Missile Command cabaret goes bzzzzt....

pookdolie

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I was playing it this morning, and on the first wave. Almost had all the missiles blown up, then suddenly I hear a bzzzt and a click, and my screen goes blank. (Monitor still on.)

Power it back up, no game. The red LED on the PCB flickers for a split moment upon power up, then is dark. Marquee light comes on and monitor seems to come up okay.

Keep in mind that I'm a bit of a technical noob. Where should I begin looking?
 
Check your power supply outputs. It sounds like the power supply is failing.

I've got a feeling you're right, based on other behavor it's exhibited in the past.

Does anyone offer a "plug and play" replacement for a Missile Command cabaret power supply? Or rebuilt ones?
 
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I don't know but if you post in the wanted section someone may have a rebuilt original power supply they'd be willing to sell. You could always just rebuild the one you have, Bob Roberts carries a rebuild kit. It is even simpler than installing a monitor cap kit.
 
I don't know but if you post in the wanted section someone may have a rebuilt original power supply they'd be willing to sell. You could always just rebuild the one you have, Bob Roberts carries a rebuild kit. It is even simpler than installing a monitor cap kit.

Unless it's simpler than changing the lightbulb in the marquee, I won't be able to handle it at this point. Soldering and such are skills I've been meaning to learn, but haven't as of yet. (I know - blasphemy amongst gamers.)

I sort of had hints that it might fail on me. For awhile, when turning it on, there'd be loud beeps and random noises coming out of the speaker, plus the coin counters tripping out and the 1P 2P lights flashing randomly before everything calmed down, and the machine worked normally. Then all of that went away, and it started up fine. So, flukey the whole time I've had it...
 
I'd start by taking a look at the AR2, and checking for the +5VDC. If you don't know how then you really need to learn sometime soon or problems like this will start to get a bit expensive.

I'm not preaching by the way .... but it's not at all difficult to do and will really help you to identify where problems are. The alternative is to make wild guesses at what `might' be wrong then source replacement parts that you really don't need.

Good luck with it !!
 
I'd start by taking a look at the AR2, and checking for the +5VDC. If you don't know how then you really need to learn sometime soon or problems like this will start to get a bit expensive.

I'm not preaching by the way .... but it's not at all difficult to do and will really help you to identify where problems are. The alternative is to make wild guesses at what `might' be wrong then source replacement parts that you really don't need.

That's very true - though, with this machine, I wouldn't mind spending the $$ to have every electronic portion of it reconditioned bit by bit.
 
Where do you live? Maybe a local is willing to look at it for you and show you the basics.

I'll do that in the future for sure. Nice thing about SoCal is that there's a huge network for classic gaming, and a lot of people who know how to fix machines.

I like to poke around though, and that's what I decided to do. Opened up the back door and messed around with the power supply, reseating plugs, connectors & such, checked fuses (looked good), didn't see any damage UNTIL I saw this wire ( A in the attached picture) had broken loose from where it was screwed to the power supply chassis ( B in the attached picture). It was just barely touching the nut it was originally screwed down underneath.

Well, I was thinking this looked like a ground...but I wondered if bumping the machine could have made that wire go back and forth to its now *very* tenative association with the nut. I moved the wire away as seen in the picture, plugged in the game...and I've got Missile Command back.

Question is, was THIS thing the issue...or did reseating connections fix the problem (for now)?
 

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I'd be more worried about the errant quarters in the cab! :)

I'll do that in the future for sure. Nice thing about SoCal is that there's a huge network for classic gaming, and a lot of people who know how to fix machines.

I like to poke around though, and that's what I decided to do. Opened up the back door and messed around with the power supply, reseating plugs, connectors & such, checked fuses (looked good), didn't see any damage UNTIL I saw this wire ( A in the attached picture) had broken loose from where it was screwed to the power supply chassis ( B in the attached picture). It was just barely touching the nut it was originally screwed down underneath.

Well, I was thinking this looked like a ground...but I wondered if bumping the machine could have made that wire go back and forth to its now *very* tenative association with the nut. I moved the wire away as seen in the picture, plugged in the game...and I've got Missile Command back.

Question is, was THIS thing the issue...or did reseating connections fix the problem (for now)?
 
I'd be more worried about the errant quarters in the cab! :)

I fixed that problem - put in the correct Atari coin bin last night.

As soon as I need to do laundry, there won't be any more quarters in the bottom. :D
 
I'll do that in the future for sure. Nice thing about SoCal is that there's a huge network for classic gaming, and a lot of people who know how to fix machines.

I like to poke around though, and that's what I decided to do. Opened up the back door and messed around with the power supply, reseating plugs, connectors & such, checked fuses (looked good), didn't see any damage UNTIL I saw this wire ( A in the attached picture) had broken loose from where it was screwed to the power supply chassis ( B in the attached picture). It was just barely touching the nut it was originally screwed down underneath.

Well, I was thinking this looked like a ground...but I wondered if bumping the machine could have made that wire go back and forth to its now *very* tenative association with the nut. I moved the wire away as seen in the picture, plugged in the game...and I've got Missile Command back.

Question is, was THIS thing the issue...or did reseating connections fix the problem (for now)?

So - anyone know what I did that inadvertantly "fixed" this?
 

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I was playing it this morning, and on the first wave. Almost had all the missiles blown up, then suddenly I hear a bzzzt and a click, and my screen goes blank. (Monitor still on.)

Power it back up, no game. The red LED on the PCB flickers for a split moment upon power up, then is dark. Marquee light comes on and monitor seems to come up okay.

Keep in mind that I'm a bit of a technical noob. Where should I begin looking?

My sodering skills are terrible. I don't think its the 7.00 sodering iron. I have been replacing old power supplies with switchers. Check arcade shop I got a kit for my defender for 35 bucks... Well worth the time and money it saved.

I started this hobby not knowing jack about it. I can now make a few repairs and can sort of figure out what is going on. I was always paranoid about doing work inside the machines. 1 for my safety... 2 I was always worried I'd break something.

I quit worrying.

Get a multimeter...
get some wire snipers
get a cheap sodering iron and a bunch of connectors.
As a mentor in the hobby told me...don't be afraid to break a few eggs... your going to screw up a few things. It is just part of it.
Unplug, unplug, unplug....
Use one hand in the machine as much as possible.

Just remember to be careful....research what you need to do to be safe. The guys here are really great about helping. I have asked some pretty stupid questions and everyone has been really cool about helping me figure things out.
 
My sodering skills are terrible. I don't think its the 7.00 sodering iron. I have been replacing old power supplies with switchers. Check arcade shop I got a kit for my defender for 35 bucks... Well worth the time and money it saved.

I started this hobby not knowing jack about it. I can now make a few repairs and can sort of figure out what is going on. I was always paranoid about doing work inside the machines. 1 for my safety... 2 I was always worried I'd break something.

I quit worrying.

Get a multimeter...
get some wire snipers
get a cheap sodering iron and a bunch of connectors.
As a mentor in the hobby told me...don't be afraid to break a few eggs... your going to screw up a few things. It is just part of it.
Unplug, unplug, unplug....
Use one hand in the machine as much as possible.

Just remember to be careful....research what you need to do to be safe. The guys here are really great about helping. I have asked some pretty stupid questions and everyone has been really cool about helping me figure things out.

This is all excellent advice. Thanks!

(And, as soon as my life is less chaotic, I plan on following it.)
 
Highly unlikely that the broken ground caused the problem. I suspect you have minor corrosion issues and the reseating of the components/boards fixed the issue. It's likely to be a recurring problem.
 
Highly unlikely that the broken ground caused the problem. I suspect you have minor corrosion issues and the reseating of the components/boards fixed the issue. It's likely to be a recurring problem.


I agree completely with this. Try leaving the game on for an extended period of time (greater than one hour) and see if the problem comes back.

Of course, you found one broken wire, there could be more.
 
Highly unlikely that the broken ground caused the problem. I suspect you have minor corrosion issues and the reseating of the components/boards fixed the issue. It's likely to be a recurring problem.

This makes sense.

I agree completely with this. Try leaving the game on for an extended period of time (greater than one hour) and see if the problem comes back.

I've done this. Sure enough, after about an hour or so, the screen goes blank again.
 
If the screen goes blank again you likely have cold solder joints on the power supply and/or monitor board. It is also very possible that the old crimps have corroded over time and heat build up is causing the resistance to increase dropping the power the board(s) see and causing the reset/shut down.
 
Question is, was THIS thing the issue...or did reseating connections fix the problem (for now)?

That's just a ground wire; reconnect it to the nut somehow, or just make sure it's touching the PS case. But its connection or disconnection doesn't have anything to do with your problem. Reseating stuff has apparently fixed it for now. Next time it happens, just reseat one thing, then retest. Continue until you figure out what reseating is fixing it, then fix the issue for it in a more permanent (or at least longer term) way.
 
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