Jump to content
IGNORED

Arcade No Red


3rdStrongestMole

Recommended Posts

My buddy has a Ms Pacman/Galaga Arcade cabinet and there's no red coloring in the screen. So like, some maps in Ms Pacman are completely invisible (at least the dots are on some). He had some people come look at it, but no fixes yet. Any suggestions? I dont know anything about this kind of stuff. But it seems like something that should be fixable without too much strain. 

Suggestions?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Could be anything, especially when your area is "an arcade cabinet". Like, worst case scenario there's an issue on the monitor PCB, but it could also just be a loose connection somewhere.

If it's an original Ms Pacman/Galaga cabinet, I'm assuming we're talking the "Class of 81" release from 2000, which means it's a standard JAMMA cabinet with this PCB inside:

o3628YU.jpg

That makes it easy to figure out if the problem is on the cabinet side or PCB side, or inbetween (the connector).

Check out the JAMMA pinout, and identify the pin for the red color on the top side of the PCB (should be the rightmost pin in the block of 12 adjecent pins when they are facing up).

First thing though, I'd try just wiggling the board a bit while the game is running (touch it along the side of the pcb, don't touch any bare connections) and see if the red color comes on momentarily. There should be an operator test screen that makes it easy to see. If that's the case, we're just talking a weak connection, and either way the first thing I'd try is clean the edge connector thoroughly and reseat it, to see if it fixes the issue.

If that doesn't help, I'd try plugging in another JAMMA PCB and see if it has red color, or plugging the MsPac/Galaga PCB into a different confirmed working JAMMA setup (cabinet or supergun) to see if it displays the red color there. JAMMA was the most widespread international arcade standard between 1986 and 2000+, so any local arcade enthusiast should have a ton of supplies lying around to help test if your friend doesn't have any more.

Finally, if the issue seems to be on the PCB, or if you have no other way to test for that, I'd at least give the PCB a good look-over with a magnifying lens, and try tracing the connection from the "video red" pin down through any components that it passes through, and look for a cut trace, rust, or anything else that looks off. I'd also check the capacitors and see if they are bulging, that's always a cheap and easy component to replace.

Edited by Sumez
  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 4/5/2023 at 4:09 AM, Sumez said:

Could be anything, especially when your area is "an arcade cabinet". Like, worst case scenario there's an issue on the monitor PCB, but it could also just be a loose connection somewhere.

If it's an original Ms Pacman/Galaga cabinet, I'm assuming we're talking the "Class of 81" release from 2000, which means it's a standard JAMMA cabinet with this PCB inside:

o3628YU.jpg

That makes it easy to figure out if the problem is on the cabinet side or PCB side, or inbetween (the connector).

Check out the JAMMA pinout, and identify the pin for the red color on the top side of the PCB (should be the rightmost pin in the block of 12 adjecent pins when they are facing up).

First thing though, I'd try just wiggling the board a bit while the game is running (touch it along the side of the pcb, don't touch any bare connections) and see if the red color comes on momentarily. There should be an operator test screen that makes it easy to see. If that's the case, we're just talking a weak connection, and either way the first thing I'd try is clean the edge connector thoroughly and reseat it, to see if it fixes the issue.

If that doesn't help, I'd try plugging in another JAMMA PCB and see if it has red color, or plugging the MsPac/Galaga PCB into a different confirmed working JAMMA setup (cabinet or supergun) to see if it displays the red color there. JAMMA was the most widespread international arcade standard between 1986 and 2000+, so any local arcade enthusiast should have a ton of supplies lying around to help test if your friend doesn't have any more.

Finally, if the issue seems to be on the PCB, or if you have no other way to test for that, I'd at least give the PCB a good look-over with a magnifying lens, and try tracing the connection from the "video red" pin down through any components that it passes through, and look for a cut trace, rust, or anything else that looks off. I'd also check the capacitors and see if they are bulging, that's always a cheap and easy component to replace.

Okay, next time I visit him we'll dig in and see. This was very helpful and gives us a lot to try to attempt narrowing down the problem.  I'll let you know what we find. Thanks again!

  • Love 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 month later...

Oh wow I am sorry for being so late, but I have fixed this issue several times for work. There are two versions of this cabinet, the full upright and home version (you can tell by whether or not the coin door is just a sticker). Both suffer from similar problems but the full upright can have additional issues. Before you check anything, try adjusting red drive on the monitor, typically found on the neckboard. Be sure to remember where it was. Tubes wear out, especially if the cabinet is on location.

Odds are it is not a gameboard issue here, but rather a monitor issue. So if you are uncomfortable working on monitors with high voltage or do not know alsafe practices, perhaps find someone local to help out.

First things first, check your connections. Validate that the video signal is actually getting to the monitor (no broken wiring and whatnot). Secondly, wiggle the video connector. Cold solder joints are super common on the monitors used in there (going off memory WG K7200 for the home use, WG K7400 for the full upright). If you partially get your red back or there is flickering of the red color, you have bad solder joints, easy fix. If that is not the issue and you know the gameboard is working, I would try replacing the drive transistor on for red on the neckboard if it is the larger wells gardner monitor. Drive transistors ran REALLY hot on the K7400, U2000, and U5000 monitors by wells gardner, so they are a VERY common failure.

Edited by SNESNESCUBE64
  • Like 2
  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...