I know Rottendog has shiny new ones but I'll ask here first. Does anyone have an extra working rectifier board for sale to replace the chewed-up-and-spit-out one in my Catacomb? I'm getting 6 tones/flashes and I don't want to fight with this scabby burnt out ol' board.

Thanks for looking.

Until you get that part, and if you want to try and get this one to work, check the fuses first. The rectifier is a relatively simple board and traces, cold solder to connectors, etc should be visable under magnification. And dont forget the weird little HV display fuse on the power/driver board in the backbox. That was a cause of 6 flashes for me on a machine. Crappy or not, its nice to have a working board just for backup.

First off, I just want to say that you should bite the bullet and buy the Rottendog and replace all of the connectors on the power supply. Catacomb is a great game and totally worth doing a little extra work to keep it reliable for the long-term.

Having said that, however, have you checked the test points on the rectifier? If you have ~43vdc at TP5, move to the MPU and check TP3 near the J4 connector. It should read 21.5vdc. If you have voltage at TP5 on the power supply, but don't have voltage at TP3 on the MPU, the problem is one of the following:

- Power supply connector J3, Pins 9, 12 or 13 is bad.
- MPU connector J4, pin 15 is bad.
- R113 on the MPU is open.

If you have voltage at both of the above TP's, you're looking at something more in-depth on the MPU.

Good luck!

Corey





6 flashes means your MPU isn't getting coil voltage (43vdc). Possible culprits include bad connectors on the

Quoted from wbradley

Until you get that part, and if you want to try and get this one to work, check the fuses first. The rectifier is a relatively simple board and traces, cold solder to connectors, etc should be visable under magnification. And dont forget the weird little HV display fuse on the power/driver board in the backbox. That was a cause of 6 flashes for me on a machine. Crappy or not, its nice to have a working board just for backup.

Thanks, Warren, I'll check the backbox fuse.

Maybe I'll try to fix it but it is a mess with wires soldered directly to the board. It's pretty crusty but what do I have to lose if it works, I guess, while I wait for a sweet new Rottendog.

So, all the test points check out within the proper voltages except TP4 which show a negative/basically zero reading but Pinrepair suggests that this is GI but the fuse is fine and the GI is on. However, Pinrepair also states:

Quoted Text

If TP4 is out of limits, the transformer may need to be replaced! TP4 is an AC voltage that doesn't get converted to DC, and hence doesn't have a bridge rectifier.

The op that I bought it from said "it works, but some times it needs to be started a couple times."

Thoughts?

You did change your meter from DC to AC when testing TP4 right?

D

connector...umm did you say it was hard wired?

Check voltage at transformer for that output.

Quoted from Menace

You did change your meter from DC to AC when testing TP4 right?

D

Exactly. TP4 is GI output, which is AC, not DC. I'm sure your transformer is fine.

Did you check TP3 on the MPU?

Quoted from Menace

You did change your meter from DC to AC when testing TP4 right?

D

Pffffft! Of course I did! But just to be certain I double-checked and the TP4 reading is now within normal ranges. There must have been some kind of interference the last time. I think my wife was using the microwave.

A pic of the offending board in here for your viewing pleasure: http://img834.imageshack.us/gal.php?g=catacombbgafter1006185.jpg

Jim (rottendog) is 'out of office' until tomorrow - is there any difference in board quality from GPE or Rottendog?

Quoted from cooke

Exactly. TP4 is GI output, which is AC, not DC. I'm sure your transformer is fine.

Did you check TP3 on the MPU?

I'll check now ...

Quoted from OTTOgd

A pic of the offending board in here for your viewing pleasure: http://img834.imageshack.us/gal.php?g=catacombbgafter1006185.jpg

Jim (rottendog) is 'out of office' until tomorrow - is there any difference in board quality from GPE or Rottendog?

I've seen worse....

The GPE and the Rottendog power supplies are basically the same as far as quality goes. However, the GPE has the edge because it *comes with* all the connectors you need -- housings... trifurcon terminals... keying plugs. Heck, it even comes with new plastic stand-offs. Further, the heat sink on BR2 is kinda optional. The GPE rectifier comes with it, the Rottendog alternative does not. Given the choice, for those reasons, I would opt for the GPE version. Unfortunately, Ed is usually out of stock, so the Rottendog is often the only option -- but the Rottendog is hardly a let-down. It's a top-notch product that kicks some serious butt.

Quoted from cooke

Having said that, however, have you checked the test points on the rectifier? If you have ~43vdc at TP5, move to the MPU and check TP3 near the J4 connector. It should read 21.5vdc. If you have voltage at TP5 on the power supply, but don't have voltage at TP3 on the MPU, the problem is one of the following:

- Power supply connector J3, Pins 9, 12 or 13 is bad.
- MPU connector J4, pin 15 is bad.
- R113 on the MPU is open.

I'm not getting 21.5v DC on TP3. I was getting 5 or 6 reading. I can ground to just about anywhere, right?

I don't know if this would work but I tried buzzing the R113 and got nothing ... which is good, right?

I have to check if I have enough pins and connectors ...