No video on MS Pacman Cocktail...

[Sinner]

I'm picking up a MS Pac cocktail on the weekend, and here's what the owner told me happened to the machine...
He would be playing, and the screen would get all messed up...wavy, and distorted, etc...
He would dhut it off, and then turn in on a little later, and it worked again for a while...
One day the screen got distorted, and then just died...

When I looked at the machine, I had the switch set to test, and I could hear game sounds when I pushed the buttons and moved the sticks...I'm hoping the PCB is fine, and it's just the monitor that needs fixing...I guess I need to research cap kits...
I downloaded some manuals off the web, but I haven't had a chance to look at them yet...

Anyone have any suggestions as to where I should start? 

[Ken Layton]

Capkit the monitor for sure first.

[Sinner]

Capkit the monitor for sure first.

Thank you. 

I'm hoping it's not too a difficult job...

[1zzy]

I just read up on my Ms. Pac-Man game in the manual and troubleshooting section. It tells how to fix your problem...

http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=46102.msg440744#msg440744

[markrvp]

If you don't mind me asking (after two threads of deciding what it was worth), what did you end up paying him for it?

[Sinner]

If you don't mind me asking (after two threads of deciding what it was worth), what did you end up paying him for it?

$200CDN...I'll post some pictures when I can...the inside of this thing was so clean...but not like he cleaned it out or anything, but tlike it's been in someone's house for 20 years...no cigarette smoke dirt...just a light layer of dust like house dust, not arcade dust...I can't wait to get it working...

[markrvp]

Nice score!!

[Sinner]

After having this thing for almost a year, MS,Pacman finally lives...
I wasn't sure how to start fixing this thing, so a friend of mine came over, and helped me take the chassis out and he took it to a place called Virtuplay...they replaced 6 capacitors and sent it back to me...$104.88 with takes and everything...

Now as I understand it, there are about 10 caps more, that should have been replaced as a preventative measure, but this wasn't done...I do feel though, that if something does go in the future, that I'll be able to do the work myself...

I do feel it was a lot of money to spend for 15 minutes of work (if that), but I did learn how to remove the chassis and I think I'll be able to do the rest should it come down to it...

Now that I have it up and running, it actually looks really good (the picture, I mean)...but...I have some scratches in the glass, and I want to replace the CP artwork and molding...it just needs some TLC....

Anyone have any suggestions for fixing minor scratches in glass??
Thanks,

Matt

[Ken Layton]

They charged you that much! That's way way way too high of a price, but now they are guaranteed you'll bring it back because the caps they did NOT replace will now conk out. If your monitor is an Electrohome then the flyback will explode or die on you suddenly.

To get minor scratches out you could take the glass to a local glass shop where they will charge you a couple of hundred bucks to "buff" the glass. Or you could get a tube of regular ordinary toothpaste and a towel. Rub the regular (not gel) toothpaste into the scratches with the towel. Let dry for a half hour. Now take a single edge razor blade and scrape the excess dried toothpaste off the glass. Finally, buff the glass with a clean towel and you should see a great improvement.

[Sinner]

They charged you that much! That's way way way too high of a price, but now they are guaranteed you'll bring it back because the caps they did NOT replace will now conk out. If your monitor is an Electrohome then the flyback will explode or die on you suddenly.

To get minor scratches out you could take the glass to a local glass shop where they will charge you a couple of hundred bucks to "buff" the glass. Or you could get a tube of regular ordinary toothpaste and a towel. Rub the regular (not gel) toothpaste into the scratches with the towel. Let dry for a half hour. Now take a single edge razor blade and scrape the excess dried toothpaste off the glass. Finally, buff the glass with a clean towel and you should see a great improvement.

That's awesome...thanks for the tip...I'll have to buy some non-gel toothpaste, but it sounds like an inexpensive fix...

The tube is an RCA and the chassis is a WG4900 (I think I'm caught up on the lingo now...)...
Apparently the whole thing is in pretty good shape...though I can't understand how the high voltage caps would go, and the others be fine, if it was in good shape...it's just what I'm told...

I've been warned about the flyback...I'm told that when it goes it has a horrible smell, and makes a mess inside...it's also really expensive to fix...a used one (that is not guarenteed) is about $150CDN...

Thanks for the reply, i really appreciate it...

[Ken Layton]

If the flyback on the 4900 goes bad you're screwed. There are NO flybacks available for this model. The first part of the flyback on a 4900 that goes bad is the focus voltage winding. You'll find that you can't get a good sharp focus when that happens.

[Sinner]

If the flyback on the 4900 goes bad you're screwed. There are NO flybacks available for this model. The first part of the flyback on a 4900 that goes bad is the focus voltage winding. You'll find that you can't get a good sharp focus when that happens.

is there anything preventative I can do?  Something to make it last a little longer??

[Ken Layton]

Aside from keeping it clean and free of dust build-up these things can go bad at any time.

[Sinner]

Aside from keeping it clean and free of dust build-up these things can go bad at any time.

Well, I really appreciate the info...

I have one other thing to ask...I just noticed that every once and a while, when I play, the screen seems to shrink a little, very little, and just for a moment...does that sound like a problem with the power supply?  I guess I would need to measure the voltage going to the monitor, while under load...I think without plugging in the monitor, it was around 15V, but it fluctuated a little by decimal points...is that normal?  Would the best war to test this be to plug in the monitor and then do a measurement at the chassis while the power supply is under load???

Thank you.

[Sinner]

I think I figured out the problem.  I changed the dip switch settings and changed the volume, and after a little play, the sound went off...I shut down the machine and reseated all the cables, and it worked fine...no more screen jumping, and the sound was back...I've been running it for a while now, with no problems...
I hope that's all it was...


Matt