Is it safe to turn off Arcade Cabinet every night?

[apocalypto]

Hey,  I was just wondering is it safe to turn on my arcade machine on and off everyday? Or does turning it on and off daily damage it?  What is optimal?

Thanks!

[leapinlew]

The ol' "is it better to leave electronics on or off" question.

Good luck getting a straight answer.

[WhereEaglesDare]

I always turn mine off.  Think about all the arcades that power everything down at night...

[divemaster127]

I think its foolish to leave the machines on at night.  I would not trust 30 to 40 year old machines that were designed for 5 years of life.  I have a family & home to protect.  They are off every nite & I turn off the power strips to the machines.  So I do not put my family in danger
dm

[SavannahLion]

The ol' "is it better to leave electronics on or off" question.

Good luck getting a straight answer.

That's because it's not really a black and white question. It's like someone asking whether one should get a 4 wheel, rear wheel, or a front wheel drive vehicle. To determine whether one should leave their equipment on 24/7 requires a better question. However.....

I think its foolish to leave the machines on at night.  I would not trust 30 to 40 year old machines that were designed for 5 years of life.  I have a family & home to protect.  They are off every nite & I turn off the power strips to the machines.  So I do not put my family in danger
dm

I will echo divemaster's sentiment about not trusting 30+ year old machines (my marker is actually right around 20+). If I'm going to run a machine that old 24/7 there better be a damn good reason for it. Can I think of any damn good reason to run an arcade machine 24/7? Only if it's a money maker and on a location that would ensure it earns enough to offset the insurance. The OP's cabinet is obviously not on location nor is it a money maker, therefor, shut it off when it's not in use.

Obviously, I'm probably making the same assumption as divemaster and this is not a MAME cabinet. If it's a MAME cab, we'll have to re-assess the question accordingly.

[isucamper]

Any damage you would cause by frequent on/offs can be fixed (rebuild power supplies, replace caps).  Damage you cause by leaving them on 24/7 unattended possibly cannot be fixed (burn down your house, kill yourself). 

Shut em off when you're not using them.

[gazz292]

Over here (uk) there was/still is a problem with certian sattelite TV boxes, mainly pace brand but some others, where by they are left on 24/7, simply due to their nature of use,
the tv is turned on and off as needed, but people forget about the sat box, or if it's a recording version it's left on to work that etc.

this was ok, untill the day you did turn it off, or had a power faliure, when the machine was turned back on, it's go pop and die.

cause was some sort of thermal shock, basicaly the system was always at a constiant temp... which was pretty hot at the psu board, when the power was cut, the temp dropped causing some components to fail, usually the electrolytic capacitors of which make up 80% of a psu.

When power was re-applied it blew the stressed components,

i can see a similar thing happening in arcade machines left on 24/7.

as has been said, if it's a mame machine, then why the hell would you want to leave it on 24/7? it's cot a consumer grade computer in it, not designed for 24/7 running, your asking for trouble,

and as for a 'real' arcade cab, why do you want to shorten it's life even more?

plus i guess you dont care about the electricity bill,

[Marsupial]

my MAME is always on. it doubles as a file server. The switch on top of the cabinet actually only turns on the monitor, audio amp and marquee.

I tought the whole idea of real arcade machine was lower boot time for when you boot them on... so I'd also chime in the direction of shut it off by night.

Unless you want the room to look like an arcade 24/7, I fail to see where it would be useful to keep anything on at all time.

[Fursphere]

Hey,  I was just wondering is it safe to turn on my arcade machine on and off everyday? Or does turning it on and off daily damage it?  What is optimal?

Thanks!

This is a highly argued subject...  but my $0.02...

Electronics from this day and age?  (meaning, last 5 years or newer) - power cycling them shoudl not hurt them.  (aka MAME cabinet)

If you're talking about JAMMA parts from the 1980s?  You'll probably shorten the life.  CRT screens don't like it either.

But as others have stated - good luck getting a straight answer.

[THE POKER BRAT]

Hey APOCOLYPTO,...Tell ya what,..why dont ya leave your things on in your house like the,.. arcades, pinballs, poker machine, lamps, lights, hair dryer, tv, radio, washing machine, christmas tree, door bell, fridge, fish tank, house alarm, garage door opener, can opener, car, iron, hair curler, vibrator, electric blanket, stove top range, bbq grill, shower, sink, (ARE WE WAKING UP THE NIEGHBORS YET??)...Turn all of that on and tell us if its safe,...let us know. thanks!

[apocalypto]

I think its foolish to leave the machines on at night.  I would not trust 30 to 40 year old machines that were designed for 5 years of life.  I have a family & home to protect.  They are off every nite & I turn off the power strips to the machines.  So I do not put my family in danger
dm

That's true, it is pretty old electronics isn't it. Kind of like how you wouldn't leave an electric heater on from the 1970's 24/7 ... !

Any damage you would cause by frequent on/offs can be fixed (rebuild power supplies, replace caps).  Damage you cause by leaving them on 24/7 unattended possibly cannot be fixed (burn down your house, kill yourself).  

Shut em off when you're not using them.

Makes sense. I just did a cap kit, and it was pretty cheap. If it is just temporary damage caused by frequent on/offs that's fine, I just wasn't sure if it would cause permanent damage to the CRT/PCB etc?

This is a highly argued subject...  but my $0.02...

Electronics from this day and age?  (meaning, last 5 years or newer) - power cycling them shoudl not hurt them.  (aka MAME cabinet)

If you're talking about JAMMA parts from the 1980s?  You'll probably shorten the life.  CRT screens don't like it either.

But as others have stated - good luck getting a straight answer.

You're right, we all know power cycling tv's doesn't seem to hurt them. We have turned them on and off every day for years. And the arcade cabinets also use CRTs, so sbhouldn't those be fine power cycled also?

Hey APOCOLYPTO,...Tell ya what,..why dont ya leave your things on in your house like the,.. arcades, pinballs, poker machine, lamps, lights, hair dryer, tv, radio, washing machine, christmas tree, door bell, fridge, fish tank, house alarm, garage door opener, can opener, car, iron, hair curler, vibrator, electric blanket, stove top range, bbq grill, shower, sink, (ARE WE WAKING UP THE NIEGHBORS YET??)...Turn all of that on and tell us if its safe,...let us know. thanks!

Sounds like good advice.


Conclusion:  I will be turning the machine off after use and installing a high score save kit.

[romshark]

Hey APOCOLYPTO,...Tell ya what,..why dont ya leave your things on in your house like the,.. fish tank...

Except for the light, my aquarium runs 24/7. Without the filters and heater running, I'd have some dead fish.

[g.robert]

I'll play devil's advocate here and say I leave mine on 24/7 because:
1. I like the way it looks when I walk by the room.
2. I like to pop in and play a game or two day to day (why I purchased them in the first place) without having to go through a power up process.
3. Most of the problems I've had in the past with my machines (all original arcades from the 80s) stemed from cycling power. Locking up, losing high scores, starting up in diagnotics sceen and staying, not coming back on, ETC. I even added 1600 watt UPS battery backups to stop these issues when we seemed to have power failures once a week. That quick OFF / ON took out more than a few chips.

I realize most of my problems could be fixed on an as needed basis but I really do NOT like having to re-fix them anymore than is already required. Arcade is air conditioned and axial fans are installed on any boards that tend to run hot. Leaving a few on is no different than leaving a few PC on 24/7. As to degrading life of components it is a chance I take as opposed to fixing them once a month. The burning the house down comment is a little extreme. Could it happen? sure.. but you could also be struck in the head by lightning walking around outside too. These machines were built to run and are UL lsited. All mine have screen saver modes. No where in the operation manual does it warn against continous operation. I can't say I notice any utility cost concerns. Bottom line if it is a small arcade (not talking 15+ games) don't be frightend into turning them off if you desire to keep them on. It DOES make sense to turn them off but hey; it also makes sence not to smoke, drink or run around with loose women...you like what you like.

[Gray_Area]

First, CRTs burn in bad enough with 3/4 day use. Second, in the old days, people turned their TVs off at night, or turned them on and off through the day, and they lasted for years. (The TVs, not the people.) Third, even all day use is a lot of power; are you playing them all day?

In short - can't see it. Clap on, clap off.