My first real "fix" - GORF lives again!

[K3V]

I'm super psyched. I picked up this Gorf in December and it worked, but winter wasn't kind to it and it wouldn't fire back up this spring.

I'm pretty new to the repair thing, with a minimal knowledge of electronics so I wasn't quite sure where to start. When I met up with nuckinfuts68 a few weeks back to pick up a Turbo Mini machine for parts, we got talking and he mentioned he thought it may be a power supply issue.

So, eventually I started doing some research and found this article on the Arcade Repair Tips website about checking a classic power supply which helped explain things a lot: http://www.arcaderepairtips.com/2010/06/09/checking-a-classic-power-supply/

So with that knowledge under my belt I headed to The Real Bob Roberts' website and found this Gorf Power Supply board repair kit (with noob-friendly installation instructions!): http://www.therealbobroberts.net/90411.html

So I decided to order it and give it a shot. Picked up a new soldering iron and multimeter and went to town today. Got it installed and fired it up and honestly I was amazed that it worked (and so was my wife - lol)!

It still needs some work - after a while of being powered up it started showing some artifacting in the graphics and eventually would freeze up on the second screen. (If anyone has tips on how to fix any of this, PLEASE share!) But, I'm just happy to have it up and playing.

Pix because it did happen! Bonus: Mazzio's Pizza token that I found in the bottom of it. Gonna have to start a collection.

 

[Kawydud]

awesome that you got it working again. I love my Gorf! Nice to see more people in the area with games. Nuckin is a nice guy, picked up Crazy Taxi and Donkey Kong from him.

 

[Mike Doyle]

It's very likely your RAM is flaky after being on for a while, there are two smaller boards in the card rack, those are the RAM boards and they are interchangeable.

If you have another one to swap in, give that a try. You can also try swapping positions between the pair to determine which may be the culprit, but you're going to end up repairing or replacing at least one of them.

 

[K3V]

Thanks for the tip, Mike! Appreciate the help.

 

[K3V]

Got started with stripping off that nasty black paint today. Unfortunately the blue came with it but it's already looking more Gorf-y. Got one side and the front of the base done tonight, will tackle the other side tomorrow!

 

[K3V]

Got the other side stripped tonight. Also got a NOS joystick insert in the mail but I'm waiting on a security bit set so I can get the joystick open to replace it (and the bulb inside). Pics:

 

[K3V]

Oops moving too fast on my phone. Here's the pics!

 

[gorfchampion]

Nice job getting it going....have fun!!

 

[Kawydud]

If you need some tamper proof torx to use I could always run them over to you.

 

[K3V]

My set will be here from Amazon tomorrow. But thanks! When it's all done you're welcome to come over and check it out.

Just checked and you're not far from me at all! Pretty much a straight shot up route 77. I'm in Corfu near the pembroke exit of Rt. 90.

 

[Kawydud]

My set will be here from Amazon tomorrow. But thanks! When it's all done you're welcome to come over and check it out.

Just checked and you're not far from me at all! Pretty much a straight shot up route 77. I'm in Corfu near the pembroke exit of Rt. 90.

Will definitely check it out, I go up and down 77 all the time to get to the Thruway.

 

[K3V]

I see you have a Tempest, may have to come check out your collection some time too

 

[K3V]

Minty-fresh

 

[K3V]

Black paint removed from the coin slots.

 

[Kawydud]

Looking good!

 

[K3V]

Thanks! Just picked up what I hope are the right bulbs for the joystick. Pics forthcoming once I get home.

 

[joeycuda]

congrats! I also had good luck with Bob's kit, but I recommend possibly going a step further. With the Midway power supplies, it's very common to see burnt, blackened, or at least tarnished pins on one or more of the connectors that plug into the power supply board. Check carefully for this. If you find connector pins that have been getting hot, they will continue to build up resistance and burn. You should not only extract the bad pins in the edge connector, crimp new pins on, but also desolder and replace the header on the board. On my gorf I had to do this for the connector with the ground, +5, +12, etc pins. Bob or great plains electronics has what you would need for this.

 

[K3V]

Cool, thanks for the info joeycuda. I'll check it out.

No luck on the bulbs I picked up unfortunately. Anyone have a link to the right ones online? There weren't any in there when I opened it up so I was just taking a flier on it based on some pictures/specs I saw online when I went in to Auto Zone.

 

[Kawydud]

Check here, it says they are #88

http://forums.arcade-museum.com/showthread.php?t=53038&highlight=gorf+light+bulb

 

[K3V]

Oh cool, yeah they look different than the ones I picked up. Return trip tomorrow!