One of the first things I always do before powering up an
"as is" slot is check the game for "loose change". Not because
I'm cheap, but because there is a rule when it comes to
slots, one that is OFTEN violated:
NEVER MOVE A SLOT WITH QUARTERS IN THE HOPPER.
Because quarters are metal, and can become lodged in
the strangest places, making a slot act weird (at best), or
shorting something out (at worse).
The other thing I always check for are SCREWS. on williams 40x
slots in particular, they like to get wedged between the backplane
board and the cpu/io boards' card cage. This can cause all
sorts of havic at minimum, or really burn something up worst
case.
So i have this High Speed game i made. I got this in a bulk
buy, and i KNEW the game had been through the mill. you
can tell by the parts and nuts and bolts in the bottom of the
game. The more "loose crap" you find, the more trouble this
game has seen. And i SWEAR i checked that backplane too
for any loose screws...
I have the game all working, but all a sudden the #1 reel
won't spin. And the #2 reel is "chattering" badly. Checked for
cracked solder joints on the reel connector, which they were
cracked, so i resoldered them. But same problem still. Replaced the
reel harness, problem goes away. Strange, must be a bad
connector...
Then 2 hours later, the problem comes back.
Change the reels, same problem. Change the I/O board, same
problem. Change the CPU board, same problem. Damn what's
left?? Just the backplane. So i remove all the connectors and
unbolt the card cage and WHAT DO I FIND? I freakin' 3" long
screw wedged behind the backplane! Holly crap no wonder I
was having problems!
So I replace all the parts and fire the slot up, and sure enough,
works like a champ. Thank goodness nothing shorted out.
Moral of the story: ALWAYS check *twice* for loose crap around
the boards before you power up for the first time.
Author
