asteroids blowing fuse on power brick????????????

tron guy

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I haven't turned the game on for 3 or 4 or 8 months, lol. It was working just fine.

I rearranged the garage today, moved some games around, didn't really bang it around though.

Anyway, I am blowing the twist-in fuse at power up. There was a 7a 250v fuse in there. Is that what it is supposed to be?

also, what is a general cause of blowing this fuse? (if there is one)
 
Just found the manul online, looks like 7a 250v slo blo was the right fuse. I don't have any, is there another value that would be acceptable?
 
Blowing a main fuse can mean a wide array of things, as it's the MAIN fuse; it supplys power to EVERYTHING in the cabinet; coin door lamps, marquee light, game PCB, audio amplifier... everything.

There are a number of things I might be doing now:

1) unplug the output (P5) from the power block and see if it still blows the fuse. If it does, the problem is likely IN the power brick (or possibly in the wiring).

2) visually inspect your cabinet wiring for evidence of damage (i.e. chewed wires).

3) pull the other fuses (F2-F6) and make sure they're the proper value per the schematics/manual. If they are over-fused, it may cause the main fuse to go instead of it (making it more difficult to locate the real problem).

4) check the diodes in the power block for having failed short.

As far as alternates to the OEM 7A fuse, I'd think a 5A or 6A would be plenty of current for an Asteroids, if you have some of those on-hand. Keep in mind that it will continue to blow them until the problem is fixed or removed.
 
I had an issue where the light on my coin door was shorting out (bad socket) but it didn't become a problem until the game was moved! Little things like that can cause problems...
 
You could wrap the old fuse in Tinfoil. Then where ever you see smoke that will be your problem. :)

You've got a short, get your Ohm meter out.
 
Blowing a main fuse can mean a wide array of things, as it's the MAIN fuse; it supplys power to EVERYTHING in the cabinet; coin door lamps, marquee light, game PCB, audio amplifier... everything.

There are a number of things I might be doing now:

1) unplug the output (P5) from the power block and see if it still blows the fuse. If it does, the problem is likely IN the power brick (or possibly in the wiring).

2) visually inspect your cabinet wiring for evidence of damage (i.e. chewed wires).

3) pull the other fuses (F2-F6) and make sure they're the proper value per the schematics/manual. If they are over-fused, it may cause the main fuse to go instead of it (making it more difficult to locate the real problem).

4) check the diodes in the power block for having failed short.

As far as alternates to the OEM 7A fuse, I'd think a 5A or 6A would be plenty of current for an Asteroids, if you have some of those on-hand. Keep in mind that it will continue to blow them until the problem is fixed or removed.

Got the 7a fuses coming from bob today. f2-f6 are currently good. Though I did notice that f3 is a 3amp fuse, the schematic calls for a 7amp. I will change that when they arrive. If it blows the fuse immediately, I will then pull J5 and see if it still blows.
I went through the entire brick and didn't seem to find any shorts anywhere.

The only thing I thought was odd (and maybe it isn't) is that when the black and white wires go into the power distribution block on the inside of the power brick, both black and white wires attached to the distribution block have continuity. Does that matter at that point in the flow? Black and white do not have any continuity anywhere else in the cab as far as I can tell.
 
ok I got the new fuses in, and plugged her in with J5 not plugged in. When I went to turn the game off, the on/off switch blew up (huge sparks, pow, fire, etc.)
I had just replaced it as the other on/off switch fell apart.

long story short, I think the on/off switch was the issue. I replace the on/off with an interlock switch and kept it inside the cab. Alls well
 
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