Wells Gardner 4900 not powering on

2PacMan

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Wells Gardner 4900 not powering on (Now with pics, problem found, need help)

I recently bought a machine with a Wells Gardner 4900 that would not turn on. I swapped it out with a known good chassis and the monitor fired right up. So now I have the nonworking chassis sitting in front of me. Would a cap kit fix a monitor that won't even power on, or should I be looking elsewhere? Would a cap kit be the first step in a case like this?
 
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Thanks for the advice. I guess that's the first thing i'll try then. I always figured even with bad caps, you'd still at least get the orange neck glow....maybe i'm wrong. I get nothing with this set of chassis, no neck glow at all.
 
Bad caps CAN cause a dead 4900. And I'm sure it has the multitude of cold solder joints common on that model...
 
Thanks...i guess i'll try the cap kit first, then search for cold solder joints. How do you possibly test every solder point on the board? Do you eyeball them? Although I know some of the cold solder joints you can't see with the naked eye. Or are there certain areas on the board that are more prone to cold solder joints? Seems like it'd be a painstaking mission.
 
Usually I just eyeball them but you could put the board on its side and do a continuity check between the solder and the component as well as the solder and the next point on the trace. I occasionally have to do this when testing boards that have a habit of breaking through-hole traces.
 
Sounds good, thanks for your help. I'll surely do the cap kit first. If that doesn't work, as far as seaching for the cold solder joints, I might save this for a boring winter evening when i have nothing else to do lol.
 
I recently dealt with this exact problem and found a cold solder point (actually broken trace/pad) on the horizontal output transistor - I guess the machine was moved around and the heatsink the HOT was mounted on wobbled and pushed it through the board. Also check the large ceramic resistors for cold solder points as well, and make sure the fuse is good.

Have fun!
 
I recently dealt with this exact problem and found a cold solder point (actually broken trace/pad) on the horizontal output transistor - I guess the machine was moved around and the heatsink the HOT was mounted on wobbled and pushed it through the board. Also check the large ceramic resistors for cold solder points as well, and make sure the fuse is good.

Have fun!

Common problem. I see that alot at that transistor.
 
Is it common to just reflow the solder on all the pins instead of continuity testing each trace for cold solder joints? At least that way you could be sure you have nice, fresh solder connections on the whole board, but maybe that's overkill.
 
Is it common to just reflow the solder on all the pins instead of continuity testing each trace for cold solder joints? At least that way you could be sure you have nice, fresh solder connections on the whole board, but maybe that's overkill.


I don't know that it is common but it is suggested by some...
 
I recently dealt with this exact problem and found a cold solder point (actually broken trace/pad) on the horizontal output transistor - I guess the machine was moved around and the heatsink the HOT was mounted on wobbled and pushed it through the board. Also check the large ceramic resistors for cold solder points as well, and make sure the fuse is good.

Have fun!

Common problem. I see that alot at that transistor.

Except that the HOT for the 4900 isn't mounted directly to the board. It is mounted on the right side wall, which shouldn't wiggle unless the bolts are loose. Perhaps you're thinking of the k7000?
 
Is it common to just reflow the solder on all the pins instead of continuity testing each trace for cold solder joints? At least that way you could be sure you have nice, fresh solder connections on the whole board, but maybe that's overkill.

Easier and a lot faster.
 
OK, I think i might have found the issue. I have a burnt section up near the big black cap. The previous owner soldered a yellow jumper wire bypassing the burnt area. The wire came unsoldered on one side. I'm assuming I can just resolder the wire and things will be good again? It almost looks like there was supposed to be a component there. Is something supposed to be there, or will this jumper wire fix things? Please see pics:

GEDC0037.jpg


1.jpg


GEDC0034.jpg
 
Well, I soldered the yellow jumper wire back on and now it's working, but it's kind of a wavy picture. Probably needs a cap kit, but at least it's up and running now.
 
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