Have reached the end of my wits -- Now Betson monitor problem

[Avrus]

So it's been a very bad few weeks.  I had Vista on my cab and it was running perfectly until I made a moronic move and attempted to install Vista SP1.  Fast forward to the point where I'm fed up and going to install XP back onto it.

I finally made the breakthrough that I could just use the bootsec.exe /nt52 command to put the XP boot loader back on -- when the Betson monitor kicks out.

It's making a rapid 'tick tock' sound, almost like it's changing resolutions or degausing itself.  The thing is, the monitor can't even have 50 hours on it because I've been building the cab and haven't had much opportunity to play it.

I was really worried about something like this happening when I ordered the monitor from the states, but seriously before even 50 hours of use? 

Anyone have any suggestions as to what it could be?  I haven't called Betson yet but I'm sure their suggestion would be to ship it back to them. 

[Avrus]

Unplugged the board that controls adjustments, no go.  I think I should just go to Canadian Tire and get a sledgehammer and utterly destroy the entire cabinet.     

[Rickn]

Of course I wish you had my monitor, but no matter... with luck there is nothing wrong with the monitor?? There is a chance that you have XP set to too high a resolution. Disconnect the signal to the monitor and sees if it still "ticks"

If not connect the system to a pc Monitor and reduce the display setting to say 640X480 and then reconnect the betson monitor.

Good Luck
Rick Nieman
Rick@Niemandisplays.com

[Avrus]

Of course I wish you had my monitor, but no matter... with luck there is nothing wrong with the monitor?? There is a chance that you have XP set to too high a resolution. Disconnect the signal to the monitor and sees if it still "ticks"

If not connect the system to a pc Monitor and reduce the display setting to say 640X480 and then reconnect the betson monitor.

Good Luck
Rick Nieman
Rick@Niemandisplays.com

I wish I had your monitor too, back when I was purchasing I made multiple attempts to get a quote from one of the reps after she initially contacted me.  Ah well, not much can be done about that now.

The ticking is straight from boot I'm afraid.  (I forgot to mention I have many years of computer and network experience).  Straight black screen.  And it's fairly rapid.  Initially it clicks like it's powering up, about 3 seconds later it's a loud clicking (like a resolution switch) about every second.

I'm guessing it's going to be a capacitor or power supply problem, both which are outside my scope of expertise.

Bleh.

[ahofle]

Have you hooked up any other display devices to the PC  to rule out the Betson monitor?

[Avrus]

Have you hooked up any other display devices to the PC  to rule out the Betson monitor?

Just in the middle of hooking up my 21" Viewsonic from upstairs to ensure it's not the video card or some computer component.  Part of me hopes it's the AVGA2, but I seriously doubt it.

[Avrus]

Unfortunately it's the monitor.  Does it without any input, and video displays fine on the LCD from upstairs.

Just lovely.

[qrz]

bettin' a shorted h out xistor ....


qrz

[Avrus]

bettin' a shorted h out xistor ....


qrz

That seems to be the consensus on the searches.  H resistor or power supply

[northerngames]

it is also possible the IC went.

[grantspain]

i know from a friend of mine that feeding certain multi sync chassis above 38khz will kill the hdt,i don't mess with mame stuff but a few years ago a chap asked me to fix his cab-he was running mame on a pentranic multi sync  and had decided to see what it would look like with svga signal,it blew the hdt(phillips bu2525)-i put in a new one set his pc to vga and then fired up with no issues

[Avrus]

Well the good news is it's under warranty.

The bad news is I'm going to have to take out the chassis and ship it back to them.

Guess I'll be reading the guides on how to do that safely.

[Avrus]

So I've read the instructions in great detail for discharging the monitor.  Like anyone for their first time, I'm sure, it's a bit intimidating.

I have 10+ years in computer and network installs and repairs so I'm not going to do something stupid, however:

Based on the collective experience discharing a monitor, is it necessary to get a multimeter and an HV probe, or is a screwdriver with an alligator clip fine?

[Ummon]

Screwdriver and clip is great. I just used two screwdrivers. Then there wasn't any pop, even. Seems the multisyncs auto-discharge, but it's helpful to make sure. As for changing out, it's pretty straighforward and simple. Just make sure you make a diagram of all your connections.

[Shane_K]

Hi everybody 

Just wanted to chime in with some info -- I have the Betson Kortek KT-2914 and had the exact same problem after about a week of use.  One day when I powered up it was making a tick-tock sound, and sounded almost exactly like a car turn signal, and there was no picture regardless of what I plugged into it.  I called Betson (I live in the LA area so I called the nearby shop in Buena Vista Park) and spoke with some service guys there.  Unfortunately the warranty on these monitors are very short and because I ordered the monitor long before I had completed my arcade cabinet I was out of warranty already.  The guys at Betson were pretty nice about the whole thing and they repaired it for free since I agreed to drive it down there or pay for shipping.  When I went back to them to pick it up they told me they had to replace the flyback converter.

About 3 months later the exact same problem started happening again.  Plugged it in one day and "tick-tock, tick-tock, tick-tock...", no picture.  Unfortunately I had moved to the midwest and was now nowhere near Buena Vista Park to have it repaired.

I've moved back to LA now, but unfortunately my beautiful arcade cabinet has been sitting here unusable for about a year and a half because getting it repaired is so difficult and expensive.  I could probably drive it back down to the guys at Betson now to have it repaired but when I called they warned me it would be very, very expensive to repair.  The refused to quote me an exact price.  Since this thing has died twice now the exact same way, I'm concerned that if I get it repaired the same thing will just happen again.   

I wonder how common of a problem this is with arcade monitors?

[grantspain]

not common with arcade monitors,seems a problem with some of the multisync monitors.
they mentioned the flyback converter,i wonder if they are referring to the flyback transformer-these should rarely cause a problem,maybe due to age or a bad batch but very rare to just fail
in my opinion kortek are a pretty poor monitor and always have been

[Shane_K]

"in my opinion kortek are a pretty poor monitor and always have been"

...And therein lies my problem, I suppose.  I've heard bad things about the Wells Gardner D9200 and D9400 monitors, and a lot of people seem to be complaining about the Betson Kortek multisync monitors as well.  I initially wanted to buy a D9200 (back when retroblast first reviewed them) but then had read on forums such as these that they had a high failure rate.  Then I saw the review for the new KT-2914 and purchased it before their problems were exposed and started filtering out onto the forums a little.  So the two major brands that everyone knows about and are commonly available are, to put it mildly, problematic.

I guess my biggest concern at this point is the likelihood that I'll have the same problem again if I get this monitor repaired instead of just buying another one.  There are downsides to both buying a new one and repairing my current one, and I guess I'm trying to weigh them.

Any and all opinions are welcome. 

Shane

[Avrus]

AAR:  I should have done the work myself, I would have saved a small fortune on shipping the board and brokerage fees.

$10 in parts, $130+ in shipping.  Bleh.

Was the '33 UF 50V Radial Cap' and the '2SC5584' which was replaced with 'FJL6820'.

 

[grantspain]

this sounds like an upgrade,it seems the 2sc5584 is not powerful enough to run the chassis
someone should sticky this info as it will be of use to other betson owners