Donkey Kong Issues...

bob5150

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Hey all,

Donkey Kong ur has been running beautifully as recently as yesterday. Turned the games on today and the cab refuses to come on. The Marquee lights up but nothing out of the monitor...no neck glow or anything and I can't start a game. I was worried that the monitor could have gone, but with the game not even plying blind I assume that the issue is elsewhere.

Oh also, I'm getting a "hot electrical" smell when the cab is plugged in and powered on (needless to say its neither as I write this).

I'm at a loss here. On visual inspection, both the pcb and monitor seem good (monitor recapped a few years back and has had limited use since). I figured that it could be something with the power supply but I can still power the marquee through one of the two outlets on the supply.

Anyone ave something similar happen or have any idea as to what my problem could be?

Thanks

Bob

PS: Don't know if it make a difference but the marquee is a replacement from HD/Lowes as the original bulb was too expensive.
 
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donkey kong

ok, so we have no monitor power and no board power, so we have a 110 volt issue with the monitor maybee, try plugging in the monitor by itself without anything else,id say with a smell and no board sounds its a power supply issue. any smoke?
 
It sounds like a game PC board issue, (not playing blind). I'm not sure if that monitor has a spot killer, but if it does, no signal may mean no heater, so you don't burn the screen.

Good job on securing power. It's always harder to fix after you let the smoke out of the wires / parts.

I'd suggest the following course of action:

1. Since you smell burning: Get a bright light, and go over the game board, looking for anything that looks the least bit distressed. If you see anything, backtrack and try to find what might be "wagging the dog" and causing it to smoke (e.g., shorted wires at the coin door)

2. What did you last do with this game? If you messed with it recently, go back and take a look. This could be as subtle as opening the coin door to add a few credits.

3. Clean / burnish all your edge connectors. Take them out of the question range by checking resistance between the connections. If any are high, clean again until they are right.

4. Get the bright light again in the back of the cabinet. While you are looking (and you need to look at both the monitor chassis and the game boards), have the game powered up. Either have someone who can power it off if you see smoke, or have the plug or switch in your hand to kill the game at the first sign of smoke.

Check the usual suspects:
Chips with discoloration around the connections on the board.
Big resistors

5. Now check the power. Make sure all your rails are proper at the power supply, then again at the game board.

Good luck.
 
ok, so we have no monitor power and no board power, so we have a 110 volt issue with the monitor maybee, try plugging in the monitor by itself without anything else

Just to be clear, don't try plugging the monitor into a wall socket. The monitor needs 100V, and will fry if plugged straight into the wall.
 
If your marquee works when you plug it into both spots on the power board, then you've got a monitor problem (it plugs in the same place).

The reason your game isn't playing blind is because the audio is amplified through the monitor. If you blow the main fuse on the monitor, the sound amp won't work anymore.

Your flyback probably died on your monitor, that's the smell you're smelling.
 
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