HELP - Noob with an Astro City Cab

soupbones

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I just received my New Astro City cabinet today - and to my dismay, the monitor was horizontal (it was suppose to be vertical).

Anyway - I managed to tate the monitor with no issues, but when I turned it on, I have a rainbow effect over all my games. I tested several boards, and they all produce the same effect. There seems to be a discoloration issue on the top and bottom of the monitor - when I move my character around, you can see it change color as it gets closer to the top and bottom of the screen - and everything seems to look good when going towards the middle (both Dragon Blaze and Dogyuun boards tested and give the same results.)

Is there something I should be looking for to correct this? The monitor looked perfect before it was shipped here.

I hit the De-Mag switch, and got no response. Also, I went into the service screen and saw my RGB bars are all screwed up. Red is displaying yellow-ish, etc.

Any help would be appreciated - the monitor is the original Nanao.
 
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Bumped with photos: you can see the discoloration on the top and bottom of the screen.

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Needs to be degaussed.

Either your degauss circuit ("De-mag") is not working, or perhaps the coil is disconnected. All color monitors and televisions degauss at poweron, and some even have the manual control. The manual control could be broken, while the normal automatic one still works. Try letting it cool off for a half hour or an hour, and turning it on again. It should improve - perhaps only slightly. If it doesn't, then you could very well have a faulty degauss circuit. Around the outside edge of the picture tube is a thick bundle of wire - looks like it's wrapped in tape. It has a two pin plug and connects to the monitor's chassis. Is it connected?

-Ian
 
I think thats it - the connection looks like it's hanging just off where it should be. Stupid question - should I try pushing it in now - or wait a bit since I just had it on?

I tried shutting it down for over an hour and got no improvement - and the de-mag button hasnt done a thing, so I think you're right! Just don't want to die trying to fix it ;)
 
Turn the game off, plug the connector back in, and turn it back on. You won't get zapped from that. Just stay away from the flyback transformer and it's associated high voltage lead. (the scary looking wire that goes into the suction cup on the tube). You don't need to touch it to plug the degaussing coil back in.

-Ian
 
Ug - got the degaussing coil back in, but now I get no picture at all - only sound. Checked the RGB connections and they all look good.

Best day ever quickly turned into the worst day ever.
 
Hmm. Perhaps that's why the coil was disconnected? I've seen faulty degauss circuits before, but it's pretty rare. Did the moitor fuse blow?

Disconnect the coil again and try it.

You didn't disconnect anything else while you were in there, did you?

-Ian
 
Nope - another problem is the board near the monitor isn't properly mounted - so it shifts around when I start playing with it. Cant really get in there to mount it proper unless I take the whole tube out I guess.

Degaussing coil wasnt fully disconnected to begin with - it looked like it came loose in the move (it was hanging on, so I simply pushed it back in).

Only other thing that got disconnected was the RGB connection to the board - but I reached in and plugged it back in - still no picture. Other then that, I can't see anything that looks disconnected.

Where do I find the monitor fuse?
 
The fuse should be on that board.

Also, if the board is loose you need to screw it down properly, a board shifting around can cause a short and damage other things...
 
Nope - another problem is the board near the monitor isn't properly mounted - so it shifts around when I start playing with it.

This is a pretty big problem, because if the board touches the metal frame of the monitor, it will short things to ground and destroy components.

Check the fuse on the chassis - lets just hope that it blew for some reason, and that you didn't fry anything by shorting the chassis to the monitor frame.

When you plugged it in after attaching the coil, did you hear a buzz or a pop?

-Ian
 
No - didn't hear anything other than the normal start up buzz.

Just checked the fuse - looks fine. :(

Do you have a DMM? Lots of time fuses can look fine but are broken. I had one cab that wasn't getting power forever and it turned out to be the fuse even though it seemed fine.
 
I dont - but I do know someone who has one, so I'll see if they can swing by.

Either way, I need to find someone to help get this chassis remounted if all it turns out to be is a fuse.

I still can't believe this guy shipped the cab like this - NOTHING from the body to the chassis - even the control panel hinge had screws in it. He just put a bunch of screws in a box and threw it in the coin door.

Anyone know a good repairman in the NJ area? :)
 
Stupid question: Would I be still getting that flash of light you see when shutting down a tube if the fuse was dead?

At least the degauss seems to be working now :) (it makes a noise when I click it this time).
 
Stupid question: Would I be still getting that flash of light you see when shutting down a tube if the fuse was dead?

At least the degauss seems to be working now :) (it makes a noise when I click it this time).

No. No, you wouldn't.

Sounds like the video cable isn't connected. You sure you plugged it back in?

-Ian
 
Just double checked and it's on there!Is there anything else I could be missing?

Really hard to tell from those pictures. Did you bump any controls? Maybe turn the brightness down all the way? Knock the connector for the remote board out? Did you follow the video connector all the way back to the Jamma connector - make sure there isn't another plug in the cable? Is the neckboard connected to the chassis? Sometimes those have a connector too. Can you take a picture of the whole monitor chassis/setup so we can get an idea of what you've got?

If you're getting the flash on the screen when you turn it off, then the monitor is basically working. You have HV and everything. If you turn up the SCREEN control on the flyback, you should be able to get a mostly white screen with retrace lines.

You should definitely secure the chassis in properly though...

-Ian
 
Heres some more. I'm coming in from the back of the cabinet - monitor is vertical. Im going to double check the connections and the controls now.

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Holy frap, that chassis has really shifted in there! I suppose it would if you went from horiz. to vert. That would be the first thing I fixed.
 
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