Powering on new arcade games

[Mr.saturn]

I got two more acrade cabinets today(this time for free :dance: ), Tiger Road and Ninja Emaki. They both have a switch or button on the top of the cabinet that turns on the light behind the marquee and Ninja emaki has a button inside the cabinet does nothing except make an electrical buzz until you let your finger off the button.

Is the button/slash switch on top of the cabinet also used to power up the game or just for the light bulb? Or should there be a seperate switch for the power source on the rest of the cabinet?

[Borman]

The switch on top of my cabinet turns the whole system on and off ;) I know it does for my friends as well

[Mr.saturn]

Ok, I got the tiger road cabinet to work with the Ninja Emaki board(kind of). The game goes into display mode and I can hear it playing, but the moniter doesn't have any picture and doesn't even get bright like moniters usually do if they are turned on but have no video input. The moniter does make the usual buzz you hear when turning one on though.

Do the little round "tuners"(not sure what they are called, I think they control the brightness/color contrast of the moniter, am I wrong?) on the back of the moniter control the brightness, or could they being incorrectly setup cause this problem?

Also, it couldn't be a jumper could it? I've never heard of one that made the game play without picture.

edit: How long does it take for most of the electricity to leave these things? I just got a very small(but big enough to make leave it alone for awhile) shock and I really don't want to see what happens when you get a much larger jolt.

[Borman]

You should have someone discharge them. Voltage can be in them for a very long time, so be careful if you go poking around without discharging it.

[ASSEMbler]

You can theoretically die if you mess with the tube.

I advise caution and reading up.

The ghetto way is with a grounded screwdriver...

Also remember caps can pick up charge from static in the air.

[Sally]

You can theoretically die if you mess with the tube.

I advise caution and reading up.

The ghetto way is with a grounded screwdriver...

Also remember caps can pick up charge from static in the air.

And by "theoreticlly die" he means that you "WILL die". And by "ghetto way" he means "another way to die". Depending on the cap it can keep a charge for years, especally when you're talking about TV tubes. It's not really a matter of turn it off and wait a half hour. Monitors are a bad way to learn about component level electronics, mistakes can be fatal.

[Mr.saturn]

I've been trying to stay away from the moniter for the most part, when I do dink around in that area I'm super careful on what I touch. Waiting for a buddy to wake up so I can borrow his multimeter and see if the pcb is getting any power on the video lines of the jamma harness. From what I've learned so far I will most likely need to replace the moniter if the board is getting the correct voltage.

Speaking of the cap I did not know what it was until early this morning and all lost night I had been turning on one of the cabinets with the cap just hanging loosely in the air. Couldn't figure out where in the hell it went so I didn't think it could be too important.

edit: someone in an irc room mentioned there was a site with an archive of old arcade monitor manuals but he couldn't remember the name, anyone happen to know the site?

Just now noticed the neck board has a small crack on the pcb, about to try and solder the connections back together. Don't think I can use the neck board from the Ninja Emaki cabinet so I hope this works.

edit2: well the neck board has been "repaired" but the moniter still doesn't power up correctly. On a good not I've actually gotten the playchoice ten to a playable point. The first player joystick is still way too loose and the second player one is still way too tight, also the only way to press the start and reset buttons at the moment is to flip the conrol panel upside down and touch the wires together, but hey atleast I can play gradius the way it was meant to be played(with sloppy ass controls and a fire button that tends to stick :033: )

[retro]

OK let's see....

Firstly, on the safety point, I hope you discharged the monitor correctly before playing with the neck board! That is EXTREMELY high voltage, and the monitor is one giant capacitor. It can store charge for months, years even. Also, ALWAYS keep one hand in your pocket when working on the monitor, especially live! The safest way to discharge is with an HT probe, but yeah the screwdriver method works. BE CAREFUL though!

The switch you mention in the back sounds like the door switch. Do you not have a back door? That should press the switch in, so the cab is only live when the door is on. The top switches are rarely for power. You would know because a power switch should be chunkier, and possibly fused over there?

Does the monitor work OK for the other game, or is it always dull? Sounds like you need a cap job. Which monitor is it? Let me know, and I'll tell you which caps you need to replace.

I would suggest putting a known good JAMMA board in, or at least testing the boards on a test rig. It sounds like the board may be faulty.

If you need a hand, drive over to England and I'll come with you :P I'm just the other side of the Channel Tunnel ;)

[Mr.saturn]

edit: didn't answer your questions, so here we go. Yes I do have back doors for all 3 cabs, though it is the Ninja Emaki cab that has the switch on the back(same cab with a partially working power supply). The working monitor I have(playchoice) has nice picture quality, as far as I can tell. Though the game does shut off some times(probably a loose wire since the insides are kinda jimmy rigged for the moment) Also, when you say "cap job", are you talking about capacitors or that rubber cab that attaches to the monitor?

Does the monitor work OK for the other game, or is it always dull? Sounds like you need a cap job. Which monitor is it? Let me know, and I'll tell you which caps you need to replace.

Well, the only working monitor I have is in the playchoice ten. I've got two jamma cabinets, and one has a monitor with a crack(so I know it doesn't work), while the other has a busted power supply(not sure what works). The cab that powers up(with cracked monitor), seems to be in fine shape. I can stick ninja emaki in the harness and the game goes into demo mode(as far as I can tell, going by sound only).

The only thing I can think to do, besides buying a monitor, is to install a new power supply in the cabinet with the monitor that may work. I've heard of people using computer power supply's for something like this, but I think they normally only use the supply to power the board/sound. Can you use a 350w or so supply to power the monitor as well?

If anything else I may just end up buying a working cab. I was at a pawn shop yesterday(to pick up a never opened sega cd gun for 5 bucks), and noticed they had a three player cabinet in the far corner(guess it's been there for a few years : ). The game itself didn't seem to hot, was called Combat _________(busters or brothers or something like that), but the screen had to be close to 30 in or so. They wanted 499 for it, though I could probably get the price down a little, is that reasonable for a 3 player cab with a good large monitor?

Although the color did seem a little dull, but I think it might have only been because they have enough lights on their ceiling to.......... I don't know, can't think of a joke. But they've got a lot of lights.

[retro]

A cap job is changing (most, if not all of) the electrolytic capacitors. They expire with age!

Use a proper PSU. If the cabinet has a unit like a US250, then that'll power the monitor, too. The monitor doesn't run off low voltages, so you can't use a PC PSU.

Can't you put the PSU from the working cabinet with the duff screen into the one with the good screen? Or just swap screens :)

Was the cabinet a dedicated one? If so, it may not be JAMMA. I am not sure which game that would be, I can't think of one with a name like that. If it is a dedicated cabinet, let me know the title and I'll find out for you. How old would you say the game was? 500 Euros? OUCH! I can get a 33" 2 player sit-down for £145! Of course, a lot of people feel that the Japanese machines are better. For those, you're usually looking at anything from £300 - £800.

Is it a single or dual monitor Playchoice 10? There were actually 3 or 4 different monitors used in those cabinets. Does your chassis have controls on the edge that say RGB gain, SUB-BRIGHT, and V-LIN?

[Greatsaintlouis]

Retro: You mentioned keeping a hand in your pocket at all times when working on a monitor - what does this do, really?

Or is it just a way to comfort oneself if a mistake happens?

[Mr.saturn]

No, no no. 500 American dollars.

I don't think it was a dedicated cab, atleast from the brief time I looked at it seemed like all the decals were stickers and the marquee could be removed. I asked one employee who said it was in fact a jamma cab, though he wasn't 100% sure. As far as age goes I would say maybe a few years after double dragon was released, or maybe 3 years before final fight.(it was your standard ugly beat-em up). The only reason I really want it is for the large screen and the 3 joysticks.

The playchoice is a dual screen, though only the bottom screen appears to work. I'm at work now so I can't check for sure, but I think I do in fact have the controls you mentioned on the chassis.

I'm not sure if I can use the power supply from the cracked monitor on the questionable one because the "hook-ups"(not the right word) going from the power supply to the monitor do not fit on the questionable monitor(different plugs). Not really sure how to explain it.... if I can find my crappy digital camera I'll take some pics when I get home.

[Tomcat]

Retro: You mentioned keeping a hand in your pocket at all times when working on a monitor - what does this do, really?

Or is it just a way to comfort oneself if a mistake happens?

Less chance of touching something live///?

[Sally]

Retro: You mentioned keeping a hand in your pocket at all times when working on a monitor - what does this do, really?

Or is it just a way to comfort oneself if a mistake happens?

You can stop your heart with as little as 36 millivolts. Basicly putting your left hand in your pocket helps to prevent any shock that you might receive from passing through your heart. Is it particulary effective against higher voltages? Not really, but when you're dealing with smaller current it does add a certain level of protection.

Basicly if you were to get zapped by a 120 v line and it just touched your arm, you could shake it off. If you were to grab the positive with one hand and the neutral with the other, the current would pass through your heart and kill you.

Just a general warning, don't play with high voltage, hand in your pocket or not.

[Mr.saturn]

I just now arrived home and have to shower and be in bed in about 2 hours(work in the morning). So I'll probably take some pics after work(or before if I have time) of the working and non-working power supplies.

[retro]

Yup, it is exactly that - lessens the change of a deadly voltage going across your heart. Indeed, it isn't any excuse to take chances with electricity, but it is a VERY good idea when you're working on cabs.

A lot of Nintendo games don't work directly on standard JAMMA cabs, partly because of the monitor. This may include the Playchoice. I think it depends which monitor you have.

$500 - well it is up to you, but it is still a lot of money IMHO. 4 player Turtles cabs have gone for about the same (£250) - although I'd rather not see a Turtles cab used as a MAME machine or something! hehe.


(Shameless hotlink from Swallow Amusements - I'm sure they won't complain that I'm showing people their stuff for sale, though!)

That cab is £145 ($250), 33" screen and plenty of room for a 3rd set of controls. OK, getting it to Germany may cost a bit, but it is half the price!!

Look at eBay if in doubt, you'll find things such as this and this.

[Mr.saturn]

Don't worry about a good cab being turned into a mame box, I'm only looking at mame as last resort. If I can get ahold of a good working cab you can bet your bottom dollar it will stay that way.

Actually do you know any good US based arcade dealers? I can't imagine what the shipping would be to send something like that overseas.

edit: well I just got a shipping quote for one company based in the us and it would be $353 to ship it here. Maybe if I'm lucky I can find one based here in kansas or somewhere close.

[retro]

Hmm, I could probably find out. You should be able to find them in your phone book (Yellow Pages? if you have it) under amusements. Try someone in VAPS, too. You might also try asking around on Neo-Geo.com