Ms. Pac-Man (Cabaret) Monitor has a Wavey picture (HELP !!!)

[BUCKETHEAD]

Finally getting around to fixing up my MS. PAC-MAN cabaret i picked up 7 MONTHS ago.

When i purchased it, It came without the PCB.

Well, i purchased one of those this week.

Everything works Excellent, Except i have this Wavey Picture that goes across the screen.

The Picture Quality looks excellent!

Game plays without any problems.

I changed the fuses and cleaned the fuse holders.

Still get the wavey picture.

It is more in the noticable in the Top and Bottom of the picture.

Also no matter how much i adjust the Monitor, I can't get the whole picture on the screen.

I can get the whole maze, But not the Score or Lives in the picture at the same time.

I have posted some pictures, Probably really can't notice the Wave in it.

But you can see what i mean about not getting the Score or lives in the screen.

Im thinking my monitor may need to be capped?

Any idea's ?  Thanks so much !!!

Bucket ...

[Ken Layton]

Gameboard edge connector foil/pins are burnt/tarnished.

Gameboard needs the Zanen Electronics Pac board capkit.

Have you adjusted the width coil/horiz size adjustment on the monitor?

[BUCKETHEAD]

You know, I saw the width coil/horiz size adjustment on the monitor.

It is bigger than the others, And Black.

But mine has no knob on it?

I shined a flashlight in it, And it looked like you could turn it with a Allen Tool.

But i didn't know if that was a wise idea?

My edge conector pins are not burned at all.

Maybe i need the PAC cap kit you are speaking of ?

Thanks Ken !!

[SirPeale]

I shined a flashlight in it, And it looked like you could turn it with a Allen Tool.

But i didn't know if that was a wise idea?

Not when it's ON.  Do it when it's off.

Better yet, use plastic tools.

[grantspain]

what model and make monitor?
the wavey picture-is this static or pulsating?

[delta88]

For the most part I see the edge connector as the culprit when you ge the bar that scans the screen. if it is wavy I might try a cap kit.. look at everthing 1st though. hoe DOES the edge connector on the game board look?

[tbombaci]

It's called a "Hum-Bar".

1. Replace the fuse block and fuses in the bottom of the cabinet.
2. If you have a filterboard between th harness and pcb, ditch it
3. Check for burnt traces on the PCB edge connector. Repair if burnt.

I fixed a Galaxian cocktail with this same issue last year.

-tom

[BUCKETHEAD]

Hi everyone!

Thanks for the help on this,

The monitor is a KORTEK made in 1993.

I have changed all the fuses, But not the fuse blocks.

I adjusted the width coil/horiz size adjustment.

By doing that i got more of the picture in the monitor.

But not all of it.

I can see the bottom half of my score, And the top of my Lives + Level.

That is better than what i had before.

My edge connector on the pcb looks fine, Not burned at all.

I don't belive this is a HUM BAR, I studied that on WWW.TWOBITS.COM

It said that the HUM BAR has a loud hum that comes out over the speaker.

My audio sounds fine (Clear).

I just have a wavey picture mostly towards the top and bottom of the screen.

But again. Thanks very much for all the advice,

If anyone has anymore ideas on this let me know?

[BUCKETHEAD]

Well, While changing the fuses in my PAC-MAN cabinet today. 

I noticed i had a wavy picture, When i powered it back up.

Damn, I thought,  Now i have a new problem!

Picture looked Exactly the same, As the problem i am having with my MS.PAC-MAN

cabaret 

See above posts.

Then i noticed i had my Shop Lite hanging on my PAC-MAN's monitor handle.

When i removed it from the monitor handle. The wavy picture was gone! 

Now my question is this ?

Is my monitor in my MS.PAC-MAN cabaret not grounded right ?

What should i be looking for ?

The yellow ground straps have been cut (Not by me) already.

Could this be my problem ?

Thanks for any advise on this.

[grantspain]

mains transformer being too close to the yoke can give you a wavey effect,try moving the transformer away from the monitor a bit more

[ChadTower]

Yep, could just as likely be magnetic interference from either the speakers or the power supply.

[BUCKETHEAD]

speakers or the power supply.

What can i do about these ?

They have always been in the same location since the cabinet was built .

[grantspain]

if you have just bought the cab how do you know that the speakers and transformer are in their original location-anyway to prove it ain't that just move one of them out the way for a moment,otherwise your caps need replacing on the monitor

[ChadTower]

speakers or the power supply.

What can i do about these ?

They have always been in the same location since the cabinet was built .

Shield them.  Put something metal in between them and the monitor.  A simple solution for the transformer is a coffee can over it.  It will solve that if it's the problem.  In a cabaret it's probably more likely the speakers if it is magnetic interference.

[BUCKETHEAD]

if you have just bought the cab how do you know that the speakers and transformer are in their original location

Well the speaker hole i know is in the same place.

There isn't too many places you can put it in that small of a cabinet.

Plus the original rusty grill was still on it.

And i have seen many pictures of this cabinet on the net.

It hasn't been moved.

As far as the transformer, Maybe?

But i doubt it.

I have a PAC-MAN and it is setup the very same way.

Plus you know how you look in the bottom of 20+ year old cabs,

And you can tell if stuff has been shuffled around,

Lighter areas of the wood, (outlines)  grime, etc ...

It has none of that.

 

Shield them.  Put something metal in between them and the monitor.  A simple solution for the transformer is a coffee can over it.  It will solve that if it's the problem.  In a cabaret it's probably more likely the speakers if it is magnetic interference.

Great idea !

Thanks , Chad .

I will try these !

[ChadTower]

Just be smart enough to not short anything out with the coffee can. 

[_) (V) (-)]

Sounds like your way deeper into this than my experiences would permit.
But...
What kind of bulb was in your shoplight?

I've seen them compact floursencent bulbs to weird things to monitors before. Even if they are plugged into the same outlet but kept apart.

Kind of like what you mentioned, picture quivers and looks like it's underwater or something.  Just a thought....

[SirPeale]

What kind of light is in the marquee?

[BUCKETHEAD]

What kind of bulb was in your shoplight

floursencent bulb was in the shoplight, It made my PAC-MAN look exactly,

The way my MS. PAC-MAN looks, Underwater effect.

What kind of light is in the marquee?

The same kind that are in the coin door, 5 small bulbs.

First time i have ever seen a cabinet with marquee lights like that.

But you can tell it came from the factory that way.



I am going to try the coffee can trick as soon as i get a chance.

I am extemely busy right now.

I will let you know the results.

Thanks everyone.   

[SirPeale]

What kind of light is in the marquee?

The same kind that are in the coin door, 5 small bulbs.

First time i have ever seen a cabinet with marquee lights like that.

Taito classic cabs came like that.  I've never seen a Pac (or Ms Pac) with one of those.

Does rule out what I was thinking...florescent light causing the disruption.

[ChadTower]

The Pac cab I have has incandescents... no idea if it's original.

[Dav]

That's what I was thinking, sounds like a taito.  Every Pac cab I've seen has 2 incandescents.  I usually rewire them in series so they put out half the wattage.

[fredster]

I have had two of those mini cabs.  And a Kortec monitor.

They have the 696 12V bulbs like in the coin doors, the push in type. They didn't have enough room in those little cabs to put the lights or they were afraid they would get too much heat. I dunno, but they are made like that.   

I had a wavy picture when I put a new monitor in, but because I screwed it up.  The monitor bracket on the one I had didn't work, so I swapped the monitor frame that was in it.  When I did, I had just a little side pressure on the neck board.  It didn't wanna fit right.

I tried deguassing it with the o' soldering iron trick.  I put on new cables, etc.  Finally, I saw where the neck board was acutally touching part of the frame and I bent it out a little.

Bink* came right up really nice. 

Maybe you have one I had. Where did you get it?  I sold mine in Nashville and Knoxville. 

[BUCKETHEAD]

No guys it is a authentic MS. PAC-MAN cabaret.

It is has all the MIDWAY stickers in it and everything.

Here is a Picture of it from KLOV below.

And a picture of mine below.

And a picture of the marquee area in question when the machine was getting bondo.

[BUCKETHEAD]

Maybe you have one I had. Where did you get it?  I sold mine in Nashville and Knoxville. 

Actually i bought it from a friend who did get it at auction.

And he does attend those 2 auctions. Plus WINSTON SALEM auctions.

So it is a good chance it was yours.

I will ask him what auction he bought it at next time i see him.

Wow!  Small World !

[fredster]

Mine didn't have Midway board in it. I put a jamma board in it.

It also had shelf paper pretending to be woodgrain on the side.  Yours is painted.

[BUCKETHEAD]

Mine didn't have Midway board in it. I put a jamma board in it.

It also had shelf paper pretending to be woodgrain on the side.  Yours is painted.

I stripped away all the wood grain.

And painted it blue, Also bought a original MS. PAC-MAN pcb on ebay.

See topic below.

http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=58397.0

[Brunnen-G]

http://homearcade.org/BBBB/hum.html

Check the fixes listed at the site above.

[BUCKETHEAD]

Shield them.  Put something metal in between them and the monitor.  A simple solution for the transformer is a coffee can over it.  It will solve that if it's the problem

Well tried this today, Still have the wavy picture.

I had the speaker out of the cabinet when i fired it back up after painting it.

Also had the wavy picture then.

I guess i will order a new fuse block and edge connector from Bob Roberts,

As mentioned by Brunnen-G


And see where that gets me?

If that doesn't solve it,  Then i will have the Monitor capped.

[BUCKETHEAD]

Found this info while looking on this PAC-MAN trouble shooting page.

http://users.adelphia.net/%7E68hc11/pacfile/pacfile.htm

If you have a wavy picture, no blown fuses, and the filter caps of the power supply arewell connected, the problem is most likely a poor ground.  Remove the yellow ground strap from the transformer mount and screw it to the metal case of the line filter.  (Frank the Crank PlayMeter 8/15/85)

Perhaps i should try this ?

[ChadTower]

Take the monitor out and test it on something else.  That will be the definitive way to know if it's the monitor or the signal.

You don't need to replace the edge connector.  Replace the pins in it.

[BUCKETHEAD]

Yes,

Another good idea.

I will test the monitor in something else when i get a chance.

Then see what happens?

I'll keep you posted.

Thanx !