My arcade machine died :-(

goodlad

Hey everyone,

I got an arcade machine recently, all was working fine for about an hour then the screen went blank and there was a bit of smoke coming from the back of the machine. The screen was still on but tere was just no image on it... I wanna play more street fighter dammit! lol

Would anyone know someone who repairs them? Ive no idea if its completely dead or maybe just something fixable went in it.

geotrig

what happens when you turn the machine on is there any sound ?Normally when there is smoke its a fuse going in the power supply or a cap blown in the board itself if there is sound it could be a monitor problem
firstly remove the board and see if there is any damaged /blown caps etc if that is ok, reconnect the jamma connector and check your other connections specificly ground wires,if all seems ok power up !

goodlad

Thanks for the reply.
I turned the machine on there, it does the usual humming noise and sounds like its on. But there is nothing at all on the screen.

I have no ideas about electrical stuff, but i will unscrew the back later today and see if i can see anything blown, i assume it will be kinda obvious with little black scortch marks around something.

o1s1n

Does the monitor look like it's on but there's just no picture of the game on it? It'll be black but have a slight tint to it/humming?

Also no game music?

By what you've said, it sounds like the PSU has gone. Same thing happened to mine a year ago. Bang and smoke (Even a flash too!). It's probably for the best anyway as old PSUs are dangerous.

The PSU powers your JAMMA board but not the monitor. So that's why I was wondering if the monitor looks like power is getting to it.

Obviously this is a good thing as it means the monitor is still working perfectly. All you have to do is put in a new power supply.

By the way, if you open it, do NOT touch the back of the monitor. 20,000volts across your chest would not be funny!

geotrig

goodlad wrote: »

Thanks for the reply.
I turned the machine on there, it does the usual humming noise and sounds like its on. But there is nothing at all on the screen.

I have no ideas about electrical stuff, but i will unscrew the back later today and see if i can see anything blown, i assume it will be kinda obvious with little black scortch marks around something.

should be if its the board ,one step at a time and hopefully its something small !
if you have a multimeter you can check the power supply voltages ,if its one that supplies the monitor and game boards it could be suppling voltage to the monitor but not the game board and would be a simple fuse change.

what type of machine is it ?
1.i would advise to check all connections are still fully attached
2.check game board has no blown caps
3. check power supply to see if any blown caps fuses
4.check monitor visually for blown caps or loose connections (carefully though as the back holds huge voltage)

do you know what type /make machine it is ?

geotrig

o1s1n wrote: »

Does the monitor look like it's on but there's just no picture of the game on it? It'll be black but have a slight tint to it/humming?

Also no game music?

By what you've said, it sounds like the PSU has gone. Same thing happened to mine a year ago. Bang and smoke (Even a flash too!). It's probably for the best anyway as old PSUs are dangerous.

The PSU powers your JAMMA board but not the monitor. So that's why I was wondering if the monitor looks like power is getting to it.

Obviously this is a good thing as it means the monitor is still working perfectly. All you have to do is put in a new power supply.

By the way, if you open it, do NOT touch the back of the monitor. 20,000volts across your chest would not be funny!

some machines have the isolation transformers built into the power supply to power the monitor as well
from the sounds of yours with the flash was a fuse blowing !

goodlad

Righteo, thanks again for all the replies.
The machine has "Trojan Midi" written on it so i assume thats the make.

A mate is a electrician so i might get him to read all your replies and then open it up and he can take a look for me, probs best that i dont do it myself as ive no clue.

Just to confirm though, there is a humming out of it when i power it on, i cant see a tint on the screen, probs caus its bright out, i can take a look tonight when its dark.

o1s1n

geotrig wrote: »

some machines have the isolation transformers built into the power supply to power the monitor as well
from the sounds of yours with the flash was a fuse blowing !

My one had a really old ATX type power supply. It was a dangerous looking yolk!

Put in a switching power supply that Mitchomagic was nice enough to give me and it works perfectly. Plus I can now adjust its output which is nice

But yeah, my own monitor power doesn't go anywhere near the PSU. The PSU just wires up to the JAMMA harness. I didn't know that about some having isolation transformers built into the PSU. Is it common?

o1s1n

goodlad wrote: »

Righteo, thanks again for all the replies.
The machine has "Trojan Midi" written on it so i assume thats the make.

A mate is a electrician so i might get him to read all your replies and then open it up and he can take a look for me, probs best that i dont do it myself as ive no clue.

Just to confirm though, there is a humming out of it when i power it on, i cant see a tint on the screen, probs caus its bright out, i can take a look tonight when its dark.

If you can open up the back and take some photos it would be great. Just so we can even see what's going on wiring wise with that power supply.

Myrddin

The reason the lads are asking about game music/sounds is that if you hear game music but no image - its likely a screen fault. If there is no image & no game sound, its likely the PSU.

goodlad

EnterNow wrote: »

The reason the lads are asking about game music/sounds is that if you hear game music but no image - its likely a screen fault. If there is no image & no game sound, its likely the PSU.

Yup i realise that dude, no game sounds so hopefully it is the psu since from whats being said thats handy enough to fix.
I have 6 photos uploading now to flickr, i will post the link in a few mins

btw, i really appreciate all the replies!

goodlad

Here is the links to some pictures.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/30313370@N03/sets/72157624223632887/

If you need anything zoomed in on etc... just let me know.

Myrddin

goodlad wrote: »

Yup i realise that dude, no game sounds so hopefully it is the psu since from whats being said thats handy enough to fix.
I have 6 photos uploading now to flickr, i will post the link in a few mins

btw, i really appreciate all the replies!

Cool, Id lay money its the PSU in that case. Be careful poking around in there, your next step is get hold of a multimeter & check the output voltages.

defenderdude

Like the guys already said - check the coltages from the PSU - bit like an ATX you should get a good stable +5, -5, and 12V from it. It's easy and safe enough to check. Disconnect the loom from the game pcb first.

I think the monitor transformer beside it should be about 120V o/p possibly - be careful when checking it and be careful if you've not used a multimeter before as most problems tend to be made worse by "having a go" repairs (not to mention the H&S risk).
It's nearly impossible to fault find from pics like these - they'd need to be much better detail and both sides of the pcb's to have a chance of striking gold.

The fact that you got smoke would make me think something more serious than just a cap or other component.
At a guess I'd reckon the monitor trafo is fecking you up. The monitor LOPT could be gone too - without spares and tools it's difficult to sort out/troubleshoot.

Mitchomagic is your best bet and he can supply new monitors if needs be.

sundodger5

that big resistor at the bottom of the pic in DSCN2561 looks scorched.

defenderdude

sundodger5 wrote: »

that big resistor at the bottom of the pic in DSCN2561 looks scorched.

tis indeed - well spotted. LOPT looking more likely. You need to check the monitor transformer.

geotrig

the resistor looks ok in the other pic, i last pic

Just presumed you where running a cps1 board ,all capcom boards can sucide ,do you know if its phenoixed or had its battery changed ,do you have another that you can test?
cps2 boards are really nosiy cause of the fan on the mb you tell from that if your power supply is working ?

my advise if possible switch board if you have another
if not remove the power supply open it up (just remeber what connectors you disconnect from where )and have a look around there probably is a blown fuse or cap in it !

geotrig

o1s1n wrote: »

My one had a really old ATX type power supply. It was a dangerous looking yolk!

Put in a switching power supply that Mitchomagic was nice enough to give me and it works perfectly. Plus I can now adjust its output which is nice

But yeah, my own monitor power doesn't go anywhere near the PSU. The PSU just wires up to the JAMMA harness. I didn't know that about some having isolation transformers built into the PSU. Is it common?

no not to common a couple of electrocoins had them and one or two others

o1s1n

geotrig wrote: »

Just presumed you where running a cps1 board ,all capcom boards can sucide ,do you know if its phenoixed or had its battery changed ,do you have another that you can test?
cps2 boards are really nosiy cause of the fan on the mb you tell from that if your power supply is working ?

my advise if possible switch board if you have another
if not remove the power supply open it up (just remeber what connectors you disconnect from where )and have a look around there probably is a blown fuse or cap in it !

I'm fairly sure that when CPS2 boards suicide you do get an image on screen. It's either blue or scrambled. Can't quite remember! But yeah, if that's the problem he should be seeing something on the monitor.

It's worth pointing out whenever you see a CPS2 board though.

goodlad - the above is something you'd want to read about if you're interested in getting CPS2 boards like the one in your cabinet.

There's a section of the board that holds a decryption key that allows the game to boot up. Problem with it is, its running on a battery. If the batteries dies, the board dies. It was a protection measure Capcom put on those boards.


There are two solutions - Change the battery before it does (And every 5 or so years after), or get it Phoenixed by a guy in Europe who goes by the name of Razoola.

goodlad

Right about now im so overwhelmed by info i think my brain has slightly melt, lol.

I do get a lot of what you guys are saying but a lot of it is going way over my head.

As someone said, the pictres dont tell everything, maybe te best idea is for someone who knows these machines well to come take a look at it with their own eyes?

sundodger5

if you want to research it yourself take a look at www.therealbobroberts.net
or the forums over at http://forums.arcade-museum.com/
i am in the process of learning myself. the only problem i am getting is parts availabilty.
the easy fix is to PM mitchomagic on here he can source new monitors for small money.

CathalDublin

If you've no sound its not your monitor.
Grab a multimeter and check all the PSU's outputs.
on another noteI've seen people use a PC ATX PSU a few time alright.
If smoke came from it, it should be fairly obvious where it came from either by smell or burn marks.
I'm back in Ireland in September if you don't get sorted by then PM me and you can test the board in my machine and if the boards alright I'll have a look at it for ya