Benchmark Games BLASTER User manual

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Contents
Revision History ............................................................................................................................................3
1-Basic Components .....................................................................................................................................4
2-Game Play Sequence/Behavior .................................................................................................................5
3- Game setup...............................................................................................................................................7
4- Main Electronic Components .................................................................................................................18
5-Technical Operation.................................................................................................................................26
6- Programming Options.............................................................................................................................27
7-Alternative coin/bill and card-swipe configurations ...............................................................................33
8-Error Codes and Troubleshooting guide..................................................................................................34
9- Assemblies and Diagrams .......................................................................................................................38

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Revision History
-3/28/2014: REV-A Created.
-6/16/2014: REV-B Zigbee and Router Board information added.
-9/19/2014: REV-C Various changes.
-10/28/2014: REV-D Part Numbers for IO-Expanders corrected.
Benchmark Games Inc. holds exclusive copyright in the Hardware and Software contained within this game
machine. Benchmark also owns the copyright in the ARTWORK DESIGNS, MUSIC, and original SOUND
EFFECTS that are incorporated in the game machine. No part of this artwork, music, sound effects, images,
displays, software or firmware may be reproduced in any way without the express written permission of
Benchmark Games Inc. Benchmark Games Inc. also retains other various intellectual property rights in the
game machine including pending patent rights, trade press rights and trademarks.
PERSONS WISHING TO MAKE USE OF ANY OF THE INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY DESCRIBED ABOVE SHOULD
CONTACT BENCHMARK GAMES INC. IN THE FIRST INSTANCE.

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Every effort has been made to ensure that the information contained within this manual is accurate.
Benchmark Games Inc. reserves the right to make alterations without prior notice.
1-Basic Components
Blaster is a game configuration which a player attempts to hit all the lit targets, by timing the shooting
arm and hitting the ball up the ramp. The player will have a certain number of attempts to accomplish

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the goal and proceed to the bonus round to obtain more tickets. If all targets are hit in the bonus round
the player will acquire “Super Bonus” tickets displayed in the upper marquee.
2-Game Play Sequence/Behavior
I- Power-up initialization sequence (10 seconds)
- Initialization sound comes up
- Side LED’s light up
- Player Credit Display shows pattern
- Marquee Jackpot display shows pattern
- 2-digit/4-digit display show pattern (playfield)
- Acrylic ball platform spins
- Lower/inside Marquee spins and lights up
- All Targets light up
- The game will then go into attract mode, or play mode if there were any previous credits saved

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II- Attract Mode
- Various light patterns are shown while some background sound plays on.
*Note: that, there is a low-activity rest period (which is programmable). See section 6-
programming options, before these sequences are re-triggered, to avoid being too repetitive.
III- Adding money (Coin-Mech/Bill Acceptor/Card-swipe system)
- “Coin-in” or “bill-in” sound is heard on corresponding speaker.
- When enough money is added to buy credit(s), the current credits value will be shown on the
four-digit display, and the game will enter Play-Mode.
IV- Play Mode
- Play-mode start sound “GO”
- The Play-field lights behind targets go solid and 2-digit display reads shot chances.
V- Player hits button
- Credit will be decreased.
- Player gets a predetermined amount of shot
chances as displayed on playfield.
- Pressing the shoot button will release the
shooter, hitting an acrylic ball on the spinning
platform and reduce the ball count by one until all
shots are used.
- The ball travels up the ramp and hits a lit target.
- When target is hit by ball, the light will turn off,
and remain off for the remainder of the player’s
paid play.
- Tickets will be dispensed at the end of the game.
- *Note: If shoot button is pushed and the target ball is not in designated area of shooter, Blaster
will make a “buzzer” noise and a shot will not be taken. This will not affect the shot chances for
the round.

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VI- Bonus Round
- If a player hits all lit targets in first round then they will advance to the Bonus Round.
- Bonus play-mode start sound “BONUS ROUND” is heard, accompanied by a drumroll and
“DON’T CHOKE”.
- In the Bonus Round a predetermined amount of targets are lit.
- The Player only receives a predetermined amount of shot chances to turn out the
predetermined number of targets.
- The amount of tickets will be delivered based on the amount of bonus rounds lit targets hit
with the ball.
- If all lit targets are hit in the bonus round, player receives super Bonus (Displayed on top
Marquee).
VII- Normal after play
- Acrylic balls will return automatically to spots on spinning platform.
- If player has more credits, the machine will start round 1 again, otherwise Blaster will go back
into attract mode.
3- Game setup
Unloading/Assembly
- The game is pre-assembled in the factory, with the exception of simple connections.
- The cabinet keys are tie-wrapped to the chute door handle.
- Remove acrylic balls, push button assembly, and coin chute.①

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- Make sure the coin mech wires inside the button assembly shown in②. The wire connection
should be so the yellow wire (12V) is on the top (Blue Circle). The switch just below the wire
connection is positioned up (“NO” position, red circle).
*Note: there are location indicators written on the side of the coin mech to assist you.
- Take the two coin chute panels, face them so there is a slot in-between that will allow the coin
to travel to the coin box in the cabinet. Place the 2 panels in the door and lightly press in and
down on the panels to lock in place as shown in ③.

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- Take button assembly, with coin mech included, placing the hooks in the slots shown in ④ and
press in and down. Place the black wire through the hole, and twist the safeties until the lip of
the safety is toughing the hook of the button assembly. Connect the black tubing from the
button assembly, to a similar black wire located in the cabinet. Secure the black tubing to the
door using the black clamps on the cabinet door.
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- Remove any shipping foam that might still be holding any parts.
- Marquee Assembly
- The marquee of Blaster can be easily disconnected and removed from the top of the structure
to be able to maneuver through door ways.

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1. Locate the header
2. Align the holes of the header with the holes of the platform.
3. Attach the marquee using the four supplies screws and connect the marquee harness to the main
harness.
(Disassemble in reverse order of assembly to maneuver through doorways or low ceiling areas)

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Power up
-The power cord is stored inside a bag that is stapled to the inside of the cabinet on the ticket
drawer wall, next to the cash box, along with the manual and spare parts.
-Plug-in the machine and turn it on from the Switch located on the lower-left side of the cabinet.
Note: There are two AC fuses within the power supply’s IEC-320 receptacle (10Amp, 250V each).

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First-Time Setup
- Ensure that all motors/sensors work by observing the sequence described on section 2-I. Any major
anomaly, if present, should be seen at this point.
- Run through the ‘Programming Mode’ options and define your desired settings, like credits settings,
sound volumes, etc. (See Section 5 for Benchmark’s defaults).
- Confirm your settings to ensure they are what you wanted.
Setting up Coin Comparator
- The Coin Comparator is a section of the Coin Mech. that compares one your tokens or quarter to the
inserted coin by the player. If the coins do not match, the Coin Mech. will return the inserted coin to the
player.
- The Coin Mech. is attached to the button assembly.
- Detach the Coin Mech. by unscrew the lock nuts on the back of the four carriage bolts that hold the
Coin Mech. in place.
- Pull up on the tab on the Coin Mech. that states, “Slide to replace coin”.

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- Place your token, under the lifted tab, in-between the two edges.
- Tab should be able to come back down and hold the token in place.
- Reattach the Coin Mech to the button assembly by screwing the lock nuts onto the four carriage bolts,
and connect the wires so that the yellow wire is on top shown on page 8.

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Dual Game Set up
If a Blaster was previously owned and a second Blaster was purchased or if two Blasters were purchased
simultaneously, this section will help physically connect the Blasters and allow the Blasters to compete for a
common Bonus.
If you purchased two Blasters at separate times you will need to contact Benchmark for additional parts
that will be needed to make them compatible.
The parts are as follows:
- If you are combining multiple blasters that have been purchased at different times. Go down to the
heading “COMBINING GAMES FROM DIFFERENT PURCHASES”
Game Placement
- Place the Two games side by side. Game A is the Blaster with the Router Board
Present. Game B is the Blaster without the Router Board.
- Game A needs to be to the left of Game B.
- Plug in the power cords to both the Blasters, but DO NOT plug the power cords
into the power outlet. Make sure that the switch for game B is on, so when
plugged in the game will automatically turn on. If you do not place the switch
on before attaching the two games, it will be difficult to reach that switch
again.
- There are two sets of brackets in the cabinet of Blaster
that will physically connect the games.
oThe set with the hook ends will be placed on the
front and back of the machine on the bottom
tubing, securing the bottom of the games, (you
will have to unscrew two screws in the bottom of
the game to be able to place the brackets).

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oThe set without the hook ends will be placed on top of the tubing, securing the top of the
Blasters.
Game Header Placement
- On the top of the game the base of the header needs to be moved so that the header will sit in the
middle of the two games. Unscrew the four screws that are holding the base in place. And disconnect
the wires under the base.
- The base needs to be rotated so that the friction motor sits to the back/left, if you are standing in front
of the game.
- Take the Motor extension wire (green, blue, black, and
purple) and the commutator extension (yellow, orange,
and black) and connect them to the ports from the
Blaster to the base of the header.
- To secure the base to the two games, use the screws
that are located in the packet and screw in two through
the base into the two right side stand-offs of Game A and the two left stand-offs of Game B.

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- Place the header on the base, as shown on page 10.
Cable Connection
- Go to the back of both the games, and take off both back doors
of the lower cabinets.
- The router board, located on the control panel on page 17,
should have a long 485 cable attached to it with zip ties.
- Cut off zip ties and run the cable to Game B. There are slots on
the bottom of the door where the cable is meant to run to allow
the ability to continue to close and lock the back door.
- There will be a 485 connection on the control panel of Game B in the upper/right corner. Detach the
connection and attach the port to the wire that is running from Game A.
- Plug in both games and make sure all is working correctly.
- Place back doors to back of games.
COMBINING GAMES FROM DIFFERENT PURCHASES
- Hopefully you have all the extra parts on the table on page 14. First thing is to combine the games as
shown above in section “Game Placement”.
- The Router board will go in position as on the control panel shown on page 18 IN GAME A. Screw the
four standoffs in the four holes and mount the board to the standoffs using the four ¼” screws that
came with the standoffs.
- Take the 485 connection that is shown in the red circle, in the picture located to the right and up.
- Break the connection and plug the female connector into the router board in port 1. Take the male
connector and attach the Router Board 485 adaptor and plug that into port 2 of the router board.

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- Take the 485 extension and place it in the 3rd or 4th port of the router board. Run the wire to the back
of the machine through the notch on the bottom left side of the back door shown at the top of the
previous page, and to the corresponding notch on Game B.
- Game B will also have a 485 connection that will need to be disconnected as described in the third
step.
- Connect the extension to the Game B 485 wire and close up both backs of the games.
- Finally, follow the section above called “Game Header Placement” to position the header accordingly
using the motor extension harness and the commutator harness.
- Once all done plug in both games to operate.
Recommended pay-out settings
Note: tweaking the payout of the machine to low levels will affect your net revenue negatively. Fair payout
(28%-35%) should maximize net income. The player will visually see the uniqueness of the game play and
should feel that the payout is fair, but can be increased by playing another game.
- Section 5 of this manual describes the different Settings that can be used to configure the machine. From
those settings, the following are the ones that will most likely affect the payout-percentage and the income
of the machine:
- Game Price
- Number of Shots
- Payout table
- Jackpot Start Value
- Jackpot increment
The default payout table applies to the game. It determines the amount of tickets awarded for the
different targets hit by the players.
Note: Default pricing on the Blaster game is $0.50 (American Currency) and the $ 0.50 payout table is
installed on the playfield. This payout table determines the amount of tickets awarded for the different

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targets hit by the players. Changing the price per play will require the operator to change the payout table
(see pages 24-25 for payout tables).
4- Main Electronic Components
PCB BOARD LOCATIONS, MAIN CONTROL PANEL:
(Router Board will not be present for single Blasters)

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Power Distribution Board
Part# 500PCB032
Qty: 1
Location: Control Panel.
ID-Switch setting: None, board has no computer.
Distributes DC power from the power-supply to the different devices,
through a Poly-Switch (thermal, resettable fuse) for each voltage circuit.
Not that for convenience, the ‘Programming Options’ Buttons are also
located on this board, even though they’re not power-related.
Power is distributed in the following manner (worst case estimations):
BOARD/DEVICE Estimated consumption Fuse circuit (see board)
POWER DISTRIBUTION BOARD CIRCUITS:
Sound Board, Quad-Stepper 2.A 24v [A]
Solenoids, Jackpot display 1A 24v [B]
IO-Expander 1 (Logic) 0.4A 12v [A]
P1 Ticket-dispenser, reload button, door (coin-mech.) 1A 12v [B]
P2 Ticket-dispenser, reload button, door (coin-mech.) 1A 12v [C]
P1 playfield-lights & marquee, P2 playfield-lights 4A 12v [D]
Player1 4-digit display 0.2A 5v [A]
Main board (logic) 0.2A 5v [B]
Player2 4-digit display 0.2A 5v [C]
DEDICATED ‘PIGTAIL’ TERMINALS:
Inner/Lower Marquee 1.5A 12V pigtail (5 Amp Fuse)
Outer/Upper Marquee 0.5A 24V pigtail (5 Amp Fuse)
Related Note: There are 2 AC fuses on the Power supply IEC-130 receptacle (10Amp, 250 V).
Main CPU Board (BMC-001-B)
Part# 116PCB001
Qty: 1
Location: Control Panel.
ID-Switch setting: None Master board needs no ID.
This board is the main controller of the game. It decides all the
game actions and commands the other boards to act according
to the game scheme.
Communication to the other boards is performed via a 485
differential wire-pair (Gray and blue wires).
The ‘Programming Mode’ game-settings information is saved in
an on-board FRAM chip.

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Main ROM program Version Updates:
1.2 Adjustment of default payout options
1.1 Performance and timing adjustments, additional programming options.
IO-Expander Board
This board can handle 16 inputs and outputs as commanded remotely by the Main CPU board through the
485 serial pair.
TYPES:
- Part# PCB00022
Qty: 1
- CONTROL PANEL, 1 board
Controls column light strips for both cabinets.
Receives the targets detection signal, when contacted by a ball, and
conveys it to the main-CPU board when prompted.
Receives the programming-button signals coming from the Power
Distribution Board.
Firmware: IO-exp Generic 2.5 or above
ID-Switch setting: 0100 (off, on, off, off)
-Part# PCB00022
Qty: 2
- CABINET TOP, 2 boards
These control the game playfield lights, as illustrated below.
Both boards are connected by 485 communication with the Main CPU board.
Firmware: IO-exp Generic 2.5 or above
ID-Switch settings: 0010 (off, off, on, off), 1100 (on, on, off, off)
-Part # PCB00022
Qty: 1
- MARQUEE, 1 Board
This controls the lights on the overhead
marquee, respectively.
Firmware: IO-exp Generic 2.5 or above for
correct sequencing
ID-Switch settings: 0000 (off, off, off, off)