area 51 site 4 power requirements

[runawayabc123]

I just got area 51 site 4 and when I first turned it on, it didn't power up. 

I adjusted the 5v between 5.1 and 4.9 and it only made a difference of a clicking sound on the speakers.  Went to the directions and got through half of the trouble shooting and made it to check the PCB side's voltage.  I was around 4.7v on the PCB (and 5.1v on the power supply).  I brought it up to 4.9v on the PCB and everything started up (limited menu testing, no playing).  4.87v on the PCB yielded several restarts and a boot once in awhile.  4.9v+ was stable (as per manual as well) and I evened out to 4.95v.  I'd rather run a touch lean until the game tells me otherwise. 

My setup is only designed to carry 15amps on the 5v rail.  How hungry is this game?  I don't want to burn out the wiring, but I can see that it has a full computer+jammit board to run the game.  My power supply only goes to 15.5amps too, so I am guessing it was a bit taxed. 

I have a known good computer power supply with more juice to try later, but the 5v rail isn't adjustable. 

I could only find this in the manual:
4.90v to 5.10v
11.5v to 12.5v
-4.75v to -5.25v

No amp requirements. 

http://suzohapp.com/powersupplies/powsup_xref.htm
Happ only listed it at 150watts. 

Some internet searching does agree it is a total 5v voltage hog, but no amp requirements. 

Thanks. 

[Siris]

I own an Area 51 Site 4 cab and run my PS at 5.1v, These games are notorious for having reboot issues and I have actually had similar behavior as you are having while trying swapping out boards trying to get a stable game. I had to buy 2 separate board sets before I was able to get my game stable! I honestly don't believe your issue has anything to do with the PS. I would personally completely disassemble the board set, clean EVERYTHING as good as possible, clean all contact pins and connectors. Also be sure to look closely at the Caps on the MB, if they show ANY sign of bulging or leakage do a complete cap kit on the MB.! IMHO these games were manufactured with a cheap/less than worthy MB for an Arcade game that is intended to be on 24/7 and that is why so few remain alive.
Do NOT attempt to remove the heatsink on the CPU as it is thermal taped down and the CPU's on those MB's are a funky style that are meant to be placed and then never touched, any excessive pressure on the CPU can and probably will render the entire MB useless and leave you in need of a new board set.

All that said GOOD LUCK!

Also, Shameless plug here but I run my cab with an SD card in place of the HD, I will be selling the kit soon on ebay. If you get yours stable hit me up!

[runawayabc123]

Would you be kind enough to share a picture of the wiring to the light guns?  It isn't a standard hap 45 pin out.  Thanks!

[Siris]

Sure,

3 pics, first is inside the gun, second is the gun harness/board harness connector, third is board connectors.

Wiring at the gun/board harness is:

Red / Purple-Red
White / Purple-Yellow
Black / Purple-Black
Blue / Purple-Blue
Brown / Purple-Brown
"NOT CONNECTED" / Purple-Green

Wiring at the board connector right to left is: Purple-Red, Purple-Yellow, Purple-Black, Purple-Blue, Purple-Brown, SKIP A PIN, Purple-Green.

That is gun 2/Player 2, Gun 1 is the same just white instead of purple.

If you need anything else let me know!

[MonMotha]

I've never messed with one of these personally, but I know from talking with some ops that they're notorious power hogs.  15A on 5V may be a little low - that's only 75W.  You'll probably want to upgrade to one of the enclosed, forced air cooled supplies that's capable of more like 30A (150W) on 5V.  Most ops also seem to report that they're a lot more reliable at slightly over 5V (5.1-5.25V as measured at the JAMMA connector), but do not exceed 5.5V.

Make sure your power wires are nice and beefy, too.  Bare minimum would be 4x AWG18 for both 5V and ground.  Might want to even go all the way to AWG16 and maybe add a couple more ground lines in, too.

[runawayabc123]

-MonMotha that was exactly what I was looking for on the power side.  Thanks!  (Your posts are always super helpful!!!)

Ok, I feel dumb for not reading the wiring schematic correctly now.  I couldn't figure out why the diagram had 3146(key)27895... because the wires weren't ordered on the PCB side of the diagram.  They'll cross the trigger line, but not the rest of them. 

I'll continue to see if I get it stable, but I think I need to upgrade the wiring on my harness. 

The HD boards I have are:
Judge Dredd
Area 51/Max
Area 51 Site 4
Carnevil

Maybe we can work out a flash card purchase in the future.  (My multi harness project has depleted the game fund for awhile.) 

[runawayabc123]

Wow... that was a short game.  Took more time for the trainning/field exersizes than the beyond area 51/story part.