Ms. Pac crosshatch then nothing...

[MKFan4Life]

My friend at work has an original 1981 Ms. Pacman upright (not cabaret).  I believe it is all original, but he has never had it serviced (I know he's owned it for 10 years at least himself).  It apparently died on him recently, and I figured you guys might be able to start me on a path to help him get it going again.

He was playing the game normally and in the middle of the game it reset and displayed the crosshatch (test) pattern I assume the board shows during initial startup briefly.  He showed me pics of that screen and it appeared to be a very clear and solid crosshatch test screen with some numbers and symbols along one edge of the display and I think letters along another edge that skipped like "A C E G, etc.".  It looked like the monitor was fine from those pics.

He said he could never get it to play the game again after that except for one time when he unplugged and reconnected I think the video connection from the game board going to the monitor, which somehow let the game boot up and he played some but it eventually did the same thing and now it does NOTHING at all.  Doesn't play blind, no sound, no whining (high voltage) from monitor.

Now I haven't went to look at it yet but plan on doing so this weekend hopefully, so I can't attest to the monitor truly not powering up (he's totally blank when it comes to arcade repair knowledge), but supposedly the game is dead it seems.

Does this ring a bell or throw a light bulb on as an obvious component failure or quirk?  (Power supply?)  If you have any ideas, PLEASE don't hesitate to throw them at me along with likely prices of the failed component if you know.  THANKS!!!

[BobA]

Probably the first thing to check is the power supply and fuses.

[MKFan4Life]

Probably the first thing to check is the power supply and fuses.

I am familiar with the newer switching power supplies, but haven't messed with games older than about 1992 much.  These oldies (and goodies) aren't marked (wiring/voltages) anywhere near as well are they?  Guess I'll have to get a diagram or schematic for it if it hasn't been hacked up over the years.  Thanks for the reply.

[paigeoliver]

There are a dozen places that repair Pac-Man boards and most do it pretty cheap. Pac-Man uses some sort of transformer assembly and not a traditional power supply. It sounds like he pulled the edge connector off the thing while it was running. In messing with it he may have opened up an interlock switch or knocked some other wiring around.

You aren't really qualified to offer your repair services on this because you don't really know how to work on Pac-man machines, thus there is no way you can fix it at a reasonable price, and are taking on more risk than the job is worth. Most areas will have a half dozen guys who really know how to fix classic games and they could do it quick and actually make a few bucks on it.

Your lack of experience here means you would end up having to buy Two Bit Scores ABC Diagnostic and Repair Kit or sending the board off to an exchange service (both cost around $100) and thus you would have to end up charging him more than the repair guy would and it could still end up being something wiring related that the repair guy would spot in 10 minutes and that you may not.

Probably the first thing to check is the power supply and fuses.

I am familiar with the newer switching power supplies, but haven't messed with games older than about 1992 much.  These oldies (and goodies) aren't marked (wiring/voltages) anywhere near as well are they?  Guess I'll have to get a diagram or schematic for it if it hasn't been hacked up over the years.  Thanks for the reply.

[Nephasth]

There are a dozen places that repair Pac-Man boards and most do it pretty cheap. Pac-Man uses some sort of transformer assembly and not a traditional power supply. It sounds like he pulled the edge connector off the thing while it was running. In messing with it he may have opened up an interlock switch or knocked some other wiring around.

You aren't really qualified to offer your repair services on this because you don't really know how to work on Pac-man machines, thus there is no way you can fix it at a reasonable price, and are taking on more risk than the job is worth. Most areas will have a half dozen guys who really know how to fix classic games and they could do it quick and actually make a few bucks on it.

Your lack of experience here means you would end up having to buy Two Bit Scores ABC Diagnostic and Repair Kit or sending the board off to an exchange service (both cost around $100) and thus you would have to end up charging him more than the repair guy would and it could still end up being something wiring related that the repair guy would spot in 10 minutes and that you may not.

Probably the first thing to check is the power supply and fuses.

I am familiar with the newer switching power supplies, but haven't messed with games older than about 1992 much.  These oldies (and goodies) aren't marked (wiring/voltages) anywhere near as well are they?  Guess I'll have to get a diagram or schematic for it if it hasn't been hacked up over the years.  Thanks for the reply.

What a dick. Once again you have offered no real help to someone asking for it. This is a DIY forum, your first advice shouldn't be to "find a professional to fix it for you."

[MKFan4Life]

What a dick. Once again you have offered no real help to someone asking for it. This is a DIY forum, your first advice shouldn't be to "find a professional to fix it for you."

I feel better someone took that load of crap the exact same way I was taking it!

Gee, paigeoliver, did somebody kill your puppy today?
  

BTW... I had never performed a repair on a monitor chassis involving bad traces and replacing the flyback until I did one on a chassis for a guy who frequents this forum, and I was 100% successful.  I have an extensive multi-part video on YouTube of the repair with his response video of receiving the chassis back and installing it with perfect results.  It's still running for about a year now.  And guess what?  It all happened because I had a little knowledge of my own coupled with help from people here who truly WANTED to help.

[paigeoliver]

Not being trying to be a dick here, but you really shouldn't try to do repairs on other peoples equipment if you don't know what you are doing. It opens you up to all sorts of liabilities. You can end up breaking things that weren't broken in the first place, ordering parts you didn't need (which you will either have to eat or charge the person for) and it can end up turning bad later on if you don't manage to fix it or anything else breaks later.

If this was your own machine I would suggest the following. Print up the Pac-Man wiring diagram and read up on Pac-Man repair. Make sure all the interlock switches and wiring are where they are supposed to be. Check your voltages and buy a new ribbon cable. Then if it doesn't work find someone else local who has a Pac-man and test the board in their machine. If it doesn't work then buy the Two Bits ABC Diagnostic and Repair Kit and use that to repair the board. If unsure of that then send the board somewhere for a repair or exchange.

[MKFan4Life]

Not being trying to be a dick here, but you really shouldn't try to do repairs on other peoples equipment if you don't know what you are doing. It opens you up to all sorts of liabilities.

If this was your own machine I would suggest the following. Print up the Pac-Man wiring diagram and read up on Pac-Man repair. Make sure all the interlock switches and wiring are where they are supposed to be. Check your voltages and buy a new ribbon cable. Then if it doesn't work find someone else local who has a Pac-man and test the board in their machine. If it doesn't work then buy the Two Bits ABC Diagnostic and Repair Kit and use that to repair the board. If unsure of that then send the board somewhere for a repair or exchange.

Listen.  Around here (where I live) friends help friends, and if they mess up we forgive them.  I'm confident I can fix the machine, but I have to be honest when I talk about what I have had experience with and what I haven't.  Maybe I shouldn't have said he has no experience with arcade machines.  Maybe I should have said, "I have 3 cabs I have successfully performed repairs on in the past and I think with a little help I would be successful this time, where he might not."  But some things should just be inferred don't ya think?

I rarely send ANYTHING off to be repaired.  Heck, I'd never built a house before in 1997, but BEHOLD the structure still stands to this day and everything's in decent repair.  Even the entire 2 floors of wiring I did myself have managed to function flawlessly with no fires (yet) and nobody has been killed by electrical shock.

So yes, I take STUPID risks and try to use my TINY noodle to do things on my own.  Someone shoot me... lol.

No... seriously... SOMEONE SHOOT ME...  drop an MK on my head... put me outta my misery.


With that said, thanks for the helpful paragraph here.