Anyone else ever accidentally burn test your games

[mc300baud]

these games were designed to be on for long periods of time, often 24/7 for months or years. yes, they're getting older now and tend to break down (heck, they broke down back then too.) but really, there are only two circumstances in which i'd actually be worried about leaving my games on and creating a fire: a GO-8 Sega color vector and if the wiring harness was seriously hacked. i don't own any of the former, and i repair the latter before i put games into my collection anyway.

i'd say the bigger issue is the power draw: you just left the equivalent of two 150-200 watt lights burning for a full day. once in a while isn't going to kill you but over time doing that can really add up.

and i've lost a couple of GO-7 flybacks. lots of smoke and often noise but way more flash than fire.

 

[toolguy]

Left my first restored pin on all night once. Next day, there it was blinking and flashing away!

No issues! And I knew I did a rock solid job restoring it.

 

[SuperGunGuru]

I've done this to my Donkey Kong cabaret a few times....I plug it in to play it but then get sidetracked and forget I had it on. Never had a problem, but it was only for a few hours anyway. I did notice the inside was a bit warm, but probably not any more than I'd expect for a game like that.

 

[Crazy Climber]

Left a Streetfighter 2 on in my garage for 3 or 4 days. It was one of those things where I plugged it in for a quick game when I had a few people over then went in the house and on with my life for a few days. I was surprised to see it was on when I opened my garage.

 

[pseeds]

I kind of feel like if they can't do that anyway, maybe you shouldn't run them at all...

I agree. A 24 hour run is about the point I decide the game is "ok".

 

[pookdolie]

I've done this to my Donkey Kong cabaret a few times....I plug it in to play it but then get sidetracked and forget I had it on. Never had a problem, but it was only for a few hours anyway. I did notice the inside was a bit warm, but probably not any more than I'd expect for a game like that.

Especially considering that the ventilation isn't all that great on that machine...

 

[jay]

Haven't left my games on yet. A few months ago I was doing some soldering at my work bench on the garage (wood table). Got distracted, next afternoon walked into the garage and looked at my work bench and saw my overhead light was still on. My jaw hit the floor and I ran over to it and also realized I still had my soldering and de-soldering irons still plugged in and some small burn marks on the table below them!

 

[SuperGunGuru]

Especially considering that the ventilation isn't all that great on that machine...

Yeah no doubt. It wouldn't hurt to have a fan or better ventilation openings on that thing.

 

[CrazyKongFan]

I guess the cocktail is the only DK cab that has a fan? When I got mine, it sounded like a jet engine running (was full of dirt and gunk). Anyway, I've left it on for a couple days, on purpose. Got a new high score (373K, not real high, but blew my previous high out of the water) and couldn't bear to turn it off and lose the score I have the D2K kit in it now that saves scores, so I wouldn't need to do that now.

 

[DogP]

The only failure I can think of that even could remotely start a fire would be the G08 color vector. When one of those goes, it can produce a small flame. But, even then, it's highly unlikely to catch the wood of the cabinet on fire.

I totally agree that it's VERY highly unlikely to catch fire... but there's still a chance. I've had components burn up, explode, arc, etc... and while yes, hopefully the fuse would stop it... how many have checked that every single fuse in their games are correctly fused? And arcing especially wouldn't necessarily draw enough current to blow a fuse, but if there's a paper wrapper near the arc, it could catch fire. Or a coil locking on a pinball... or a transformer.

Or, probably the most likely cause... the surge protectors themselves. I don't know what happened to this guy: http://forums.arcade-museum.com/showthread.php?t=99337 , but he lost his whole house (and arcade) to a fire. I don't know whether it was from the arcades/pins, but either way, I really don't want to be that guy.

DogP

 

[DreamTR]

...some twenty to thirty years ago.

They run better now if you put better power supplies in them and better stuff for the boards.

 

[modessitt]

I work on appliances for a living. Some particular brand of clothes dryers has a nasty habit of burning up the power cord terminal block. A dryer is about 95% metal with nothing combustible near the terminal block. However, that doesn't stop my customers from worrying about their house burning down when I show them a fried terminal block.

I'll make sure to mention this to that customer of mine that I picked up their jukebox for restoration after they had a house fire caused by their dryer...

 

[hsapinball]

I did this to my Tempest last weekend. Someone came over and played a few games. I turned off all the games but somehow forgot about Tempest. My Tempest is in the back row so all weekend when I walked through the gameroom to the computer room I did not notice that Tempest was running. Two days later I discovered that Tempest was still running. I was quite mad at myself but Tempest was fine.

 

[Black Matrix]

Interesting replies guys. I understand those that say they should be able to do a long stint powered on with ease. But after completely rebuilding a 25" Ampliphone and having a couple minor fuse block issues with the cab, I was surprised something hadn't gone horribly wrong. I'm glad it didn't and feel better about the repairs I have completed. But in general, its just a bad idea. I think of old games like candles. They only have so much life in them before you burn them out. After that, you either have to repair them or chuck them. Some point in the distant future, we may have problems replacing those parts. Games will go dead for lack of a ram chip, or cpu. So I try not to tempt the fates too much. Of course maybe its just me being skittish. Of course, considering I almost lit myself on fire once with a live ac chord, its easy to see why. I guess the main point is, I'm glad they could do it, but I'm in no hurry to do it again.

 

[MasterFygar]

If I'm afraid a game is going to burst into flames if I leave it on overnight, it's not going in my collection. I accidentally left about 4 on overnight once and they all ran fine, no issues. These things were meant to run for 20+ years nonstop if neccesary... if it's a game that I'm uncomfortable with wiring wise, design wise, or otherwise, I won't get it, no matter how good the deal and how rare the game. I don't leave my games on nonstop for their own good (because I know they'll get burn in and wear out faster) but as it is, any 'suicide parts' (things that eventually go bad, like caps) on my machines have been replaced recently with all new parts and I don't have any games with parts prone to exploding into flames.

 

[gamefixer]

These things were meant to run for 20+ years nonstop if neccesary...

Actually the manufactures have been quoted as saying they built the games to last 2-3 years. Anything beyond that is a bonus.

While its true that many of these games have lasted 30+ years and may still last another 30 years I would be cautious of running anything but straight raster games un attended.

 

[tec9]

You mean you guys have never gotten drunk enough where you passed out in the gameroom, and woke up the next morning to the attract sounds of all the games that were left on all night?
-Mark

 

[pookdolie]

Actually the manufactures have been quoted as saying they built the games to last 2-3 years.

Whenever I tell a non-arcade collector this, they give me a really funny look.

 

[pacman71]

asteriods deluxe for over a week. felt really stuuupid.

 

[MasterFygar]

Actually the manufactures have been quoted as saying they built the games to last 2-3 years. Anything beyond that is a bonus.

While its true that many of these games have lasted 30+ years and may still last another 30 years I would be cautious of running anything but straight raster games un attended.

Yeah, I guess I have worded it differently. I mean more that they're capable of it (as referenced by the few large remaining retro arcades around) then promised to do so. If the manufacterers could get profit from one game for 20 years, conversion kits wouldn't exist =P

(Actually, I had read elsewhere that they were marketed to last for decades, many times... hearing otherwise is a surprise. I certainly believe you but it's surprising that so many still work considering.)