Gauntlet Legends Restore

[Cbizle]

Long time lurker, and now I am on to my first project!  

Recently bought Time Crisis II & Gauntlet Legends cabs.  First, I am attacking the Gauntlet Legends.  I understood that the cab was not working before I purchased.  After closer examination, I have found that:

a)  Nothing will post to the monitor after turning the unit on.
b)  I can hear the tube "power up"
c)  There are all kind of pretty lights on the PCB
d)  I'm afraid the Vegas 777 board could have issues
e)  I can hear an audible "Beep" after the unit has been on 7-10 seconds
f)   I cannot feel the hard drive vibrating or spinning
g)  The power supply obviously works, but it doesn't appear to be the unit that was shipped with Gauntlet (doesn't fit the original cab bracket) & has a NAMCO sticker on it.

You can see from the pictures below that i have a few red LED lit on the 777.  After closer inspection, it looks like the contacts have been corroded or shorted.  I was told this cab was bought from a sports bar auction so who knows what actually happened to the unit.  I have not done much research yet, but I was hoping to get a few pointers or starting points.  I acknowledge the wealth of experience & previous posts available to me and I'm excited to get started.

Other thoughts.....   If this cab is beyond repair, it could make an awesome MAME conversion, but I would love to get away with restoring it in all its original glory!


Thanks in advance to anyone who can share their thoughts and wisdom!

[Cbizle]

The hard drive does scare me a bit so I purchased a compact flash card & adapter from newegg.  The plan is to find a rom online and image the CF.  We will see if that will work, but others have done it before.

Still worried about the Vegas 777 board.  I'm thinking that I will need to resolder the contacts for the wiring harness.  Hopefully that will correct the problem.. but there is alot of work to be done before i know fo' sho'.

Looks like a few different people have tried to repair this cabinet before.

[Hunk_4TH]

I think this should really be in the (Restorations) forum. But I'm looking forward to your progress as I've always liked the GL cabinet.

Also you can install the CHD file to a hard drive. This might help you also more results were found via Google http://www.google.com/search?sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8&q=mame+chd+to+harddriver#hl=en&sa=X&ei=l3n7TcjuBoqztweOjPG8Dg&ved=0CBYQvwUoAQ&q=mame+chd+to+hard+drive&spell=1&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.&fp=9cad15177ed5008a&biw=1680&bih=925

[Cbizle]

No doubt that link will help, thanks.

Your probably right about posting to restorations... I have requested a move.

[Hunk_4TH]

Not a problem! Look forward to your progress. If you need anything else just ask Good luck!

[Cbizle]

I haven't had time to do any further work to my cab, but I did have a question about the plexi that protects the CRT.  Some jackass carved his initials into the bottom left of the glass. 

Is there a way to polish or remove these scratches from the plexi?

Hopefully the compact flash will come in soon so I can try and get this puppy to boot up.

[Cbizle]

After closer inspection, it looks like it's a glass panel instead of plexi.  Looks like I'll need to replace after all. I'm thinking smoked glass for a replacement.

[Paladin]

I'm no expert, but it looks like the power section of the PCB JAMMA connection burned up and then was re tinned and maybe burnt up again after that.  At a guess I'd say either the power supply and/or the edge connector are suspect.

Check your voltages, as it looks like some of the connections might not be making contact.  I don't think the drive will power up without 12V.  I'm pretty sure the manual is online and tells you what the lights on the PCB's mean.
http://www.crazykong.com/manuals/GauntletLegends.man.pdf
Page 58 has the LED chart.

[Cbizle]

Progress.

Paladin - I checked the voltage on the power supply like you suggested with the PCB disconnected & it registered 12v.  I then checked it again WITH the PCB connected and the hard drive registered at 12.3.  I backed the PSU back down to 12.  I'm hoping that will prevent the burnout on the PCB power connector.

The unit will now power on with arcade controls and sound working.  Still no picture on the screen.  I can hear the CRT power up, but nothing on the tube.  Tried adjusting brightness/contrast.. still nothing.

I could use some suggestions on fixing the screen.  Is this something that a capacitor kit would resolve?

[Ground_Gainer]

You could try some of the Arcade Repair Tips videos for ideas: 

(FYI I have no affiliation with those guys but have found their videos useful)

Cheers
 

[Muffindude]

Maybe the connectors are not plugged into your chassis or edge connector (although I doubt you didn't already check that )
Try buying a cap kit anyways. Even if it doesn't fix your monitor, it'll have a nicer picture when you do get it to work.

[kampcool]

I am getting ready to work on a gauntlets monitor, could we please get a pix of the cab, and exact monitor you are working with, maybe we can share troubleshooting/diagnostics.......thanks, goodluck.

[Cbizle]

I will take several and upload first opportunity.  Seems like everyone wants to keep me busy doing things other than working on my cab lately! 

[Cbizle]

Here are the pics of the monitor and cab.  The monitor is a NEOTEC model NT-2701.  Anyone have any experience with these displays?

[Cbizle]

Kampcool - Just found this info about the NeoTec monitor.  Did you happend to find the model number of yours?

Post i found it in - http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=86116.0

Actual website regarding that monitor repair & cap list - http://www.pinrepair.com/rush/

[Cbizle]

I'm beginning to believe that I have some serious issues with this monitor.  I have found that the power supply feeds both the marquee light and the CRT.  The marquee light comes on & I can hear the tube power on.  When i say i can hear it power on, I hear that characteristic static sound associated with older televisions.  Looking at the back of the tube, I do not see any "glowing" that has been described on posts before.  Also, the fuse on the monitor board is not blown.

Anyone think I can salvage this tube, or should I look for a replacement?

Also, anyone know of an arcade supply near Dallas that may have a 27" replacement?

[kampcool]

Hold on to your horses, just for now on finding a replacement.   Im going to work on this very monitor tommorow, and from what I saw in the arcade, it was having many of the same symptoms.  Let me take a hands on look and see what we can dig up together.  If your machine has power (which it does), and you cant play "Blind" doesnt mean your machine is broke necessarily. (hard drive/powersupply)  .   Tommorow morning around this same time, Ill be able to post again what I find on my side, and if the model #s are the same.  P.S, thanks for the links, bro ........  Ill be right back.

[kampcool]

Ok, here is what I had dropped in my lap.  The owner powered THIS gauntlet legends up (that has been down since last year), and we got the audible "DING", followed by attract mode sounds.  I opened her up from the back, and there was no monitor chasis board <GRIN>.  So I dug thru a box and found it, and plugged it back in, to see what we had.

[kampcool]

So it looks like this is the same make monitor on my side as yours, just the bigger 35 incher.  When I powered this one up I at least had a "glow" at the neck, and a "collapsed screen" represented like a stripe down the middle from top to bottom.  Does your machine act like its fuctioning "BLIND"?  Does your monitor have a glow at the back neck?  Its hard to see because the neck board has a shield that hides it.  Take a peek in the dark and see if it lights up back there.  Be carefull sticking yourself behind there while she is powered up, bro. 

[kampcool]

Cbiz,    goto that crazykong site, and d/l that manual, goto page 4-5  and do everything there, and tell us what you find.
http://www.crazykong.com/manuals/GauntletLegends.man.pdf
p.s it takes a while to load, be patient..       Till then, im hunting for the actual monitor manuals. ill keep an eye out for yours too.    brb

[kampcool]

Well theres good news and bad......
Good news is that the NT2700-2701-2702-3500-3501-3506 all seem to share the same capkits and repair manuals.   
 
Bad news is that "for the life of this rig", I cannot find an online manual, or one in the library of my arcade.  Ive got the schematics, and the "Guantlet Legends" operator manual, but it doesnt really dive into any kind of test points or proceedures....       Also, I had the one on my end firedup today, (in the dark) and couldnt see if the neckboard was glowing, even tho I do have a converged screen represented in a stripe down the middle "from top to bottom".  So, you almost need to get in there, with a dental mirror to see behind that dang heat shield, to see if you are getting a glow at the neck. 
 
This would be "huge" good news on your end.  Good luck, keep us posted.
 

[Cbizle]

I have located a repair shop in the Dallas area that may be able to help with my screen.  However, it could be a while until I work on it since opening my garage introduces 100+ temps.  I'll keep you posted on any progress.

[Cbizle]

So my Dad came to visit this weekend and took a look at the cabinet monitor.  He took down the power supply and circuit boards from the tube & checked all connections.  He plugged everything back up and turned on the cab.. Almost instantly I saw the POST on the screen in all red lettering.  A few minutes later and the game was on screen...   


A couple issues i need to work on is the blurry picture when the unit comes on.. after it warms up a bit, the image focuses nicely.  We were able to fine tune it using the focus adjustment on the flyback.

I was also glad to see more than half of the controls work.  I'm thinking all thats needed now is a control panel break down and cleaning.  More photos to come later.