Anyone here have experience with arcades?

retrogamer1998retrogamer1998
in Help Wanted!
Hey everyone. Just picked up a Mario bros this past Sunday. It was out on location at a bowling alley for a few years. The guy I bought it from replaced the board set, rebuilt the monitor, and did a few other things to the machine, body work ect. The game was working fine until last night when the pipes that the creatures come out of started looking weird. Kinda like when you put an nes game in but it's dusty. It's still playable but the pipes look really weird and have like black lines in them. Also on the title screen before Mario and luigi flip over the title there are black lines running through it. What could the problem be and is it easy to fix? I've wanted this machine for quite a while now and I hope this doesn't lead to further problems. Any help would be great. I can send pictures to anyone with an email or phone if you need to see exactly what it is. Thanks

Comments

  • ihavethatpmaihavethatpma
    I'm betting that some of the chips on the game board have moved a bit or have gone bad. I would try to apply pressure to the socketed chips and wiggle them back into place, that's actually worked for me about 50% of the time.
  • retrogamer1998retrogamer1998
    Ok. Ill definitely try that. Hopefully that's all it is. I'm not sure I have the money to buy a new board if I could even find one
  • krankcolckrankcolc
    Yeah definitely a chip if you are getting graphics glitches. Figuring out which one is the tough part. There's a lot of people who work on arcade pcb's so you could get it fixed cheaper than buying a new one if it's something as simple as a new chip. I'd recommend joining the KLOV.com forums and posting up a picture of the problem. There's so many knowledgeable people there. I have always been able to get a helpful answer or an offer to fix the problem for a good deal.
  • Kosmic StarDustKosmic StarDust

    Originally posted by: ihavethatpma



    I'm betting that some of the chips on the game board have moved a bit or have gone bad. I would try to apply pressure to the socketed chips and wiggle them back into place, that's actually worked for me about 50% of the time.





    Get a dust blower can and some contact cleaner from Radio Shack to spray in those sockets. There's probably 30 years worth of dust bunnies in there. If that doesn't do the trick, you could have some bit rotted EP-ROMs. Are the windows exposed or covered? If sunlight shined on the PCB for any lenth of time, or if the chips sat under bright florescent lamps for an extended period, then bit rot is a possibility. If so, it may be possible to get a replacement set of ROMs.
  • retrogamer1998retrogamer1998
    No they've been in the dark with the back closed. The arcade room it came out of was really dark also.
  • Kosmic StarDustKosmic StarDust

    Originally posted by: retrogamer1998



    No they've been in the dark with the back closed. The arcade room it came out of was really dark also.

    Good. I get so paranoid I dim the lights whenever I open repros or bootleg game carts. If I find an exposed EPROM window (looks like a circular glass plate over a tiny silver rectangle), I put a piece of electrical tape over it before I reseal the cartridge.



    Anyone remember the slabbed NWC a couple years back? :shudders:
Sign In or Register to comment.