Smartstrip blown or going bad? Any help to stop blinking lights?

[QuixoteQuest]

My arcade cabinet last weekend started--while the cab is turned off--to have one of the lightning (plasma) discs and both coin door lights begin to intermittently flash. When I opened up the cabinet, I noticed the Smart Strip power strip is doing something new: the red LED light next to the "switched outlets" label is intermittently flashing. It's not a noticeable pattern, other than it is frequent and regular. And whenever the LED flashes, the coin door lights and one lightning disc flashes at the same time, despite the PC being switched off. (Once I turn on the PC, both coin door lights go to solid on and both lightning discs will work normally, in that they react to sound.)

I tried unplugging and plugging the master cord to the wall, also running several boot/shut down routines on the PC, but soon after doing either the flashing will resume. For now I have switched the master switch on the power strip to off to stop the flashing. Does anyone know what has gone wrong? Has the power strip gone bad? Could it be something else? The strip went into service in January 07, so it's not that old.

I wish I could report anything out of the ordinary that would seem linked to this, but we've had no power failures. (Note that the unit is always kept turned off when not in use--though still plugged in to the wall. We do not keep it on running in attract mode, nor do we "sleep" the PC. When we want to play we boot the PC on, and then everything else in the arcade turns on with it.) If we've had any recent surges I haven't seen any other electronics in the house affected in any noticeable way. And when I turn on the unit it otherwise seems to perform fine.

Thanks for any help anyone has!

[ahofle]

Have you tried adjusting the little sensitivity dial?  I had the opposite problem one day (my monitor and accessories would not turn off when the computer shut down).  I adjusted the dial and it's been working ever since.

[QuixoteQuest]

Have you tried adjusting the little sensitivity dial?  I had the opposite problem one day (my monitor and accessories would not turn off when the computer shut down).  I adjusted the dial and it's been working ever since.

I didn't notice a sensitivity dial on there--but I was peering with a flashlight thru my coin door. I'll get the machine pulled away from the wall so I can get in thru the back and take a closer look. It's odd that, if so, this is the first issue of this type I've had since January. Will report back.

[ahofle]

Mine did the same thing.  It was working for months and then suddenly stopped working. 

[mrclean]

This is what I use and its 20 bucks and if you live near a sears just pick one up http://www.sears.com/shc/s/p_10153_12605_00924031000P?vName=Tools&keyword=Craftsman+Auto+Switch