Can power supplies be cheaply replaced? Newbie question...

GoldenAge

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Can power supplies be cheaply replaced? Newbie question...

Hi,

I bought a Vindicators game recently, when I got it home and fired it up it didn't work (worked awesome before the drive home... Doh!), the monitor was coming on but no sounds/game on the screen. It didn't come with keys, so I had to drill out the lock in the back, once I got it open I could see the PCB wasn't lighting up at all at any of the LEDs on it, and I also saw there was a small power supply that had been added that was not lighting up either which feeds the PCB. The monitor is on a different (original-looking) power supply and it is giving me some lights/lines/scrambles, so for now that seems to be ok. I suspect the little add-on power supply, which wasn't even mounted, got rattled around in transit and is dead. I haven't yet taken a multimeter to it to confirm AC is getting into it, but looking at the terminals, all wires seem to be accounted for, so I don't think it's a loose wire or something like this.

Are these power supplies similar to modern PC power supplies? Otherwise are they readily available for "generic" arcade applications, or are they more proprietary to the specific game? The little broken one seems to have 5v and 12v out, that seems fairly common to me, but don't know if there is something special I need to be concerned about in this case, and I certainly don't want to experiment on the game and damage the board...

Any advice as to replacing this supply cheaply and reliably would be greatly appreciated! Vendors/models, things to not do, etc...

Regards,
Ryan
 
Hi,

I bought a Vindicators game recently, when I got it home and fired it up it didn't work (worked awesome before the drive home... Doh!), the monitor was coming on but no sounds/game on the screen. It didn't come with keys, so I had to drill out the lock in the back, once I got it open I could see the PCB wasn't lighting up at all at any of the LEDs on it, and I also saw there was a small power supply that had been added that was not lighting up either which feeds the PCB. The monitor is on a different (original-looking) power supply and it is giving me some lights/lines/scrambles, so for now that seems to be ok. I suspect the little add-on power supply, which wasn't even mounted, got rattled around in transit and is dead. I haven't yet taken a multimeter to it to confirm AC is getting into it, but looking at the terminals, all wires seem to be accounted for, so I don't think it's a loose wire or something like this.

Are these power supplies similar to modern PC power supplies? Otherwise are they readily available for "generic" arcade applications, or are they more proprietary to the specific game? The little broken one seems to have 5v and 12v out, that seems fairly common to me, but don't know if there is something special I need to be concerned about in this case, and I certainly don't want to experiment on the game and damage the board...

Any advice as to replacing this supply cheaply and reliably would be greatly appreciated! Vendors/models, things to not do, etc...

Regards,
Ryan

They are only 20-30$ new
 
Awesome! I do believe that's the exact same unit that went bad, can a swap get any easier? Thanks very much, I came to the right place...

Ryan
 
Awesome! I do believe that's the exact same unit that went bad, can a swap get any easier? Thanks very much, I came to the right place...
Ryan

I would still put a meter on everything first.
There are numerous things that could have josstled loosed during the drive home.
Nothing worse than replacing a power supply just to find out a fuse was loose in the holder or something.
Measure that your power supply is indeed getting 120v, etc.
Make sure the game pcb is firmly connected as well, some power supplies want a load on them before turning on. (I can't say for sure yours is that type though)

This is not to say the power supply didn't just up and die, but might be worth checking everything first.
Besides, it's always good to go completely over a new machine looking for potential problems, especially electrically. (loose wires, stuff not mounted, etc)
 
Thanks very much, I will definitely check for power before ordering, as well as all the connections etc. Thanks everyone for their replies!
 
So,
Does your Vindicators use an added Audio Power Amp for the sound?
Or is the old Atari P.S./Amp Board still in the game?
Just asking...
Dave
Dataman19
 
I'm pretty new at this sort of thing... How can I tell?

I can say I managed to fire up the switching power supply up while I was checking for voltage. When I hit 2 particular outputs while on AC voltage, the thing fired right up. I turn it off and back on again and nothing until I put my Fluke on those same 2 leads on the power supple. So for now I'm playing it as-is in the garage, where I can reach the back, but I reckon I'll have to replace the power supply before I move it up against a wall in the gameroom.

As far as sound goes, the board with the volume pot is behind the coin door, but I can't say much beyond that.

Tell me how to differentiate and I'll tell you what's going on in there.
 
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