Nintendo marquee light question

[ppilot]

Hi all.  I'm working on a Nintendo vs. cabinet, sans pcb.  The marquee light says '100V' on it, and plugs in to the Nintendo power supply.  If I plug the light directly into the wall socket, it still lights.  Am I going to destroy something/start a fire if I keep the old marquee light and use it plugged directly in? 

Thanks for the help!

[MaximRecoil]

Why would you need to plug it directly into the wall? Are you planning to use it outside the cabinet for something other than a marquee light? If so, why?

Anyway, plugging it into the wall *probably* won't start a fire, but it will stress the components more than if plugged into the 100VAC that it wants.

[ppilot]

I'm contemplating mame-ing the cabinet.  If I do, I'd like to keep it as original as possible, and be able to swap between one of the Nintendo PCB's and a computer running mame.  I'd like to be able to plug the monitor/marquee light into the Nintendo power supply. if I want to run the cabinet 'old school' and into a power strip to run mame.

Does this make sense?

[MaximRecoil]

I'm contemplating mame-ing the cabinet.  If I do, I'd like to keep it as original as possible, and be able to swap between one of the Nintendo PCB's and a computer running mame.  I'd like to be able to plug the monitor/marquee light into the Nintendo power supply. if I want to run the cabinet 'old school' and into a power strip to run mame.

Does this make sense?

You're better off just getting a replacement fixture like this one from Mike's Arcade. Your bulb in your original Nintendo fixture will blow eventually, and you won't be able to find a replacement bulb on this continent anyway. You might as well replace the fixture now. A normal 120VAC fixture will run fine off either the wall or the 100VAC Nintendo outlet. Under-volting something only stresses it less, while over-volting will lead to a quicker demise.

[Ken Layton]

The original Nintendo ballast in the light fixture was designed for 100 volts only. YES I HAVE SEEN THESE CATCH FIRE IF USED ON 120 VOLTS! If you desire to run a light fixture on 120 volts AC then go to the hardware store and buy a 120 volt light fixture.

The original Nintendo Sanyo (or Nintendo Sharp if that's what's in your cabinet) monitor was designed to run on 100 volts ISOLATED AC. It was never ever intended to be operated on 120 volts nor should it ever be plugged directly to the wall outlets. It must be powered through an isolation transformer that also steps the 120 volts down to 100.