Tron Spinner Optical Encoder

whompmaster

Member
Joined
Jun 29, 2009
Messages
467
Reaction score
3
Location
Hanahan, South Carolina
Hey guys, I've been working on my Tron and have it working except for the spinner which does nothing at all on any screens. Do you think this would be a optical encoder problem?

Also, is there a replacement board for the spinner as I have not yet run across one on the internet.

Thanks!
 
Take a cell phone (or other digital) camera and point it at the optics. If they are working you will seem them on the display of your phone. Point a TV remote into your camera for an example.
 
Take a cell phone (or other digital) camera and point it at the optics. If they are working you will seem them on the display of your phone. Point a TV remote into your camera for an example.

WOW, I've never heard of doing this but I'll check it out. I'm guessing I just need to point the camera at the little spinner board or at the little black piece that the round spinner goes through? Also, what am I looking for? A red flash or blinking light maybe.

Hey, I'm learning here so please bear with me.
 
I just had a similar issue, Whomp, with my TRON. It's because the wiring that goes from the linear power supply to the optical encoder wasn't making contact in the molex connector at the power supply. You will need to get the info as to which wire it is as I don't remember at the moment, but that is the cause of you trouble, or at least most likely the cause.

Do you have a manual for the game?
 
I do have the manual. I'll have to find a way to test each wire to make sure it is working or not broken and then make sure it has a connection. I hope this works.

Thanks
 
I do have the manual. I'll have to find a way to test each wire to make sure it is working or not broken and then make sure it has a connection. I hope this works.

Thanks

I don't remember which wires specifically, but one schematic in the manual shows you the wires going right to the encoder. I'll also check to see if I can find my post where I requested help for the issue and post it here for you.

VG
 
Thanks for all the help and links. I'm going to look into this deeper when the weekend gets here and I have a little more time. Believe me, I really want to get this thing working.

I'll post on here again at that time and let you know if this works.

Thanks a ton!
 
Thanks for all the help and links. I'm going to look into this deeper when the weekend gets here and I have a little more time. Believe me, I really want to get this thing working.

I'll post on here again at that time and let you know if this works.

Thanks a ton!

No prob if any other memories flicker on how I got mine resolved I will let you know also.
 
The main problems with the encoders themselves are usually cold solder joints on the molex connection and bad optical switches (the little black box with the slot). Last time I bought the switches was from Arrow Electronics for about $5 each plus shipping. Part number OPB822S. I don't know why that is still burned into my head...
 
The main problems with the encoders themselves are usually cold solder joints on the molex connection and bad optical switches (the little black box with the slot). Last time I bought the switches was from Arrow Electronics for about $5 each plus shipping. Part number OPB822S. I don't know why that is still burned into my head...

There are only a small handful of things that can be causing this to happen. I may even get one of these little black box switches since they are so cheap. It may just work. I figure it has to be one of 4 things. 1) MCR PSU, 2) bad wiring, 3) bad optical encoder or switch, 4) bad spinner. If I start testing all of these then one has to fix the issue.

However, I've yet to test the wires simply because I don't have a tester.
 
Believe me, I want to get this fixed. I've just been really busy with work and family. I actually found a Tron wiring harness on Ebay and snagged it. It is worth a try and I'll most likely try this out tomorrow.
 
Well, I plan on looking at this again this weekend. I tried a wiring harness for Tron that I found on EBay and guess what happened? NOTHING at all. It had a white screen. It was a waste of time and money.

I do have two new optical pieces so I may solder one on today to see if that helps. And yes, I need to also look at this manual and see if the correct voltages are being used. I guess I keep thinking about this and I'm just sure if I understand exactly what to do or not. Maybe it's why I have been avoiding this process?

Now, if someone can post pictures of what I'm suppose to be looking at (or email me some) then I very well may see that this is not difficult process.
 
No prob if any other memories flicker on how I got mine resolved I will let you know also.

I just installed a new black optical and that did nothing. And then I started reading at page 17 and 18 and I see the two knobs to turn. Since I don't have a meter I just tried turning them all the way down and then up and so on. I even had my wife turn them, slowly, while I tried the spinner in the game and nothing worked. I'll have to just borrow a meter from my dad and look at the voltage on both of them.

If nothing else I have a friend who owns a coin-op business so I may just ask him to look at this thing for me. Once I do get this thing working I'll post the solution with the hopes of helping another fellow gamer out.
 
Ok guys, I met a local guy on Craigslist who works on arcade games. He comes over and starts to help me out with my Tron spinner problem. So his control panel works with no issues on my game as the spinner works like a charm. That tells me my wiring and power supply in my cabinet are all good. I put his encoder board on my control panel and it works with no problems. So I just have a bad encoder board and I have no clue where to get another one, replacement one and so on. We tried to clean my optical board, reseeded the cables and so on but it just won't work.

So, does anybody know of a replacement optical board for a Tron spinner? I'm thinking about emailing Bob Roberts and asking for his advice as well. Anything I find out will be posted on here to help out other people that may have the same issue.
 
Ok, here is the fix for my Tron. After having another guy come over to look at my Tron and bringing his Tron control panel we discovered it was indeed a bad Optical PCB. I then just started looking on EBay for another one. Boy was that a long wait and gamble when I did find one. More or less I found a control panel without a joystick but the spinner was complete. I just didn't know if it would work till I got it home. And to my surprise it did indeed work. So now I have my Tron up and working.

Thanks to everybody for the advice and suggestions.
 
Take a cell phone (or other digital) camera and point it at the optics. If they are working you will seem them on the display of your phone. Point a TV remote into your camera for an example.


Does this really work? I mean I tried to use my digital camera to "see" the led flashes or something from the optics, but I do not see anything. Does that mean my optics are bad? Has anyone tried using a camera to see a tron spinner work?

Thanks!! (sorry I'm having major spinner issues!)
 
Back
Top Bottom