I don't usually seem to get any good deals. So I was rather surprised to when I responded to an ad for 2 free games, and they were still there. So I picked up 2 FREE games the other day. A terra cresta, and an EXCELLENT condition mega touch 4. When turning on the mega touch, the screen looked and sounded like when you have the wrong refresh rate on a pc monitor. I looked inside and the thing was as corroded as the titanic. (It was in a wet basement. I was told it worked when put down there a few months ago, but can't take it where the owner is moving. ) I posted here and was told to give up on the monitor chassis and replace it. I figured I have nothing to lose if I try to fix it, so I told myself I'd fix it if I have to change everything on the damn board. I have never ever done any work on a monitor so I was terrified just trying to discharge the damn thing. It was funny enough me telling my step father to do it, he said I should do it, back and forth. So cringing like a little baby I tried to discharge it. The worst thing was that it made absolutely no noise. So I did it about 10 times. Then some more. I then took out the boards for the monitor. I found a resistor that wasn't connected on one side, so I fixed that. It had a cap kit done, and some of the solder looked cold, so I reheated them. I then took off some of the bigger caps that looked like they had corrosion coming out from underneath. I cleaned them all and reinstalled them. After cleaned they didn't look like the crap was from them. I cleaned alot of crap off the board with a childs tooth brush and rubbing alcohol. I spent 3 hours on the damn thing. While putting it back together, I realized there was a wire broken off. It went from the what I beleive is the flyback, to the socket the tube neck goes in. It broke INSIDE the socket. SO I had to break away some of that and then solder it INSIDE. More fun and time. So just as I was about to put the last plug back on the board I saw something.... One of the tiny clips inside the plug was BROKEN. It made sense, resembled an non compatible refresh rate. I guess it was a f-ing SYNC wire that was loose!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! At 1:30 in the morning with everybody in the house sleeping I started screaming and cursing. I have load of parts but couldnt find a video plug anywhere. I ended up ripping, yes ripping one out of an empty cabinet and doing a 30 second splice job with a bunch of tiny wire nuts. Guess what... It works... I would love to think that my keen eye, and NASA quality soldering skills had something to do with fixing the game. But that would just be total BS. So after about 4 hours, I did a 1 minute fix.... The worst part is when anybody that ever asks me about problems with arcade games I tell them that FIRST thing is check all the plugs....
So, I did I get the "find of the month". (or mistake of the month). The thing has like 20 games on it.
In case anybody was going to ask, I don't even know if the terra cresta works, it's still in my truck..
And Thanks again any way Ken, for your help.
Steve
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Topic: maybe my stupid mistake will make you laugh (Read 1226 times)
