Picked up a Battlezone

Yeah. Parts will be here in a couple days to go through the monitor. No big deal, that thing runs at half the voltage of my SEM and FIB.
 
See here for the proper procedure to restore the HV diode. Whatever you do, don't cut the existing wires and solder the diode to the wires.


Also, there should be no need to replace the VDR's. They don't go bad on these. Your issues are elsewhere. The original VDR's are no longer made, and there's no need to replace them.
 
Thanks, I saw that.

I had to order the pots from the same place and Im along the lines of id rather have them and not need them vs need them and not have them. Shipping would have cost me as much as the VDRs in case I did need them.
 
The VDR's are also the same as the ones used on many color vector game boards. So you'll be better off saving those, if you ever build up a repro Major Havoc, Gravitar, or Quantum PCB someday.
 
The VDR's are also the same as the ones used on many color vector game boards. So you'll be better off saving those, if you ever build up a repro Major Havoc, Gravitar, or Quantum PCB someday.
Ok. Into the parts bins they go. lol
 
Replaced the two LM324s and its alive.

Now on to the monitor. I pulled it out of the cab and yanked the HV section out. What a mess, I thought the darned diode was bent. One spring was in good condition, the other was pretty rusty. Cleaned them in the ultrasonic with methanol and then dropped them into evaporust to deal with the rust. I have some special solder from Harris that will stick to steel so I'll use that to solder the springs to the diode. The diode itself looks in OK shape, it is not shorted at least. The rubber terminal cups have seen better days but they should be serviceable. They still grip onto the diode pretty tightly. Cleaned up everything with methanol, inside and out. Someone went crazy with silicone grease on the diode ends and the anode cup.

 

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Nice work. That's how you do it.

Got a part number for that solder that sticks to steel? I use Kester, and it can work, but you have to file both surfaces bare, and it's still tricky sometimes. I wasn't aware there's a solder made for that.
 
Harris Al-Solder 500. It's actually intended for soldering aluminum but it works for other stuff too. I originally got it to solder the tabs together on LiPo batteries which are either steel or nickel and aluminum.
 
Harris Al-Solder 500. It's actually intended for soldering aluminum but it works for other stuff too. I originally got it to solder the tabs together on LiPo batteries which are either steel or nickel and aluminum.

Thank you!

(And I know it's for aluminum. But I can't not see it as being AI-powered solder.) :)
 
It's just a zinc-tin solder with a special flux that can get through the oxide layer of aluminum. I think you can use regular flux for non-aluminum soldering. Ill find out once the evaporust does it's magic. And it is magic, this stuff is amazing.
 
I tried the Harris solder and it works. I used the included flux, I tried some standard rosin flux and I couldn't get it to wet the spring. Just waiting for the other spring to de-rust. I wish I had my microblaster working, it would have been perfect for this.
 
Cool.

I've covered it in other threads, but I soak the springs in white vinegar for 24 hours, then wet tumble them in my rock tumbler in vinegar, and a handful of heavy carpet tacks as media, for about 20 minutes. Rinse and dry them, then dry tumble them overnight in crushed walnut shells, with a dab of Simichrome polish.

I use this same technique to restore all cab nuts, bolts, screws, and other small parts. Works wonders, on even the most rusted parts.
 
Well, I don't have a rock tumbler but I do have this micro blaster. A friend gave it to me a few weeks ago. I didn't have any tips for it then I realized I could use one of my solder paste tips as a makeshift tip. It's currently set up to use baking soda as the abrasive.

Worked pretty well. Cleaned the springs right up and then I used some grey scotchbrite to polish the contact surfaces up. Diode better be good after all this.
 

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I love that blaster!

How well is it sealed? Does it leak media at all?

Nie work on that diode. That's how you do it. FYI, to test your work, when you reassemble everything, run the cage for 10 minutes. Power down, discharge the tube, then feel the diode with the back of your finger. If it's cool to the touch, you're good to go. If it's scorching hot, either the diode is bad, or one of your solder connections isn't solid.
 
I love that blaster!

How well is it sealed? Does it leak media at all?

Nie work on that diode. That's how you do it. FYI, to test your work, when you reassemble everything, run the cage for 10 minutes. Power down, discharge the tube, then feel the diode with the back of your finger. If it's cool to the touch, you're good to go. If it's scorching hot, either the diode is bad, or one of your solder connections isn't solid.

It has a Torit dust collector to capture the fines from the workstation box. I replaced the switch this morning so the lights work now. I need to get some felt gasket material for the dust collector doors they are falling off. I plan on putting the collector outside where I have the exhaust for my laser cutter.

Got the monitor back together a bit ago. Think my diode is shot. It won't go above about 6-7kv and thermal shows it heating in the center of the diode, not the ends. Also the tube charge drops to zero almost as soon as I turn the display off. Dang it. Gotta wait longer.

For something competely different. I x-rayed the diode in it's holder.

Oh. About the solder. Be sure to either use a tip you don't care about or clean it very well after you use it. I'm still trying to get mine clean.

anode_hv_diode.jpeg

IMG_7803.jpeg
 
Man, you have quite the mad scientist's workshop. I'm jealous.

I've looked into media blasters (we had a discussion in another recent thread). I love the idea of them, but after the research I did, it seems like most of them leak to some degree, and I decided I would rather keep my current dust-free shop. Hence my asking here.

Yes, your diode looks shot in that case. It's common on these. 90% of the time they're ok, but 10% of the time when they get hot enough to burn the boots, it sometimes damages the diode.

And thanks for the info about the tip. I was actually wondering about that, and figured it would require a separate iron (or tip).
 
Fascinating. I always thought there were multiple physical PN junctions in that long package. Wow.

H1812.jpg


Though I dislike AShop, I know of no other "reliable" source for these.



 
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Fascinating. I always thought there were multiple physical PN junctions in that long package. Wow

Hah. A guy I was talking to at the dog park the other day said "you're just a mad scientist, aren't you". I'm not mad. Just misunderstood. One of thing things I want to make is a small CT scanner. That's what the x-ray tube and detector is actually for.

You can see some more pics of my shop in this thread. https://forums.arcade-museum.com/threads/hi-from-portland-or.555997/

Honestly, I expected the stack to be taller than what I imaged. It's stil a stack of P-N junctions.

I ordered another from arcadeshop. I really just want to get this thing back together.

A question directly related to Battlezone. I though BZ did not have sounds in attract mode? Mine does. Or is that because of the highscoresave board that's installed?
 
More unrelated. Digging though my storage area and found this guy, friend gave it to me years ago, saw it when I moved. It it worth checking the tube with this thing? Manual is missing and I will need to make the universal adapter.

Seems to work, I'll have to run it though it's tests.
 

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More unrelated. Digging though my storage area and found this guy, friend gave it to me years ago, saw it when I moved. It it worth checking the tube with this thing? Manual is missing and I will need to make the universal adapter.

Seems to work, I'll have to run it though it's tests.
if you have full brightness and a clean beam i would not bother.
 
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