So I just got my first arcade..

[Asuraka]

..and it is Asteroids Deluxe. It was given to me for free and does not currently work. I looked at the pcb and it seems to be in good shape. Keep in mind I know very little about these, but I'm trying to figure out what could likely be in need of replacement.

Are there certain components that I should check first that are usual suspects of older machines like these? I know it is probably difficult to diagnose these without checking them out. I will be posting pictures of it later tonight.

Again, I am very new to the arcade world, but very interested in learning. Any tips or advice would be appreciated. Thanks

[TheDomesticInstitution]

I have an Asteroids, that's currently dead. There's any number of things you can do to test it. The first thing you need to do is see if the monitor is powering on. Is there neck glow in the back? Replace all the fuses in the power supply or at least inspect them.

Look for the "spot killer" on the monitor. The spot killer is a bright dot that appears in the center of the monitor if the monitor isn't getting a video signal. It is also important to determine which monitor you have in your machine, so you can ask questions appropriate to it. It should be a g05-802 like the one in a regular asteroids cabinet, but you need to verify by looking for monitor number stickers.

You might also check the AR board, which is the other board inside the game (other than the game PCB). I recently wanted info on how to test this board, so I asked over at KLOV. Here is a thread with big pictures, that should tell you how to test the AR board.

http://forums.arcade-museum.com/showthread.php?p=1134324

I would also order rebuild kits from Bob Roberts to replace problem parts common on Asteroids Deluxe like: A G05-802 cap kit w/ xistors, a AR I rebuild kit, a replacement big blue capacitor (the giant cap in the bottom of your cab on the power supply).

www.therealbobroberts.com

Anyway hope this gets you started. Although a lot of my advice is based on Asteroids, it happens to share a lot of parts with AD (Asteroids Deluxe).

Also here is an excellent repair log specific to AD.

http://mcclennen.com/arcade/fixing_my_electrohome_g05_monito.asp

[Asuraka]

Cool, thanks for the links and info, really appreciated. I'll check out a few of the things you mentioned and go from there. I did turn the power on today and didn't notice any glow or didn't see the monitor doing anything really, but it was outside during the day so it may have lit up dimly. Also what exactly do you mean by


Is there neck glow in the back?

Thanks

[Kaboomer]

Check the obvious stuff like the coin door and back door interlock switches. I have found tons of games cheap because they think its busted and then it ends up being something really easy and obvious and it gets working again:)

[TheDomesticInstitution]

Also what exactly do you mean by "Neck Glow" Thanks

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2713/4259690034_53a7280cda.jpg

You see the glass tube, 2/3 the way to the right of the frame? If this has a faint amber glow when the game is turned on, that's what's commonly referred to as neck glow. You will probably need to have the lights off to see this. Seeing this helps to determine if there is power is getting to the monitor. You could also find the place on the monitor that controls brightness, and turn it up to try and see some sort of picture even if it's just a blank one. Also find the test switch on the game... which is probably just inside the coin door or on the coin door and flip it while powered on to see what happens.

[Asuraka]

Alright, will do. Thanks for the pic.

[Asuraka]

Update, found the other option switch behind the coin door and turned it on. After that the machine kicked on and started running, seemingly with no issues thus far. Only issue now is that I cannot find the toggle switches to enable free play. The manual I've found online suggests that these switches are on the pcb, but I don't see any sort of toggles on the pcb. Are they located somewhere else possibly?

[TheDomesticInstitution]

Your looking for a tiny block of dip switches on the main game board. There may be two of these blocks. You'll need to cross reference this to your manual as to the combination of the dip switches you'll need to have in the off and on position to enable "free play." I couldn't say for sure, since I don't have the manual in front of me.

[aclbandit]

Update, found the other option switch behind the coin door and turned it on. After that the machine kicked on and started running, seemingly with no issues thus far.

And THAT is what you call "an epic deal." You can't beat free, and you can't beat something that was that easy to fix. Congratulations!

[Asuraka]

Your looking for a tiny block of dip switches on the main game board. There may be two of these blocks. You'll need to cross reference this to your manual as to the combination of the dip switches you'll need to have in the off and on position to enable "free play." I couldn't say for sure, since I don't have the manual in front of me.

Finally found it last night, toggle switch was much smaller than I had imagined it would be. thanks


And THAT is what you call "an epic deal." You can't beat free, and you can't beat something that was that easy to fix. Congratulations!

Haha yeah. At first glance I knew it was in good shape considering the age, but I just knew something like the monitor would need replacement. Now I get to clean it up and decide if I want to keep it or sell.