Dead Frenzy - need to revive

[NoahsMyBro]

I've got a Frenzy. It doesn't power up at all.

There is no back panel for the cabinet, but I've rigged up a piece of wood to depress the plunger switch that would normally be pressed by the back panel.

Also, surprising to me, there is a plunger switch that the coin box presses when closed that also appears to kill power to the game.

When the game is on, there is an almost inaudible hum coming from somewhere, I assume the speaker.

I don't see any lights on the boards (LEDs that would show the presence of power, for example). The monitor doesn't display anything at all, there is no visible or audible reaction to any button presses, the coin slots don't illuminate (the 'insert coin' panels; admittedly one is missing a bulb), and the marquee doesn't illuminate.

My first guess is that the power supply doesn't work. How can I verify or troubleshoot this? Is there a wiring schematic available for download somewhere?

Thanks,
Steve

[Brian Deuel]

You can pull that switch out and it'll stay on.

First thing to do is check the main game PCB around the battery. The batteries on those boards eventually leak and corrode the PCB if they aren't removed/changed, pretty much destroying the board. This could be one of your problems.

Then check the power supply. I think you can use the Berzerk manual for this, found at http://www.arcadedocs.com/vidmanuals/B/Berzerk.pdf

[NoahsMyBro]

Thanks - I'll look at that.

Why would there be a battery?

[NoahsMyBro]

A bit more info:

I found the Berzerk manual online, and it confirms that the interlock switches will 'disable' if I pull the plunger out. I removed my jury-rigged wood plank that was depressing the switrch, and pulled it out for ease of troubleshooting.

(side note: Jury-rigged or jerry-rigged - let the 'net show the way - http://www.wordcourt.com/archives.php?show=2004-03-10 )

If I leave the machine plugged in for a while, then when I do turn it on the monitor flashes bright white just for a split-second and then all goes dead. It seems to me that something will allow a charge to build-up, but the act of turning the machine on dissipates that charge instantly.

Hopefully tonight I'll have time to look for a battery somewhere on the board. I'm still curious why there would be a battery at all, and I didn't see one when I (very briefly) looked at the Berzerk schematic.

[Videogamerdaryll]

check any or all the fuses..

[FrakAttack]

I'm still curious why there would be a battery at all, and I didn't see one when I (very briefly) looked at the Berzerk schematic.

I recall that Berzerk saved high scores and initials even after being unplugged so that must have been the reason. Not sure if all of them had one, though.

[Brian Deuel]

I recall that Berzerk saved high scores and initials even after being unplugged so that must have been the reason. Not sure if all of them had one, though.

The Frenzy I traded to Jon Jamshid years ago had a battery. Unfortunately, I never checked for the damage until Jon let me know he had found some. The game must have worked intermittently, since I fired it up before shipping it and it worked and played fine. It was dead when he got it, and he sent me a pic of the battery acid damage.

[NoahsMyBro]

OK, I've just visually checked out the board with a flashlight.

I found 1 fuse near the power supply, 3 fuses in a line, also near the power supply, and one fuse way up top, by the marquee. No fuses looked blown to me.

I *DID* find a battery after all. It's about the size of a AA, but is wrapped in some white vinyl wrapper, and is soldered to the board. Around the ends of the battery is a lot of blue corrosion. Similar corrosion is present spread on other parts of the board near the battery.

Questions:

1. If this battery is shot, could/would that prevent the system from powering up AT ALL? Not even the marquee lights up. Of course, for all I know it's burnt out, but I haven't yet tried to see how to open the marquee up and check the bulb.
2. How can I safely clean up all of the corrosion from under the battery?
3. Supposing the problem has nothing to do with the battery, but is due to a weak power supply - I see two sets of wires connecting the monitor to the system. Can I disconnect the wires going to the monitor from the wiring harness, and then try to power the system up? If I heard the system starting up, or saw anything light up (board LEDs, marquee, whatever), I could at least focus on the power supply.
4. On the inside of the cabinet near the coin box, there is an AC outlet. The Berzerk manual identified it as a convenience outlet. What on earth would anyone use this for? Could I try to plug something in to it, like a clock radio or something, to help troubleshoot the lack of power to my system?

[DogP]

I've never had a dedicated Frenzy, but I've got a Frenzy in a Berzerk cab, and also a Berzerk... and have owned several Berzerks in the past. I'd first make sure that you're getting power. There's two interlock switches, one on the back door, and also one kinda hidden inside the coin door, and then the power switch on the top. On dedicated Berzerk cabs, just having the cabinet plugged in will light up the marquee, so you can't use the marquee as an indicator of whether the interlock switches are all pulled.

If you slide the boards out the front, you should see an LED on the board with the battery... this should blink, and you should also get beeps along with the blinks. This is a self test, and you can look up the manual to see where it's getting (if anything is happening).

The other very common problem with that era of Stern cabs in general are bad solder joints on the power supply. I'd pull the power supply and resolder the header pins.

And yeah, grab a multimeter and test all the fuses, and also check the voltages out of the power supply.

BTW, to clean the battery damage, you want to use a mixture of vinegar and water, not baking soda. The corrosive gas that leaks out of the batteries is actually a base, so you want to neutralize it w/ acid.

DogP

[NoahsMyBro]

OK, I've removed the battery and cleaned the corrosion as best I could using vinegar and water, and a toothbrush.

When the machine is plugged in and turned on, the LED on the board illuminates very dimly. (It doesn't blink; it's on solid.)

I've taken close-up photos of all of the boards, and have uploaded them to a simple webpage for examination - http://www.jacobshome.org/frenzy/

I've disconnected and reconnected any connectors that appear to be power-related.

I'm not 100% certain which component is the power supply, I'm assuming it's the transformer. And I don't know which components are the power supply headers that you (DogP) recommended I re-solder.

[NoahsMyBro]

Tonight I took the power supply board off and examined the header pins that you guys described. I'm not sure, but I believe I saw numerous cracked solder joints around the base of the pins, where they were soldered to the board (on the backside of the board).

I'm not at all a gifted solderer, but I did my best to resolder the pins. I then put the board back on the machine, crossed my fingers, plugged the Frenzy in and tried to power it up again.

I saw no change.

This may have been my imagination, but I think the slight hum from the speaker, and the instantaneous flash on the monitor when powering the machine up, seemed stronger than before.