monitor does go blank during the reset.  Any ideas of what the source might be?  Or a resource to check for more info?  Based on my computer experience, it looks like a complete board reset is happening.

I checked the worn power cord and replaced it with a new one.  The ampliphone HV transformer was replaced during the restore and is fine.  The internals are clean.

Thanks for any suggestions or ideas.

[pcb]

Did you check all the connections inside the cab?   Reseat connectors, etc?  Just a guess.

 - Mike -

[RayB]

Did you re-seat the main connector that attaches to the game board(s)?

[paigeoliver]

Replace the big blue cap if you haven't already.

Check the voltages first though. Low voltages are the most common cause of a reset.

[Goz]

I had a similar issue with my Star Wars cab when I first got it and it went away after I pulled the game board and pressed lightly on the chips to make sure they were seated properly. After sliding the board back in it worked. I did separate the main board from the sound board and reseat that connection as well.

Hope it helps

-Goz

[ChadTower]

When he moved it, some solder joints probably went cold.  Examine the back side of the PCBs carefully.  This one could be a ---smurfette--- to find.  When moving these Atari cabs it's very common for solder joints to break and become intermittent.

Since the whole game is resetting, I would definitely start with the ARII and the power supply.

Paige's suggestion is a good one, too, make sure all connectors are seated properly and have strong connections.

[johnvv]

Thanks for the suggestions.  I checked and reset all the connectors, but the problem continued.  I think the 'big blue' cap was replaced just before I bought it - I'll check with the seller - it looks new.

I decided to to a self-test.  While no errors were found, I think the problem may have been related to either the self-test switch or aux coin switch.  After flipping both of them several times for tests, the problems *appears* to have gone away.  It hasn't happened in several hours, which is a record since I moved it inside.

Checking voltages is beyond my ability to do safely, so I'll have someone more experienced do that if the problem recurs.

Thanks again all!!

[ChadTower]

Oh, yeah, those switches.  They didn't age well.  A lot of people remove them for home use.

[johnvv]

To complete this thread for future use by others...

the reset problem recurred a few days after I adjusted the internal reset and test switches.  Turns out the problem was the 'big blue' capacitor.  It's been replaced and the assualt on the Death Star has resumed...

I also noticed that the unit was making a noticeable humming noise recently (like a ground loop sound in home theater systems).  That has also decreased significantly with the new cap.

Thanks all for you suggestions and help.

[ChadTower]

The hum was AC ripple in the power supply.  Replacing the cap will definitely take care of the AC ripple, since it is the cap that is responsible for keeping a smooth, constant output rather than pulsing output.