CarnEvil gun calibration issues

baddeolv

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Sorry if this has been answered already. I'm fairly new to the arcade restoration and collecting scene so bare with me. I recently picked up a carnevil dedicated machine from a local arcade rental facility here in town. I had to reconnect the guns to the cab which was a simple male to female connector, factory installed connectors. This is the problem I'm having. I can fire the game directly up, enter the service menu easily but there are a few strange problems that I ran across withy the gun calibration screen. First and foremost, for some reason the screen is bright white and washed out, as if the "flash" is stuck on. It's very hard to view the words on the screen as well. I tested my flash theory by going into game adjustments and turning the flash down as low as possible and sure enough the screen calibration screen went from white to dark grey. This allowed me to kinda calibrate the guns, but the tracking is really jumpy during gameplay. Jumping wildly off target by as much as 6 inches at times. I've been tinkering with it here and there trying to get a good calibration but I'm guessing I need to address this flash issue before I can get an acceptable outcome. Any ideas as to what I could check? Btw, the calibration screen is the only screen that has this issue. The game looks great otherwise. Any help or suggestions would be awesome. Thanks guys!
 
Hmm that's interesting. Of course your guns won't work very good if the flash isn't really bright... not sure why it's making the test screen bright, though.

Try this, unplug the guns from the harness while you're on that screen and see if it goes grey... it could be that something's stuck or screwed up on the gun board, which is making the screen at least in test always be bright.

I've noticed before on Area 51 (also a Midway game.. kind of) that the test screen is brighter than the main game, but never thought it had anything to do with the flash setting.
 
Thanks for the response! I tried what you suggested, it had no effect whatsoever. The brightness didn't change at all. Guns are still wonky
 
wonder if the monitor was serviced at all by the rental company.

you could have a chassis that needs rebuilt and a tube that needs testing.

take some pics of the monitor chassis so we can see if it has had any service done to it.

also, update your general location and maybe a local KLOVER can come and help you out.

Peace
Buffett
 
I would think it can't be the monitor if the problem is related to the flash setting inside the setup menu. If the game looks fine in gameplay, but too bright in the test menu, then your monitor is fine.
 
That's the way carnevil's gun calibration is. It has to have the screen set to the brightness of the flash to track the guns properly.
I just calibrated a buddy's carnevil cab, and it confused me at first, but when I remembered how the gun worked, it made sense.
 
yep, the gun calibration screen is white/washed out...try it in a dark or dimly lit room, sometimes even the light from the marquee is too bright and affect the guns
 
I've tried all of the above. Even went as far as removing the marquee bulb and trying to calibrate in the dark. Doesn't seem to fix my tracking issues.
 
make sure your +5 isn't too low. if not enough voltage is making it to the guns they won't work right.
 
Thanks man! I definitely mad a small breakthrough with the guns. While I was poking around in the back of the cab, looking at the power supply, I noticed that, and forgive me for not knowing the proper part name, the flat braided metal ground wire(I'm assuming) that runs from under the PS to the gun mount, was broken in a few spots. Naturally, I jimmied it back together the best I could for testing purposes but it didn't improve the tracking much. I did notice though that if I put my thumb on the mounting bracket for the gun, it smooths out! So I ran a small piece of 16gauge wire from the PS to the bracket. It seemed to help by at least 50%. I guess what I need to find out from someone more educated in electronics, is it possible that the ground wire needs to be a heavier gauge? I know this would be true with "live" wires, and it seems logical enough that the small wire isn't providing a good enough ground, but I also don't want to track down this flat braided wire thing if it isn't going to get me anywhere with the cab. It's upsetting that I have this game that is my personal favorite rail shooter, and I can't even play it!! What is the proper name for the wire, and does anyone know where I can pick one up? Thanks again for the help here guys!
 
Just to confirm:
The problem you're having is that both guns are jittery during gameplay, correct?
Have you turned the flash back up to around where it was previously? I know it makes it hard to read the calibration screen, but the guns will not calibrate correctly unless the flash is bright enough.
Also, the flat braided cable is a field ground strap. Do not confuse this with DC ground(common) they aren't the same. A field ground is generally put on to prevent the customer from being shocked if a short occurs in the game. Your replacement 16 guage wire should be fine.
Also, have you cleaned the guns? Try some isopropyl alcohol on a q-tip to clean the lens.
If the problem persists with one gun guns, I would suspect, in this order, the board/sensor in the gun, the harness, or the I/o board the guns attach to.
If the problem is with both guns after you've turned the brightness of the flash up, I would start looking at the I/O board or the wiring between that and the main board.
There is a wiring diagram in the manual. If you don't have a manual, there is one available at http://arcarc.xmission.com.
Good luck!
 
If its just the player 1 side, start by swapping the gun harness connectors to the opposite side of the i/o board and see if the problem stays with the gun. If the player 2 side does the same, your problem is with the i/o board.
If the player 2 gun works fine, then start taking the problem gun apart, cleaning the sensor and checking for loose, broken or frayed cables inside the gun. Most likely places for wiring damage are near the trigger, screw posts, connectors and where the harness comes out of the gun.
If you have a multimeter, you can test continuity throughout the harness to make sure the wires aren't broken or shorted.
If the harness checks out, its the gun board.
 
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