"Game Maker Plus" intermittantly requires RAM clear UPDATE

[RV-Doctor]

I have a multi-denomination Game Maker Plus with a V7200 CPU board, running #24 Mains.  It works great most of the time.  However (intermittently upon power up) the screen will tell me I need to install the Clear Chip.  I complete the Clear Ram procedure and everything works great about 50% of the time. The other 50% of the time I get another instruction to install the Clear Chip (when powering up).  I have a 2nd CPU board which works fine.  I'd like to have a reliable working spare CPU board.  Any thoughts on the cause of an intermittent Clear Chip request?   

UPDATE: To rule out the 10 game chips I removed game chips in P4/5/6/7/8/9/10.  Sockets P1/2/3 still contained game chips. I did a RAM CLEAR and restarted the game and it worked fine. I powered the machine OFF/ON 10 times and it continued working properly.  I reinstalled 4 more games (powered OFF/ON 10 times) and it still worked properly. I reinstalled  all the original games and it continued working. Then I installed 10 different games and it still kept working. I have no idea why I got my original symptom, but for now the symptom has vanished.   

[kcirrick]

Sorry for the late response.  I haven't been around lately.  It sounds like you got it working by simply pulling and replacing the game chips.  Weird.  A poorly seated game chip shouldn't cause such an issue.  The game probably just wouldn't show up.  If I were to hazard a guess, I would have said the battery voltage was getting low.  If the issue shows it's ugly face again try swapping out the battery.   Tip: If your battery is still soldered in, when you remove it simply replace it with a regular AA battery holder.  In the future you won't need to pull out the soldering iron to replace the battery.

[Chris-socal]

I don’t know what the difference is between a GM and a plus but my GM does the same thing,  Often after it sits there running for awhile. It will will click and shut BV off and that error is on screen. Sometimes,
 if I turn the key it will reset. Sometimes it clears that message but it won’t resume normal operation without a debug chip.

Battery voltage is always fine and it’s a relatively new battery. I believe a component is getting hot and locking up, my fan isn’t the best and they are not easy to access so I try not to leave it running too long if I’m not actively playing. Just a thought to try turning the reset key even though it says clear ram.