Tron with Switcher = Hum in Attract Mode...

Dr. Morbis

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I just put one of those Arcadeshop.com power supply/switcher MCR combos in my Tron, and the game works fine, but now there is a loud hum coming from the speakers during attract mode. There is no hum in-game at all when you're playing, only when the game's in attract mode. So my question is: is there any kind of workaround for this or is it just something you have to learn to put up with???

Thanks in advance...
 
From what I have read here and on other forums, installing a switcher in an MCR game will result in a hum that you can do nothing about. The game will be rock solid power-wise, but it will hum no matter what you do to try to reduce or eliminate it. The only way to get rid of the hum is to put an original MCR power supply back in.
 
Hum

All MCR game hum to some level. Origional or not. If using a switcher(I dont recomend) there is a fix for lowering the hum. you place capacitors accross the pos. and neg on the switcher. I believe Bob or somebody has info on his site. I had a friend do this trick to his switcher running Spyhunter and it reduced the hum considerably.
 
I just put one of those Arcadeshop.com power supply/switcher MCR combos in my Tron, and the game works fine, but now there is a loud hum coming from the speakers during attract mode. There is no hum in-game at all when you're playing, only when the game's in attract mode. So my question is: is there any kind of workaround for this or is it just something you have to learn to put up with???

Thanks in advance...

Use a higher quality switcher adapter :)
 
measure the +12 coming off the switcher. my satan's hollow had a hum with one of those and i put a 12 volt regulator on it to drop the voltage down and that took care of it.
 
measure the +12 coming off the switcher. my satan's hollow had a hum with one of those and i put a 12 volt regulator on it to drop the voltage down and that took care of it.

I wonder if that would work with Spy Hunter? No one's switcher adapters seem to work well with Spy Hunter...
 
Use a higher quality switcher adapter :)

Can you link me to a product you'd recommend?

measure the +12 coming off the switcher. my satan's hollow had a hum with one of those and i put a 12 volt regulator on it to drop the voltage down and that took care of it.

I actually measured all the voltages when I installed the switcher, and the +5 was fine at 5.1, but the +12 was hovering around 12.9 or so, so maybe that's the problem. I guess it's time to go find a 12 volt regulator........
 
My Tapper hummee with the switcher adapter too. It would hum during attract and high score screen. I yanked the switcher out and stuck a working original MCR power supply in. Hum is gone.
 
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Can you link me to a product you'd recommend?



I actually measured all the voltages when I installed the switcher, and the +5 was fine at 5.1, but the +12 was hovering around 12.9 or so, so maybe that's the problem. I guess it's time to go find a 12 volt regulator........

you need a 7812. rat shack sells them.
 
Was waiting for it. It's like clockwork almost. lol

AS ripped off Wiz's design... which just rectified some AC and called it +12V w/o doing enough filtering, leading to 60Hz hum.

The other source of hum in the cab is all the ground loops and the fact that unamplified audio is run next to AC at several places in the harness. Adding some shielding to the wires does wonders.

The audio is one of the *major* weaknesses in the MCR design. At least with my adapters, if you're getting 12V hum you know it's from ground loops, not from the switcher ;)
 
I just put one of those Arcadeshop.com power supply/switcher MCR combos in my Tron, and the game works fine, but now there is a loud hum coming from the speakers during attract mode. There is no hum in-game at all when you're playing, only when the game's in attract mode. So my question is: is there any kind of workaround for this or is it just something you have to learn to put up with???

Thanks in advance...

I got a mcr switcher installed in my machine.. had a hum. got ride of it using a seperate 6 or 12 volt ac transformer I got from radio shack. And used that as the seperate voltage for the audio circuit. I can check that tommarow with my volt meter. I can snap a pic of my handy work if needed. I also added a seperate ground from the audio output to the board ground I'll verify that though.. I have to look at it.. Its been so long ago since I did that.

-Ron
 
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i have a wacko and the orginal power supply went out and i replaced with one around the shop and now i have hum in attract mode...why???
 
Was waiting for it. It's like clockwork almost. lol

yeah, but you can actually buy the arcadeshop one :D

to the op, i just did one and i have NO hum. Are you using a new or used power supply? I opted for a new happ one, the big amp "heavy duty" one.


On my tron in the past, i also had an audio hum that was caused by a broken shield ground on the harness between the pcb stack and the audio amp.
 
I got a mcr switcher installed in my machine.. had a hum. got ride of it using a seperate 6 or 12 volt ac transformer I got from radio shack. And used that as the seperate voltage for the audio circuit. I can check that tommarow with my volt meter. I can snap a pic of my handy work if needed. I also added a seperate ground from the audio output to the board ground I'll verify that though.. I have to look at it.. Its been so long ago since I did that.

-Ron

Thanks for the input. If you could snap a pic of the inside of your cab, that would be great. I'm actually trading this Tron away to a fellower klover very soon, but the more options he has for trying to get rid of this hum, the better...

to the op, i just did one and i have NO hum. Are you using a new or used power supply? I opted for a new happ one, the big amp "heavy duty" one.


On my tron in the past, i also had an audio hum that was caused by a broken shield ground on the harness between the pcb stack and the audio amp.

I'm using a used switcher and it's not "heavy duty." I also haven't checked the grounds either but will do so. Thanks for the advice...
 
Anyone have a pic of the 12vreg installed?

no, cause it's a pain in the ass to get my satan's hollow pulled out from the wall, but here's what you do...

the 7812 has three legs. the left leg goes to the +12 wire coming off the switcher before it goes into the adapter. the center leg goes to ground. and the right leg is connected up to the adapter side. so basically all you do is connect the +12v wire from the adapter to the right leg (output side) of the 7812, and run a short wire from the input leg to the +12 tap on the switcher.
 
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