Found a free Warlords "cocktail" today

[SkiDragon]

I had to push it on a cart a half mile to my apartment. This is my first arcade machine, so I am kind of excited, but I know already that it doesnt work. I think some of the parts were even removed. I know there are many links to arcade machine information, but is there a site that deals more specifically with my machine? I'd like to eventually get this game running.

[Darth Sensei]

That's bad ass. Where in Michigan are you?

[98PaceCar]

Ummm, you do know how much that game is worth, right?

Since it's an Atari, the first thing you should consider doing is re-socket the board. The sockets they used were garbage and can cause any number of problems. Past that, it's all just typical arcade fixes. Fortunately the cocktail version of Warlords uses a color monitor, so it's much easier to find a replacement if you need one.

Congrats on a bad ass find! I love my upright (rarer and much more striking to look at than the cocktail), but for pure fun the cocktail wins hands down.

BTW, feel free to ask me any questions you have. I've rebuilt 2 of these machines already so I'm pretty familiar with them.

[SkiDragon]

I dont know how much it is worth. I think some important parts are missing. I contacted the person I got it from, and got this answer. I may be able to get some of these parts back.

"If memory serves me right, the coin return, power supply,
switches, and ROM chips were removed. In addition, I broke off the sockets for the ROM chips while trying to remove them."

Obviously, the ROM chips would be my first priority. Right now I dont even have the key to open it, but I'm sure I can get that. It would help if there was a picture of the insides, so I could compare. I dont want to plug it in with missing parts, I dont want to damage anything.

I have this game for the 2600 so I know its a good one.

[SkiDragon]

That's bad ass. Where in Michigan are you?

Ann Arbor

[DogP]

Wow! That's awesome! I just sold one last month for $700, and it wasn't in THAT great condition. You'll have to get into it somehow and see what all is there, but if the control panels and art are there, even if it needs a monitor and PCB, that's not THAT expensive...

DogP

[SkiDragon]

I actually opened it once by accident, but it locked itself again. I saw a large pcb, and the monitor is definitely there, although it has some pretty bad burn-in. Is there any way to fix that?

[DogP]

Heheheh... yeah, that's good that it sounds complete... there's no way to fix the burn-in though, but a lot of times there's tinted glass over it, so it's not too noticible.

DogP

[tholly]

congrats on the find....and good luck getting it to work....i know all too well the joys of brining a broken machine back to life......

[SkiDragon]

http://www-personal.umich.edu/~adonald/warlords/

Here are some pictures of it if anyone cares.

[tholly]

http://www-personal.umich.edu/~adonald/warlords/

Here are some pictures of it if anyone cares.

looks to be in pretty nice shape...don't know about the insides obviously...

[kainemaxwell]

Congrats on the find and good luck fixing it up!

[SkiDragon]

I got the key to open it up.
In addition to the coin return, power supply, switches, action buttons, and ROM chips, it is also missing the "sound board". I have seen some of these parts and can probably retrieve them, although I havent yet. The people who tried to fix it before said that the ROM chips were fine, but they couldnt get the machine to work. I took some more pictures of the inside with my crappy camera, which I uploaded to the same link.
http://www-personal.umich.edu/~adonald/warlords/
Look at pictures 15 and up. If I had some pictures to compare this to, it would really help.
I took out the main PCB and looked at it. Two chips are obviously missing, E6 and F/H6, which are right next to each other. There are also several empty spaces where chips would fit, but it doesnt look like anything was removed. There is an odd blue wire connecting the pin of a chip to a solder point elsewhere on the board. I looked on the bottom of the PCB, and it looks like somebody burnt the solder around chip F5.
I have no idea what these chips are.

Perhaps somebody can help me here.
By the way, it is serial no. 586.

[DogP]

Heheheh... what you NEED is a new camera . Anyway, if this helps, here's a pic of the PCB: http://arcadecollecting.xmission.com/pcbpics/p128.html . I can't really tell from those pics, but your board looks complete except the two ROMs in the middle... I'd just replace those two sockets, and if you can get the original ROMs back, pop them in, or depending what type of chip they are, I can probably burn them for you.

I don't have my WL CT anymore, so I'm only going by memory, but I don't remember there being a "sound board"... IIRC it was all on the A/RII board, which you're missing (should be easy to find a replacement). Good luck finding the start buttons though... finding one or two of them is pretty tough... ugh, finding 4 will be a pain! And they're pretty important since they're the the powerball buttons too .

DogP

[SkiDragon]

I recovered the "audio board" and the power supply today. I imagine the power supply rests on the bottom of the cabinet somewhere, but I dont know how to get it down there without removing the monitor. The supply is really big and heavy.

[DogP]

Oh... I assume you're talking about the power brick (with the transformer)... that's not usually called the power supply... I believe the board you're calling the audio board is actually the power supply. It should have a large heatsink in the middle, and probably say Audio/Regulator II. That board should slide right down the side by the coin slot, but I'm not exactly sure where the power brick goes (it'd probably be easiest just to remove the monitor... it only has 4 screws on the top).

DogP

[SkiDragon]

Ok, you are right. The people I got the machine from called it the sound board and power supply. Either way, I got those pieces back, and figured out where the board went. I still need the ROM chips, which I was unable to find, but still might. If I cannot find them, is it possible to burn new ones? I still need the buttons, but I could always use another kind if I cant get them back. I assume I dont really need the coin return, although I may try to get that for completeness sake. Im not sure if there are any more parts missing. When one says to re-socket the board, are they talking about the IC sockets? Where can I get those, and what quantities do I need? Or are you referring to the plastic cord sockets?

Once I have all the parts I need to figure out how to hook everything up.

[DogP]

If you can't find the other ROMs, I can probably burn you new ones... I'd just need to know what kind of chips they are (I have the ROM files from MAME)... if I have some spare chips and my burner can burn that type, I'd be glad to do that.

For resocketing, yeah... just remove the old chip socket parts and solder a new socket in it's place. You can probably get the sockets at Radio Shack, although they don't always have them. If you need the chips burned, just remind me and I'll throw some sockets in with the chips.

DogP

[SkiDragon]

http://www-personal.umich.edu/~adona.../Warlords2.JPG

I marked the type of sockets, and the missing chips. I am also curious what the switch banks are for, and how they should be set. I marked those as well. The people who already tried to fix this are pretty knowledgeable about electronics in general, but not about arcade repair. They mentioned that they tried to re-burn the ROMS, and eventually determined that they werent the problem. I see dirt on the connectors on the edge of the board, and I'll laugh if this ends up being an NES type repair.

There is what appears to be a damaged trace underneath the removed ROM chip, but I should be able to fix that.

Concerning the sockets, I may have a source of (used) replacements, from more old electronics being thrown out. Im thinking that I should not worry about the sockets until I try some easier fixes, because frankly Im not used to that much soldering, especially de-soldering.

The monitor kind of worries me, both because of the shock danger, and because the last time I tried to repair a TV I ended up damaging the picture tube board even more.

When I have everthing, I have to hook it up, and I am unsure how.

[SkiDragon]

I just realized that there was a door on the side that allowed me to insert the "power brick". However, Im not sure which way it goes in, and there are more connectors there than I expected, including several of the screw on kind.