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Ms. Pac crosshatch then nothing...

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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:


--- Quote from: BobA on March 15, 2012, 11:39:28 pm ---Probably the first thing to check is the power supply and fuses.



--- End quote ---

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.




--- Quote from: MKFan4Life on March 15, 2012, 11:42:40 pm ---
--- Quote from: BobA on March 15, 2012, 11:39:28 pm ---Probably the first thing to check is the power supply and fuses.



--- End quote ---

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.


--- End quote ---


Nephasth:


--- Quote from: paigeoliver on March 16, 2012, 12:46:32 am ---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.




--- Quote from: MKFan4Life on March 15, 2012, 11:42:40 pm ---
--- Quote from: BobA on March 15, 2012, 11:39:28 pm ---Probably the first thing to check is the power supply and fuses.



--- End quote ---

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.


--- End quote ---

--- End quote ---

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."

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