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How does a video game work?
A video game is made up of
several electronic units that work together to provide you the game. The most obvious is the control panel, including buttons, trackball, joystick or steering wheel through which you interact with the game. Another is
the power supply, which converts incoming alternating current from the power company into direct current at several different voltages which the game needs to work. The game board
or boards are actually a small computer not unlike a PC, which takes in the signals from the control panel and translates them according to a built in program into action on the screen. It also provides appropriate sounds which are supplied to a loudspeaker or two in the cabinet. A
monitor (display) is that part which you look at while you are playing the game.
Where Do I Start If I Want to Try to Fix It?
The first step in any
troubleshooting is to try to locate the problem. Let's take it as a series of questions and answers:
What happens when you coin up the game, then try to start the game?
If the game seems to be playing, that is, you hear sounds when you press buttons, etc, the monitor is most likely defective. The monitor is not a
user serviceable item, but it can be removed for transportation to a repair shop. You can get at most monitors by reaching through the coin door and to the underside of the control panel. The control panel is held is place by
snaps at each side and sometimes in the middle. Sometimes it is held in place by bolts secured by wingnuts. Open the control panel and you will often see there is a glare screen of dark plastic. Pull it out and this will expose
the monitor which is often held in place by 4 bolts secured by locknuts. You can remove these 4 bolts and pull the monitor out the front, after
removing the connector on the monitor on the back for the video signal from the game board and also a coonnector for power. (There are other mounting configurations, especially in earlier games.) You can bring this unit into your repairer instead of having to transport the whole game. Your repairer will have a signal generator or game board setup which will allow them to provide a signal to your monitor for testing and repair.
Should you take it into your head to repair the monitor yourself, you can often be successful by replacing components using a "Get-Well" kit from
Zanen or your distributor. Warning: Do not attempt to test the monitor by plugging it in directly through the power line. Use an isolation transformer (the game has its own). You expose yourself to
risk of injury or death if you do not do so. If you don't have one or know what one is, test the monitor only by putting it back into the game.
If you are going to repair your monitor, be sure you have adequate skills with a soldering iron. A repairer can work most efficiently if they can assume that
except for a damanged part it worked just as they get it. If they have to deal with a botched repair job in addition to a failed part or parts, the cost can easily double or triple.
It Doesn't Start Up At All, What Do I Do?
You must determine
whether the power to supply to the game is at fault, the game board itself or the wiring is bad.
First, try wiggling the wiring , If that makes it come on, then you will have to repair the wiring or bad connector.
Second, look on the power supply itself
to see if there are any LED lights that show the status of different voltages the game needs. If one or more is out, then the power supply is your culprit, usually. If there are no lights on the power supply, check the game board to see if there is an LED which indicates that power is present and that all such LEDS on all boards are lit. If you have a meter that can check voltage, check voltages at the power supply if they are marked. Then check any posts on the board which are marked for voltage and make sure that voltages are present there. Virtually all games require 5 votls DC, which must be no less than 4.75 volts nor no more than 5.25 volts. and should show virtually no sign of AC voltage when checking voltage at the board.
Finally, if all the voltages check out, then the game board must be repaired or replaced. You can take it to your local repairer if one is available, try to make a deal over the Net, or patronize firms that sell
boards or exchange boards.
A firm that sells/exchanges boards is: Eldorado Games. Board repair costs vary widely from $25 to several hundred dollars depending on demand and availablility. If you think the board is bad and it is inexpensive enough, it may
be worth just buying the board instead of calling in a repairer.
I Did Everything You Suggested, But It Didn't Help. What Now?
If
you have tried everything else you have two choices: You can take a one to two year course in being an electronic technician, then work for several years in the field, or you can call a repairer. The lattter is the most
practical. What is generally the least expensive is to transport the game to the repair shop. Games will fit on their backs in the back of pickups, inside vans or SUVs. If you plan to lie the game on its back, take off the back
door and see if the cord will slip out of a holder in the back so it can all be put inside. This will protect it from being damaged when you slide the game in and out of the vehicle. You should expect it to be in the shop a
number of weeks, since by performing the steps above you have covered the sources of 98% of trouble.
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