Dedicated Xevious cabinet - Please move to Arcade Misc

[More Cowbell]

I just won this auction for a non-working Xevious cabinet. This will be my first repair/restore project so I'm excited for the challenge. The cab looks like it's in pretty decent shape so I'm hoping that the innards can be repaired without too much headache and money. I'll be interested in a lot of input and would really like to hear about any kind of a checklist that someone might use when faced with a cab that doesn't power up. Check what things in what order?
Thanks in advance for the help.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ih=003&item=130005873907&rd=1&sspagename=STRK%3AMEWA%3AIT&rd=1

[SirPeale]

Check AC wiring first.  Then fuses.

Don't even THINK about plugging it in when you get it home until you've checked these things out at MINIMUM.

[More Cowbell]

Thanks, Peale. Am I checking just to ensure that the wiring is complete and in tact?
Also, does anyone have the manual?

[mccoy178]

Manual shmanual.  Dive in son.

[Havok]

Manual shmanual.  Dive in son.

Dude - that avatar is really distracting. I can't concentrate on this thread. What is she drinking? I won't say what I think it is, since this is a family oriented board...

Oh yeah! Xevious.. I would recommend after checking the AC and fuses to re-seat all the connections. A standard pencil eraser works wonders for cleaning contacts...

[More Cowbell]

My worry is that since it is a dealer selling, the innards are beyond "easy" repair. Do you ever see a dealer selling a machine as non-working and the problem ends up being a loose wire or a poorly seated connection? I'm hoping for my sake the answer is yes. I just hope everything inside isn't fried and that's why he sold it as is without repairing it first. We shall see.

[Havok]

Against McCoy's advice, manuals are here:

Xevious Manual

Schematics

 

[More Cowbell]

Nice. Thanks!   

[More Cowbell]

Picking up tomorrow. It's about 100 miles away so my son (11) and I will take a road trip early tomorrow morning. I'll post pics and some inevitable questions after I get it home.

[More Cowbell]

Picked up the Xevious on Saturday morning. Man, the guy I bought it from lives in the middle of nowhere. We passed some towns that consisted of a gas station and a bar. Machine looked as expected when we picked it up. Scratches and dings but it looked like someone had attempted to repair the issues at some point. After getting it home I checked the connections and fuses. One fuse out and one connection was not plugged in. I hoped that these were the only issues and fixed them. Power on time. I hear power, I see something on the screen that looks like Xevious background with some other symbols. This lasts for 10 seconds or so and then no display. The monitor is on, I can see the glow and it "sparks" to life, and I can hear the whine. The marquee powers up which is cool. But nothing else goes. No sounds, no buttons, and now no more display. I checked the boards and they actually look really good. Like they were brand new. Connections all appear to be in place. Over/under coin door looks great. Controls are in tact outside of player 2 volcano button which is gone. Joystick and buttons were replaced at some point with microswitches.
Questions...
1) There are 2 marquees, one on top and one above controls. I can plug in one at a time, but there is not a plug for both. Why?
2) Power seems to work, monitor has power to it. I disconnected the boards and reconnected them. Wires running from power through the cabinet seem to be in tact. What is the best thing to check next?

[CheffoJeffo]

Bob (Roberts, that is) says always replace Big Blue (that Big Blue capacitor on the power supply). Both Bob and ArcadeShop stock them.

Pull out your MultiMeter (or go buy one if you don't have one) and start checking voltages -- if those are out, then you can't expect anything else to work.

FWIW, my Asteroids came from an operator who had the wrong fuses in it *and* a shorted plug. Fuses popped immediately prior to auction and I ended up with a deal (I had seen it working before the fuses blew). Sometims, they're as goofy as the rest of us.

Cheers.

[More Cowbell]

Thanks, Jeff. It would be great if it were something that easy. I think I'll do some research on capping a monitor and do both of those in the hopes that they will resolve the main issues.

[More Cowbell]

I should be getting my Big Blue today so hopefully I'll have good news soon. I tested the fuses using the multimeter and one of them that looks fine by eye is actually blown. The fuse is supposed to be a 20A32v but is a 4A250v so I'm hoping it didn't hurt the boards or anything. So upon replacing the Big Blue and the fuse I'll at least know the power supply is good. If it still isn't working, I'll have to move on to the ARII board.

[More Cowbell]

Ok. Received the Big Blue and bought a new fuse at Home Depot. Replaced both and fired her up. Now I get lights on the boards (LEDs) and the screen gives me a bunch of random stuff. What shows on the monitor (a bunch of Xevious-type stuff with the grass-type background) looks great so I'm happy that the monitor is at least working. However, I can't seem to get it into self test mode or do anything more. It won't coin up and there are no sounds, just the random garbage on the screen that only changes when I turn off and on again. I tested voltages and the +5vdc is about 5.1 on the game board and the +10.3vdc is about 11.4 on the ARII board (couldn't find a +5vdc on the ARII). What should I try next? I'm really hopeful that I'm close to a breakthrough.

Mods, please move this to Arcade Misc as it seems more appropriate there. Thanks!

[More Cowbell]

Been doing some more testing and took some pictures. Here are the findings and the questions.
Finding 1) The 10.3vdc measures just fine on the ARII board. That's good.
Finding 2) The 10.3vdc measures nothing on the game board. That's bad.
Finding 3) The 5vdc measures fine on both the ARII and the game/video board. That's good.

Question 1) Shouldn't the 10.3vdc measure fine on the game board?

Finding 4) If so, I'm having trouble finding the 10.3 lead out from the ARII to the game board. I'm not even seeing what wire it would come from. I see the 5vdc wires but nothing that would logically be the 10.3vdc wires.

Question 2) I'm guessing that the lack of 10.3vdc in the game board is causing my not playing Xevious right now. True?

Question 3) Where should the 10.3vdc come from?
Question 4) Am I missing something simple, like, the 10.3vdc is converted from the 5vdc?
Question 5) Did I leave the oven on?
Thanks

[MYX]

Just saw the thread, congrats on the game. Troublshooting these things is such fun/agony. You are so happy when you make progress but so frustrated when you cant make the next ah ha. good luck and keep up the good work. The fact that you do have activity from the monitor and it seems to be not random garbage but game garbage is a good sign.

[More Cowbell]

Based on my description above, does this sound like a bad ARII board? I can buy a new one for $18 shipped but I don't want to buy it and find out that I didn't need it in the first place.

[RayB]

Check the molex connectors to and from the AR=II.

Check the connectors to the Game Board.

Clean the game board edge traces with a pink eraser (make em real shiny!)

Reconnect everything and power up again.

[Gambit]

Xevious is a really nice game. Good luck getting it working.

[More Cowbell]

Sometimes it hits you all at once if you think about it long enough. On Sunday I cleaned and reseated all of the chips and shined up the connectors with a pink eraser. Still nothing more than garbage on the screen. I kept coming back to the lack of 10.3vdc on the game board. I considered replacing the ARII board but hesitated as the 10.3vdc was testing fine on it. Light bulb went off yesterday while at work, I need to simply route my own 10.3vdc to the board. Since the ARII had a working 10.3vdc, I simply ran a wire from there to the input on the board for the 10.3vdc. I gave it 10% chance of working, 80% chance of no change, and 10% chance of burning up the board. I switched it on and tested the board and 10.3vdc tested well (right around 10). I went around to the front of the machine and there was Xevious in all it's glory. Looks great on the monitor. I coined up and it rebooted itself. It did this several times until I upped the voltage with the pot on the ARII. Now it works like a charm! I need to replace the joystick as it doesn't work very well and the previous owner must have grounded to the screws because I can feel a tingle of shock when I touch them!
Now that it's working, it will be a shame to gut it and convert it to a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle cabinet. 
I am still considering throwing a computer in there and having it play all of the classic vertical games. I'll keep everything in tact so that I can just pull out the computer and return it to original Xevious at any time (no extra button holes, no wiring that can't be removed). It will be easier to convince the wife that it is needed that way. Her first words when I told her about the Xevious machine, "can't you already play that on the Mame machine?" Yeah but...