New Astro City "H Size" unstable. help?

mikeidge

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first....let me start by venting. is it possible to find a fucking arcade machine that doesnt have a monitor problem of some kind?!?! this is my 5th machine and it was almost perfect untill now(day 2 of using it). always, Always, ALWAYS a god damn monitor problem!!

so.... its a new astro city with a monitor that is crystal clear and damn near perfect. only problem is the H size seems unstable...like it cant settle to a fixed position. its as if someone is taking the h size knob and jiggling it. obviously its very annoying while playing. ive taken the remote board out and tried touching up all the solders to no avail. i've even swapped the "H" pots with the "V" pots to see if i could narrow the problem down to the pots....but the "H Size" is still pumping so to speak. any ideas?
 
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You say "new Astro City", but is it really "new"? Caps on a monitor chassis can start causing problems as little as a year after the manufacture date, especially if they were made with those bad caps that had the wrong dialectric formula. Considering that new monitors may sit in a box for a year before being installed into a cabinet also adds a but of age to it.

If you have changed pots, touched up the solder, and know that the sync wiring is correct for the game pcb, then the next step is replacing the caps.


And to answer your question:

is it possible to find a fucking arcade machine that doesnt have a monitor problem of some kind?!?! this is my 5th machine and it was almost perfect untill now(day 2 of using it). always, Always, ALWAYS a god damn monitor problem!!

The more money you spend, the more likely to not have a monitor issue. Most places that sell games for a lot of money also go through them and take care of issues like this, or put brand-spanking-new monitors in them. Not always though. But - most of us buy cabs from private people for low-as-possible prices, and that greatly increases the odds of a problem sooner-than-later...
 
it seems like the cap kit is always the be all end all solution...yet, on 2 different monitors ive had with issues, it never actually fixed the problem. based on the symptoms a cap is said to fix, i am fairly certain that it isnt what this monitor needs.

btw, i know the difference between a "new astro city" and a NEW "new astro city" cab. i know its not new. i didnt think they were still available new and if so, i dont live in japan so im lucky to have found the one i did.

is it possible that i may only need to replace the remote board?
 
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Probably not, if the pot is okay. You could try checking continuity on the cable, but it most likely isn't going to help to swap if you can't find a problem.

Caps don't fix everything, that is true, but caps CAN fix things like won't power up, won't sync, won't lock the holds, colors faded, vertical collapse, etc. I've had several different chassis models lose their hold lock intermittently due to pots or caps, and since you changed the pot, caps would be the next step.

Sometimes other things are also bad, and sometimes not, but it makes no sense trying to track down an issue if the caps might be part of it. If nothing else, it takes them out of the equation and lets you troubleshoot with everything else at optimum operating condition.

Perhaps if you let us know the monitor chassis model we could be a little more specific as to what to try next...
 
i cant find any markings on the monitor but i am assuming its a nanao ms9-29

the game is not unplayable. its a minor jiggling effect which is most noticeable on the edges of the screen. ill try the cap kit, but my money is on it not being the problem. due to the intermittent nature of the problem, i feel like its a shitty connection somewhere. was hoping to find someone whos had the same problem and knows the fix.
 
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I don't know where the B+ test points are in that monitor, you'll have to look in the manual. It's essentially the main power supply for the monitor, and in most monitors it's around 120v. But usually when the B+ is low, the picture will be smaller, and an unstable B+ tends to make a waving picture, like a flag. If it's just jumping left and right, or growing wider (but not taller), then it seems more like a problem in the horizontal width circuit.

Put a mirror in front of the game, and start gently poking things in the circuit with something non-conductive, like a ballpoint pen barrel or a chopstick. Poke around where the remote adjustment board harness connects, near the horizontal coil, gently flex the chassis a bit, etc. It could just be a bad solder joint.

If you find one area that seems unusually sensitive to prodding, take the chassis out and carefully inspect the solder joints for cracks. It'll look like a little cracked "ring" around the pin in the joint.

I'm betting it'll be something real close to where the remote adjustment board connects, if not that header itself.

-Ian
 
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