No Life in Pac Man Cocktail Monitor

[chaosseven]

I have a Pac Man Cocktail machine and the game seems to work and play (game is playing through speaker and cabinet lights up) EXCEPT no video.  No life whatsoever.  There seems to be 120V going to the plug of the monitor from the transformer but from there nothing seems to have any life.

My question is:
Anyone know of a step by step troubleshooting method around to check maybe the flyback or other possible culprits?

I do not want to throw parts at the monitor until I know what precicely is broken.  (cap kit)

Thank you in advance.

[Ken Layton]

First it's very important to know the specific make and model of the monitor in question. Otherwise we can only give you generalizations such as check for blown fuses, make sure all connectors are plugged in, etc.

Post a picture of the monitor from the rear if you can't find any info.

[chaosseven]

Its an Electrohome G07.

I apparently am getting voltage from the isolation tansformer, but nothing else.

Is there a signal voltage that causes the monitor to power up?

Fuse (the only one I can see on the chassis) looks okay.

[Ken Layton]

G04? Huh?  

You sure it's not a G07-CBO as that's what should be in it.

Order capkit # 101 and flyback # A29951-B from Zanen Electronics (phone 806-793-6337) and that should bring your monitor back to life & look good again.

[chaosseven]

See, you didn't ned to ask me what was in it, you knew all along.  

However, I don't want to throw parts at it like I said.  I want to fix what is broken.

Is there a way to test each cap or the flyback with a meter?  If so, I was looking for what I should be looking for.

[Ken Layton]

Don't dink with trying to find one or two bad caps. You will just be taking the chassis out all over again when another cap fails a month later. Just install the whole cap kit and replace the flyback.

Trust me, I've repaired well over 1,000 monitors over the years. Probably 95% of the time on an Electrohome, capkit and flyback fix it.

[APFelon]

Cap kits are pretty cheap. It may be more cost effective (if you value your time) if you shotgun the problem instead of testing each cap.  I have a hunch that you would have to desolder the caps from the chassis in order to test them in the first place. Sounds like a pointless exercise to me.

Here is an article on flybacks, including testing procedures. This might not be a project you can try at home.

http://www.repairfaq.org/REPAIR/F_flytest.html

Good luck with your monitor!

APf

[chaosseven]

Thanx guys!

I really want to learn about this and I thought it would be more fun troubleshooting than just throwing parts at it.  Guess I'm just weird like that (until I get pissed and start throwing parts anyway).

 

[SirPeale]

Caps are pretty cheap.  Bob Roberts sells a kit for ~$10 (I think).  Not sure about flybacks.  Then, all it requires is the time for you to do it.

[MonitorGuru]

Bob's cap kits are only $5 each for the common monitors (Electrohome, WG, Sanyo), plus $6 shipping = $11 delivered.   (Definitely good if you can order other parts with it).  His flyback, HOT and cap kit for the G07 is only $28 + $6 shipping = $34, not too bad.  However I would consider just getting a new chassis at that point for $72 shipped, but then you'll have to find a compatable tube+yoke.

I agree with Ken... Don't waste time hunting for a single cap that may be bad. It takes all of 1 hour even with only "hobby solder skills" to replace the 15 or so caps on a board, while it takes at least another 30-60 minutes to take out and put back in the board and discharge the tube and what not each time you pull the chassis to inspect it.  Usually if 1 cap is bad, numerous others are or SOON will be due to their ages.  $5 for a kit is a steal in my book.


However just replacing caps likely won't fix a totally dead G07.  I'm betting you have at least 1 fuse blown, and probably have a HOT blown and may even have a crack/burn on the flyback. (Meaning the $28 kit from Bob Roberts)

Google the net for Randy Fromm's G07 troubleshooting flowchart. It will help you diagnose which part is bad, especially in the case of no power.  It's on his web site in the technical department ftp site portion.