STAR CASTLE Keltron Monitor ( Vertical lines )

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Star Castle...Ahhh yes Star Castle.

Powers up fantastic. Picture perfect. After about 15 mins. the lines start to separate and slowly become ONLY vertical lines for what should be the actual game graphics.

Re-soldered EVERYTHING on the bottom of the pcb.
Changed the 4 output transistors on the heat sinks.
Changed the "cluster" of 6 diodes ( D107 to D111 ).

Any else have a clue here ? My next step it simply to start swapping "X" signal parts with the "Y" signal parts from the amp trans all the way back. But that will be VERY time consuming.

If you have had this problem, your input is appreciated.
Thanks,
Dave.
 
I am sure you guys know way more than I do, but are you sure its not a star castle pcb problem? I had a ripoff that would freak out after being on for an hour. Swapped the pcb and the problems went away..
 
I am sure you guys know way more than I do, but are you sure its not a star castle pcb problem? I had a ripoff that would freak out after being on for an hour. Swapped the pcb and the problems went away..

I'm kinda leaning in that direction also. Just thought if anyone else had this same problem before it would save me say, 3 hours worth of pulling components off of the monitor pcb for testing.

Thanks.
 
Are the vertical lines where they should be or is the picture just a bunch of lines all over the place? Can you post a pic of the screen image after it fails?
 
Are the vertical lines where they should be or is the picture just a bunch of lines all over the place? Can you post a pic of the screen image after it fails?

Yes. The graphics are where they are "supposed to be". I will take a pic next week and post it. It almost sounds heat-related. If I let the game sit for a min. then turn it back on the pic comes on fine.
 
Yes. The graphics are where they are "supposed to be". I will take a pic next week and post it. It almost sounds heat-related. If I let the game sit for a min. then turn it back on the pic comes on fine.

Hmm.. My guess would be game board not monitor.

I dont think I've ever done it but is there a way to hook a scope up to the analog circuits on the monitor to see if your issue is signal or deflection? I know that wont help if the DAC(s?) are bad on the monitor though.
 
Hmm.. My guess would be game board not monitor.

I dont think I've ever done it but is there a way to hook a scope up to the analog circuits on the monitor to see if your issue is signal or deflection? I know that wont help if the DAC(s?) are bad on the monitor though.

I swapped the DAC's so I doubt it's those.
 
HERE'S A PIC OF THE MONITOR WHEN YOU FIRST TURN THE GAME ON

I can't get a good pic of the screen "screwed up", so I'll post a video of it soon.
 

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Hmm... I'm still thinking game board. I've never actually had to fix one of those boards so I'm no help there.

If it were the monitor I think it would be all or nothing. In the beginning of your second link it seems like the lower section is OK but then morphs.

Heres another dumb question, do you have another board you can use to provide signal to the monitor?
 
With the Electro-Home and Wells-Garnder monitors, you can use an oscilloscope as a monitor. The same should be possible with the Cinematronic (Keltron) monitors, but I don't know how to hook it up. Has anyone ever done that before?
 
With the Electro-Home and Wells-Garnder monitors, you can use an oscilloscope as a monitor. The same should be possible with the Cinematronic (Keltron) monitors, but I don't know how to hook it up. Has anyone ever done that before?

You would have to do it AFTER the dacs on the monitor chassis. The problem is that doing this doesnt really isolate the monitor from the game board to see where the problem lies. Even though your getting the signal right out of the dacs bad caps on the monitor chassis, a bad cable or even a bad DAC could still be a problem.

Too bad that there isnt any analog output from the game boards...
 
Right. I was thinking more along the lines of using a scope instead of a monitor. The problem doesn't sound like an issue with the ribbon cable, and he's already tried swapping the DACs with the same result. It sure sounds and looks like a heat issue with one or more components, but if freeze spray didn't reveal which one, using a spare monitor or game board would at least isolate which board is the problem. It's strange how the distorted graphics start at the top of the "castle" and work their way around to the bottom.
 
OK. Fellow KLOV'er MARK H. from Illinois is going to let me borrow his working Star Castle Chassis to try it in my machine. This will narrow down wether my problem is in the chassis or the main pcb.

Thank you MArk.

Dave
COINOPSHOP
 
I'm quite surprised that someone who claims to be a "coin-op technician" for over 25 years would resolder absolutely everything on a PCB...

Why's that? I'm also a coin-op tech and have been since 1984. When you get to your wits end you have to do what you have to do. These games were a pain in the ass to keep working way back when and still are a pain in the ass to some respect. This is why many an X/Y game ended up getting converted.
 
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