Williams System 8

Note: This page is a work in progress. Please help get it to a completed state by adding any useful information to it.

Click to go back to the Williams solid state repair guides index.

1 Introduction

Williams System 8 Board Set

The Williams System 8 boardset was used in 1984, and with only one game, a pitch and bat called Pennant Fever. Combining the driver board, sound board, and cpu directly onto one board eliminated several design deficiencies of the earlier System 3-7 boardsets; mainly the 40 pin interconnector, and extra wiring harness interboard connectors.

The System 8 is very similar to its successor, the System 9, but it is more like a "slimmed down" version. There are a total of 8 controlled solenoids versus the 16 used with the System 9 boardset. Another distinct difference is that the System 8 hardware does not utilize special solenoids. Although the System 8 is capable of driving four 7 digit displays and one 4 digit display, only two 7 digit displays are used with Pennant Fever. Therefore, a master display board is not needed. Both the lamp and switch matrices are 8 x 8 in size, but Pennant Fever does not nearly use all of the switches in the matrix.

2 Games

Title	Date of Release	Model #	Other Boards	Notes
Pennant Fever	05-1984	526

3 Technical Info

3.1 CPU Driver Board

System 8 CPU

3.2 Power Supply

System 8 Power Supply

4 Problems and Solutions

4.2 MPU boot issues

4.2.2 Repairing Alkaline Corrosion

Remove the battery holder entirely from the MPU board and wash the board's affected areas with a 50/50 mix of vinegar and water. Scrub the corrosion with a soft toothbrush, rinse with water, then rinse with 91% or 99% isopropyl alcohol to displace the water.

4.4 Solenoid problems

this is a stub

4.7 Display problems

WARNING: This circuit uses high voltages. Don't continue, unless you are confident in your diagnostic abilities.

5 Repair Logs

Did you do a repair? Log it here as a possible solution for others.