Amazon Hunt (Gottlieb, 1983): faults, diagnosis and System 80A replacement boards

Has your Amazon Hunt gone completely silent? Does it sit there without going into attract mode, reset in the middle of a game, or behave as though the slam switch were stuck when it plainly isn't? Do the drop target banks refuse to reset and keep blowing a fuse?

None of that is unusual, and none of it means your machine is finished. Amazon Hunt is a Gottlieb System 80A game from 1983, and its original CPU, driver and power supply boards are now past forty years old. Almost everything that goes wrong on them is well documented. Some of it is a straightforward repair; the rest is cured for good by a modern, battery-free replacement board.

This page covers what the machine actually is, what owners report breaking on it, and which boards go in.

About the Amazon Hunt (Gottlieb, 1983)

See it: full photo gallery for Amazon Hunt on IPDB — the Pinside machine page carries a second owner gallery with playfield and backbox shots.

Amazon Hunt is a jungle-adventure game — the flyer sold it as "A Jungle Of FUN!" — built by D. Gottlieb & Co. as models 684 and 684A. Pinside dates the release to 9 September 1983 and records 1,515 units produced, a figure the Kineticist database also gives. Dates in circulation do vary: Kineticist's own entry for the same models shows a January 1983 date, while its history of the period puts Amazon Hunt in September 1983. September is the figure most sources settle on.

The design is credited to Ed Krynski, the man behind most of Gottlieb's great electromechanical run, with artwork by Larry Day and sound by Craig Beierwaltes. There is a nice piece of trivia attached to it: the playfield layout is essentially the one Gottlieb used for the 1975 electromechanical games Fast Draw and Quick Draw, re-dressed with a jungle theme and given a solid-state brain. If the shot geometry feels older than 1983 when you play it, that is because it is.

Its place in the calendar matters too. Amazon Hunt was one of the last pinballs to leave the factory carrying the Gottlieb name. Coca-Cola, which had bought Columbia Pictures in June 1982, renamed the division Mylstar Electronics that November — so the games that followed it, Rack 'Em Up included, went out under a different badge.

• Manufacturer: D. Gottlieb & Co.
• Models: 684 / 684A
• Release: September 1983
• Production run: 1,515 units
• Design: Ed Krynski
• Art: Larry Day
• Sound: Craig Beierwaltes
• Electronic system: Gottlieb System 80A (7-digit displays)
• Players: 4 — two flippers, 10 drop targets, 3 pop bumpers
• No multiball, ramps or multi-level playfield
• Theme: adventure / Amazon jungle
• Later versions: Amazon Hunt II (1987, model 684C, 781 units, System 80B) and Amazon Hunt III (1987, System 80B)

On value: Pinside's estimate sits around $740–$860, and its marketplace has seen the game listed five times in four years at an average asking price near $750. That is a guide, not a quotation — condition, and especially playfield wear, moves the number a long way.

Common faults across System 80 and 80A

Before the Amazon Hunt-specific list, the family traits. These apply to every System 80/80A game and are worth clearing first, because they masquerade as a dozen different problems:

• The NiCad battery on the CPU board. This is the number-one killer. It sits beside the 5101 CMOS RAM at Z5, and when it leaks the electrolyte creeps along the traces and into the edge connector contacts. Lock-ups, erratic scoring and a board that boots one day and not the next all start here. Remove the battery before you do anything else, even if the board looks clean.
• The logic itself. The CPU board carries a 6502 at U1, the masked operating-system ROMs at U2/U3, and three 6532 RIOT chips at U4–U6 that between them run the switches, displays and solenoids. A 5101 error or a ROM checksum error in the self-test points straight at them. Z36 (a 4069) is also involved in memory access and fails.
• The 5 volt supply. The big orange 6,800 µF filter capacitor is long past its life, and the solder joints on the power supply header pins crack from heat and vibration — J1 and J2 especially. The symptom is a game that resets or drops dead sporadically, with nothing visibly wrong.
• Grounds. Gottlieb daisy-chained the board grounds through the wiring and mounted the boards on plastic standoffs. There is no ground plane. As the connections age you get locked-on solenoids, dead lamps and random resets. Running a dedicated ground wire from each board to the power supply heatsink and the cabinet ground strip — the ground mods — is the single most useful afternoon you can spend on one of these games.
• Connectors. Every signal between boards runs through a discrete contact, so one corroded pin can take out several apparently unrelated functions at once. Repin rather than scrub.
• Displays. The 80A uses 7-digit units. Missing segments are often just the J2/J3 edge connectors, but on the display board a failed VR1 zener (a 1N4737A) gives ghosting or dimness, and failed CR1–CR4 rectifier diodes burn traces that need jumpering. Never plug or unplug a display with the power on.
• Slam tilt that isn't. The slam switch shares the 8×8 switch matrix with everything else and is read through the U4 RIOT. A poor ground at the switch, or trouble on the strobe side, makes a perfectly healthy game insist it has been slammed.

Amazon Hunt-specific issues owners report

This is where a machine-by-machine page earns its keep. The following all come from owners working on Amazon Hunt itself, or on a System 80A stablemate with the same boards.

No sound at all, with the game otherwise playing fine

The best-documented Amazon Hunt fault, and an instructive one. In a long Pinside thread, the owner worked methodically through the lot: a new sound board power supply (no change), a known-good driver board (no change), the speaker proved with a tone generator on pin 7, the volume control confirmed working, all four sound board supply voltages measured good, and a logic probe showing S1 through S4 being triggered correctly. The boards even went out to a professional and came back testing fine.

What that tells you is where not to spend money. On these games the sound fault is very often outside the sound board. One owner in the same thread had nothing but a loud hum on a System 80A Super Orbit until he reseated the in-line connector carrying power to the sound board — then it was perfect. So: repin the 12-pin sound board connector and the driver board's J5 before you suspect a chip, and check the in-line power connector at both ends.

If the board itself really has failed, the sound hardware of the era is awkward to feed. The sounds-only boards use a 6503 with a scarce 6530 RIOT; the sound-and-speech boards depend on an LM379S amplifier and an SC-01 speech chip, both long out of production. That obsolescence, rather than the difficulty of the repair, is usually what pushes owners towards a replacement sound board.

Drop target banks that won't reset, and a fuse that keeps going

Amazon Hunt has ten drop targets in two banks, and they generate their own thread. One owner reported F11 blowing repeatedly while the banks failed to reset at the start of a game. The diagnosis pointed at internally shorted reset-bank driver transistors, with the real cause further upstream: a shorted coil or a failed coil diode is what kills the transistor, so replacing the transistor alone just destroys the next one.

The practical advice from that thread is worth repeating. Fit a fresh fuse, power up and look — physically look — for which solenoid stays energised. It need not be a drop target coil at all; pop bumpers, slingshots and the knocker lock on for the same reasons. In this case the owner renewed every coil and transistor on both banks and improved the grounds, which fixed it for a day before the fault returned, with suspicion falling on the power supply. That pattern — a solenoid fault that comes back after a good repair — is the classic signature of grounds and supply rather than of the part you just replaced.

Boots, but will not start a ball, and looks like slam tilt

A widely repeated System 80A diagnosis points at the 7432 at Z15, which gates the switch enables: when it fails the game can come up but refuse to start, with symptoms indistinguishable from a stuck slam switch. Before replacing anything, run the switch test and check the slam switch's ground — the cheap causes are far more common than the chip.

Smaller things worth knowing

• Playfield plastics and backglass for Amazon Hunt turn up regularly in wanted posts, which tells you they are scarce. If yours are intact, protect them.
• Lag or sluggish response has its own forum thread; on these boards it is normally a switch matrix or ground issue rather than anything in the software.
• Early solid-state quirks. Some behaviour that reads as a fault is simply how the 1983 code works. It is worth asking in the machine's forum before chasing a ghost.

Variants: what fits an Amazon Hunt and what doesn't

This family is a trap for board shopping, so to be explicit:

• Amazon Hunt (1983, models 684/684A) is System 80A. That is the machine this page is about.
• Amazon Hunt II (1987, model 684C, 781 units) is System 80B — a different CPU board, different displays, different sound.
• Amazon Hunt III (1987) is also System 80B.

Boards do not carry across between them. If you are working on a sequel, go to the Amazon Hunt II or Amazon Hunt III page instead.

Replacement boards compatible with Amazon Hunt

• GottFA80_Plus (Light) — all-in-one CPU + driver + power supply board, without sound.
• GottFA80_Plus (Full) — the same with the sound board integrated.
• Gosof — replacement sound board, with or without speech. The sensible answer to the obsolete 6530 / LM379S / SC-01 problem above.
• Godri80 — replacement driver board, for the shorted-transistor story above.
• Lisy80 — CPU board with web-based diagnostics. Lisy80 is a ready-to-run build of LISY, an independent developer's free DIY project — full credit to its author.
• GoPOP80 — pop bumper driver board, replacing the original MA-922 / A-19741.

All of them are battery-free, which removes the Z5 corrosion problem permanently, and go in Plug & Play — a few minutes, no soldering. Every board is bench-tested here before it ships, and support afterwards is free. If you are unsure which you need, send us the references printed on your boards and we will tell you.

Step-by-step diagnosis

1. Power off, eyes first. Look for battery residue and corrosion around Z5 on the CPU board. Remove the NiCad if it is still fitted, before you power up again.
2. Check the 5 volts and confirm it actually arrives at the CPU board. Reflow the power supply header pins, and replace the big orange filter capacitor if it has never been done.
3. Do the grounds. A dedicated wire from each board to the power supply heatsink and the cabinet ground strip. This alone cures a surprising number of "board" faults.
4. Repin the connectors, starting with the CPU-to-driver link and, if sound is your complaint, the 12-pin sound board connector and J5.
5. Displays: never plug or unplug one under power. Test with a known-good unit before condemning a display board.
6. If a fuse blows, fit one fresh fuse, power up briefly and find the solenoid that stays energised. Check its coil and coil diode before you order transistors.
7. Run the self-test and note any 5101 or ROM checksum error — that tells you whether the fault is on the CPU board or out in the machine.
8. Final test: start-up, credits, switch test, coils, displays, sound. If you are stuck, ask us — the support is free whether you buy anything or not.

FAQ — Amazon Hunt (Gottlieb, 1983)

Why won't my Amazon Hunt start?
Nine times in ten it begins at the CPU board battery. Check for corrosion around the 5101 RAM at Z5 and remove the NiCad. After that, confirm the 5 volt supply is present at the board and redo the grounds — a game that will not boot is as often a supply or ground problem as a dead chip.

My Amazon Hunt has no sound — where do I start?
With connectors, not chips. Repin the 12-pin sound board connector, the driver board's J5 and the in-line connector that feeds power to the sound board. Owners have replaced sound board power supplies, driver boards and speakers on this exact game and found the fault in a connector. If the board really is dead, its 6530, LM379S and SC-01 parts are effectively unobtainable, which is why a replacement sound board is usually the economical route.

The game boots but won't start a ball and behaves like slam tilt.
Check the slam switch and its ground first, then run the switch test. If that comes up clean, the 7432 at Z15 gates the switch enables and is a known culprit on System 80A; a replacement CPU board removes the question altogether.

My Amazon Hunt keeps blowing F11 and the drop targets don't reset.
A driver transistor for the reset coils has shorted — but find out why. Fit one fresh fuse, power up and see which solenoid stays energised, then test that coil and its diode. Replacing the transistor without curing the shorted coil will just cost you another transistor.

Should I remove the original battery from the CPU board?
Yes, immediately, whether or not you plan to change boards. A leaking NiCad is the single most destructive thing on a System 80A, and the damage is cumulative.

Will Amazon Hunt II or Amazon Hunt III boards fit my Amazon Hunt?
No. The 1983 Amazon Hunt is System 80A; both sequels are System 80B, with different CPU boards, displays and sound hardware. Buy for the system, not the title.

What is an Amazon Hunt worth?
Pinside's estimate is roughly $740–$860, with recent listings averaging near $750. Treat that as a starting point: playfield condition and whether the boards are sound move the figure substantially in both directions.

Does a battery-free board keep the settings and high scores?
Yes. Modern replacement boards use non-volatile memory, so settings and scores survive a power-off with no battery and no corrosion.

Useful guides

• Leaking battery on a pinball machine: damage and the permanent fix
• Gottlieb System 80 ground mods: why and how
• Pinball electronics explained: MPU, driver, power supply and sound
• GottFA80_Plus: the all-in-one board for System 80/80A/80B
• Installing a replacement board: the Plug & Play guide
• How much does a pinball repair cost? The price guide
• What is my pinball machine worth?

See also

• Goin' Nuts (Gottlieb, 1983)
• Rack 'Em Up (Gottlieb, 1983)
• Super Orbit (Gottlieb, 1983)
• Q*Bert's Quest (Gottlieb, 1983)
• Royal Flush Deluxe (Gottlieb, 1983)
• Alien Star (Gottlieb, 1984)
• Amazon Hunt II (Gottlieb, 1987) — System 80B
• Amazon Hunt III (Gottlieb, 1987) — System 80B

Sources

• IPDB — Amazon Hunt (#66)
• Pinside — Amazon Hunt machine details (production, design credits, playfield data, Fast Draw / Quick Draw layout note)
• Kineticist — Amazon Hunt (models 684/684A/684C, production figures)
• Kineticist — Mylstar Electronics: Gottlieb's forgotten year
• Pinside — Gottlieb Amazon Hunt, need help, no sound
• Pinside — Amazon Hunt drop target issues (F11 fuse)
• Pinside — Amazon Hunt forum index
• PinWiki — Gottlieb System 80 (chip locations, power supply, displays, ground mods, switch matrix)
• IPDB — Internet Pinball Database
• OPDB — Open Pinball Database

Own an Amazon Hunt? Send us a photo and we'll add it here with credit — get in touch.