How to fix a dead arcade game #1 - Troubleshooting a Craigslist purchase - Data East Commando
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- čas přidán 13. 08. 2013
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In this video we are going to troubleshoot and repair a dead arcade game that was purchased on Craigslist. In this video we'll walk through all the steps needed to identify and fix an arcade game that has no signs of life. This game doesn't power on at all but the monitor has neck glow. We'll get to the bottom of the problem and get it working!
Topics Covered:
#1 - How to transport an arcade game
#2 - How to test input voltages on an arcade game power supply
#3 - How to test output voltages on an arcade game power supply
#4 - How to test fuses
#5 - How to replace a power supply in an arcade game
#6 - How to replace coin door light bulbs
#7 - How to fix a non-working button on an arcade game
#8 - Tons more!
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want to say thanks. I watched this video a couple years ago and now I'm on number 9 arcade cabs all broken now all fixed. love this hobby
This was awesome. I got a lot of experience from this video so I'm really glad you put it at full length. it was actually kinda exciting, you're saying "we should be done now"... but the video is only halfway done, so I was waiting for something else to go wrong!
Thanks for this video John. I have been watching your videos for a few weeks now and it just so happens I picked a cocktail cabinet up the other day and the same problem occurred, I remembered your video and viola! Power supply changed and now the game works, Cheers from the UK.
Absolutely loved this video. I've wanted a Galaga game for years and have recently been looking into the feasibility of fixing a broken one. I was shocked at how simple this was. I'm sure the problems can vary but this definitely makes me want to give it a shot. I'm hooked and have subscribed. Thanks!
Thank you for inspiring me John. I went out and I rescued a Red Baron and I didn't feel scared and I use your negotiating techniques to broker a fabulous deal for both parties.
I just started in on the hobby as well and I am so thankful that someone put up a video on how to fix these games. I feel much better now knowing I have a very good chance at fixing a game that doesn't work and saving a ton of money. Thank you very much for your time and explanations!
John you’re the man my brotha. I love your videos. I’m from Chicago, if you ever do another Galloping Ghost Arcade tour now that they’ve grown to 850+ games I’d like to meet up with you. I’ve also started my own basement arcade, and your repair videos have been a big help, thank you.
lol, bought my first arcade (not working) from a local auction (old dig dug cabinet that was converted too bloody wolf), then i watched this video, i had dreams that night about "if mine was just as easy fix as that youtube guy" excited as i was i had no time or cash so i didn't even want to look.
a few days passed and i watched another video where you were looking inside a cabinet that had almost nothing inside! That scared me.
i ran to my garage because i had to know that i didn't buy just a empty shell... thankfully i was good. Everything was there, i followed this video, changed a fuse, cranked up the psu, now its working completely.
Thanks bud!
i just bought my third arcade machine tonight. it was listed on CL as turning on but not playing.
when i got to the house the screen powered up just like the one in this video, i (not knowing much about these machines assumed it was a bad monitor) later i realized no sound meant the game wasnt coming on. i searched the net for a while and stumbled upon this gem of a video.
i pulled the power supply out and gave it a look, someone clearly was working inside of it and hacked wires and stripped screws (all inside the power supply).
thank you for simply being the suggestion to point me in the right direction. defiantly a thumbs up and subscribe!!
but i have to say when you broke out the power driver to put the screw in to the casing of your new power supply i cringed pretty hard! thats a bit of over kill for that type of job but it seems to have worked so i guess no harm done.
thanks again.
Awesome, glad I could help! That power screwdriver has really low torque. No harm was done!
Hey John, great video. I went back in your archives to watch this. Definitely would love to see more troubleshooting videos. I want to buy a couple cabinets but also want to know how to fix them myself. I checked out a lot of the videos from one circuit and have learned a lot. Thank You!!!
Hey John because of you and Adam . I trying to get a Pac-Man PCB back from the dead. Thank you very much for your words of encouragement and wisdom.
Isolation Transformers are used to physically separate the monitor's power form the mains lines. This has the advantage of eliminating a ground-path return so that if you touched one side of the power coming from the monitor side of transformer, there would be no return path through your body to ground so you would not receive a shock, or at least not as strong as you normally would.
Without the transformer in place, touching the hot side of the AC would cause a shock because your body would be used as a return path to ground.
At least, that is how I understand it. :) YYMV.
BTW - The terminals are called "ring" terminals, as opposed to the "fork" ones you were expecting. And I love the vids - good to see another passionate collector out there!
Hello! I realize I'm a bit late to this party, but I wanted to say what an amazing video! I think you have a natural gift and the perfect personality to teach this kind of material. The video was funny, informative, and you're a very easy person to relate to. Super well done, and thanks so much for taking the time to do this, man. Cheers to you!!!!!
What an awesome homearcade you have!! I'm starting my own collection and i'm still kind of new with the repairs. Thank you for creating these very informative videos!
Excellent vid on troubleshooting arcades! Your carefree and positive attitude is the highlight of your vids. Thanks for giving your time, sharing your tips. You gained another subscriber
Awesome! Thanks, MC!
I have a feeling that you and I have something in common when fixing these machines up. That is - you always think you're done and then find a small imperfection and want to fix it. I would have replaced that cord before even plugging it in. You are braver than me,sir.
Your best video so far dude. Amazing game as well imo. I can feel your enthusiasm. I love the way you say 'I am excited to switch this on' I felt it to buddy. Mad how these old games still give us that kick hey.
This has been extremely helpful. I bought a dead space invaders a few months ago and had not been able to figure out what the problem is. Can't wait to check the power supply/ fuses! didn't even think of that!
Thinking of getting my first arcade cabinet and am enjoying these videos man!
Love your videos John. The only game i currently own is a bootleg Phoenix cocktail, but it's a lovely machine. I'm after an upright from the same sort of era. You are slowly giving me the confidence to have a go at fixing a broken one. Thanks man! Keep the videos coming.
Thanks! Glad I could help and good luck!
Man! I don’t know shiz about repairing these, but you’re giving me confidence to do so. Hunting an old game as I type. Thx - great content!
Wow this was a super helpful video. I'm so glad i discovered your channel John! Thank you!
When you mentioned the dip switches and were looking and wondering what the dip switch settings "one way or two way" switches for a coctail table were.
One Way is for the screen to stay facing one player and sharing controls from one side of the table with another player vs Two Way so the screen flips orientations between both sides of the table so the additional player isn't looking at a screen upside down and they can use controls of their own on their player turn.
Love the arcade collection. Good titles and helpful tutorial for beginners. 👍
That was a really fun video. I just got into the hobby. Finished a donkey kong restore last weekend and just picked up centipede on craigslist for cheap...and broken. Can't wait to get cracking on it. Thanks for the post and the enthusiasm.
Very informative and had fun watching. Had me working along with you trying to figure it out as you went along. Wish I got into this stuff years ago. Better late than never. Thanks for the tutorial
i have watched many of your videos,but this is fantastic.i just bought 3 cabinets about a month ago and didn't even know where to start. thank you.
Please remove all metal jewelry when working around live circuits. CRT voltages can be lethal.
john thanks i saw in nanual
i love you video
and i admire your ducation
but in manual not recognize thd player two
thanks
Hey John, thanks for the video.
I have a S.T.U.N Runner Arcade cabinet and the picture looked awful on it.
The way you fixed one of your cabinets, made it look so easy. So I gave it a try, and now it looks so much better. Thanks again for a great repair video.
nightce Awesome! Glad I could help.
nightce Small world! I just picked up a stun runner and I've got nothing but junk on the screen.
Great video, very cool to see one repaired so quickly.
This is so Awesome! I will have an arcade just like this in my home one day. You are truly an inspiration! Such a dope video!
I'm new to home arcades, just picked up TMNT, thanks for the info. I now have some idea what I'm looking at in the machine.
adam koral still have ?
DANG I miss you John!!! No arcade channel compares!
Hi John. I'm a new subscriber -- i found you in the sidebar from an associated video. This vid has inspired me to go craigslist hunting! Thanks for posting such informative vids, keep up the good work!
Really great video, man. Watch your vids all the time, but this one in particular really showed how passionate you are about keeping retro arcade games alive. Each game you breathe life into is another old game kept off the scrap heap, and every day the pile gets bigger. Thanks to you and many others like you, hopefully 40 years from now there will still be old arcade games around for me to play on as i did when i was a kid. Keep crankin out the great vids, man.
Hello John, We love all your videos and find them so interesting. Keep up the Excellent Work :)
Thanks, Andrew!
I'm glad I saw the video. It doesn't look too hard to fix. I taught myself how to build and fix PCs since the ME era, and I never once encountered a problem I couldn't fix. It looks like Arcades are my next challenge. It's this kind of work I like to get paid to do. It's fun to fix and build machines.
That was cool, loved watching the repair. Thanks for sharing.
Missing these vids. Watched em all. Miss the hype I used to get when a new one was uploaded.
I really appreciate the safety tips! Thanks for looking out for us!
Dude u really helped me I bought a ms pacman it was dead. I beeped out the wires and finally after days of testing I got things working. Man you are good thank you. Let me know if you need anything.
Mine went dead too.. I was wondering what is going on
John, just discovered you. awesome videos! your tech help is awesome! a new subscriber here :) keep posting these great vids!
That is really cool, Awesome video. I just picked up an arkanoid in a painted over pacman cabinet. The guy was never able to play his game even though it turned on. At his hour i noticed that it did not have coin mechs, one switch was unconnected, and the other was missing the wire to coin up but was able to move it and register a few coins so he could play his game for the first and last time before we packed it up in the truck lol. I paid him first though. It still needed some work but was a pretty solid deal.
This was brilliant even today as I take delivery of an old cabinet and may need to go through this process.
Tip: Take a photo of wiring with a camera phone before disconnecting everything.
That way if you get mixed up, you can just check the photo for reference.
Another tip: use electrical contact cleaner or isopropyl alcohol to properly clean switch contacts
Or you could just label them like a normal human and so they will be labeled for future fixes.
A room full of the most amazing arcade games known to man, and the thing that sticks out to me the most is the Rat Pack poster. That is the best basement in existence.
Thanks, buddy! And, yeah... I love the Frank, Dino, and Sammy. :)
@@Johnsarcade can u help me I bought a game
It worked for 10 minutes and the monitor cut out then smoke and then nothing! PLEASE HELP!
@@shanoemichael4439 Check the capacitors on the PSU, they probably will be bulged, the filter caps do blow when sitting for a long time
@@roberternest7289 I have a mortal kombat 2 and it was working but sat in my storage for a few years and will no longer boot up now.
@@Bondovw Caps too. I'd need to see the PSU, do you have discord?
Great video. I learned quite a bit actually. Thank you!
I love your little arcade room. and especially the picture of George Costanza above the air purifier.
+Brian Wasman Hello... Newman!
Great video man, I've always been afraid to work on my 2 machines but I feel a lot more confident after watching your vids. Keep up the good work, Im totally addicted haha!
About 20 years ago I picked up a Shinobi for $20. The seller said it would run for a while and then lock up. I checked the voltages and the +12 was putting out +17. It had a 12v adjustment so I dialed that down and it worked great. Later I noticed that it had a shadow of something under the paint so I stripped some paint off and saw a big Williams W. I took a little more paint off and saw it was formerly a Joust. Unfortunately we moved and I had to scrap the game but I kept the main board.
This video was somehow put into my recommend videos......not sure why but I'm glad it did :) I honestly felt like I learning something from watching it. Although Im pretty far from buying and fixing aracde games myself but maybe in the future. You just got a subscriber
you my friend have a new subscriber,i love your enthusiasm when you talk about these arcades,real passion.Is that your basement at the beginning of the video? if it is that is the greatest mancave ever!!!! can I come over for some beers,lol i loved hangin at arcades when i was a teen.
That's my basement. :) And, no... it's not a mancave. It's an arcade. :)
John's Arcade Game Reviews & Tech
youre right,its a legit arcade,im jealous of your whole setup there,from the garage workshop to the basement.i cant have a garage that big in the city,theres just no land left to build on.loving the garage,aside from arcades Im a car junkie.
My brother bought a broken original Digdug cabinet that has a streefigher board inside. As with you, the price was right. The one side panel has the digdug branding while the other is branded with streetfigher. We are having the same blank monitor issues you had. I hope it's the PSU! We'll check it this week.
His original idea was to buy a new empty arcade cabinet and hook up some buttons, joystick and a pi to it. This used cabinet was cheaper than any new cabine. So maybe we can get the old internals working in this Digdub cabinet and also retrofit a pin into it so he can switch between.
I have basic knowledge of electronic repairs, so hopefully I can get through this for him. I'm excited.
Great video and a great find. Watched it start to finish while on the treadmill. Some advice for novices. Don't go cheap on multimeter, Fluke's are one of the best on the market, they can save your life. When working with electricity that's live (plugged in) avoid wearing jewelery less risk of shock. When cleaning monitors like John did, you can spray onto the paper towel first and then wipe the monitor, but John is a pro so he can get away with it. :)
Love watching your videos! Each one helps me a bit more.ive got 8 cabinets now and picking up a tekken 2 tomorrow thats playing dead for ridiculously cheap..I also believe its a mortal kombat cab thats been converted..got my fingers crossed!! Thanx for the videos!!
Useful for the best of a Final Lap machine I picked up regarding the power supply. Cheers. I didn't know I could adjust the 5v on the power supply.
Yeah, I think I would have replaced the power cord as well but you've definitely generated some re interest in this for me. I may look into Craigslist as well
i no longer play retro but enjoy watching your vids.
Great video John. Favourite so far.
Thanks John. Last night I took the board out again and took the layers apart again. This time I seen a small transister with some light browning on solder side of the board so I'm assuming it's bad and the cause. It took a while to find one using google but I ordered a 5 pack as that's the minimum I could find. Hope it works. From china so hopefully in a few weeks I'll know for sure. Love your videos ! Keep em coming. Thanks again for your time and help!
Wow! This was a fantastic instructional video. You are a great instructor and dumbing down the knowledge for us newbies. Thanks for a great video.
Thanks!
+John's Arcade Game Reviews & Tech I just found a Marvel Vs Capcom arcade cabinet, really excited to fix it up
Great video! I once had a mappyland arcade game that was dead. Come.to find.out the cord had come loose just reattached it and.it worked fine after lol. Only paid $25 for it but back in the 90s lol. I love your arcade you have setup. Lol. This would be my dream man gave
Hey. Thanks for this video. It gave me the confidence to go ahead and buy a non-working game off of craig's list/ebay and walked me through how to test it and work on the device. My first pick up was an old Frogger game with a frayed cord. Turns out I just needed to replace that cord to the PS, and it fired on up.
Took your tip to unplug the CPU and test voltages first. Only had to splice together a snapped wire in order to get the start buttons to work. My son and I had fun doing this and shared the joy of success in getting our first unit to work.
I kind of wish you'd watch the language in some of your videos though. I can't watch some of them with the children. :)
Thanks again, man!
Great video! Really enjoyed it.
DAMN IT!!! THIS GUY'S TOO GOOD!!!!!!!!!!! HE NEEDS TO LIVE WITH ME!!!
Please make more of these real time troubleshooting/repair videos!
Excellent Video!! Please do more like this! I learned a ton. Thank you.
Hey John just subscribed! Just was wondering in your opinion do you think anyone can learn to work on these with no past experience? The way you do your videos makes me want to run with this as a hobby. Brings back so many great memories!
I had zero experience going into this hobby. If you got the will and are willing to do some research you can accomplish pretty much anything.
Awesome! Love the videos!
great video john, i thought we were going to see the black and white game getting fixed, but you couldnt help it could you getting another little project to play with LOL
nice to see it working so easy
Wow! I was wondering how you had so many games! Now I know. Gives me hope!
Brilliant to watch really interesting 👍
hey john your a champ working with the camera in your way so we can see
is very difficult . great vid
Helpful video, Nice job again!
I really enjoyed this one, Thanks John
Just picked up a Commando today!! Woot!!!
John, great video. Wish I had this when I had to remove a power supply for the first time way back when. Good job!
I enjoy doing repair work on PCs, but I don't know if an arcade is easier or harder to work on. You made it look easy.
Great video man! Next great arcade machine i see for cheap I might have to pull the trigger if its in my area. Only issue is then my car will be forever parked outside the garage lol.
This video was fantastic!
Arcade machines are not simply impulsive purcahes when you have an amazing basement arcade like that!
Dude awesome video!
Love this video and I hope you make more like it
I love these videos!
amazing job Maine!... I learnt a lot (good on talking about the chord being a fire hazard. OHHH IT IS!
Peace
Awesome!!!! Love your vids!!!
Great job man, enjoyed following along.
-Mitch
Nice game collection. awesome repair.
You my friend, are a legend. I have the same issue with my current arcade. The monitor powers up but my power supply is dead. Bought one today off ebay for $20.... hope it fixes my issue.
Cheers from Australia
diamonddave77 Good luck! Let me know how it goes.
John's Arcade Game Reviews & Tech All good mate, switched it over and game is back up and running. Thank you for your help :)
Another great video!
Great stuff, I really liked Commando back in the day, but it sure would take the quarters though.
I really enjoyed this one man. You need, "hey guys, we'4am
Awesome video. I learned a lot and will be looking to buy an arcade. The game raked in 29k in revenue!
Yeah, for real! :) Glad I can help future collectors that were like you and I awhile ago. :)
6 years old and I'm so grateful for this. Subbing to get more content.
Great video, man. Thanks a lot for doing these. Seems like the power supply is a fairly common failure point.
I am inspired! I subbed, thanks for the awesome video!
+Mr. Weaverface Thanks for subbing! ENJOY THE VIDS! :)
really enjoyed watching the video on you repairing commando its a great game that i used to love well done for fixing the game with the new power supply can i ask are you putting it into your arcade with ur outher games i think it would like nice powered up with your outher games
thank you for the good video
At 15:00 that potentiometer is for adjustment of the 5 Volt potential between 4.5 and 5.5, if there's NO voltage, the power supply is DEAD. Turning it to maximum risks sending 5.5 into everything (problems?, possibly). Nice repair. Good cheap game for cost of purchase +$15
Great Tutorial! Thanks for posting
Hey John, great channel and podcast. Just stared listening so I am digging up some of the earlier ones. I had a quick question, I just got a Moon Patrol and it seems to be missing the linear power supply. My question is, should I look for a replacement linear or just buy a switcher ps for it? Thanks again man, Mario.