Wavy SI-327 Monitor + Flickering Flourescent

[Sylentwulf]

OK, I've gone all out on this stupid thing. The SI-327 manual I have, the cap kit from zanen and the cap kit from bob roberts all say different things for cap values.
They agree for the most part, and I've put what I thought was appropraite in the other places (if 2 out of the three agreed, I used that one)

Still wavy. it looks like someone is massaging, or pushing the image from the side and working it's way up (As I said, like it's pushing the video in on theleft side, and then moving it up to the top, like massaging it)

Got a new power supply in there, it SEEMED to fix the flickering flourescent, but now that I've re-checked all the caps, it's staring to flicker again.

Could ALL of this be caused by the dial on the power supply? Without getting flamed, I gotta ask, what's that for? I don't have a multimeter handy.

Soul Edge cabinet originally, and it looks like the wavy is going away now that it's warmed up, but the last time I put Super Street Fighter 2 CPS2 board in there, it got REALLY bad after being on about 10 minutes.

Anyways, any help appreciated, thanx!

[OSCAR]

I believe what you are describing is often called the "hula".  This normally indicates a problem with the power regulation circuit.  I recently had a K4600 that was doing the same thing, and it turned out to be a faulty voltage regulation transistor.  Here's some useful info on checking for a faulty voltage regulation circuit.

At the bottom of this page, http://slot-tech-ftp.serveftp.com:8080, you will find a troubleshooting flowchart and chassis schematic for your monitor.


The adjustment pot on the power supply is to dial in the +5V output so you get a solid +5V to your game board.

[Sylentwulf]

Ugh, the Voltage regulator sounds exactly like the problem I'm having.

Unfortunately, I can't read electronics schematics, and have NO IDEA how to do ANYTHING listed on that page  

I've wired the whole jamma cabinet, put a new power supply in, and done a cap kit, as I've said, so I'm not an idiot, I just have no idea how to read that schematic. I also have no idea how to test a semiconductor, or measure voltage

Anyone have any other pages about fixing this problem? Appreciate it! Thanx again!

[Sylentwulf]

OK, I (Think?) I've found the three transistors, Q601, Q602, Q603 on my si-327 mainboard.
Would it be easiest just to replace these one at a time and see if that fixes it?
Anyone know where I can GET these transistors? (Q602 is a 2SC1091Y transistor, and looks like a HUGE capacitor)

[Ken Layton]

A fluorescent can flicker because of several things. The simplest reason is the tube is old or near the end of it's life (replace it with a new one). Temperature: the type of fluoescents used in video games are for heated indoor use. If it's too cold (i.e. less than 60 degrees) the tube will flicker.

The socket contacts could be corroded.

The ballast transformer could be failing.

[Sylentwulf]

Yeah, the flourescent must have just been cold, it's freezing in my living room (not literally of course) and after about 15 minutes it evened out and worked perfectly.