2007 – February
Purchased machine
2016 – February
Replaced entire PCB (to fix sound issues?); purchased on eBay from ParadiseArcade shop for about $250.
2016 – March
Replaced cheap squeak board for $140
2018 – September
Full restoration including sand, smooth and repair minor water damage, replacement glass bezel, full laminate on sides, full side art, powder-coated control handles and texture paint on exposed wood surfaces.
2018 – October
Replaced battery with NVRAM:
2018 – November
Installed Free Play ROM from http://www.hobbyroms.com (Stephan)
2022 – October
Loud hiss/static noise coming from speakers. I replaced the ‘amplfiers’ that look like transistors coupled to heat sinks on the dual amp board (I suspect this was cauing the static noise) and I also replaced the two suitcase caps (56000uf and 100000uf) in the bottom of the cabinet and I did a full rebuild on the MCR linear power supply, replacing the potentiometers, heatsink caps and the transistor, electrolytic caps, some chips (swapped out with socketed replacements) and the 3 legged silver caps (the kit did not include the replacements for the 6 legged caps). After doing all this, the hiss/static were totally gone, but were replaced by a fairly low hum. This is not the infamous ‘Hum/Buzz’ you read about online; instead it was much much lower and is drowned out during game play by the sound effects and music. I was not able to get the to completely go away, but I did notice that the hum did disappear when I took the Cheap Squeak board connector off. While it could be that board, I’m suspicious that it might be coming further up the line from the harness that feeds into that board.
2022 – October
I noticed the right thumb button seemed to be shorting out; during game play, any major movement with the right hand would trigger it. I took the right handle apart and found I had previously almost stripped out the alan screws when originally putting them in back when I restored the machine and reassembled it; I got some of them out using a flat head driver which I wedged into the semi-stripped socket. A few of them gave me more trouble but I was able to use the “swiss-army” style multi socket tool with SAE sizing (slightly bigger to it fit the stripped head) and it gave me the leverage to get them out.
Taking apart the handle, I had forgotten just how fiddly these are constructed: the wires run between the screw contact points and it is incredibily easy to pinch the wires between them while trying to put them together, while hold in the trigger button and simultaneously trying to tighten the screws. Also, the screws drive into the barrell that the handle connects to so it is possible to break wires with too long of a screw. I replaced most of the screws with much shorter 1/4″ length cap screws, re-did the wiring to remove the pinched portions and got it all back together. I noticed the left handle also had a seam where it comes together that was slightly open indicating it too had a pinched wire so I took it apart and got that sorted as well, replacing some of the screws with the shorter ones. Now it’s all working 100%.
Purchased by not used:
- ThisOldGame Spy Hunter CPO overlay with Fluorescent inks; saving for a rainy day
- Still have original glass overlay
- Multiple cheap squeak boards; one just plays the music over and over without regard to being signaled to do so by the system; the other doesn’t seem to play anything at all. (Oct 2022)
NOTES:
It is the SSIO board that tells the Cheap Squeak when to play the Peter Gunn theme. It should play anytime you press the reset button on the Cheap Squeak. The next time it boots without playing the theme, hit the reset on the cheap squeak and see if it plays. That would mean your cheap squeak is fine.
Have you checked the SSIO board yet? You can set the DIP to a diagnostic mode to tell you if it is having any issues. Set SW3 at D14 #1 to ON. Then #2 ON will give you a RAM/ROM test. #3 ON will give you an oscillator test. #4 ON will give you a filter test. Check the manual (page 3) for details.
Since the problem is intermittent, I would guess it is an intermittent signal going from the SSIO to the cheap squeak. Check the voltage on the SSIO across a ROM chip – should be around 5.1V. Maybe check the header of J5 of the SSIO for cold solder joints.
I’ll check those things, thanks.
Question: Is it also the SSIO that tells the board to “boot up” at power-up and cause the LED to flash a few times? My problem seem to be that at power-up the board does not initialize on rare occasions.
It is the SSIO board that tells the Cheap Squeak when to play the Peter Gunn theme. It should play anytime you press the reset button on the Cheap Squeak. The next time it boots without playing the theme, hit the reset on the cheap squeak and see if it plays. That would mean your cheap squeak is fine.
Have you checked the SSIO board yet? You can set the DIP to a diagnostic mode to tell you if it is having any issues. Set SW3 at D14 #1 to ON. Then #2 ON will give you a RAM/ROM test. #3 ON will give you an oscillator test. #4 ON will give you a filter test. Check the manual (page 3) for details.
Since the problem is intermittent, I would guess it is an intermittent signal going from the SSIO to the cheap squeak. Check the voltage on the SSIO across a ROM chip – should be around 5.1V. Maybe check the header of J5 of the SSIO for cold solder joints.