Jizaboz Arcade Repair Log

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Jizaboz
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Jizaboz Arcade Repair Log

Post by Jizaboz »

I have the following to fix on the complete games I try to keep running in the arcade:

- Rebuild (replace 20 some capacitors, replace flyback) original WG k7000 CRT monitor that was in the Double Dragon. had this one sitting in a corner as a backup for about 3 years. Despite the screen burn, I have reason to believe the tube for this one is stronger than the one I had in the cabinet.

- Go over and fix what is wrong with k7000 I had put in the Taito cab that was extracted from a ruined cab and rebuilt. Always took forever to warm up (probably tube) but now gets unstable/jumpy (probably chassis circuit board)

- Install power switching supply kit in Midway Ms Pac-Man cocktail cabinet. (Not too difficult, but I hate opening it)

- Replace a filter cap and a *paper cap* in the k-4600 in Bosconian (Easy once I get at it. Pain in the ass to remove and disassemble this model of Wells Gardner monitor.

- May need to replace pots (dials for color levels, etc) for all of the above but Ms. Pac-Man.

- Neo Geo MVS-2 PCB boardset capkit. I have a theory that I will get more video colors, better picture, and zero sound burps if I replace all the capacitors on this based on my experience working on the NEC TurboDuo. LOTS of caps to replace in this kit.

- Bosconian PCB boardset. This may fix that benign but nagging error code printed on the screen. At any rate, a board this old and rare deserves a refresh. If I end up replacing the caps and I still have the code or I get game-breaking bugs, I may send it off to an expert before trying to do further surgery. The chip sockets on these old Midway boards are quite fragile.
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Re: Jizaboz Arcade Repair Log

Post by Jizaboz »

Progress so far..

Removed flyback from that k7000 tonight. Even with a proper de-soldering station it took some patience and about 6 beers. These transformers have MAD solder on them. Removing and installing caps tomorrow will go much more quickly.
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Re: Jizaboz Arcade Repair Log

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Took me 6 days to get back at it, but I just finished de-soldering the last 15 (almost) of 19-20 capacitors within the span of about 3 hours, 6 beers, and some Dark Journalist on YouTube. No lifted pads yet aside from the unused pad that goes to the middle pin on the flyback (it just fell off when I removed the gun.. probably because it is not connected to a trace and has been hot as fuck since 1986) which I plan on repairing just to be OCD anyway even though it probably doesn't matter due to seeing the same thing fixing old Famicoms and Nintendos.

I do still have the filter cap to remove though. My god is there a lot of high-temp solder on those damn things. The de-soldering station I have is great for pinned connections but filter caps are basically little slabs of metal held on by a fuck ton of solder. Once I figure out the best method for those (aside from using a chisel like old guitar amp guys do) I will share the technique.

Once that is done I just need to place all the new caps, triple-check polarities, and solder em all at the same time. I used to do like 3-4 caps at a time when I was first learning this stuff. The more I do this monitor work the more I am confident about working on game PCBs (I mean really.. the hardest part of capacitor replacement is getting the old shit out without burning the board or your back out), starting with my precious Neo Geo MVS-2. I have a strange theory on why a lot of Neo Geos just do not look as "vibrant" as one would expect who is familiar with the MAME emulation of; I hope to prove that theory and make mine look better than ever.
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Re: Jizaboz Arcade Repair Log

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Update:

Ended up repairing the seemingly useless PCB hole on that k7000 monitor board just because with epoxy and surgery. All prepped to install new flyback.

Went over all work today and found a 2 errors and one sloppy connection (like Cobb said from Monkey Island: “Drinking and darts don’t mix.” The same rule probably applies to PCBs for the latter. But hey, this is why you check your work!

So yeah with all capacitors replaced and triple checked I can install the flyback, slap this thing together and wire it into the Taito cabinet and see if it explodes this weekend!
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Rather than type all of this again, I will paste my email to my friend in Virginia with the greetings and all removed:
It is looking like I will need to send at least 1 chassis into you, but perhaps you know a trick to get one going in the meantime.

Complete Monitor 1: K7000 that originally came in Taito Double Dragon. Bad burn-in.

Complete Monitor 2: k7000 I robbed from a Guerilla War and put in the Taito cabinet after re-cap and flyback replacement. No burn-in, but suspect the tube is quite weak.

Originally capped and replaced FB on monitor #2 a few years ago. The tube (I think) always took forever to warm up but looked fantastic after it did. After a lot of use in my Taito cabinet, warm up time shortened. Then, this month the image became unstable.. always bouncing up.. or perhaps resizing? The effect looks like a milder version of the *bounce up* almost like the k4600 that I did not know I needed to replace the "paper cap" when I worked on that one. Adjustments did not help at this point.

When #2 crapped out, I finally used a capkit and FB you sent me to restore monitor #2. If anything, I was much more meticulous with reflowing, etc on this one versus the chassis in #1 due to slightly more experience. Expected it to fire right up.. instead, monitor #2 has neck glow and raster glow (game playing blind of course) but I never get any image. Instead, I sometimes see a spark when I hit reset on the Arpicade I currently have in that cabinet.

At this point the only thing for me to test tomorrow is putting the k7000 chassis from monitor #1 into #2 and see what happens, but I suspect perhaps the same bounce effect will happen unless you think that behavior could also happen in a weak tube.

Any advice is really appreciated (and shared!)
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Re: Jizaboz Arcade Repair Log

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Decided against installing a switching power supply kit into Ms Pac-Man cocktail per advice of a guy that does mail-in monitor work for me.

Instead, I re-pinned and installed a brand new edge connector (much like a wiring harness in a car stereo) that connects the PCB to the rest of the machine. Nearly 42 fucking pins. Snip one wire off the old one, strip it, use a molex ratchet tool to attach a pin, put pin in same position in new edge connector. Repeat over and over.

Aand it seems to have cleared up the rest of my issues! No more "hum bar" effect, no resets yet, and the picture itself just looks a little better. Considering this one DONE and moving onto the next (until it is time to get PCB work done)
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Re: Jizaboz Arcade Repair Log

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Pulled the whole k4600 monitor from Bosconian today. Totally not a fun task and makes me nervous as shit every time that I am going to drop or break something.

Tonight or tomorrow I will take the damn thing apart again, replace 2 caps that were not the first time I worked on it, do a final check for cold solder joints, and slap it back together. If I re-install the monitor and that same random pop-with-screen-bounce crap still randomly occurs, then fuck that monitor. Good thing I have a spare k7000
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Oh, and speaking of k7000.. my friend that I previously emailed for advice actually went over both of them after mailing them and found out..

One of them had a fucked up neck socket (probably explains the slow to warm up thing!) and a couple odds and ends he cleaned up

One of them had (gasp!) bridged solder.. probably from my work and I just did not notice it when it happened. WHUPS!

Both are fixed, tested, and are in the mail back to my house this week.
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Well it took me a while, but the k4600 monitor from Bosconian apart and on my table now. Just replaced that "paper capacitor" at C620.

Just clipped the legs of the huge, old filter capacitor at C605. After another beer, I'll start the task of slowly melting and solder-sucking the area around the legs until the thing comes out. 4 fucking legs on the old one even though only 2 make electrical connection to the PCB lol. New cap is of course smaller and only has 2 legs. After a little cleaning and checking on solder joints, that's all that is getting done tonight. Hopefully tomorrow I can slap it all back together and test it out. Might have to adjust B+ after filter cap replacement.
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Filter cap removed and new one installed! My god do I hate doing those fucking things. Since the new cap is smaller and can connect to nearby positive and negative vias, it does not really matter that I had to be so rough towards the end with the holes meant to support the huge 30+ year old capacitor. You would too after 4 hours lol.

Slapping the the main board and daughter boards together now, hopefully will have time to hook back up to the tube, install and test before a Dungeons & Dragons session tomorrow evening.
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The WG k7000 that originally came in the Taito Double Dragon cabinet is now fixed, stable, and I dare say bullet proof! I have a couple of adjustments to make tomorrow when I can see better in the arcade room, but I am very happy so far. None of that annoying image flickering or jumping anymore!

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Oh and I forgot to share this other video tweet. Here is how fucking beautiful the Ms. Pac-Man cocktail machine now runs after all my work!

Note: My voice is in it asking if my GF was recording and then I say “OK” at the end. Thought about cutting it but left it in because fuggit.

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2 machines out of 4.. DONE

Bosconian broken until I can fabricate a new u-bolt rod with threads on each end for the broken piece that rusted out of the irreplaceable flyback. Tools and material for that coming at the end of the week.

Neo-Geo still working fine aside from some things that nag me. Probably won’t fuck with it until I get a spare MV-2 PCB.
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Jizaboz wrote: Tue Oct 13, 2020 11:42 pm The WG k7000 that originally came in the Taito Double Dragon cabinet is now fixed, stable, and I dare say bullet proof! I have a couple of adjustments to make tomorrow when I can see better in the arcade room, but I am very happy so far. None of that annoying image flickering or jumping anymore!

This one needs the width fixed. The horizontal adjustment coil is totally fuct mates. Not the fault of the repair man that went over it.

So, I plan to force some width shrinkage by swapping out the capacitors in the width section of the monitor chassis board.

Bosconian almost done.
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With Bosconian fixed in time for Xmas, I pulled the Ms. Pac-Man PCB to replace all of the capacitors on it when I have time.
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Returned to Ms. PAC-man not that Bosconian is wrapping up. Replaced all the capacitors on the game PCB for further power stability. Board would not boot last night and did not try tonight.. played some CP2077 then checked over my work again instead.

Didn’t see a problem, so I will power up and test again tomorrow.

icj: I also just ordered the multi high score kit. Remember asking me a couple years back if I planned on installing g one and I said I was keeping it OG? The way I look at it now is I get it going myself with this or send it off to someone else to get the board right for 100$ Either way..

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Edit: Re-read last post. Bosconian IS wrapping up. All I have to do on that one is check the B+ on the monitor next time I get around to playing it now that it is "broke in" and adjust it is too high or low (high is more of the concern) and fit a new back door lock.

Actually having fun trouble-shooting this Pac-Man PCB! While I would prefer working on another monitor (masochistic a bit but hrmmmm), this is some good shit to be learning. Hooked the board back up to my test bench today using one of those Pac to JAMMA adapters from Mike's arcade I bought like 5 years ago for a different project.

Checking the main power caps revealed voltage that was way too low. Re-flowed a bit more and brought it up considerably. Learning from experience these old Midway boards are different from late 80s boards as far as temperature resistant areas. None of my shit was backwards but this seems to be my first case of "Not enough heat and solder installing new components once you got the old shit out."

Got new interlock switches to replace in the Taito cab bottom drawer and a backup. Want to fix that before bothering with shrinking the screen on the k7000 in that cab. It is playable and reliable as it is.
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Pac-Man PCB sent to an expert to go over my work, fix any pre-existing issues, and finally installing the kit so that I don't have to mess with a lot of trouble shooting just to get back to playing Pac/Ms Pac variations on the Ms Pac cocktail. Well worth the 50$ plus shipping costs I think so long as it returns working. Not fiddling with that also frees up more time to work on and test other things. The 4 cabinets running in my house are all near "done" status, but I have PCBs for at least 10 other games I would like to test and fix as needed on my workbench setup.
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Re: Jizaboz Arcade Repair Log

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Why does 'having fun troubleshooting ' a pac man board sound like an oxymoron? Probably cause I'm not an electronics superuser. All those little doo-dads on the circuit boards and any one of 'em could be failing, ug.

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Re: Jizaboz Arcade Repair Log

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Jizaboz wrote: Fri Jan 29, 2021 11:53 pm Pac-Man PCB sent to an expert to go over my work, fix any pre-existing issues, and finally installing the kit so that I don't have to mess with a lot of trouble shooting just to get back to playing Pac/Ms Pac variations on the Ms Pac cocktail. Well worth the 50$ plus shipping costs I think so long as it returns working. Not fiddling with that also frees up more time to work on and test other things. The 4 cabinets running in my house are all near "done" status, but I have PCBs for at least 10 other games I would like to test and fix as needed on my workbench setup.
So, Pac-Man, Bosconian, Neo Geo - remind me, what is your 4th game?
the dark and gritty...Ice Cream Jonsey!

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