Donkey Kong power setup

gregbl

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Hi all,

I'm in the middle of restoring my Donkey Kong machine and am putting in a new switching power supply. I purchased the Arcadeshop adapter, so I'll be using it.

My question is in how much of the existing power setup I need to keep.

Theoretically, could I run a power setup similar to the Bob Roberts "drop-in AC Center" (http://homearcade.org/BBBB/accenter.html) and power the Sanyo 20EZ monitor off the isolation transformer from that setup? Besides the PCB, monitor, marquee light and the +24v coin counter, is there anything else getting a direct draw from that power supply that I'd have to worry about? Does the audio amp board that is part of the Sanyo 20EZ monitor need its own power source? It appears on my setup that the Sanyo 20EZ monitor is getting power directly from the 2 outlet strip in the cabinet, that sounded odd to me for some reason.

Any help on how to wire this sucker up with the new switching power supply would be appreciated. I'm good on getting power to the PCB from the switcher, so no worries there.

I've done the power supply conversion routine on Midway cabinets (Galaga, MsPac, Super Pac, & Burgertime), but this is my first Nintendo one, so I'm learning as I go.

Thanks,
Greg
 
The monitor is getting power directly from that outlet. It is 100vac, and the original iso needs to remain in the cab for the monitor (and the marquee light, if it is original).

I have never done the conversion you are trying to do but I would simply tap the switcher into the inlet power for the existing isolation transformer (should be 120vac unregulated) and be done with it. In fact, Radio Shack sells splitters that make this real easy to do.
 
A word of caution with switching power supplies in DKs. . . I've got one in mine. It worked like a charm with the 4-board set I had in there (this is an early dk that originally came with a 4-board set). I bought a DJ Jr. 2-board set and that worked like a charm in there too. Then I bought a 2-board set from Anthony at quatercade (he is the only one I could find that would guarantee me a boardset that met twin galaxies' stupidly insane standards). Anyway, the first board Anthony sent did not work right in my DK. It was playable but it had lots of what I'll call, vertical sprite glitches. I told Anthony about the glitches and he said, "hm that's weird, I'm sure I tested it, but send it back." I sent it back, he tested it, and says its working fine on his end. At that point he asked about my power supply. I told him I had a switching supply currently installed. He said that he's seen compatibility issues with DK boards and switching supplies before. So, Anthony being the stand up guy he is, goes and tests a bunch of his boards using a switching supply rather than a nintendo supply, and he finds out of 3 boards he testedo 2 had issues with the switching supply. He sent me the one that worked with the switching supply. It works great with my switching power supply.

Then I try to install a DK2 kit on the board from quatercade. DK2 plays fine on it, but when I try to play DK through the kit, the game has some weird glitchy stuff going on making DK unplayble with the kit. I send my board and kit to Steve at Acade Shop for him to check it out. He replaces the z80 socket (for FREE), tests it, and says everything is working fine for him. He sends it back to me but it still does not working right in my machine. Steve also mentioned something about the power supply being a possible problem but was not sure.

Anyway, my next step is to install an original power supply and see if that changes anything. I'm not by any means saying I'm sure its the power supply causing the issues, but with Anthony's experience with the switching supplies causing problems on DKs I'm suspicious that my problem might be my power supply.

I need an original power supply to submit scores anyway.
 
I'll second what JamBurglar said. I'd say I run about a 50/50 break and Donkey Kong/Donkey Kong Jr.'s working (properly) with a switcher. It became such a problem in the shop, I ditched a switcher for doing Nintendo repairs......and now use an original Nintendo power supply for all Nintendo pcb repairs.

Nintendo's have a serious -5 volt pull (compared to most other companies pcb's). A lot of switchers arn't "beefie" enough to handle the job.

Edward
 
Thanks for the feedback everyone. Based on that information, I'll likely just clean up and use the existing Nintendo power supply.

Are there any issues with putting a new marquee light plugged in to the power tap on the Nintendo power setup? I know the original one plugged in there, but I don't have an original one in my cabinet so I'll need to secure a new marquee light.

Thanks,
Greg
 
Ran into the same problem on mine last week.Tried 2 different boardsets,glitches on both of them.I'm now using the original power supply again and all is well.
 
Thanks for the feedback everyone. Based on that information, I'll likely just clean up and use the existing Nintendo power supply.

Are there any issues with putting a new marquee light plugged in to the power tap on the Nintendo power setup? I know the original one plugged in there, but I don't have an original one in my cabinet so I'll need to secure a new marquee light.

Thanks,
Greg

Most of the time, a 120V marquee will work fine plugged into the Nintendo 100V plug. Once in awhile, a 120V marquee will just flicker, and never fully light. Solution....tap into the 120V side of the transformer feed....It already has screw terminals for easy tapping.

Edward
 
Thanks Edward. Good to know. That's what I'll probably do then.

Most of the time, a 120V marquee will work fine plugged into the Nintendo 100V plug. Once in awhile, a 120V marquee will just flicker, and never fully light. Solution....tap into the 120V side of the transformer feed....It already has screw terminals for easy tapping.

Edward
 
Most of the time, a 120V marquee will work fine plugged into the Nintendo 100V plug. Once in awhile, a 120V marquee will just flicker, and never fully light. Solution....tap into the 120V side of the transformer feed....It already has screw terminals for easy tapping.

Edward

Pardon the stupid question, where's the best place to tap in the marquee power? Attached is a picture of the Nintendo power board. I'm assuming tapping in to the screw terminals on the right with spades would be OK, right?

Thanks,
Greg
 

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