Atari Superman electronic problems

[Daina Pettit]

I am working on an Atari Superman and found some curious problems. The game
boots up and plays fine.

1. Displays flicker and are very dim. Most of the time it's hard to tell
what the score is.

2. The MPU 9VDC test point shows 6VDC. Some of the other voltages are a
little low (by less than 10%) so I didn't worry about them. Not sure what
the 9VDC circuit does. On the schematic it seems to do nothing. I've got
to be missing something here.

3. The speaker has a rather loud annoying hum all the time.

4. The owner said they were told that the capacitors were weak and that
they should turn on the game and wait for 5 minutes or so for it to warm up
before playing. I didn't see this problem.

In looking at various documentation I couldn't find anything about the above
4 items. Any ideas?

Daina

[Ken Layton]

I am working on an Atari Superman and found some curious problems. The game
boots up and plays fine.
1. Displays flicker and are very dim. Most of the time it's hard to tell
what the score is.
2. The MPU 9VDC test point shows 6VDC. Some of the other voltages are a
little low (by less than 10%) so I didn't worry about them. Not sure what
the 9VDC circuit does. On the schematic it seems to do nothing. I've got
to be missing something here.
3. The speaker has a rather loud annoying hum all the time.
4. The owner said they were told that the capacitors were weak and that
they should turn on the game and wait for 5 minutes or so for it to warm up
before playing. I didn't see this problem.
In looking at various documentation I couldn't find anything about the above
4 items. Any ideas?
Daina
--
Linux Consulting Salt Lake City, Utah http://www.MrPinball.com
Mr. Pinball Classified--More Pinball Ads than ANYWHERE, and they're FREE!

Sounds like bad filter capacitors if you've got hum.

[John Robertson]

Post by Daina Pettit
I am working on an Atari Superman and found some curious problems. The game
boots up and plays fine.
1. Displays flicker and are very dim. Most of the time it's hard to tell
what the score is.
2. The MPU 9VDC test point shows 6VDC. Some of the other voltages are a
little low (by less than 10%) so I didn't worry about them. Not sure what
the 9VDC circuit does. On the schematic it seems to do nothing. I've got
to be missing something here.
3. The speaker has a rather loud annoying hum all the time.
4. The owner said they were told that the capacitors were weak and that
they should turn on the game and wait for 5 minutes or so for it to warm up
before playing. I didn't see this problem.
In looking at various documentation I couldn't find anything about the above
4 items. Any ideas?
Daina

Hi Daina,

I have some Atari notes here:

https://www.flippers.com/atari_pin_service.html

Sounds to me like the last problem shown on the page - bad connections
at the bridge rectifiers...and it won't hurt to touch up the solder
connections on the regulator PCB.

John :-#)#

[Paul]

Post by Daina Pettit
I am working on an Atari Superman and found some curious problems. The game
boots up and plays fine.
1. Displays flicker and are very dim. Most of the time it's hard to tell
what the score is.
2. The MPU 9VDC test point shows 6VDC. Some of the other voltages are a
little low (by less than 10%) so I didn't worry about them. Not sure what
the 9VDC circuit does. On the schematic it seems to do nothing. I've got
to be missing something here.
3. The speaker has a rather loud annoying hum all the time.
4. The owner said they were told that the capacitors were weak and that
they should turn on the game and wait for 5 minutes or so for it to warm up
before playing. I didn't see this problem.
In looking at various documentation I couldn't find anything about the above
4 items. Any ideas?
Daina

The Superman I just finished up not too long had the wait 5 minutes for
it to boot up. I replaced all the electrolytic caps since they are what
42 years old, big ones included (the 6800uf @ 75v is expensive $32).

Once I replaced them, those issues went away. Ended up sending the
boards to John Robertson to get my sound issues fixed. So the info John
posted, you should definitely check out.

And now I have another one to fix! Just ordered all the caps again :/

Paul

[William Altman]

Post by Paul

I am working on an Atari Superman and found some curious problems. The game
boots up and plays fine.
1. Displays flicker and are very dim. Most of the time it's hard to tell
what the score is.
2. The MPU 9VDC test point shows 6VDC. Some of the other voltages are a
little low (by less than 10%) so I didn't worry about them. Not sure what
the 9VDC circuit does. On the schematic it seems to do nothing. I've got
to be missing something here.
3. The speaker has a rather loud annoying hum all the time.
4. The owner said they were told that the capacitors were weak and that
they should turn on the game and wait for 5 minutes or so for it to warm up
before playing. I didn't see this problem.
In looking at various documentation I couldn't find anything about the above
4 items. Any ideas?
Daina

The Superman I just finished up not too long had the wait 5 minutes for
it to boot up. I replaced all the electrolytic caps since they are what
Once I replaced them, those issues went away. Ended up sending the
boards to John Robertson to get my sound issues fixed. So the info John
posted, you should definitely check out.
And now I have another one to fix! Just ordered all the caps again :/
Paul

New to this thread I have a Superman machine that wants to add points 1500 when you touch the flippers and 500
when you lightly touch the playing field

[Kerry Imming]

Post by William Altman

Post by Paul

I am working on an Atari Superman and found some curious problems. The game
boots up and plays fine.
1. Displays flicker and are very dim. Most of the time it's hard to tell
what the score is.
2. The MPU 9VDC test point shows 6VDC. Some of the other voltages are a
little low (by less than 10%) so I didn't worry about them. Not sure what
the 9VDC circuit does. On the schematic it seems to do nothing. I've got
to be missing something here.
3. The speaker has a rather loud annoying hum all the time.
4. The owner said they were told that the capacitors were weak and that
they should turn on the game and wait for 5 minutes or so for it to warm up
before playing. I didn't see this problem.
In looking at various documentation I couldn't find anything about the above
4 items. Any ideas?
Daina

The Superman I just finished up not too long had the wait 5 minutes for
it to boot up. I replaced all the electrolytic caps since they are what
Once I replaced them, those issues went away. Ended up sending the
boards to John Robertson to get my sound issues fixed. So the info John
posted, you should definitely check out.
And now I have another one to fix! Just ordered all the caps again :/
Paul

New to this thread I have a Superman machine that wants to add points 1500 when you touch the flippers and 500
when you lightly touch the playing field

I'm not familiar with Atari games, but from a general electronics
point-of-view I would measure the ground voltage on all the boards from
a cabinet ground to make sure they are all 0 V (or very, very close).

Checking voltages at the boards would be the next step.

When you say "touch the flippers" I'm assuming you are touching the
flipper bats vs. actually pressing the flipper button switch?

- Kerry

[John Robertson]

Post by William Altman

Post by Paul

I am working on an Atari Superman and found some curious problems. The game
boots up and plays fine.
1. Displays flicker and are very dim. Most of the time it's hard to tell
what the score is.
2. The MPU 9VDC test point shows 6VDC. Some of the other voltages are a
little low (by less than 10%) so I didn't worry about them. Not sure what
the 9VDC circuit does. On the schematic it seems to do nothing. I've got
to be missing something here.
3. The speaker has a rather loud annoying hum all the time.
4. The owner said they were told that the capacitors were weak and that
they should turn on the game and wait for 5 minutes or so for it to warm up
before playing. I didn't see this problem.
In looking at various documentation I couldn't find anything about the above
4 items. Any ideas?
Daina

The Superman I just finished up not too long had the wait 5 minutes for
it to boot up. I replaced all the electrolytic caps since they are what
Once I replaced them, those issues went away. Ended up sending the
boards to John Robertson to get my sound issues fixed. So the info John
posted, you should definitely check out.
And now I have another one to fix! Just ordered all the caps again :/
Paul

New to this thread I have a Superman machine that wants to add points 1500 when you touch the flippers and 500
when you lightly touch the playing field

Hi William,

Best to put the game into Self Test - Switch Test and then thump the
playfield with your fist and see what switch numbers register. Then use
the switch diagram to see which switches are the most likely suspects
and make sure they order open about 1/8" when not operated. Switches
should close about 1/2 way into their full travel range when activated.

This is usually a mechanical problem (switches no enough gap) not an
electronic issue.

If you don't have the manual I sell good quality print copies of the
originals or I expect you can download from IPDB.ORG or?

John :-#)#
--
(Please post followups or tech inquiries to the USENET newsgroup)
John's Jukes Ltd.
#7 - 3979 Marine Way, Burnaby, BC, Canada V5J 5E3
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