Asteroids monitor (GO5-801) -- BACK TO 100% Thanks, Lutus!

[Jeff AMN]

My Asteroids monitor, a GO5-801, went out last night. The game still plays blind, but the monitor isn't displaying anything at all...not even a hint of anything. It went out while on. It was playing fine an hour ago, but now it's off. It didn't happen mid-game, I just went to play something else, came back, and the screen was black (no hint of light anywhere).

I did think that it looked dimmer than usual, but I wasn't sure.

Any ideas? What should I check out that would point you guys into the right direction of figuring out what went wrong?

[Lutus]

What is the reading on the input power to the monitor chassis using a DMM?

[Jeff AMN]

I'm actually waiting for a DMM to show up that I just ordered.

Is there anything I could look for before that point? Is it mostly pointless to troubleshoot without one?

[Lutus]

Not always.  Like, some gameboards have LED's to indicate that they are receiving the proper voltage etc.

BUT, since you say it was working, then BAM stopped working, and now won't power up, you will need a DMM.

Never worked on a Vector monitor myself, but is there a glow in the neck of the tube?  Back of the monitor.

There is a thread somewhere on here where somebody was working on their Asteroids machine.....  let me see if I can find it.


EDIT:  Found it

http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=70022.40


Take notice of his approach to trying to solve the thing.  The first page of that topic is a board discussion.  Uninteresting to you, but he did get his monitor working.



Has Big Blue been replaced in your cabinet?


Also, does it play blind?

[Jeff AMN]

It does play blind, and I'm not sure about Big Blue being changed or not. I've only had the machine for about 6 months or so.

[Lutus]

Is there an orange glow in the neck?

Are the fuses blown on the chassis?  Don't rely on visual inspection, you will need to use a DMM to check this.  NOTE:  Some chassis have more than one fuse.

Also, which monitor chassis do you have.  Can you post a picture?

The monitor is probably a G05 but post a picture to be sure.

[Lutus]

Write up about Big Blue from Bob Roberts.  Bad big blue has caused a blank raster before...

http://www.therealbobroberts.net/bigblue.html

Write up about the whole power supply board and shows what big blue looks like from the bottom.  It is a screw terminal capacitor

http://www.therealbobroberts.net/apsnotes.html

Monitor ID page from Bob Roberts.  Click on the G05-801 and G05-802 to see if either of those is yours.

http://www.therealbobroberts.net/monitor.html


Most of this stuff is in the stickied Monitor FAQ.

Also, after determining which monitor you have, put the name of the monitor in the subject of your topic so everyone will know the monitor type without having to dig around.  (this is also in the stickies)



PS:  I also remember you searching and searching for a Ms Pacman.  (that was you right?).  I am picking one up in two days with a pinball machine for $150 bucks.  Just thought I would share.   

[Jeff AMN]

Thanks for all the replies and links.

I'll snap some pics and get them up as well as run through the checklist you gave me.

[Jeff AMN]

Ok, so it is an 801, and I am getting the red LED on the game PCB, but not one on the monitor chassis board. Also, I'm not getting a neck glow.

I'm going to go grab a DMM at Home Depot and some fuses. I might as well have some on hand, I figure.

[Lutus]

There isn't an LED indicator light on the monitor chassis.  But since the game plays blind it should have the LED lit like you indicate.

Set the meter to 200VAC and there should be a molex connector, or some connector where the monitor is getting power (2 wires).

Put one probe in each of the 2 wires (this should be on the wires coming from the power supply in the bottom of the cabinet and not the side connected to the monitor.

Turn on the cabinet and monitor your meter and see what your reading is.  Should be around 130V or so.

That is step one.


Step two is to check the fuses on the monitor chassis.  BUT, you may want to discharge your monitor before doing that...

[Jeff AMN]

Ok, I got the monitor going again with fuse replacements, but I'm getting some white tiny lines in the middle of the screen. If I turn the brightness up all they way, it becomes a bright white dot. At lower brightness settings, it's a small clump of faded light.

Any idea what this is?

Also, the objects are leaving long and slow-fading trails. I never remembered that before.

[Jeff AMN]

Ok, I got it back to 100%

You want to know what the fix for the last issue was? Rotate the frickin' thing 90 degrees! When I put it back in place it was just fine.

Sometimes I tend to over think things...

Oh, and Lutus, I did finally get that Ms. Pac-Man!

[Lutus]

AWESOME!  Love it when a plan comes together!

Now, this may happen again as we fixed the symptoms and maybe not the problem.

If it happens again we will tackle it again no problem.

FOR NOW, play the heck out of it.   


You did put the right size fuse in there didn't you..... just checking.   

If they are too high, we will have a mess on our hands down the road.  HA

[Yarb]

You make a good point Lutus,

I recommend that you ALWAYS check the fuses in any machine you buy, I have purchased 3 pins and 2 cabs in the past few years and every one of them had radically wrong fuses in them.

Yarb