Super Pacman Issues.. Help appreciated!

Guru-420

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Here's what is all going on....

Backstory: I own several games,but I am still pretty new to maintaining my arcades. I have several moved into my basement, and they all seem to be in various states of disrepair. I've gotten most going, but I have seen some flakey behavior. I had 3 machines hooked up into a power strip to facilitate turning them off/on. After a few tries turning eveything on/off, my TMNT died. The monitor gets power, marquee lights up, etc.. but the game never displays anything. I unplugged the machine and put it on the "need to fix" list...


Currently: Then, a few weeks later, I only have my Super Pacman and my Space Invaders Deluxe plugged into the powerstrip. My in-laws wanted to see the machines, so I go to power the 2 working machines up via the power strip, and after 10min of so the pacman goes dark. I get power to the monitor and rest of the machine, just like the TMNT.. I'm wondering if there is a common issue going on here from the power strip...

Before the bigger issue, the Super Pacman seemed to have some issues with sound. The sound would be OK for a while, and then start sounding distorted/interference coming and going. I also had a HSSK for my Super Pac that I bought, but everytime I put the chips in, it flips my image upside down and will not pass startup test.


So, here are my questions:

1) Has anyone had something like this happen to them, and what should I be looking for to try to fix the issues?
2) Should this turn into a problem with me damaging the board, who is the best resourse for fixing a Super Pacman board?
3) How do others get past the issue of turning multiple machines on/off given the horrid placement of the on/off switches?

Looking for advice from those with experience! Thanks!
 
I checked the fuses to the machine last night, none of the fuses are blown. I just get nothing when I turn the machine on. I get power to the monitor.. Anything else I can check?

Also, could I be doing damage to the power supply or board by power cycling using a power strip?
 
I had an issue like this with my Gorf. I have 3 games on a powerstrip but I try to turn the machine off by the power switch (sometimes I forget). Anyway, the Gorf was working and playing great then it just shut off. I looked and tried everything but could not find anything. Finally I looked at the fuses a second time and noticed one was a little distorted (not blown but the wire was bending a little) I replaced that fuse and she powered up. Moral of the story is dont rule out fuses because they are not completely blown. It could be the fuse ends are dirty or the fuse holder.
 
Thanks for the reply, Dan. I guess a visual check of the fuses ins't the best way to go about it... lol

I'll go home and check the fuses with a DMM.. There was one that looked a little bit "suspect"...

Judging by your experience, I'm also guessing the power strip idea is a bad idea.. Should I just begin looking into having my basement re-wired? If I created dedicated circuits with an On/Off switch, won't that still hit the machines as hard as it does with the power strip? Does anyone have a "good" solution for powering games on/off without using the machine's dedicated switch?
 
I just choose to turn my machines off by their switches/buttons. I am a computer tech and it is habit. The games blowing fuses have nothing to do with using a power strip. (I could be wrong) It is no different then turning the power off manually. There is no shut down procedure like on a PC. I would say 80% or more of the arcades I use to frequent and places that I go to now have power strips that are used to turn on/off machines.

PS If the suspect fuse is the fuse coming from the main transformer to feed the game's power supply I would venture to say it is bad.
 
I ran a dedicated line to my machines and I have them running through a wall switch... Flip it and the games come on, been working fine including the Super Pac :)

It was really easy to do as well!
 
You likely have a power supply issue...just switch to a switcher and you will likely have no issues....arcadeshop has a plug and play solution..takes about five minutes to hook up.... Also check your test switch to make sure its not stuck or still in test mode...but sounds like the early stages of power supply failing with the resets..or not booting

If you had more experience you can fix the older power supply boards but it just as easy to upgrade.

http://www.arcadeshop.com/pics/m-b-g-s-p-ps.jpg

http://www.arcadeshop.com/parts.htm#Power
 
There is nothing wrong with using a power stip to turn on your games. Some games (qbert is a good example) will have issues like not booting or corrupting the high score because the voltage dips down too low when powering up several machines. Another issue is not all power strips are created equal. If your using a cheap china made one I wouldnt run more than three machines off it.
On your super pac it sounds like the HSS rom may be corrupt. An upside down image in fairly common if the board hangs during the ST.
Have you tried plugging the games directly into a wall socket and trying them? It could be a bad power strip or it could just be coincidence that both games died. I have around 25 machines and there are always at least a couple with issues.
 
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So, for anyone that might even REMOTELY be interested....

I finally got around to going through the machine, and here is what I found:

1. BOTH 5V fuses were blown. Seems weird to me that I would blow both, but whatever. Fuses are replaced and the machine fies up. YAY!

2. I checked the voltages on the silver cap (a suggestion from the seller of the HSSK), and I am seeing 4.7V. Seems pretty low, and I suspect I still have some power supply issues. Seller of the HSSK says the SRAM needs 5V, anything less and it will hang on ST.

Off to order a new PS. Thanks to everyone here for your input.

I also want to give a shout-out to the seller, [ebay ID: madrits]. He was awesome with helping me troubleshoot and is offering to replace the chips if they are bad (we are way past the 14day return policy). If you need a HSSK for your Super Pacman, he has them VERY cheap and with great service. Highly recommended.
 
Final Update:

Well, I went through the schematics and decided to try to turn up the 5V on the current power supply (suggested by madrits). I verified the correct pot, and turned up the juice while measuring at the big silver cap on the CPU board. I was able to secure a solid 5V, so I pulled the board and swapped the HSSK back into the machine.

With less than 5V, the SRAM would not allow the game to pass POST. Would only show an upside-down image of the test screen. Now that the PS is kicking out a solid 5V, the HSSK is working properly and my Super Pacman is humming along nicely.

I have pulled the machine from the power strip, and have been using the switch. Everything has been rock solid since.

Thanks to everyone that contributed to this thread!
 
Great news. Glad you were able to get it working. Thanks for the great feedback as well.

Instead of using power strips I would suggest getting an inexpensive, low end UPS. Personally I connect up to 3 cabs to an apc back-ups es 350. They cost around $50 but provide constant power flow as well as advanced surge protection. And they keep your games running during short power outages in the summer.
 
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