Valley Spectra IV

[wrkey]

I bought this machine from a thrift shop on Saturday.  The balls are both there (one is captured in the middle) and plugged in the lights turn on a series of 'beeps' come from the speakers and then no sound.  I haven't been able to get into the machine yet as I don't have the key required to open it.  I hope to get that problem solve today are at the latest by Monday.

This machine is rather cool in that the game system under the glass will rotate 360 degress so up to 4 players can sit and play and never get up... they simply rotate the machine around to their side of the table.  I have found some repair information on the net already and even a PDF of the original manual.  If anyone knows anything about this machine, please reply as I'm sure I will be searching for info soon!   I'm also going to have to replace all the rubbers and bands on it.

I paid $160 for this machine.   Can someone tell me about what this machine is worth... if it's working?  I'm not really interested in selling it... just curious if I got a good deal or not.

Thanks,

Rusty

[jay]

Would love to see some pictures of it.

$160 is not much money for a working game. Sounds like a deal.....

[wrkey]

Ooops... I forgot the post the photos.  Sorry.

[wrkey]

I think I found the root of my problem.  The nicad batteries have decided to leak and now I have corrision everywhere.  Any suggestion on ways to clean it up?  I'm gonna de-soilder the batteries so I'll have to find replacement for those to.  Any ideas?   Anyone?

BTW:  This seems to be most common problem with the machine.

Oh.. and Ninja decided he needed to inspect it just as I was clicking the shutter.

[knagl]

Geez, I hope the acid hasn't eaten through the traces, or you're gonna have a heck of a time getting that board to work.

Very unique machine, wrkey.  I've never seen one before.

I presume you've browsed the various Google results about your machine?

[PWRSTROKE]

The CAT in the pic is studying that board.  The Cat Has the answers--- .  Enjoyed the pics -B.

[proten]

I see you had a "Cat Scan" done on  the board.

[poppo]

The nicad batteries have decided to leak and now I have corrision everywhere.  Any suggestion on ways to clean it up?  

Soak the board in a 50/50 solution of vinegar and water to neutralize the battery acid. Use an old tooth bush on it after it after it has soaked for a while and then rinse it off. Let it dry thoroughly. I would buy a battery holder from radio shack and mount it somewhere else. Unless the traces are eaten through, it may work. I've had pinball boards that looked hopeless from leaking batteries but cleaned up ok.  

Note: That board does not look too complex, so even if some traces are gone, you can probably jumper things.

[wrkey]

Thanks Poppo!  I had other's tell me the same thing so that's what I did.   Got it all back together and the still not working right yet.

I decided to start a page on my website to track this project.   For those who may be interested go to:  www.rustykey.com and then click on the 'Projects' link under my photo.

[poppo]

Was there a chip in that socket above the batteries? If not, I would probably remove the socket. That battery acid stuff can get beween the pins of ICs or sockets and can be hard to clean without removing the chip or socket. It may be time consuming, but having a multimeter and checking point to point continuity will help. Like I said above, that board does not look to complicated (i.e. not many traces) so it should not be too difficult. I have a rework station, so I would probably remove all of the componets around the damged areas, clean them up, put in all new sockets, and put it back together.

Here is a Bally MPU board that had a lot of corrosion. All of the silver areas were corroded like yours, have been cleaned, and new sockets installed. The battery was replaced one of those 'super capacitors'.

[wrkey]

The original board designed called for a 3 chip CPU set.  The final design was all in one chip.  So they just left the board design as it was and used only one chip.   I've been doing the continuity checks.   The problem may be in the power regulator which is not on that board.  When tested... it is putting out 4.9v and the schematics call for 5v.  I've been told that .1v could be causing my problem.  I'm going to see if I can replace that part tomorrow.

[poppo]

The problem may be in the power regulator which is not on that board.  When tested... it is putting out 4.9v and the schematics call for 5v.  I've been told that .1v could be causing my problem.  I'm going to see if I can replace that part tomorrow.

I doubt that is the problem. There is more tolorance in chips than .1v. Even the voltage regulators specs have more + or - than that.

For a 7805 voltage regulator:
"Output voltage tolerances of ±4% over the temperature range"

4% = .2v

[wrkey]

Thanks!

[poppo]

But, it would not hurt to check the power supply filter capacitors. If they are going bad, there could be enough ripple to cause problems. This is where an old PC power supply can come in handy. A good source for a clean +12v (if needed) and +5v for troubleshooting.

[wrkey]

I'll do that.  The caps are in the circuit prior to the Voltage Regulator.  I have not eletronic's knowledge, but if it's supplying 12v and the regular is cutting it down to five.... wouldn't that process (12 down to 5) prevent power fluctuations as long as the income power was above the 5v mark?   Just curious.

[poppo]

Regardless of the voltage 12v or 5v (DC) it all starts out as AC when you plug it into the wall. First the AC has to be converted to DC. That is done with diodes. Typically a bridge rectifier circuit. While it may now be mostly DC, there will still be a lot of ripple or other noise, so filter capacitors are needed. You nowmally can't measure this with a multimeter and you need a o'scope to see it.

Here is a simplified explanation
http://www.kpsec.freeuk.com/powersup.htm

Note: Switching power supplies work different, but pinball machines rarely use them due to the high current needed for the flippers and other solenoids. So it's cheaper to just use linear supplies for all of the voltages rather than having a separate switcher just for the main board.

[wrkey]

Thanks for info!

New Update.  It appears that my Chips 'empty'.  As in the program code can't be read.  Another gentleman and his friend are trying their best to recover the code.  If ANYONE has this machine.. regardless of shape... let's talk!   We need to find a working chip if any of these machines will ever be restorable again!

Thanks to all!

Rusty

[knagl]

Interesting, Rusty.  Have you tried any of the folks who have previously posted in other forums and/or websites about the machine (the Google search link I posted earlier in this thread in reply #4 should give you some leads).  Due to the rarity of this game, that's likely going to be your best route to get those chips, as I doubt anyone else here on NLG has one of those machines.  Best of luck.












I made a slight mod to the url so that it opens in the same window. SF

[channelmaniac]

Thanks for info!

New Update.  It appears that my Chips 'empty'.  As in the program code can't be read.  Another gentleman and his friend are trying their best to recover the code.  If ANYONE has this machine.. regardless of shape... let's talk!   We need to find a working chip if any of these machines will ever be restorable again!

Thanks to all!

Rusty

Are you sure they are empty? Those are 82S181 PROMs on that board and they have odd enable lines on them. Most programmers can't read them as they aren't like a normal EPROMs. I have a programmer here that can read these if you want me to look at them.

Also, the 5101 RAMs and the 6532 RIOT chip would be weak links that could cause the board to not boot.

RJ

[wrkey]

UPDATE!!!!

After much work and help from several others... my Spectra IV is now working!!!

I've posted a video of it on YouTube.. just search out WRKEY or Spectra IV.

I also have a Facebook page and a personal web page.  On FB, just search Spectra IV.   For my personal repair journal, go to www.rustykey.com and look under the projects link.

[channelmaniac]

NICE!!!

 

Did you get the those pesky PROMs copied? If not, my offer still stands.

[wrkey]

As a matter of fact... my eprom was empty but we managed to cobble together several eproms from different machines.  We gave those to the Visual Pinball gurus who are used to reading the eproms and developing a PinMame code from them.  They were able to not only put together a VP code set for the Spectra IV but they then 'wrote back' the code onto a new eprom chip and recommended a compatible CPU chip for my machine.  That is where my code is from.  I do have the binary code for the eprom already.

However, we do have a small glitch or two.  It seems that the rotational tilt doesn't work, although this could be a problem with the sensor board and not the code.  Also when playing multi player mode, plays 1 and 4 play fine but when it's player 2's turn at every 1,000 points the machine makes the 'tilt sound' (but doesn't tilt) and when it's player 3's turn at every 1,000 it makes the 'won credit' sound (and does award the credit).  I have reported this to the VP team and they are looking into it now.

Thanks for the offer to help!!!    Once I get the bugs worked out of mine, I will make the binary code available to everyone so that others might be able to get their machines working too.