New Life Games Tech Forums

I have owned this machine trouble free since 1996 and recently had the backup battery need to be replaced.  Now after it was reset and was working, it won't restart after power is off.  The bottom candle light (yellow) flashes rapidly but the system will not restart.

No other error message as no processor and no display although power is on.

Suggestions please.  This is a standard flat top.

Skipjack   First off Welcome to our little group.

I don't quite understand by this statement "Now after it was reset and was working, it won't restart after power is off."  Do you mean the machine did work after you replaced the battery ? If the ans. is no it never came back to life, I would make sure you have the MPU completely inserted into the mother board ( back plane )  While you have the board out, make sure you didn't install the new battery backwards. ( It happens  )  Also look at the pins on the MPU and see if a couple of them may have gotten bent.   

For clarification:  After battery was replaced and machine reset, all was working and game parameters where set and the machine was in play for several hours.  After the power was off for 24 hours, the machine will not restart.  The battery voltage and polarity is correct.  The only outright clue is the flashing candle mentioned above.  The reset button has no effect.

these are some strange issues considering the battery went dead.  typically just pressing the white test button would bring the game back on line, since you said it did that , did you remove or do anything other than shut off the machine?

on that particular model the monitor is strictly an output device, so even if the board was good you can go thru the motions and play the game. you just won't see it.  do any of the button lamps come on? will it accept a coin? etc.

when you turn off the game , do you see a bright flash on the screen?   have you wiggled the fuse caps?

you have to tell us what you observe.

Jim

   

The machine was working well when I cut off the power whcih I have done many times in the past before the battery issue.

Nothing esle was done to the machine just power off and back on 24 hours or so later.
No flashes of light and all seems powered up but no restart.  Clear buttoin has no effect but that flashing candle light seems like it must mean something.  Just don't know what.

One clue remains.  The time I powered up the machine after the battery was repleced, I did very briefly get the message "CMOS failure".  I assumed (shame on me perhaps) that this was because the RAM was empty.  That went away and the machine started when I pushed the clear button.

I did remove and check all fuses before initiating this inquiry.  I did also recheck the battery voltage in place on the board.

I have been tech for over fifty years so I am very careful about handling and static discharge issues.  Yes, I am old.

I am inclined to replace the RAM chip as a test anyway.

WHAT EXACTLY DO YOU MEAN BY ALL POWER UP NO RESTART?????

do you get a display?  have you tried to insert money and play the game??

the reason I asked to wiggle the fuses!!!  the tips that hold the fuse cap in place sometimes breakoff and even though the cap appears to be seated and secure, its not.

something is not right here??   you should not be having these issues if you only had a dead battery!!!!   

like I said before, you have to tell us everything that you did  and everything you see or ??? 

I believe that the battery issue is a red herring -- he stated that the game was working correctly after the battery was replaced, that he played the machine for a while, then turned it off when he was done playing.  When he turned it on around 24 hours later, nothing appears on the screen.  I suspect that the monitor is not working.

Do you have another monitor you can try, or another machine you can put this monitor into in order to see if the monitor is still working?

I reported that the only current machine activity is the flashing candle.  No buttons are illuminated, no display is shown but the monitor is powered up as it will flash a Horizontal line when the power is shut off.  I do not believe it to be the display.  It appears the processor is not running.  No coin acceptor, no buttons, no display, only the candle flashes.

Tomorrow or when time permits, I will repeat the actions that resulted in normal operation.  I will remove and replace the battery and then restart the machine.  The last time I did this, the candle did not flash, the error message flashed CMOS FAILURE.  Then when i pushed the reset button, it started in all default modes.  I reset the game paramaters to the way I use the maching and played the machine for several hours to test it but upon power off for 24 hours, it returned to the state before I replaced the battery.  The battery voltage is normal but the processor seems to lock up as though the battery was not doing the job.  I am assuming the battery keeps the proceessor active during power off.

Thanks for all of the assistance.   The initial error message was "Call Attemdant - Battery Low".  Then later it would not so anything.

For what it's worth, if the processor wasn't doing anything, the candle wouldn't flash, so it's doing something.

Also, the lower candle flashing would be typical behavior if you just turned the machine on, until a paid game is completed.

If you just replaced the battery, it should be good. provided you replaced it with the proper type. the battery is a 1/2AA 3.6volt Lithium non rechargable type. should last many years.

It was the proper battery I believe.  Xeno Energy, XL-050F, 3.6 volt lithium.

It is really baffling how it first worked and then stopped.  I will recheck all the obvious items again before going any further.
I would think that under any circumstances, the rest button would clear and reset everything but it does not.

I'd closely check any connections (wire harnesses) between the motherboard and the monitor, too.  From what you've described, it sounds like the monitor is getting power (based on your description of seeing a brief flash of a horizontal line when you power off), but isn't getting any data.

I have closely inspected all connectors and the boards.  I have cheked all fuse holders and fuses (continuity) and all are proper.

The game lights (glass) are on and the candle flashes but no buttons lights are on and the game is not active. 

I will attempt to remove and replace the battery when I have the time and see if that resets the system.  It did last time.

There is a manual coming and I will sleep on it.

The machine is very clean in spite of its age and has worked well the fifteen years I have had it. 

Thanks for all the suggestions.  We will overcome.

I'm afraid that the battery is a red herring, but it won't hurt anything to remove it and re-attach it.

The lower candle should blink when the power is first turned on.  To that end, you should be able to prove that your processor is doing something by (with the power off) removing the MPU board, then turning the power on.  I'm pretty sure you then won't get a flashing candle.  Remember to always have the power off when removing or inserting the board.  I still believe that the problem lies in your monitor or in the signal getting to the monitor.

Edit: I see you're not far from me.  I can come over and help you troubleshoot at some point if need be.