Williams Defender Help - needed

[GeorgeL]

Hi guys,

got my second game a few weeks ago. A 100% original defender in outstanding condition.

I have a couple pieces I need and maybe some advice as well.

I am missing the yellow "dollars" coin tag that is located between the 2 red "quarters" coin tags on the front of the coin door. Also one of the red ones is cracked.

Where can I get these? I've looked everywhere and have no luck. Anyone know or have some that I can buy?

I am also missing the piece of plastic that goes between the monitor bezel and control panel. I looked on arcadeshop.com and they only have one that works on williams games (except defender). Anyone know where I can get one these?

The game does not play either. Several of the roms in the rom board were missing prongs. I bought a new rom board off ebay (green label). Mine was red label. I have a later board so as I understand I am going to have to remove jumer W2 on the interface board right? Is that all I will need to for the green label rom board to work with the later CPU board?

When I power up the game now I get the funky carpet crap on the screen. Does anyone think I will need to replace the video ram chips on the cpu board or the cmos memory chip? How would I know for sure?

Anyone gone thru this game back to front that could kinda walk me thru getting mine going?

In case anyone is wondering, I paid 300 for this game. The condition of all parts is an easy 9.5. The cabinet itself I would say is a solid 8.

Thanks in advance for any help!
George

[Ken Layton]

You have the 'silver door' version. That's a Williams pinball machine door. The coin entry windows are reproduced. I believe Marco Specialties has them and Mike's Arcade too.

As to the test pattern make sure you don't have any test switches depressed. Check the power supply board for blown fuses/burnt connectors/LED indicators not lit.

[D_Zoot]

In reference to the "carpet crap",  does the rug pattern sweep one way, then the other and then keep repeating the procedure over and over again or is it a stationary pattern?

The rug pattern part of the normal boot process,  please clarify what it's doing so we have some idea where it's hanging during boot.

In either case, you really need to check your power supply voltages at the board very carefully.  Have a close look at the +5, -5 and +12 volt lines.  The Williams power supplies are not adjustable and over the past 20 years aging components can make the supply output drift.

Next step will be to carefully inspect the board for indications of battery leakage and resulting damage.  It's common and can cause havok with the chip sockets, among other things.

Lastly, bad ram chip(s) are also fairly common, but make sure you test the power supply first!!  Bad power can take out the ram.  If all else checks ok, look at the ram.  Occasional logic failure in the ram addressing circuits also comes up from time to time.

The CMOS chip is another common failure item, however the board should boot with bad CMOS, but you would be stuck at an "adjust failure" screen if that was all that is wrong.



Regards,
D

[Fozzy The Bear]

I have a later board so as I understand I am going to have to remove jumer W2 on the interface board right? Is that all I will need to for the green label rom board to work with the later CPU board?

Early and later series boards can be mixed with no compatibility problems with the following exceptions:

You CANNOT use ANY Defender Board in another Williams (or other) game!
You CANNOT use an early series CPU or Interface in a tabletop game as it lacks the circuits to flip the screen.
You MUST use red-label game ROMs in a tabletop game.
You MUST remove jumper W1 in a later series interface when using in a tabletop game.
You MUST remove jumper W2 in a later series interface when using WITHOUT red-label ROMs.
In addition to the two hardware revisions there are three software revisions, namely Red, Green and Blue label ROMs with Red label ROMs being the latest revision. Red and Green label ROM sets have 11 EPROMs, it is normal for ROM number 5 to be missing. Blue label ROM sets have 10 EPROMs, it is normal for EPROMs 4 and 5 to be missing.

Hope that helps...

Best Regards,
Julian (Fozzy The Bear)

[GeorgeL]

Thanks for all the responses. I looked on both of those sites before and I cannot find the same coin tags as my defender has...anyone?

The rug pattern when I boot the machine is not consistent with its pattern. Sometimes it will just be stationary with some small dots moving up and down. Other times its back and forth changing in color, etc.

What exactly do the three button inside the coin door do? How should they be? All pressed or depressed?

I cleaned the PCB board. There was a very small amount of battery corrision, nothing that appeared to be damaging. The battery holder has seen better days. Its a bit rusty and corroded. Should I replace it with the litho battery housing? Will the game boot if the batteries are not in this piece? Maybe that is my problem. I took the batteries out when I cleaned it. The solder points are all clean. Just the actual brackets that hold the batteries are crappy.

I havent tested the power supply. I'll have to hit radio shack and grab a tester unless someone can point me to somewhere I can find a better one. Anyone have a preference? This is my second game, first that wasnt working so I dont have all the gadgets to test. I do have a many, many tools though, and I've been in IT support for over 12 years so I know my hardware. I am also a product of the classic arcade generation. 

Thanks again for everyones help and this seems like a great place!

George

[D_Zoot]

An inexpensive digital mulitmeter from Radio Shack is fine.  Actually even the inexpensive ones are pretty decent and it should serve you well as you get into this more.

The board will boot without the batteries installed, but you would get an "adjust failure" message since the CMOS contents would have been cleared.

The thing about battery leakage is that vapors can get into all sorts of places and cause corrosion that isn't always visble with the naked eye.  Since it sounds like your leakage was minor your chances are better that this isn't a problem, but you still may want to pull all the socketed chips a reseat them.  Doing that helps wipe the contacts clean and sometimes will clear up problems caused by this.

But first thing is first,  let us know how your power supply tests out.  You can't  troubleshoot a board that isn't getting correct power.


Good luck!
D

[GeorgeL]

Thanks D. I will pick up a tester and let you know my results. I need some help testing the power supply I will post a message. Thanks for your time and tips. I sincerely appreciate it. Hopefully I can help you with something in the future!

George