Is my bootleg Pac Man arcade screwed?

suicidalparrotsuicidalparrot
in Help Wanted!
I've been putting off asking about this because I dread the answer, but several months ago I acquired a bootleg pac man cocktail cab for $25 in excellent condition. It waas an exciting purchase for me because I'd always wanted a Pac-Man Cocktail purchase. Well afew weeks after I got it I left it on over night, and when i woke up the next day the screen was nearly whited out and anything white or brightly colored on the screen cause white vertical streaks to appear on the screen. I've messed with the screen settings inside the cab and it has helped to varying degrees, but the streaks remain. Is monitor fucked? I sure hope not. I imagine it would cost a lot more than $25 bucks to replace. This cab is from 1981 and has a pretty vintage looking tube in it.Any Ideas? Please tell me there's something in there I can adjust.



Comments

  • adamthegameradamthegamer
    It could be solved by a Cap Kit possibly, but I have no idea about this game or know what monitor it is.
  • removed04092017removed04092017
    Pac Man is just a G07 or a monitor like it as far as I know. Yes, that's a cap kit fixer.
  • nerdygrrlnerdygrrl
    I have never seen streak quite like that. Often times these monitors will get what we call "jail bars" and they essentially look just like that. They can be fixed by installing a cap kit on the monitor. That pic you have there looks extremely blurry. You may want to try adjusting the focus on your flyback followed by the brightness. Often times reducing the brightness will eliminate the visibility of the lines (though the problem still exists).



    Be careful, the flyback is the most dangerous part of the monitor and can often hold a charge. The focus is generally on the top and brightness on the bottom.



    You may also want to pull off the edge connector to make sure your didn't burn any pins.



    image
  • suicidalparrotsuicidalparrot
    This is what I know about it. It's produced by Artic International, and is a conversion of Galaxian to Pac-Man. The board itself is labelled as Puck Man. There are more pics of it here in my original finders keepers if it helps.



    http://tinyurl.com/7dcok6x
  • suicidalparrotsuicidalparrot

    Originally posted by: nerdygrrl



    I have never seen streak quite like that. Often times these monitors will get what we call "jail bars" and they essentially look just like that. They can be fixed by installing a cap kit on the monitor. That pic you have there looks extremely blurry. You may want to try adjusting the focus on your flyback followed by the brightness. Often times reducing the brightness will eliminate the visibility of the lines (though the problem still exists).



    Be careful, the flyback is the most dangerous part of the monitor and can often hold a charge. The focus is generally on the top and brightness on the bottom.



    You may also want to pull off the edge connector to make sure your didn't burn any pins.



    image



    Thanks for the feedback! I should note that the blurriness is just the crappy quality of my camera. The screen itself other than the lines is actually quite sharp


  • removed04092017removed04092017
    Adjusting the brightness down to get less lines the the cheap way of getting around recapping the whole monitor. Plus, recap kits only cost like $15, order the parts yourself it's probably like $7, cap the thing. Or you may be able to get away with one because if it just went that bad one day, it may be a blown. I'd let it warm up, let it sit for like 30 minutes running and see if the heat fixes it or makes it go away.
  • nerdygrrlnerdygrrl
    The info you have given is the board manufacturer. 90% likely this is a monitor and monitor chassis issue. It looks like you have an old Taito style cocktail cab. The good news is it comes stock with 13 inch CRT monitor which are still super abundant. You could even snag an adapter or thrown a small LCD in there if you can't fix the chassis yourself.



    I would mess with the focus and brightness first, and if that doesn't work find someone in your area to do a cap kit.
  • removed04092017removed04092017
    What other info do you need besides the board manufacturer of the monitor chassis? And 90%? I'm telling you it's 100% a dried capacitor/blown capacitor (likely dried) problem with the chassis. This is the most common failure of old monitors. And monitor issue? I doubt the CRT just randomly decided to kick the bucket 25 years after it was made. It's obviously scanning and has color, that's pretty much a guarantee it works. I don't really what you're getting at, advising them to go the cheap and worse route on a thing like this.
  • suicidalparrotsuicidalparrot
    3Gen They have in fact almost disappeared after letting it run for a while, though they are still faintly there. I'll get in there and see if I can find an obviously blown cap or 2.



    Nerdygrrl, It's nice to know that if it were a monitor issue I could easily find a replacement



    Thanks Guys!
  • nerdygrrlnerdygrrl

    Originally posted by: 3GenGames



    What other info do you need besides the board manufacturer of the monitor chassis? And 90%? I'm telling you it's 100% a dried capacitor/blown capacitor (likely dried) problem with the chassis. This is the most common failure of old monitors. And monitor issue? I doubt the CRT just randomly decided to kick the bucket 25 years after it was made. It's obviously scanning and has color, that's pretty much a guarantee it works. I don't really what you're getting at, advising them to go the cheap and worse route on a thing like this.



    The chassis info was never actually divulged.  Artic Thunder is the PCB manufacturer of the Puckman board, not the chassis.  Given that it's a bootleg it could be a G07 or it could not.



    As far as cheap repairs, I was giving him a variety of options, because I was unsure of his knowledge base and skill set.  I think in both threads I mentioned it probably needing a cap kit.   Not everyone can do a cap kit and I know a lot of folks who opt for buying an LCD,  rebuilt chassis or monitor over fixing their own.

     



    90% likely?  Yes, he could have done damage to the board by letting it run over night.  Who knows if the voltages are set correctly.  There are entire pages dedicated to video/graphics issues on Midway Pac Man boards.






  • removed04092017removed04092017
    If you don't know how to install a cap kit, you probably shouldn't have an arcade game. And yeah, the voltage thing is a possible problem over the long term, but still not very likely. And there's many MANY manufacturers of PCB's for companies, if one company only sourced one place for their parts, somebody needs fired in their production department.
  • suicidalparrotsuicidalparrot

    Originally posted by: 3GenGames



    If you don't know how to install a cap kit, you probably shouldn't have an arcade game. And yeah, the voltage thing is a possible problem over the long term, but still not very likely. And there's many MANY manufacturers of PCB's for companies, if one company only sourced one place for their parts, somebody needs fired in their production department.



    I appreciate the help so far, man but that's sort of like telling someone if they don't know how to replace an alternator they shouldn't own a car.
  • removed04092017removed04092017
    That's a little different since a car is a necessity, and an alternator is a more complex part. Cap kits are also VERY simple to install, just take out the old value and put in the new one. It's more relateable to chaning a wheel on your car, which people should know how to do and be able to.
  • suicidalparrotsuicidalparrot
    I get that feeling. I'm pretty sure I can install one provided i find the correct one. There aren't any in there that are obviously blown that i can see. I'm not confident enough in my soldering skills just yet to attempt it, but it's nice to know there's hope. and that it's likely a simple fix
  • removed04092017removed04092017
    Yeah, just get a junk electronics board and practicing unsoldering components and then resoldering them, trying to get the least ammount of heat on them while getting the best looking removal. You'll get the hang of it. Just use lead solder to solder the new capacitors back on, the lead free stuff is garbage.
  • ihavethatpmaihavethatpma
    A. Take a picture of the chassis, the large board on the back of the monitor.

    B. Post the picture on here or KLOV to get someone to identify it. Don't just assume it's a G07, it could be a 4600, 4900, etc.

    C. Search the KLOV forums for similar monitor malfunctions, try and pinpoint the problem and don't just throw parts at it.



    A cap kit may very well cure your problem, but who knows. Monitors poop out all the time, and I'm sure 100 other people have had this same problem and have documented how to fix it, KLOV is overflowing with info.
  • suicidalparrotsuicidalparrot

    Originally posted by: 3GenGames



    Yeah, just get a junk electronics board and practicing unsoldering components and then resoldering them, trying to get the least ammount of heat on them while getting the best looking removal. You'll get the hang of it. Just use lead solder to solder the new capacitors back on, the lead free stuff is garbage.



    I'll do just that. I've got lots of old busted electronics laying around that I could labotomize for practice. I've already managed to do a few simple console mods. Like the audio mods on the NES for the powerpak extra audio and also for the extra audio on Akumajo Densetsu, along with modifying my fami converter to work with that. I'm gonna need to practice a little more though to do something more extensive like cap replacement though. More chances to screw up.



    Anyway, Thanks again for your help. Now I have a solution to work towards
  • suicidalparrotsuicidalparrot

    Originally posted by: ihavethatpma



    A. Take a picture of the chassis, the large board on the back of the monitor.

    B. Post the picture on here or KLOV to get someone to identify it. Don't just assume it's a G07, it could be a 4600, 4900, etc.

    C. Search the KLOV forums for similar monitor malfunctions, try and pinpoint the problem and don't just throw parts at it.



    A cap kit may very well cure your problem, but who knows. Monitors poop out all the time, and I'm sure 100 other people have had this same problem and have documented how to fix it, KLOV is overflowing with info.







    Thanks, man! I will check there as well. I'll be sure to research around before I start attacking the guts of this thing. It may have only been a $25 dollar purchase, but to me that just means there's room to put more money into it to save it If I can get it repaired.
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