so I've brought home a COMPLETE Tempest (finally)

vintagegamer

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After scoring a converted Tempest in Feb (Shinobi conversion), and then getting an empty Tempest cab from sohchx and slowly locating parts for it, I've finally managed to score a complete Tempest. But, as many have reported on here with their machines, on power-up the 1 and 2 player lights stay lit, and nothing comes up on the screen. The game has neck glow, but the light on the deflector board is on (I'm assuming it's for spot killer).

After researching on the site here, I know common problems include the fuse holder on the power brick, as well as issues with the ARII board so, I'm working through those issues now.

The seller said he owned it for over a year, just turned it on one day after it was working fine and............. it went into the state it's in now. He didn't work on games like we do so, it sat and sat until he decided to unload it.

It's got the Willis CP overlay on it, and I have an original overlay on my project Tempest so, I'll need to figure out what I'm going to do.

I can't wait to get it breathing again, but wanted to share the good news! Pics as soon as I can get to taking them!
 
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That's awesome!!! Getting my tempest was probably the most exciting pick-up yet. The game is just so freakin' awesome in the game room... it has all the right sounds and its a total blast!

Good luck getting it going. Just start with rebuilding the power supplies... (big blue... ARII) then bullet proof your 6100.... check all of your harness wiring... chances are it will come up.


Tempest R-O-C-K-S!!!!!!!
 
Thanks Retro- I can't wait to see that screen come back to life.

I have to admit I'm a bit of a skeptic though regarding the magic of swapping the big blue. I will definitely do it, but I have to wonder if anyone's ever had a game come back to life simply by swapping that out? I can understand the possibility if it's totally dead but, I did the swap in my Asteroids and didn't really notice much of a difference (it wasn't dead tho, it was working).
 
Thanks Retro- I can't wait to see that screen come back to life.

I have to admit I'm a bit of a skeptic though regarding the magic of swapping the big blue. I will definitely do it, but I have to wonder if anyone's ever had a game come back to life simply by swapping that out? I can understand the possibility if it's totally dead but, I did the swap in my Asteroids and didn't really notice much of a difference (it wasn't dead tho, it was working).

Big blue has never been an issue for me either... I just replace it when I rebuild everything else... as a matter of fact... cap kits of any kind have yielded little to no benefit on stuff I've worked on but I replace them just the same... at least that way I don't have to think about the what ifs...
 
Thanks Retro- I can't wait to see that screen come back to life.

I have to admit I'm a bit of a skeptic though regarding the magic of swapping the big blue. I will definitely do it, but I have to wonder if anyone's ever had a game come back to life simply by swapping that out? I can understand the possibility if it's totally dead but, I did the swap in my Asteroids and didn't really notice much of a difference (it wasn't dead tho, it was working).

Congrats on the pick up! Not a complete resurrection story, but just recently, my Crystal Castles was down- continually blowing fuses. I put a new big blue in and it fired right up.
 
My personal experience with the Big Blues has been less than favorable.

Yes they can go bad, and yes they will cause problems. But I think to many people replace them without actually checking the AC ripple on the DC line first. Many times they are just replacing a $12 cap when they don't need to. I've had 1 in 30 games so far that actually needed a BB.

Give me a shout when you get all the cab issues worked through, and it's time to do some board work :)

Congrats on getting a Whole Tempest. I love that game almost as much as Star Wars
 
My personal experience with the Big Blues has been less than favorable.

Yes they can go bad, and yes they will cause problems. But I think to many people replace them without actually checking the AC ripple on the DC line first. Many times they are just replacing a $12 cap when they don't need to. I've had 1 in 30 games so far that actually needed a BB.

Give me a shout when you get all the cab issues worked through, and it's time to do some board work :)

Congrats on getting a Whole Tempest. I love that game almost as much as Star Wars


Thanks Talon- I have 3 main PCBs and 2 aux boards so, hopefully one combination will revive her. One weird thing that I've noticed on all 3 boards though is, the reset button can't be "pressed". I read in a post from Phetishboy that he was having the same problem with his Tempest reset button. But then again, I don't know what he was using to try to press it either... :D
 
If its the Red/Black, or black/white You sometimes can't tell if they are being pressed. Easy enough to check with a voltmeter, just put it on Ohms, or continuity test and check the solder points on the back side. Should be open all the time, and closed when depressed.

So Phet what extremity has more nerve endings??
 
But I think too many people replace them without actually checking the AC ripple on the DC line first.

If you can tell me, in layman's terms what to do to check this (ie put red lead HERE and black lead HERE), I will do this tonight and report back.

Just because I have 7000+ posts in no way makes me a wiring God like alot of other dudes here. I just talk alot LOL.
 
I think you need an oscilloscope to check AC ripple?

If you can tell me, in layman's terms what to do to check this (ie put red lead HERE and black lead HERE), I will do this tonight and report back.

Just because I have 7000+ posts in no way makes me a wiring God like alot of other dudes here. I just talk alot LOL.
 
One thing I always do on any Tempest is clean and reflow those header pins between boards. They always have cold solder and need to be done before you go digging into more complex issues.

Step 1: Wash the dust and crud off with flux remover and a brush tip

Step 2: Reflow solder to all the pins

Step 3: Heat and remove the solder you just applied; why? because the new flux and solder will aid in removing the old stuff with less heat

Step 4: Reflow the pins with fresh solder and wash all the flux off

That's really the only right way to do it, you can shortcut and just reflow solder, but if you have a really bad joint, you're likely to end up with a contaminated weak new joint.
 
No problem, just get the $12 cap and be done with it.

I know I'm going to get fired on for this but, I'd really rather see if it's something else like the PS or something else before I start throwing money out that I may not need to just yet. And yes I know that I'm planning on keeping the game so this would be a worthwhile investment, but I feel like if I buy that and then find out it was the $5 fuse holder instead (which I can walk to the store and get, rather than wait for it to come in the mail), I'm not going to be much fun to be around.
 
I'm no expert either, but with any Atari game I always give it a new big blue and an ARII rebuild kit. Those caps have done their job great for 30 years. It's time for some replacements from Bob and a little work on my part. Free advice; I'm a new Tempest owner too...here's hoping Bob answers my recent request for an order. Hope he's okay...

I'm in the same boat with my Tempest, so far I've made an order for an LV2000 for the low voltage section and I'm reading every Tempest thread I can find for the day when all of my parts get here and I can get to work :)
 
When you get new tires for your car, do you skimp on the wheel alignment?

If you do get the game running, you'll say screw the Big Blue and then you'll be back here in a year wondering why it won't start up. It's always good practice to make sure you have good clean power going to the PCB. Just my opinion, you can do whatever you want :)
 
When you get new tires for your car, do you skimp on the wheel alignment?

No, but actually it's from working on cars, ironically, that I've learned that you don't go and buy a new air filter, shocks, spark plugs, distributor, and rear gears for your car, when all the problem is is a broken spark plug wire. :D

(I do hear what you're saying though)
 
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