Monitor Problems

[coliveira]

Hello

I have a Wells Gardner k7000 monitor.  At least that's the owner's manual that came with the machine.  I think it has a loose wire or a short or something because it works great, but then as the game is being played or is bumped it will lose it's red color.  I have to leave the back of the machine open so I can jiggle the wires on the back of the monitor to get the color working right again.

I don't feel comfortable with electrical wiring, but I don't appear to have any arcade repair shops in the area (Modesto, CA).  Would a TV shop be able to help me with this?  Anyone reading this in the local area interested in making a little cash or getting paid in beer?

Please advise.

Thanks
Chris

[qrz]

most likely a loose connection on the red drive xistor ( neck board)

yes, a tv shop can fix it ( assuming you can find one ) 

the "disposable" crap available these days have put many out of business. 

poor designs, no tech support, lack of replacement parts, etc...

[coliveira]

Thank you for the reply.  I have a buddy that knows a bit about soldering.  Maybe I can have him take a look at it as you've isolated a place to look. 

I know what you mean about the TV repair shops though.  I was really surprised when I saw one pop up on google.  I haven't looked very closely at it though.  I won't be surprised to find out it went out of business 5 years ago and the page just keeps showing up for some unknown reason!

Best wishes
Chris

[WhereEaglesDare]

Look for broken soldering joints.  Reflow some of the joints.  To reflow just goto the transistors and put the iron up to the connections and as soon as it melts the solder pull it off.  Doing this will fix many broken joints, if they exist.

When doing this make sure you dont make any new connections by putting solder where there wasnt any before.

[boardjunkie]

You *always* add fresh solder when reflowing cracked joints. Just reheating the existing solder is a half ass way to do it and it won't very well. Most solder joints crack because there wasn't enough solder to begin with, so adding some to it will only make it more crack resistant.

[WhereEaglesDare]

but keep in mind, a little goes a long way, be very careful not to make a new connection.

[coliveira]

Thanks for the responses.  Turns out my buddy wasn't as good as soldering as I thought.   Looks like I'm going the repair route, which is a bummer, but I'm afraid I'll screw things up worse than they already are.

Thanks again for the responses.

[Kevin Mullins]

If you are wiggling cables to "correct" the problem then I would check the header pins where the video cable (Red, Green, Blue, etc) plugs into on the right hand side, they are notorious for cold solder joints on a K7000.
But you should check over the ENTIRE chassis and neckboard while you are at it since there are several other common places that need redone anyways.

[coliveira]

Kevin

Thanks for the advice.  If you live in the Modesto, Ca area and are looking to earn a case of beer, let me know!  I'm so stuck here it's not even funny.  I have a repair guy that won't call me back and not a buddy with the ability to solder.  I may just buy a cheap solder, google how to do it, and pray!

Wish me luck.
Chris

[boardjunkie]

Get on youtube. There's several soldering instructional vids on there. Its real easy, but an art as well. There's only one *right* way to do it. Old timers know best....skip the ones with some 14yr old kid hacking it up.

Oh....and use *good* solder. 60/40 or 63/37 tin/lead. do *NOT* use anything lead free. Its garbage...buy decent solder on ebay if need be.

[coliveira]

If I can get my monitor talking to this computer I'll give it a shot.  If I screw it up is it easy to undo?  I've called a tv repair guy a couple of times, but he's not great at getting back to me.  I'm only willing to chase someone so far to give them my money...

Thanks again and I'll let you know how it turns out.
Chris