Asteroids Deluxe - no video, just beeps when I press buttons

jehuie

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Asteroids Deluxe - no video, just beeps when I press buttons

So I just picked this thing up and haven't done anything but power it up so far. I know to check voltages so I'll go do that shortly.

But so far all it does when I power it on is that the player buttons both stay lit solid and when I press any button it makes a beep. Always the same sound regardless of which button I press.

The test switch is completely missing which I think means it's not in test mode since the connectors are not making contacts.

Aside from checking voltages, where else should I start? Is there something common to look for that might cause this?
 
The game is in test mode (player lights solid and buttons beep) - but you should see a test screen if the board and monitor are working.
 
The game is in test mode (player lights solid and buttons beep) - but you should see a test screen if the board and monitor are working.

So if I connect the wires together it takes it out of test mode? That sounds backward but I'll try it and see if it sounds like it plays blind.
 
....or perhaps there is a short in the wiring harness ?

Do you have monitor neck glow ? Is the monitor spot killer LED on ?
 
....or perhaps there is a short in the wiring harness ?

Do you have monitor neck glow ? Is the monitor spot killer LED on ?

I only looked briefly and it's kind of hard to see in there the way the monitor is mounted but I didn't see a spot killer light. I'll check for neck glow and report back.
 
On this one, the easiest way to check the monitor chassis is through the front coin door. In fact, that's how I removed it to work on my AD.
 
On this one, the easiest way to check the monitor chassis is through the front coin door. In fact, that's how I removed it to work on my AD.

That's great to know...thanks! So you don't have to pull the monitor and the chassis will fit through the coin door with no problem?
 
The gel and the monitor glass get ridiculously dirty on these. Make it a priority to clean it. Mine was so dirty you could barely tell it was working.
 
It's the blue film that's at the bottom of your front cardboard insert. It cuts the tube glow down so you you won't notice your tube in the mirror's reflection.
 
Ok, it's playing blind now. At least it sounds correct. Voltage was a bit low and the test switch was flipped after all so....

I just happen to have a G05 cap kit sitting here so I'll toss that in there in the next day or two if I can find the time and see if it helps. There's no neck glow and no spot killer light on.

There's no need to disconnect the anode wire just to pull the chassis right? Oh yeah, there's transistors mounted to the side of the cage so I'll probably have to pull the whole monitor to change those anyway won't I?

Edit: Never mind that last part...my cap kit didn't come with the chassis mounted transistors.
 
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There's no neck glow

I suppose that's the first thing to look at. A monitor won't display anything without the heater filament working.

The "neck glow" is just a wire heating element inside of the CRT that gets hot and glows. It's powered, in this case, by 6.3VAC. That voltage is produced on the secondary (output) side of the big transformer in the bottom of the cab. It's also fused down there, F6 I think, so check that. If your 6.3VAC is making it up to the monitor (i.e. is present at the monitor plug) then I'd suspect bad (cracked) solder joints on the monitor PCB. Every one of those connector headers had one or more bad joints on my Asteroids monitor.

If you're leaving the HV unit alone, and just pulling the deflection board, there is no need to discharge the CRT.
 
Are you sure it's a G05? If it's a wells, there's a resistor mod you need to do that will probably bring it back to life.

I'm actually just assuming it's a G05 since that's what I think came with AD right? I haven't pulled the chassis yet and it's hard to see the back of the monitor in the configuration it's in....I've been busy today so haven't had a chance to do more yet. I'll report back what I find shortly....I hope...
 
Are you sure it's a G05? If it's a wells, there's a resistor mod you need to do that will probably bring it back to life.

Hey, you were right....it's a wells gardner. What's the mod you were talking about?

Should I end this thread and start it over in the monitor section now or just finish it here?
 
So now that I know it's a WG V2000, what would I replace if the neck isn't glowing? Does the voltage come from the transformer down below or is it something in the monitor itself?

As it turns out, I just picked up another broken game (bad PCB) but it also has a V2000...which has neck glow. So I could swap parts if I knew what to swap.
 
Neck glow comes directly from the input connector, doesnt go through the circuits on the board. Its 6 volts directly from the brick. Check the monitor connector for the 6v (you will have to look up which pins). Im guessing you have either some broken solder joints or corroded connections. I brought 2 battlezone monitors back to life with some cleaning and touching up. Ive only worked on a handful V2000/G05s, but all of them have been issues with solder joints on the connectors. Well, I did have a bad tube, and bad brightness pots, but it seems like these are fairly robust.
 
Thanks guys...I reflowed the solder on all the header pins and blammo...it works great. The picture is beautiful now. You guys are the best!
 
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