Classic cabinets -- Leave the power on or power it down?

[CIA_Guy]

I know this topic has a lot of opinions both ways for computers, but what about classic cabs -- specifically Defender.  Should I power it down or leave it running?  The old electronics weren't as "sturdy" as the new stuff.  

I've had a couple of scares when I powered up my Defender -- a RAM error that cleared on the next power-up.  Makes me a little afraid to shut it down!

Any opinions?

[paigeoliver]

Turn it off when you are done playing for the day. Leaving it on 24x7 is only going to make it fail quicker, and when it does it will probably happen when you aren't around, and cause a lot more damage.

Defender is a common game, and a lot of people service the boardsets and power supplies. You have nothing to worry about that can't be fixed with a little money.

[danny_galaga]

i saw on a site of someone restoring his defender that the ram is hard to come by now since it hasn't been manufactured in a while. i can't for the life of me find that link now though.

as paige says, the longer it's running the more chance there is of something breaking down. myself (living in the tropics) i always unplug anything precious that im not using. not just switch off.

[fredster]

I have left newer games running for 4 months non stop with no problems.  

The old stuff is very reliable IF it is in good shape, but most of those caps are now what, 25 years old?  If the electronics have been recently serviced and the game is mint, you can let it run like it did when it was new.  

Most of my failures on these old machines have been on start up, most electronic failures are on startup.  Ever see a lightbulb blow when it's on?  It goes out most of the time when you turn it on, not while it's running.  Same with electronic devices, especially caps and transistors.

Old games may not have the screen saver ability of new ones.  So you can burn in the screen for no reason if it's your personal machine. That and power consumption would be the two reasons to shut it off.  

I shut off all of my old games in my personal gameroom.  

If it's hard to shut off, then go to walmart and check out a remote control for it.  They have an outdoor christmas light remote this time of year. They are like $12 bucks.  They are used to shut off outdoor lights without having to go outside so the range is really good. They work great indoors, and they support 12.5 amps and 1500 watts so you can hookup more than one thing on it.

[SirPeale]

i saw on a site of someone restoring his defender that the ram is hard to come by now since it hasn't been manufactured in a while. i can't for the life of me find that link now though.

Matt Osborn has a really creative hack to use 4164 RAM instead of the 4116 RAM that the original boards came with.  Aparently it's far more reliable and easy to come by.

[CIA_Guy]

Okay, thanks!  That's sort of what I figured.  

Peale -- thanks for the tip on a possible RAM fix (assuming I can't locate a couple of the 4116s when the time comes).

[paigeoliver]

Also, even if the whole mess frys you can still buy a JAMMA multi-williams board and install that. That is what I have in my Defender.