Today, I won this... White Screen problem

[slapaham]

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&item=250422675859

Would this be a fairly easy repair? And what would I need to do to get it
running... look at the questions and answers section for details of the
'problem'... I purchased it for a mate whose really helped me out recently as
a 'thank you' and I wanted the boards ... also, would there be a kick
harness I can nick from inside, do you reckon?   

[Franco B]

Seriously dude, how many cabs do you need? 

I dont suppose your mate it the one who helped you pick up that cab from me is it?

[slapaham]

Haha, yes, it sure is - I think he has earnt it with all the help he's lent me over the space of the last few months! He was housing my Playchoice-10 but now I've taken it home he said he wanted to fill the gap with a replacement cab - so I spotted this one, fancied the games and thought I'd place a bid!

Don't worry... no more cabs for me though! Enough is enough - I am stopping after I've collected the Egret 2 from Insert Coin - but it doesn't mean I can't buy them on behalf of other people!

[Kevin Mullins]

The seller bought it with "ambitions of restoring it to it's former glory" ....... and what exactly was that?
Looks to have some sort of Defender ripoff marquee - "Unigame"
Probably meaning some sort of JAMMA thing.
Looks like a nice clean and solid cabinet though for sure.

BTW - Shinobi is NOT jamma. (unless it's a bootleg maybe)

White screen is indictive of a working monitor, bad game board.
Could be the power supply, could be the board itself.
The seller listed some of the game boards included in the auction, but didn't mention what was currently in it that produces the "white screen".
So what's in it now?

[slapaham]

Haha, cheers Kev... you've got the same train of thought as me... I don't think it is a monitor problem - or at least I hope not! Seems strange if it was a PCB problem as it comes with 8 - you would have thought they'd have the sense to try it with another board if they were having problems... well, you never know!

Didn't think Shinobi was Jamma... bootlegs are fine with me - as long as they work!

It's been suggested to me that it may be a video cable problem and your power supply suggestion seems feasible... it will be a couple of weeks until I collect this so I will post more info up once I collect it... I don't have a great deal of experience (i.e. almost none) in fixing cabs but post regularly on arcade forums and just from what I've picked up, I have a feeling that it might be a PSU problem...

Haha, yeah, I noticed the subtle marquee... whatever could that be ripping off!? I can pretty much guarantee this is Jamma... the included boards scream it... I reckon it's just a generic Jamma cab. But as you say... it looks like a nice cab - I don't think I've done too badly on it (or at least, I hope not - only time will tell I guess!) I'm mainly bothered about the boards but I can test those all very quickly and easily with my Supergun... I also really want to get it up and running for my mate as it would be really nice to sort it out for him after all the favours he's done me recently! I'm giving him the cab free of charge but he will have to pay for any repairs/bits required...

[slapaham]

Mmm... just found a bit of info that might be of some interest... there is a small chance this cab is a Unigame cab and therefore ISN'T Jamma - while Unigame looks similar to Jamma it isn't the same... interesting!

[Kevin Mullins]

I didn't look into whether UNIGAME ever was some sort of proprietary run of machines.
You may definitely want to investigate that a bit before plugging any JAMMA boards into it.
At least make certain the 5v and 12v are matched otherwise it'll toast a board quickly.

Could possibly be something like the Sega setup which matches that Shinobi. (System 16)

[slapaham]

I shall take a cautious look... thanks for the advice!

[channelmaniac]

White screen... Do you get the same white screen with no game board installed?

Do you see any video under the white? If so, turn the screen control on the flyback down.

What kind of monitor is it? If it's a Wells Gardner K4600 with those silly little upright daughter cards then you'll find a shorted zener diode and transistor in the blanking circuit. I had that problem on an old Atari Kangaroo.

RJ