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Allied Leisure Industries (ALI) pinball games - Troubleshooting and Information (as of July 13, 2010 )

I have finally compiled the complete set of schematics and troubleshooting guide for the 1st generation Allied Leisure Industries (Florida) pinball games that used a number of separate logic boards.

Lets call that System 1 - 1975.

System 2 used a single logic board that had pull-up resistors for the lamps,

System 3 also had the same basic single board but deleted the pull-up resistors and unused driver transistors, etc.

There were only three games made that used System 1 (as far as I know...):
Rock-On (4 player)
Boogie (4 player)
Dy-No-Mite (2 player)

All used the same playfield, cabinet artwork, wiring and circuit boards with the only differences being the backglass and if they had two or four players. We can not service any of these three game boards in our shop as we have no test fixture for the multi-board ALI pinballs.

ALI manufactured a number of pinball games all based on one MPU (Central Computer) board as shown below (MPU System 2 & 3). The MPU was powered by a single +5VDC power supply usually located on the bottom of the cabinet. (see below), and you want to make sure it does produce 5VDC (+/- 0.25VDC) at the MPU. You can measure the 5VDC at the filter capacitor mounted on the lower left side of the MPU board (just below the three plastic plugs Green/White/Red on the far lower right of the MPU).

The pinball games made using this MPU (the features - lights, switches and coils - were re-arranged by ALI to change the rules for each game) include: DISCO 79 (c/t), EROS ONE (c/t), HEARTS & SPADES (c/t), HOE DOWN (u/r), ROY CLARK/THE ENTERTAINER (c/t), STAR SHOOTER (c/t), TAKE FIVE (c/t), THUNDERBOLT (u/r), and GETAWAY (u/r). u/r = standard upright pinball. c/t = cocktail style pinball.

We service the MPUs, and also sell manuals, rubber rings, lights, and other parts for these games! Email link at the bottom of the page...

The picture shows a 3rd generation MPU game board (System 3):
Version 1 MPU board

Here (below) is the 5VDC power supply that needs to be checked for proper voltage and that the capacitors are in good condition.

Note that linear power supplier like this one can appear to have good 5VDC output when measured with a voltmeter, however you MUST also check if there is any AC ripple by setting your voltmeter to AC and then put the leads across the output terminals - the reading should be 0.00VAC. If it is more than about 0.1VAC then the power supply needs servicing or replacement with a modern switching supply or rebuilt linear (if you want to be authentic).

To verify that your voltmeter is reading AC ripple check that the meter reads 0VAC when connected to a battery (9V or 12V)...

Note too that if you rebuild a linear power supply that you verify the output is 5VDC BEFORE reconnecting the power supply to the wiring harness! I now recommend (2010) that you either rebuild or replace the old Linear power supply with a modern switching 5VDC power supply. Ones that are used for Video Games are quite satisfactory and easy to install. Simply hook them up according to the yellow labels just below. I do not have a sample picture I'm afraid, so you will have to figure this out yourself - just be CERTAIN that you are connecting the +5VDC of the power supply to the wires that went to the +5VDC of the original supply, and the same with the Common/Gnd and AC Power lines! If you are NOT certain please get a professioinal to replace the supply - you do not want to blow up your logic board by mistake! ($350US kissed good-bye)



Another common problem with these games are the poor quality fuse holders - I recommend that you change any that are not a hard bakelite or plastic body with a new holder. We sell mulitfuse holders if you can't find them locally. Note the two pair of old fuse holders just to the left of the +5VDC Supply.
Old poor quality fuse holders (two pairs)

And now new fuse holders...


We have copies of ALI Operators Manuals including schematics, cabinet wiring diagrams, and troubleshooting for most ALI Solid State pinball games. These include: Boogie, Rock-On, Dy-No-Mite (Dynomite), Getaway, Take Five, Eros, and others - some made by Fascination under license... Here is a sample of one portion of one schematic - this is for Cocktail Pinball AC Power Wiring.

$25US plus $5 postage and handling for USA. Please be SURE to tell us which game schematic you require!

Canadians have taxes to pay so email us, telling which province you are in, to PARTS(at)FLIPPERS(dot)COM and please use a clear subject line so our spam filters will not delete your important email!

You can use an ALI 4 player board in a two player cocktail - the cabinet has a jumper to tell the board to be in either two or four player mode.

There are two versions of the ALI single board MPUs. The first version is recognizable by a collection of resistors along the bottom edge by the middle edge connector. These are 'keep-alive' resistors that are supposed to reduce the failure rate of the light bulbs. These resistors and the extra connector were dropped after game serial #282674. The first version MPU with the extra resistors also has an extra active (but unused) connector on the upper left edge of the MPU and that connector and the keep-alive resistors show up only on the revsion 1 MPU schematic.

In both revisions of the MPU the three 6530's are the same three part numbers, however these R6530s (-09(IC5) , -10(IC6), and -11(IC3)) have to be in their correct sockets or the board can not work!. I am again working on replacements for these - have the design worked out, now am going to run off the circuit board to test. Should have results by the summer...note that the Bally Home Model Pinball games did NOT use the 6530 and this will NOT work for them. That will have to be a separate project - unlikely that I will attempt it as the payback is even worse than the time invested in the replacement 6530 RAM/ROM/I-O/Timer project.

The locations for the three 6530s are:

IC3 - R6530-011 or R0007-11
IC5 - R6530-009 or R0008-11
IC6 - R6530-010 or R0006-11

Note that the order of the IC numbers is NOT the same order as the socket numbers.

A 6520 is identical to 6820 or 6821 and can be replaced with either, although the 6821 is the more stable upgrade from the 6820.

Technical tips:

Game is dead, no lights. Check power cord, power switch, line fuse, get a voltmeter and schematic and see where the line power vanishes...

Game is dead, background lights come on - verify 5VDCpower supply (see above). Then check fuses...

LED #1 - RESET. LED turns on when the game is powered up, then goes off after about 2 seconds. If it does not light or stays lit, then check the 5VDCpower supply first.

LED #2 - not used...

LED #3 - Should be flashing intermittantly when the board is running normally

LED #4 - Should light during RESET, then go off and only blink when Player #1 is updated or blanked out.

Game won't start:
1) If there is a stuck TILT switch (pendulum or ball roll cage) the game will not start. Symptoms include displays working in Attract mode, but after starting the game when the ball rolls over the ball index switch the game immediatly goes into TILT (lits up). So make sure the pendulum tilt is in the middle of the metal ring, and that the ball roll Tilt is all the way to the front of the cage!
2) The game will ignore ALL switches if a stuck switch is detected during normal game play.
3) The game will not start if the "Ball In Play' switch (ball shooter trough) does not make contact at the start of each ball in play.

Self Test Fails:
1) Remove the ball from the game(shooter trough) otherwise the self test can't always work correctly.
2) The game will not go on from Stuck Switch Test if a switch is stuck closed!

Game starts but one (or more) display doesn't work correctly (verify with 1st press of Self Test button - all displays should count 0 - 9, repeat)):
1) Reseat MPU board in the three bottom sockets with power off - lift up and push back downa couple of times to clean the wipers.

Repairs:

We service the ALI MPUs, (both versions). If you wish for us to take over please wrap the board in antistatic bubble wrap, then ship in a sturdy cardboard box according to the following instructions:

If you live outside of Canada you MUST send it to us by Postal Service ONLY! Express Post is inexpensive and has confirmation of delivery and insurance is available. Pretty quick too!

When sending us your circuit board please get a Customs Declaration Form at the Post Office (or when you do this on-line) and write on it "Circuit Board(s) for Repair" in the comment field to avoid taxes/duties...

Please include a cover letter outlining both the problem and what you would like us to do & your email address, phone number, etc.

Ship to: John's Jukes Ltd. 2343 Main St., Vancouver, BC Canada V5T 3C9


ALLIED LEISURE PINBALL PARTS CATALOG (April 1976) (5mb) for downloading and ordering parts from us...

Earlier ALI pins included odd-balls like SPOOKSVILLE - called a Shakerball. I have parts, schematics, etc for this game, and here is a service bulletin for that game.

 

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