MCR power board worth trying to fix?

dyno

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I have a spyhunter and the MCR power supply board wasn't working when I got it. Managed to get it up and running but still am having issues with it. The reset circuit isn't working properly and the lamps see very weak and dim and aren't getting 12v to them. I have replaced alot of the components on the board with not much luck, am I better cutting my losses now with it and just buying the MCR power adapter that arcade shop sells and using a switching power supply for the game? Will that solve my dim light problems and the other issues I am having ?
 
do the conversion. I repaired mine a couple of times and finally gave up man. put in the arcadeshop switcher kit and so far so good.

I have not looked back.
 
I don't want to waste to much more time trying to fix the power supply so that is what I think I am going to do. Judt wondering if you have any humming issues with the conversion? I have read a few threads from people saying that the power adapter causes a loud humming noise.
 
I don't want to waste to much more time trying to fix the power supply so that is what I think I am going to do. Judt wondering if you have any humming issues with the conversion? I have read a few threads from people saying that the power adapter causes a loud humming noise.

nope not on mine.. not caused by the switcher anyways...(btw i opted for the heavy duty power supply)

well i take that back. I did have humming bad, back when my pcr power supply still worked..

but it was a bad shield ground on the cables that output sound from the pcb to the audio amp.. made a new cable and voila hum gone
 
+1 on moving to a switching supply with an adapter.

The rebuild kit from Bob Roberts is a little pricey. You could be 1/2 way to the price of an adapter.

I bought a rebuild kit once, but only replaced some of the main power transistors. That was good enough to get me going. There are a BUNCH of parts in Bob's kit- I just didn't want to mess with all of it.

So, I've got a Spy Hunter with a rebuilt supply and a Tron with an adapter.

I'm happy with both.
 
Either way.. If you rebuild the original p/s, and get rid of the corrosion issues, then it should be good forever, as long as you do the lithium battery conversion or put the battery off board. They didn't fail because they were a crappy design, aside from the battery.

I rebuilt my Gorf p/s with the Bob kit and it works great. I had a switcher fail a few weeks back. They both fail eventually.
 
Is there any difference between the ps adapter wizzies sells and the one arcadeshop sells? Is one better than the other. I noticed that wizzies version has wires coming off of it while arcadeshops doesn't ?
 
You're likely to have bad hum from a switcher in a Spy Hunter.

I had an Arcadeshop (Wizz's) switcher in mine for about an hour before I pulled it out and traded it for a rebuilt and completely functional MCR linear power board.

I've never been sorry I did that.

I like to hear the music and sounds of the game, not an obnoxious HUMMMMM.
 
Then go for it -- just don't be surprised when you end up with a hum.

He told me 3 years ago that very few people with Spy Hunters had hum problems with his product but virtually everyone I've run into that tried them DID have issues, including myself. When I mentioned that he got pretty irritated. Occasionally you find someone that doesn't have a hum with a switcher but they are the exception, not the rule.

If it were me, I'd PM Todd at TNT Amusements (member here) and see if he has any more rebuilt and tested MCR linear power boards for sale.

But that's just me. Your mileage may vary, etc.
 
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I rebuilt my supply on my kickman, and it works awesome, bought the kit from bob, took me a bit but I am really glad I did, 5 and 12v are spot on...I had a hum but not from the ps, it was from the audio amp...
 
I had a Spy Hunter with intermittant power related issues. After rebuilding the PS, re-pinning every connector IN THE GAME (crimped AND soldered) the problems persisted. Finally I opened up the suitcase transformer and saw evidence that one of the big caps had leaked in the past. Replaced that cap and never had another problem...
 
I removed the switcher kit from my Tapper. The hum was driving me mad. I bought a working original MCR power supply for like $25.00 or whatever it was and it's been perfect since.

However, I have friends with the kit and it works fine in their games. It's hit or miss I guess. But, I think Spy Hunter is the one that is most notorious and likely to hum.
 
Is there any difference between the ps adapter wizzies sells and the one arcadeshop sells? Is one better than the other. I noticed that wizzies version has wires coming off of it while arcadeshops doesn't ?

AS's screws directly onto one of his power supplies... Wizzes's have wires going out to spade connectors.... mine plug into ATX power supplies.

AS's & wizzes both use the cab transformers to generate the 12V for audio (which can add 60/120hz hum), mine just filters the hell out of the 12V from the ATX (where the noise is at ~10khz and easier to filter).
 
Before I got out and buy an adapter I thought I would throw this out there. I tested the mcr power board lastnight and was getting 12+ volts off it without the J4 and J5 harnesses attached, once I hooked the harnesses up I checked the 12 voltage wires coming off J4 and J5 and I could only get 11.5 volts of and it wouldn't adjust any higher. I removed the J4 harness and the J5 harness wire was putting out close to 12votls but once I reconnected the J4 harness the voltage dropped to about 11.5 volts. I have rebuilt a fair amount of this board, is the 12 volt circuit just not putting out enough power for all the wires to leaving the power board? Is this just a bad connection some where?
 
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