Does connecting ps to monitor and nothing else cause problems?

[Brian Zellinger]

I connected my monitor to a jpac and arcadvga. The monitor gets its power from the ps. I had no use for the other wires coming out of the power supply so i left it unhooked. I've read that it could cause issues. From the monitor portion of this site:

Power Supply Load by Powerjaw:  From a question by Unyon, "Someone mentioned in an earlier thread that you can damage your PS if it is on and the game is not connected. I hadn't seen or heard this anywhere before, and before I go and kill my PS as I convert my cab, would someone kindly confirm or dispell this? Thanks."  To which Powerjaw responded, "It's true. Just do a search with Dejanews for "power supply load" and you'll find lots of talk about how you need a proper load on the power supply or it will burn out."

My monitor doesn't power on anymore, but the ps still works. I've tested it with a multimeter. Do you think I killed my monitor?  It's a u2000 (13 years old). It lasted a week after I installed the jpac and arcadevga.

[qrz]

generally , arcade systems have a pwr sup for the game and simply supply line isolated or raw AC to the monitor.

many smps' DO have minimum load requirements. improper loads there may cause failures- if not internally loaded.

[grantspain]

never heard of that before,any switch mode psu will just not power up without a load connected
the only way to kill a psu is input the wrong mains voltage(that ain't gonna happen in the u.s)
i think your monitor just gave out through age,you need to run the basic checks on the monitor
the only other thing that cause a monitor to crap out in your situation is if you accidentally sent it a svga signal-which may have killed the horizontal output transistor

[Brian Zellinger]

Well, all I did was hook up the arcadevga and jpac. It worked for a week. I sent an email to Chad at arcadecup about my dead monitor and he said it can be fixed. I've attempted twice to discharge, but I'm afraid.

[grantspain]

well they do keep a bit of a charge but if you follow the correct instructions you should be fine
just make sure you unplug the machine from the mains supply first
http://www.killercabs.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=12584

[MonMotha]

There are SMPS designs which will turn on and fail to regulate with extremely light or no output load.  This regulation failure results in the output going higher than intended, which can toast the output caps or feedback.

These seem rare in the "real world".  Most SMPSs I've seen either have a minimal internal load (big resistor), a zener to clamp things to sensible levels, overvoltage feedback causing the supply to shut off, or are simply capable of regulating down to no load.

A SMPS that damages itself if powered with no load attached is certainly possible to design, however, and I wouldn't put it past many designs, especially the low cost "foreign" designs, to ship like that.  It's always safer to just put some minimal (at least a few dozen mA) load on the supply.

As for the OP, the "power supply" you seem to be referring to is probably just an isolation transformer.  It could be fatal for your monitor (likely so) to hook it directly up to AC mains without this in place, but as long as you didn't do that, you shouldn't have killed your monitor.  Any other symptoms being exhibited by this "dead" monitor?  Is it making any noises, do you get HV (static on the front of the screen), tube neck glow (from the heaters), etc.?

The failure of the monitor may be coincidental, or you may have accidentally fed it a signal outside of it's design range.  That will normally take out the HOT, which is fixable, though sometimes more than the transistor itself goes.

Being such an old monitor, there are likely some capacitors in need of replacement.  Some caps can cause failure when they finally go too far from their original specs.  Diagnosis of this can also be helped with symptoms, though it may be easier for you to just install (or have installed) a "cap kit".

As for discharging, just remember the 1st rule of high-voltage electronics: Thou shalt keep thy left hand in thy back pocket.  If you're a leftie, replace "left" with your dominant hand.

[Brian Zellinger]

No isolation transformer. Hooked up to my black, green, and white molex connector. It is a Soul Edge cabinet. I didn't mess around with any wires.

As far as I know, I've not sent it any signals out of range. You don't suppose it has something to do with the jpac or arcadevga? The jpac gives 5v to the monitor to prevent dimness if I understand correctly.  I get no noise or static from the monitor.

[grantspain]

u2000 are free range voltage so no iso is required
the jpac acts as a video amplifier for the signal

very unlikely that you have anything apart from monitor failure and not caused by anything else

that monitor will still start without a video signal

time to brave the ht and remove the chassis for repair me thinks

[Brian Zellinger]

Time for craigslist and a tv. You'll see my jpac and arcadevga for sale soon.