Pacman Power Lost Issue

turbojam

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Hello,

I recently acquired a full size pac man machine from a friend of mine that told me it worked great for years and then one day it just would not power up.

I have read previous posts related to fuse issues and it seems that there is no soldering damage to any of the fuse connections and all fuses are okay.

I would appreciate it if anybody can help me in the next step of troubleshooting this machine. I know I could just buy a new power supply but I would rather attempt to trace down the issue but I have never done this type of thing.

Any help is greatly appreciated.

Thanks.
 
The safety interlock on the back door needs to be held IN for the game to power up. It doesn't have an out position. Wrap some electrical tape around it if you want it to work with the back door off. And sometimes the back door warps a bit and no longer holds it in.

Also, I've been seeing more problems with broken power switches on Pac-Man cabs.

And have you tried just adding a credit and hitting start? If the monitor and marquee light were bad, it would appear that the game isn't on...
 
Does anything power up on it? Do you see the marquee bulbs come on? Are the marquee bulbs any good? If the bulbs are good yet don't come on then you probably have a fuse holder problem.

Unplug the game then clean all the fuse holders in the bottom of the cabinet.

If the fuses fit loosely then squeeze the holders together to tighten 'em up a bit.

Those are common to fail on Pac Man cabs and they should be replaced. Cleaning and tightening them is a short term fix.

If that doesn't fix it the next thing to check is the edge connector on the board itself. Look to see if it's all burned up. If so, you'll need replace the connector on the wire harness and fix the traces. Copper trace tape works VERY well for this.

RJ
 
Okay, thanks for all of the input. I changed out the bulbs in the marquee and they both work fine but still no audio or video. What should I do next?
 
You have 6 fuses in the bottom of the cab. Measure all of them with a meter...
 
Okay, here is the deal.

I have cleaned the fuse holder as recommended. I have replaced all fuses with brand new ones.

I then tested the solder points (on the outer edges of the fuse holders) for continuity and they all seem okay as my multimeter registered something at each of the six fuses.

What should I check next.

Thanks again for everybody's help.
 
Check for power at the game board.

Check to see if the monitor is coming on - can you hear static, see glow at the neck of the picture tube, or see a flash on the screen as you power down? Are you getting power to the input of the game's transformers? The outputs? The marquee lights are powered straight off the AC line, but both the monitor and the game board are powered from transformers. Do the coin door lights work?

-Ian
 
I had a similar issue with mine. It ended up being a broken leg on the ground of the 74LS161 chip in position 3R. Probably not your problem, but worth checking. Everything would power up, but just a blank screen.

Jeff
 
I'll bet it's still the fuse holder. Try testing a/c voltage from the top fuse to the one under that, then the same with the bottom two fuses. You should get about 25 and 14a/c. Test on the right side of the fuse holder where the wire is soldered to make sure you're getting that voltage all the way through it.
 
Check the voltage at the monitor power connector. If no voltage there, then it's either a power cord, power switch, interlock, fuse, isolation transformer, or the wiring between them, and it's rarely ever the isolation transformer...
 
Check the voltage at the monitor power connector. If no voltage there, then it's either a power cord, power switch, interlock, fuse, isolation transformer, or the wiring between them, and it's rarely ever the isolation transformer...

He said he has marquee lights, though. This would eliminate the power cord, power switch, and interlock switch.

Jeff
 
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