Newbie here-- really need help with Blitz 2000

BrianMundt

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I'm brand new to the forums and brand new to the world of arcade games. So, please excuse my inexperience!

I purchased a Blitz 2000 arcade a few weeks back. It was working well, but I wanted to make it as perfect as possible, so I put a lot of money into it. Brand new monitor, new board, CF flash kit, restored control panel, etc.

I finished all of the improvements, but when I did, I noticed that the screen was shaking slightly (nothing dramatic but easy to see on static screens).

I called up the guy I bought it from (he runs an arcade and repairs/sells games for a living-- he seemed to know what he was talking about so I trusted him) and asked about the screen issue. He told me that the game was probably receiving too much power and to turn it down with the knob on the power supply. I asked whether or not to keep the game running, and he said leaving it running is easier. I turned the knob ever-so-slightly, and everything went dead.

At the time, I got no picture or audio. Now, I can't get in touch with the guy to help me troubleshoot the issue-- it's like he fell of the face of the earth.

I researched online, and from what I read, it's incredibly stupid to putz with the power without a multimeter. I take the blame because I trusted what this guy said without doing my OWN research.

I figured that I'd fried the board, so I replaced it with my old one (which was working perfectly fine-- I wanted to keep it as a spare). I also purchased a new power supply and multimeter.

I just installed everything and… nothing. The marquee light turns on, as do the coin door lights. The fans kick into gear and the lights on the board come to life. The monitor also comes on, but remains black. There's no sound of video.

I also connected the HDD back (and removed the CF kit) thinking that maybe the surge in power screwed that up as well. No dice.

Anyone have any ideas?!?

And, does anyone know of any repair technicians in Wisconsin? Every place I call gives me the same line, "we only do in-home repairs if you purchased the machine from us."

Or, if anyone on these forums is skilled with repair and lives in the state, I'd pay very well! I just want to have a working machine again.

Thanks in advance!
 
you mention that you got a new power supply and meter....so, what voltage is the new power supply's output? If its low ....you would still have no game play and could still have the fans come on and the lights as well.
 
I hope you can find someone close to come over and take a look at it.
The slight wave on static screens sound like more of a monitor issues than a powersupply issue.

Neat game I hope you can bring it back to life..
 
Thanks for the responses, guys. I checked the power with the multimeter and it looks to be good. I've heard from some people that it's possible to check the power from the board itself, not from the wires coming off of the power supply. Do you know if that's possible?

I'm leaning away from thinking it's a monitor issue (at least I'm hoping it's not that!) because it's brand-spankin'-new and if I remember correctly, there was a very, very slight wobble on the previous monitor (along with a whole host of other issues-- burn-in, focus problems, etc.)

Do you guys know if there's a good resource for finding reputable techs in the area? I've really made the rounds in the phonebook, and keep getting the same answer. I found www.fixmyarcadegame.com and can't tell if it's a scam or not. If I could pay them $25 and have them do all the work of finding a tech, that would be worth it in my opinion.

Thanks!
 
do you know what monitor you have in there? if its standard rez, then try plugging in a cheap jamma pcb and see if the cabs good. I keep a crime fighters or WWF handy when I want to test a cab..

Seattle pcb is not the most reliable pcb.. If your monitor is bad, the game will still play blind.. So if you get no game sounds, then its pcb or PS.
 
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Welcome to the madness!!!!


Check the fuse on the monitor chassis. Check all of your fuses....

I will. I checked the fuse that's on the lefthand side of the cabinet, affixed to the wood. I noticed there was a fuse on the piece of metal below the power supply (sorry, don't know what it's called-- it's what accepts the power from the wall) but I'm not sure how to get at it. I looked for a fuse on the chassis, but didn't immediately see one. I'll definitely check again.

Since I've got two similar boards, I'm inclined to rule that out. You'd think that one of them would work. So, does that just leave the power supply?
 
I was thinking service switch but that if it wasn't working the the mother board and or monitor would not turn on.

If the Hard drive cable is not keyed and flipped around it might hold all the IDE data pins to ground and prevent the game from running.

Maybe something is just not hooked up right. Check for connectors that are not shifted on the pins.

Did you unplug the arcade from the wall before switching boards?
 
I was thinking service switch but that if it wasn't working the the mother board and or monitor would not turn on.

If the Hard drive cable is not keyed and flipped around it might hold all the IDE data pins to ground and prevent the game from running.

Maybe something is just not hooked up right. Check for connectors that are not shifted on the pins.

Did you unplug the arcade from the wall before switching boards?

I checked and double checked all of the connections, including the HDD cable. Everything looks right.

And, I definitely unplugged the machine when I changed the board-- the one correct thing I did during this whole process.

When I get home tonight, I'll post the exact voltages.

Again, thanks for the help everyone!
 
What voltage are you getting from the power supply?

Alright, here are my voltages.

I'm placing the tips of the multimeter into the nine-hole molex connector coming out of the power supply. If I put the red cable of the multimeter into the red portion of the molex connector and the black cable into the black wires of the molex connector, I get 4.79.

I believe you're supposed to keep the red cable of the multimeter plugged into the red molex wire, right? Keeping the red where it is and placing the black cable of the multimeter to the yellow wire of the molex (bottom row of three), I get 9.77.

The orange is -4.11.

And finally, the blue is 13.14.
 
Alright, here are my voltages.

I'm placing the tips of the multimeter into the nine-hole molex connector coming out of the power supply. If I put the red cable of the multimeter into the red portion of the molex connector and the black cable into the black wires of the molex connector, I get 4.79.

I believe you're supposed to keep the red cable of the multimeter plugged into the red molex wire, right? Keeping the red where it is and placing the black cable of the multimeter to the yellow wire of the molex (bottom row of three), I get 9.77.

The orange is -4.11.

And finally, the blue is 13.14.

Just did a few tests, and I noticed something weird.

By adjusting the power supply and having the multimeter on the red and black wires of the molex, I can get it to 5 exactly. However, when I place the red wire of the multimeter on the red wire from molex connector, and the black cable from the multimeter on the yellow wire of the molex, I can't get it anywhere near 12. Isn't that the connection that's supposed to be 12?

The highest I can get it is 10.77 and the lowest I can get it is 9.77. What the hell am I doing wrong?!?
 
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Just did a few tests, and I noticed something weird.

By adjusting the power supply and having the multimeter on the red and black wires of the molex, I can get it to 5 exactly. However, when I place the red wire of the multimeter on the red wire from molex connector, and the black cable from the multimeter on the yellow wire of the molex, I can't get it anywhere near 12. Isn't that the connection that's supposed to be 12?

The highest I can get it is 10.77 and the lowest I can get it is 10.77. What the hell am I doing wrong?!?

You have a bad power supply. Replace it.
 
Take some pictures of how you take the voltages. You may be doing it wrong and every power supply is a bit different. These are kinda voltage sensitive to we need to get it closer to where it needs to be.

Also, if you are taking the measurements without the pcb attached and the readings are that low it will be even lower with a load applied.
 
I'm actually in WI, Fox Cities area. I'd be willing to look at it, but no guarantees. My specialty is redemption and PC-based games.

Alright, here are my voltages.

I'm placing the tips of the multimeter into the nine-hole molex connector coming out of the power supply. If I put the red cable of the multimeter into the red portion of the molex connector and the black cable into the black wires of the molex connector, I get 4.79.

THAT is why you're not booting.

I believe you're supposed to keep the red cable of the multimeter plugged into the red molex wire, right? Keeping the red where it is and placing the black cable of the multimeter to the yellow wire of the molex (bottom row of three), I get 9.77.

The orange is -4.11.

And finally, the blue is 13.14.

Yellow is probably supposed to be +12v, orange -5. Blue... 24V? Maybe an unregulated DC? I don't know the game so I couldn't tell you. In any case, all your voltages are too low.

Put the PSU on a dummy load -- get two 5 Ohm loading resistors (or two sets five 1-Ohms in series) rated at least 3W (important -- fire hazard!) and put one from red to black, the other from yellow to black, and measure the voltages again. Given the age of the game, it's probably a switcher, and the voltages will NOT be right without a load. If you can get +12 right with the dummy loads, but not with the actual board, leave the +12 dummy load in parallel with the board -- the game doesn't load +12 enough and using a dummy load is how you fix that.

Also, if you are taking the measurements without the pcb attached and the readings are that low it will be even lower with a load applied.

I had to respond to this -- it's not that clear-cut. There's two different kinds of power supplies and they react VERY differently to load. VR-based units will put out the right voltages unless overloaded, in which case they droop. Switch-mode power supplies, however, tend to suffer voltage droop if there is too little load, and under overload conditions, will usually either ripple, or simply shut down.
 
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Hey guys. Sorry for the delay in posting-- got called out of town on business.

roothorick, thanks for your offer to help. Thankfully, I finally managed to track down an in-home repair shop about 25 minutes from my house. Hopefully, I'll be setting up an appointment with them for next week, so I'll report back then.
 
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