Uh oh. I smell something electric-y and ozone-y...

[pookdolie]

Do I stand to gain anything by cleaning every electrical connection in this thing with contact spray (like the bottle with the brush from Radio Shack)? Just in case dirt is causing funny stuff?

 

[cadillacman]

That sounds like it would work. It also sounds like the sort of thing I don't have 1/8th of the balls necessary to try.

in the car workld we do it all the time to check for bad ignition components on cars.. we even soak the components in water first, wouldnt reccomend that on a monitor though heh

If i come across a leaky flyback or someething soon ill make a vid!

 

[cadillacman]

If you're lucky, the flyback will die all on its own.

If you're unlucky, it will die, taking out the horiztontal output transistor (HOT), and probably the AC fuse.

If you're REALLY unlucky, it will start on fire, and burn down your house.

See my buddy's flyback that toasted last year:

thata a good one! k7000 right? mind if i put that in the sticky?

 

[chris25810]

Try this first. Remove the anode wire, clean the under side of the rubber cup and the area it attaches to the tube. Go to the auto parts store and get a tube of dielectric grease. Rub a thin film on the tube and the under side of the anode cup and reinstall the wire. This will create a good seal and check one thing off your list. The rubber cups on these fly's were large and floppy and they tend to distort easily.

 

[smalltownguy2]

thata a good one! k7000 right? mind if i put that in the sticky?

I'll do you one better! Here's the thread. Dave (dlbagna) is my best friend, and I'm sure he'd have no problem letting you use the image in the sticky. In fact, I'm sure he'd have some other angles showing the gruesome details. I'll ask him.

http://forums.arcade-museum.com/showthread.php?t=124185

Actually, while we're talking problem flybacks, I have another K7000 flyback that I just pulled off a chassis yesterday that you might like a picture of. It's still working, but it's the notoriously bad 'white knob' flyback.

Chris25810 was over on Wed and showed me the cracks and fractures in the flyback, advising me that I swap it out before it died. So I pulled it. It still works, but after further inspection, you can see some NASTY cracks in the housing. Chris was right, it's only a matter of time before it failed.

You want a pic of it? I could try and get a good macro shot.

 

[pookdolie]

In case this does turn out to be my flyback going bad, does anyone have a source for them?

I think I've provided enough info via the pictures on page 1 in terms of what I'd need, but lemme know if not...

 

[smalltownguy2]

I would ask Chad over at arcadecup.com if he has your flyback.

It's a 13K7405 Wells Gardner, right?

 

[pookdolie]

I would ask Chad over at arcadecup.com if he has your flyback.

It's a 13K7405 Wells Gardner, right?

13K4705 13" inch, yeah. Thanks for the tip - I'll do that.

 

[cadillacman]

I'll do you one better! Here's the thread. Dave (dlbagna) is my best friend, and I'm sure he'd have no problem letting you use the image in the sticky. In fact, I'm sure he'd have some other angles showing the gruesome details. I'll ask him.

http://forums.arcade-museum.com/showthread.php?t=124185

Actually, while we're talking problem flybacks, I have another K7000 flyback that I just pulled off a chassis yesterday that you might like a picture of. It's still working, but it's the notoriously bad 'white knob' flyback.

Chris25810 was over on Wed and showed me the cracks and fractures in the flyback, advising me that I swap it out before it died. So I pulled it. It still works, but after further inspection, you can see some NASTY cracks in the housing. Chris was right, it's only a matter of time before it failed.

You want a pic of it? I could try and get a good macro shot.

sure man! 123456789

 

[pookdolie]

Update: I did some cleaning of contacts, blew some high-pressured air through chips, cleaned around the monitor / flyback, re-connected everything.

Plugged it in: still works. But now it smells like the top of a high-tension wire tower. (In other words, even worse than before.)

So, as has been suggested, monitor issues seem to be the key. This'll be a job for someone who's comfortable messing with them. And who can solder at least at a 4th-grade level - I cannot.

 

[pookdolie]

Try this first. Remove the anode wire, clean the under side of the rubber cup and the area it attaches to the tube. Go to the auto parts store and get a tube of dielectric grease. Rub a thin film on the tube and the under side of the anode cup and reinstall the wire. This will create a good seal and check one thing off your list. The rubber cups on these fly's were large and floppy and they tend to distort easily.

Took a look at the rubber cup - it doesn't seem to have that tight of a seal. So, I'm thinking I might try this.

When you say "remove the anode wire", you mean the wire and the cup, right?
Is the cup only held on by suction, or did they also use adhesive?

 

[Doughbroz]

"Is the cup only held on by suction, or did they also use adhesive?"

Neither. The end of the anode wire has a springy wire clip shaped like an inverted V. To disconnect it, lift one side of the rubber cap to see how it is oriented, push the cap to one side to free the clip on the opposite side and lift it out. To reinstall, reverse the process. Sometimes it's a lot easier to use a flat blade screwdriver or something similar slid under the cap rather than pushing on the cap, especially when reinstalling it. And don't forget to discharge the tube before touching the anode wire.

 

[pookdolie]

Update: I had a tech look at this machine. He said, "Yup - that smell is coming from your monitor, but I don't see anything obvious." The monitor continues to have a good picture.

So, treatment = play it like crazy until it gives out. Can do.

 

[Cmndr Brain]

So, treatment = play it like crazy until it gives out. Can do.

...and keep a fire extinguisher near by.

The monitor in the pictures "seem" pretty clean, but built up dust on the hv section or even the neck coils causes that smell. My rampage smells that way, but I know it's only dust and nothing wrong with the monitor.

 

[pookdolie]

...and keep a fire extinguisher near by.

The monitor in the pictures "seem" pretty clean, but built up dust on the hv section or even the neck coils causes that smell. My rampage smells that way, but I know it's only dust and nothing wrong with the monitor.

That's a good point.

Do you think a date with some compressed air would help?

 

[Cmndr Brain]

Couldn't hurt. I've even take out the chassis's and hosed them off in the driveway. I've even know people that put them in the dish washer. Now you can't do that with the tube of course, but at least the chassis would be clean and that's where most of the hv stuff is anyway. A final rinse with 50/50 water alcohol mix and let sit next to a fan on high for a couple days. Compressed air under and chips or componets that are close/touching the pcb. Then another day next to the fan. Just make sure it's "completely" dry before you fire it back up.

 

[pookdolie]

Couldn't hurt. I've even take out the chassis's and hosed them off in the driveway. I've even know people that put them in the dish washer. Now you can't do that with the tube of course, but at least the chassis would be clean and that's where most of the hv stuff is anyway.

Took a can of air to the chassis. It went empty on me too soon but, afterwards, the smell was lots better. Gonna get another can and finish blowing it out...