The Squawk and Talk LED is locked on at power-up.

Squawk and Talk LED stays on and the board never boots

Cause: The reset circuit does not release the CPU, most often capacitor C1 (47 uF 16 V) or the reset transistors; or the CPU is not running code (page 70).

Checks

• Check the reset line at TP12.
• With a logic probe, look for pulses on VMA (U1 pin 5) and a clock on U1 pins 38 and 39.
• Check the 6802 (U1), PIA (U7, U11) and EPROM (U2-U5) sockets and chip legs for tarnish.

Fix

• Replace C1 or the reset transistors; replace a bad crystal along with C3 and C4; replace tarnished sockets.

Systems

• Bally MPU AS-2518-35

Related tips

• Squawk and Talk LED flash codes
• Squawk and Talk test points
• Bench-test a Squawk and Talk board
• Squawk and Talk supply needs
• Squawk and Talk stops at four flashes
• Speech quieter than sound effects until the game warms up
• Squawk & Talk -61 and Say It Again -81 test points
• MPU stops before the 7th flash until sound board power is unplugged: replace CR3

Source: Repairing Bally Electronic Pinball Games from 1977 to 1985, Part Three, Clay Harrell (pinrepair.com)