Mephisto Montreal 68000 - NEED HELP PLEASE!!!

[Scrooge_Mcdude]

Hello fellow forum members,

I won a Mephisto Montreal 68000 last week on ebay and used it only once. Today I decided to pit it against the MMV on an exclusive board. I pulled them out of the cabinet and did something foolish. Thinking of saving one trip from the bedroom to the living room, I put the exclusive board on top of the Montreal. When I started the game between the 2, I always got an error when the black queen is moved from the home position (d8) to any square on the board. It doesn't matter whether the move is indicated by the Montreal when playing black, or when indicated by the MMV when the Montreal is playing white. Everytime I move the black Queen, the LCD will flash "error" and the led will continuously blink at the from square.

I will greatly appreciate it if anyone can offer any helpful guidance on what went wrong and how to fix it.

Best regards,
CCWB

[Scrooge_Mcdude]

Further to my post above, I tried it again just now. The LCD does not flash "error" anymore but the from square still blinks continuously, and even if I move the black queen to the TO square, it feels like the queen does not leave square D8 and won't register on the TO square.

I hope I gave a clear description of the problem and would greatly appreciate any help.

Thanks,
CCWB

[Larry]

Hi, I'm not fully familiar with the Montreal. When you say you won it on
ebay, did you win the modules, or modules plus exclusive board?
The symptoms are to me consistent with a blown reed switch, so that
should be looked at first.
hope this helps,
Larry

[Scrooge_Mcdude]

Hi Larry,

Thanks for your reply. The Montreal 68000 is not a modular set. The module and LCD are permanently attached to the board. The board is made of wood but it's not an exclusive board.

To further describe the problem, D8 has become a dead square. When I play black and move the Queen from the home square to any square, the LCD from the FROM square remains blinking and will not register the move to the TO square. If it's the computer playing black and indicates a Queen move, the FROM and TO squares are lit, but when I execute the move, the LCD would show "error", and the FROM light remains blinking. Again, it looks like D8 has become a dead square.

I will have a friend look at the reed switch. Where do I buy it, and is there an exact specification for it? Thanks for all your help.

Best regards,
CCWB

[Larry]

Hi Larry,

Thanks for your reply. The Montreal 68000 is not a modular set. The module and LCD are permanently attached to the board. The board is made of wood but it's not an exclusive board.

To further describe the problem, D8 has become a dead square. When I play black and move the Queen from the home square to any square, the LCD from the FROM square remains blinking and will not register the move to the TO square. If it's the computer playing black and indicates a Queen move, the FROM and TO squares are lit, but when I execute the move, the LCD would show "error", and the FROM light remains blinking. Again, it looks like D8 has become a dead square.

I will have a friend look at the reed switch. Where do I buy it, and is there an exact specification for it? Thanks for all your help.

Best regards,
CCWB

Maybe best to take out the faulty reed switch and take it to an
electronics store, they should be able to take one look at it and quickly
provide a new one for you. As far as I know, there are no alternate
specifications that you need be aware of. Replacing it is a simple enough
job, as any Fidelity auto board owner will agree. It's just an annoyance
having to do it. Even new reed switches can fail in a fairly short time.
Certainly with a problem like yours the reed switch is the first suspect.
regards, Larry

[Scrooge_Mcdude]

Hi Larry,

Thanks for your reply. The Montreal 68000 is not a modular set. The module and LCD are permanently attached to the board. The board is made of wood but it's not an exclusive board.

To further describe the problem, D8 has become a dead square. When I play black and move the Queen from the home square to any square, the LCD from the FROM square remains blinking and will not register the move to the TO square. If it's the computer playing black and indicates a Queen move, the FROM and TO squares are lit, but when I execute the move, the LCD would show "error", and the FROM light remains blinking. Again, it looks like D8 has become a dead square.

I will have a friend look at the reed switch. Where do I buy it, and is there an exact specification for it? Thanks for all your help.

Best regards,
CCWB

Maybe best to take out the faulty reed switch and take it to an
electronics store, they should be able to take one look at it and quickly
provide a new one for you. As far as I know, there are no alternate
specifications that you need be aware of. Replacing it is a simple enough
job, as any Fidelity auto board owner will agree. It's just an annoyance
having to do it. Even new reed switches can fail in a fairly short time.
Certainly with a problem like yours the reed switch is the first suspect.
regards, Larry

Hi Larry,

My friend opened up the board and took out the reed switch for square D8. It doesn't look defective, but what do I know? As you suggested, I'll find some electronic stores and see if they have it available . I also contacted an online electronic store but the first question they asked was the specs. There are quite a bit of reed switches online. I'll see what I find out when I take a trip to the electronic stores.

Thanks for all your help.

Best regards,
CCWB

[Scrooge_Mcdude]

Hi Larry,

Thanks for your reply. The Montreal 68000 is not a modular set. Thes module and LCD are permanently attached to the board. The board is made of wood but it's not an exclusive board.

To further describe the problem, D8 has become a dead square. When I play black and move the Queen from the home square to any square, the LCD from the FROM square remains blinking and will not register the move to the TO square. If it's the computer playing black and indicates a Queen move, the FROM and TO squares are lit, but when I execute the move, the LCD would show "error", and the FROM light remains blinking. Again, it looks like D8 has become a dead square.

I will have a friend look at the reed switch. Where do I buy it, and is there an exact specification for it? Thanks for all your help.

Best regards,
CCWB

Maybe best to take out the faulty reed switch and take it to an
electronics store, they should be able to take one look at it and quickly
provide a new one for you. As far as I know, there are no alternate
specifications that you need be aware of. Replacing it is a simple enough
job, as any Fidelity auto board owner will agree. It's just an annoyance
having to do it. Even new reed switches can fail in a fairly short time.
Certainly with a problem like yours the reed switch is the first suspect.
regards, Larry

Hi Larry,

My friend opened up the board and took out the reed switch for square D8. It doesn't look defective, but what do I know? As you suggested, I'll find some electronic stores and see if they have it available . I also contacted an online electronic store but the first question they asked was the specs. There are quite a bit of reed switches online. I'll see what I find out when I take a trip to the electronic stores.

Thanks for all your help.

Best regards,
CCWB

Hi Larry,

I was able to buy some reed switches online. My friend replaced the one on D8. You hit it off right the bat. It worked!!! Now my Mephisto Montreal 68000 is back in business. Thanks again for all your help.

Regards,
Clarion aka CCWB