My turn with a Tempest WG 6100

Paul Olson

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My Tempest was delivered last night with a known bad board. I swapped in a working board, and the game fired up. The monitor doesn't look so good though. I emailed the seller, and he said it was working when he tested it with his good board.
Here is how the image looked when I turned it on: (Couldn't figure out how to stay out of the pic :) )
004.jpg


After about 30 minutes, the monitor went black. It looks like the fuse on the right side of the board (lower fuse the way it is mounted in the machine) blew.

I still have a lot of reading to do since this is my first vector. I would like to order some parts while I catch up though. Do you have any recommendations? Bob Roberts has 3 levels of cap kit for this monitor, is the super duper kit needed? I have seen a lot of people suggest the lv2000. If I buy that, does it change what I need to get from Bob?

I am going to do some research before I ask for a lot of help here, but I just want to try to get the parts ordered so I can work on them this weekend.

Thanks,
Paul
 
Personally, I would just order the 40.00 kit so you have just about everything you will ever need. You dont have to install all of it but at least you will have those parts if and when you need them.
 
My Tempest was delivered last night with a known bad board. I swapped in a working board, and the game fired up. The monitor doesn't look so good though. I emailed the seller, and he said it was working when he tested it with his good board.
Here is how the image looked when I turned it on: (Couldn't figure out how to stay out of the pic :) )
004.jpg


After about 30 minutes, the monitor went black. It looks like the fuse on the right side of the board (lower fuse the way it is mounted in the machine) blew.

I still have a lot of reading to do since this is my first vector. I would like to order some parts while I catch up though. Do you have any recommendations? Bob Roberts has 3 levels of cap kit for this monitor, is the super duper kit needed? I have seen a lot of people suggest the lv2000. If I buy that, does it change what I need to get from Bob?

I am going to do some research before I ask for a lot of help here, but I just want to try to get the parts ordered so I can work on them this weekend.

Thanks,
Paul

That looks like your only getting the top half of the screen. You should adjust all of the pots on the game board to try and adjust the image size and position. As for only getting half the screen, you need to check the chassis mount transistors and for cold solder joints on the deflection PCB (especially the headers for the chassis mount transistors). Since it looks like you have lost part of the X deflection, you should start with testing P700. You can unplug the transistor connector from the deflection PCB and use a meter in diode mode to test the transistors. You should do the test as outlined below and note any out of the ordinary results.



NPN (2N3716) Test on connector at Pin positions 1, 3, 4 of J100, J600, J700
===========================================================================

Test #1
-------------------
Red -> Pin 3
Black -> Pin 4

Result: .45v to .9v

Test #2
-------------------
Red -> Pin 3
Black -> Pin 1

Result: .45v to .9v

Test #3
-------------------
Red -> Pin 4
Black -> Pin 3

Result: Open

Test #4
-------------------
Red -> Pin 1
Black -> Pin 3

Result: Open

Test #5
-------------------
Red -> Pin 1
Black -> Pin 4

Result: Open

Test #6
-------------------
Red -> Pin 4
Black -> Pin 1

Result: Open



PNP (2N3792) Test on connector at Pin positions 5, 6, 7 of J100, J600, J700
===========================================================================

Test #1
-------------------
Red -> Pin 6
Black -> Pin 5

Result: Open

Test #2
-------------------
Red -> Pin 6
Black -> Pin 7

Result: Open

Test #3
-------------------
Red -> Pin 5
Black -> Pin 6

Result: .45v to .9v

Test #4
-------------------
Red -> Pin 7
Black -> Pin 6

Result: .45v to .9v

Test #5
-------------------
Red -> Pin 7
Black -> Pin 5

Result: Open

Test #6
-------------------
Red -> Pin 5
Black -> Pin 7

Result: Open




-VJ
 
Like I said, my first vector. I was trying to find the position adjustments on the monitor board last night. :)

I need to go buy some fuses, then I will check it out.

Thanks
 
OK, I adjusted the pots on the game board, and I now have a complete image. Some of the lines don't quite meet, and in the bottom right corner the image is red instead of blue. At the end of a level, there is a lot of curling, mostly on the right side.

I still need to read more on this to find out what can be adjusted, and what needs to be replaced. I ordered the $40 kit from Bob, so hopefully I can work on that this weekend. This game is definitely a keeper for me, so I want to get the monitor looking as good as possible.

I burned the 2732 for tubes yesterday while I was waiting for the game to be delivered. That is an amazingly easy mod. Fun.
 
OK, I adjusted the pots on the game board, and I now have a complete image. Some of the lines don't quite meet, and in the bottom right corner the image is red instead of blue. At the end of a level, there is a lot of curling, mostly on the right side.

I still need to read more on this to find out what can be adjusted, and what needs to be replaced. I ordered the $40 kit from Bob, so hopefully I can work on that this weekend. This game is definitely a keeper for me, so I want to get the monitor looking as good as possible.

I burned the 2732 for tubes yesterday while I was waiting for the game to be delivered. That is an amazingly easy mod. Fun.

Glad that the adjustment brought up the whole image. A cap kit is a good idea if it hasn't been done recently, so that shouldn't hurt. As for the bottom right corner being the wrong color, you need to degauss the monitor. The monitor frame or the control panel, etc. is likely magnetized and screwing with your colors. If you don't have a degausser I would recommend just getting one as they come in handy when moving games, etc.

-VJ
 
I started reading up on this, and it looks like I can adjust the pots on the game board to get the vectors to line up. Does anyone know how to advance the test screen to the video tests? I can't find it. All of the buttons and the spinner just produce a tone for the input test. Is there another button somewhere for this?

Thanks,
Paul
 
Not to be crude, but RTFM.

The tilt switch on the coin door will advance through the screens.
The spinner will select different color combinations on the grid screens.

fire/start/superzapper will reset some statistics.

Good luck.
 
I did look at the manual, and even that page. I got sidetracked trying to find the drawing package it was talking about, and didn't make it back to reread the page.

Thanks for replying. Hopefully the slam switch is still on there. :)
 
I would do the super kit with all new caps and transistors and the LV upgrade. I would order a replacment pot for the hv adjustment while your at it.
Get the test grid pulled up in the test menu to adjust those vectors.
 
OK, I adjusted the pots on the game board, and I now have a complete image. Some of the lines don't quite meet, and in the bottom right corner the image is red instead of blue. At the end of a level, there is a lot of curling, mostly on the right side.

QUOTE]

The lines not meeting is the BIP adjustment on the gameboard....

The curling at the end of a level....I assume you're talking about when you "warp" through to the next level?...This is normal. You have early revision ROMs on the gameboard. This is actually really hard on the monitor. You might want to look in to having later revision ROMs burned. I can't remember off the top of my head, but I don't think they all need to be replaced...just one or two.

Edward
 
The curling at the end of a level....I assume you're talking about when you "warp" through to the next level?...This is normal. You have early revision ROMs on the gameboard. This is actually really hard on the monitor. You might want to look in to having later revision ROMs burned. I can't remember off the top of my head, but I don't think they all need to be replaced...just one or two.

Edward

Thanks for the info... I knew it was normal, but didn't know I could upgrade my roms to get rid of it... Maybe I need to make a tubes kit while I am at it. :)
 
It only does it on the right side, the left warps out straight. I got it adjusted so the vectors all line up. Probably can be better, but I am not all that good at adjusting yet.

The tubes kit is well worth it. I pulled an eprom off of a parts board and bought a little switch at Radio Shack. Whole thing cost about $3.
 
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