PE+ hold buttons 2,3,4 & 5 stop working after a few minutes

[sfalco6033]

After I changed my game chipset I developed a problem with the hold buttons. Everything works fine for about ten plays and then the 2,3,4 & 5 hold buttons stop working. The 1 hold button continues to work. I have tried using a different board and a different set of chips, but the same problem occurs.
I was using a doubledown stud prior to the change. When I put it back in, it has the same problem for a while, but then starts working ok.  I would appreciate if someone could point me in the right direction to resolve this problem. Thanks.

[knagl]

Welcome to the NLG forums, sfalco.  Good to have you here. 

The hold buttons are wired in series.  If one button (or the cherry switch under it) is stuck, most of the other buttons won't respond.

You may also have a loose connection somewhere which would prevent the series of switches from working properly.

The first, least technical thing you can do is to gently jiggle all of the wires leading to the switches behind the hold buttons and see if you still have the problem.  On rare occasion I've had my hold 4 and 5 stop working (it's always those two, and always at the same time) -- a gentle jiggle of the wires resolves the issue, which tells me that I just have a loose wire going to one of those two buttons.  Since it's so intermittent I've never bothered to fix it.

Since you said that on yours it's a situation that usually crops up after a few minutes, it may be related to heat.  Either the light bulbs in the buttons are heating the immediate area and somehow causing a loose connection to stop working, or you possibly could have a heat related issue with your MPU board.  Do you have a spare MPU board (the board that you change the chips on) to try -- that could help to eliminate some areas.

Finally, both before and during the issue, open the door and press the self test button.  The self-test input screen can help to diagnose, as it will tell you if any buttons are stuck on (causing the rest not to work).  Check out that test screen and observe how the zeros next to the hold buttons (on the screen) turn to 1s when you press the button.  Once you're at the point where it's not working correctly, use the self test button to get to the input test screen, and see if any of the buttons are reporting that they're pressed.  If it claims that hold 2 is pressed, for example, inspect the wiring and the cherry switch for that button.

Good luck, let us know what you find.

[sfalco6033]

Your right on point. It turned out to be a defective cherry switch on the #1 hold button. I swapped it out the the cash out switch. Back up and running fine. Thanks for your help.

[knagl]

Great to hear, and you're welcome!

[Rep]

You're the man bud, nice call! Glad you're back up and running properly sfalco!