Discs of Tron not working

mysterious

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I've got a Discs of Tron upright that stopped working about 10 years ago, and am hoping to get it running again. When I power the unit on, both the black light on the front and the fluorescent bulb inside the back of the cabinet light up, but the screen stays dark and I don't hear any sound (I've tried adjusting the volume). When I opened the back cabinet door I immediately noticed that the assembly of boards is positioned in a haphazard way, as if it had fallen there. I was wondering if anyone who has a DOT would mind posting a picture of what the inside of the machine is supposed to look like.

Also, can anyone suggest a good starting point for troubleshooting? Would replacing the fuses be a good place to start? I have a multimeter and soldering iron, but I don't have any real electronics experience. Thanks in advance.

EDIT: Ok I found a picture of what the inside is supposed to look like here: http://www.madocowain.com/Arcade/Discs/back_leftboards_2_2.jpg

Suggestions on where to start troubleshooting would still be appreciated. :)
 
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I just went through this with my edot. If your board works which mine was tested in a spy hunter working perfect.

Ok first remove all 5 fuses on the power chasis and check them, check the 2 main fuses on the power chasis.

Flip over the power chasis remove the cover and check all 4 diodes from the big caps to the fuse block.

Next Check both big caps

If all this checks good the power chasis is good.

Next move on to the MCR linear power supply most likley your problem will be here, mine was a combination of both areas and I had a bad flyback on my monitor, ok back to the test.

With J6 and J3 plugged in and J4 and J5 not plugged in you need to verify voltage. Start with 5volt by checking the cap at C106 set you meter to DC appox 20volts. Power the game on and see what reading you get. Make sure you test the fuse to be good on the MCR before you start. The Pot at VR102 controls voltage output for the 5volts. Adjust accordingly to get 5volts.

Next move on to 12volts which is cap C102 test from the Negative side of C106(the 5volt cap) to the postive side of the C102 cap you need 12volts adjust it with the Pot at VR 101 adjust accordigly.

If you get all the right voltages turn the game off plug in J5 and J4 and the main board and turn the game back on, retest the 5volt and the 12volt on the MCR again usually when put under load it will be a little under voltage and will need to adjust again.

Never ever adjust the MCR voltages without a meter, you will DAMAGE or DESTROY boards!

Most likley the MCR will need a rebuild and possibly the big caps on the power Chasis, all these things can be bought from the real bob roberts.


I hope this helps as I just went through this with my EDOT and it was extremly fustrating but I had many more issues, good luck in getting your game going and keep us posted.



Joe(acejedi)
 
great info right there! we need a sticky with lotsa links to stuff like this!
 
Wow, thanks for the detailed instructions Joe. It sounds like I have my work cut out for me.

I'm guessing there's no way for me to test if the board is working if this is the only arcade machine I own?
 
Wow, thanks for the detailed instructions Joe. It sounds like I have my work cut out for me.

I'm guessing there's no way for me to test if the board is working if this is the only arcade machine I own?

if you posted where you live im sure someone would be happy to let you test your board, if your in new england i have a DOT your more than welcome to check it out and test your board.
 
Thanks for the offer wickedbass. Unfortunately I'm on the west coast in northern California, Redding to be exact. It's a bit more of a rural area, so I'm not too hopeful that I'll find someone nearby.

I regularly visit visit family in the bay area (east bay) and also occasionally travel to San Diego for work, so if there is anyone in those areas who would be willing to help me test my DOT board I'd be happy to pay you for your trouble.
 
I'm in Citrus Heights central valley about 2 hours from you if you wanna test your boards in my EDOT. You don't have to pay me anything. Still check out what I told you to do up above, and see what you get. If you stored the game 10yrs ago I'm sure the boards are good, worst thing that could happen would be you fix all the voltage/power issues and the game comes up with errors.

Joe(acejedi)
 
Thanks for the offer wickedbass. Unfortunately I'm on the west coast in northern California, Redding to be exact. It's a bit more of a rural area, so I'm not too hopeful that I'll find someone nearby.

I regularly visit visit family in the bay area (east bay) and also occasionally travel to San Diego for work, so if there is anyone in those areas who would be willing to help me test my DOT board I'd be happy to pay you for your trouble.

I live in the East Bay (El Cerrito) if you want to test your boards in my EDOT. Like AceJedi says, if you check the voltage on your power supply and they are close, you can safely test your boards in your machine.
 
Ok first remove all 5 fuses on the power chasis and check them, check the 2 main fuses on the power chasis.

Flip over the power chasis remove the cover and check all 4 diodes from the big caps to the fuse block.

Next Check both big caps

If all this checks good the power chasis is good.

Next move on to the MCR linear power supply most likley your problem will be here, mine was a combination of both areas and I had a bad flyback on my monitor, ok back to the test.

With J6 and J3 plugged in and J4 and J5 not plugged in you need to verify voltage. Start with 5volt by checking the cap at C106 set you meter to DC appox 20volts. Power the game on and see what reading you get. Make sure you test the fuse to be good on the MCR before you start. The Pot at VR102 controls voltage output for the 5volts. Adjust accordingly to get 5volts.

Next move on to 12volts which is cap C102 test from the Negative side of C106(the 5volt cap) to the postive side of the C102 cap you need 12volts adjust it with the Pot at VR 101 adjust accordigly.

If you get all the right voltages turn the game off plug in J5 and J4 and the main board and turn the game back on, retest the 5volt and the 12volt on the MCR again usually when put under load it will be a little under voltage and will need to adjust again.

Ok, I followed your directions as best I could. All the fuses tested good. I wasn't sure how to test the 4 diodes and the big caps on the power chassis, but I tested everything else you said, and I adjusted the voltages to exactly 5 and 12 on the MCR (they were already pretty close). Your directions for these steps were very easy to follow, thank you.

I still don't get any sound from the machine, and the screen either remains blank, or comes up with a pink and blue sort of static intermittently. Any other suggestions on what I can try? Does it matter that I didn't test the 4 diodes and big caps on the power chassis? If so could you explain how I would test these? Thanks again for the help, I really appreciate it!
 
Ever get past the blue static screen? I rebuilt my MCR power supply and was blessed with this. My voltages are low though. Like 1.5V going to the board. I feel I only opened a can of worms by doing a rebuild kit at this point.
 
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