Qbert Cocktail Restoration Help

BigGerm

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First of all…Thanks to this forum and all of you on this board…I've been snooping around a while and learned a lot from everyone reading some of the posts. I'm a rookie when it comes to vintage arcade machines and have wanted to get involved for some time now. While on vacation I came upon a Qbert cocktail machine collecting dust and was able to acquire it from the person who owned it. I now have it in my garage and am trying to get it up and running.
It fires up, and goes directly to the test mode (or screen). I cannot get it to switch from that screen. It's froze or stuck.
I just recently bought an Intel D8088 chip to replace the one it had to see if it had something to do with that..but no luck. After replacing that, it still boots directly to the test screen.
I also don't have control of the arrow (cursor) to pick a test function.
I need some direction from anyone who might be able to help. Has anyone had this type of issue come up before? Do I need to replace the control panel?

Thanks again for any advice you can give regarding this.



Q-bert, Qbert, Q*bert
 
Ah, this is an easy fix. The test switch on qbert operates normally closed. In other words the wire has to be grounded for normal game mode. If a wire breaks off the switch or the switch contacts are bad you will be stuck in test mode.
First take a look at the two wires on the back of the switch and make sure one didnt break off. If they are both connected use a test lead with alligator clips to connect the two together. If the game comes up you have a bad switch. If it doesnt more than likely you have a bad solder joint for one of those two wires on the filter board.
The arrow in test mode is moved with the small pushbutton next to the test switch. If thats not working either then its your ground wire that has the issue since they share the same ground.
 
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Ah, this is an easy fix. The test switch on qbert operates normally closed. In other words the wire has to be grounded for normal game mode. If a wire breaks off the switch or the switch contacts are bad you will be stuck in test mode.
First take a look at the two wires on the back of the switch and make sure one didnt break off. If they are both connected use a test lead with alligator clips to connect the two together. If the game comes up you have a bad switch. If it doesnt more than likely you have a bad solder joint for one of those two wires on the filter board.
The arrow in test mode is moved with the small pushbutton next to the test switch. If thats not working either then its your ground wire that has the issue since they share the same ground.

Thank you for the info. I will try that and let you know the outcome. I really appreciate it.
 
Ah, this is an easy fix. The test switch on qbert operates normally closed. In other words the wire has to be grounded for normal game mode. If a wire breaks off the switch or the switch contacts are bad you will be stuck in test mode.
First take a look at the two wires on the back of the switch and make sure one didnt break off. If they are both connected use a test lead with alligator clips to connect the two together. If the game comes up you have a bad switch. If it doesnt more than likely you have a bad solder joint for one of those two wires on the filter board.
The arrow in test mode is moved with the small pushbutton next to the test switch. If thats not working either then its your ground wire that has the issue since they share the same ground.

You were exactly right. It was the ground wire. I now have an "almost" working Qbert cocktail!

Two more issues:

1) No sound

2) the player one and player two screen is swapped or backwards so when player one is up it's upside down and facing player two's joystick.

So close .....and getting pretty excited to have it working!
 
On the sound check the 30v on the power supply and see if its working. Try pressing the button on the sound board and see if the test tone plays.
Sounds like the monitor is in wrong or the yoke needs to be swapped. Look on the monitor chassis and see if the yoke plug has been swapped around.
 
Qbert Cocktail - no sound and other questions

On the sound check the 30v on the power supply and see if its working. Try pressing the button on the sound board and see if the test tone plays.
Sounds like the monitor is in wrong or the yoke needs to be swapped. Look on the monitor chassis and see if the yoke plug has been swapped around.

Once again, you were correct. The Yoke was plugged into the wrong place. I don't know who had it before me but they sure had this thing screwed up.

Ok, so....on to my last problem the sound. I still have no sound. And I'm pretty certain it's because I don't have 30v. ( My guess because the 30v light isn't on and the rest of the volt lights are ..is that a good assumption or a rookie mistake? ) So if that's the case, I'll need to buy a new Power board, correct? Where is a good place to find a 100% working Power Board? Should I post on the boards here that I'm looking for one?

Some other questions:

1) Were there really only 500 made?
2) Any way to find a replacement for the flaking glass top that I have? It's not bad, I've seen worse on the web..but it's not perfect either. From what I'm reading they are tough to find so maybe I should be happy with what I have.
3) What is a Qbert cocktail worth? I'm trying to decide what I should do with it. I have it in my garage now and haven't decided if I should move it to the basement or sell it.

Thanks for any additional info you can give.
 
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