Cap Kits for Arcade Monitors

[tholly]

Hello Everyone,

Some of you might remember a little while ago I posted about my Nintendo Vs. Sit-Down cab that has a slightly messed up monitor on one side. I was wondering if anyone knew what kind of cap kit I would need for this, or where on the monitor I can look to find out the model numbers and what not. I know this is dangerous and all that, but I am not going to be the one working on it. My dad works on electronics everyday for the amry and he is very confident in his skills, i just need to find the parts for him.

Also, does anyone know if there will be someone at the Philly Expo this weekend selling cap kits....that way i can save on shipping.

[Flack]

On the back of the monitor there will be a monitor number.

Take that information, and go here:

http://www.therealbobroberts.com

[tholly]

well...i wont be home until tomorrow (im at school...going home for the weekend) so ill check then, but until then does anyone have any other things that i should know about a nintendo vs. before i pull the monitor out

[spoon]

I own one also. That will be getting fixed up pretty soon here. Aren't they great?

Anyhow, I have a ton of schematics/papers/operations manual for the Sit Down Vs. I bought a few weeks back. If you need any info out of there, let me know.

-Ricardo-

[tholly]

thanks for all the sites and info..

i may need some of that info spoon, but i may not be working on this for a while. i will let you know if i do. thanks again

[FABombjoy]

I get all my cap kits from Zanen Electronics:
http://www.randyfromm.com/amusements/yellowpages/zanen/

Based on my personal experiences, I cannot recommend Zanen. I ordered a few cap kits for Vectrex consoles from them and the kits they sent had several incorrect parts. When I called them about it and gave them the proper values (and sent them a schematic), they sent me more incorrect parts. The whole time I was on the phone I felt like I was just confusing them more. I ended up ordering the correct parts from Digikey.



With older Nintendo games, there's 2 different models - Sanyo and Sharp. Here's Zanen's part #s:

301 For Nintendo Sanyo 20-ezv(r-b,v) 19" color monitor.
Includes 16 parts. $6.95 ea.

302 For Nintendo Sharp XM-1801N or XM-2001N 19" color monitor.
Includes 24 parts. $7.95 ea.

For the 2-headed VS cab, it may be the Sharp xm1801 (definately not the 20ezv). IIRC, the model number for the monitor is written on the front of the monitor chassis, either above or below the screen.

[maxlords]

It could be that they normally deal in arcade stuff...as all the ops I know get their kits from Zanen.

[FABombjoy]

I'm sure they're fine most of the time, but like so many businesses they are not equipped with contingency procedures. The true test for any business is how they handle customer service issues, and for that I give them a 'C'

[DogP]

Yup... I've been very happy with Zanen... I also ordered some from Bob Roberts last time, because I had other stuff I needed to order from him (and was a few bucks cheaper), and of course I had no problems with stuff from him, although I noticed at least in the G07 monitor kit there was no bi-polar replacement caps, but the kits I got from Zanen did have replacement bi-polar caps (although I never got a G07 kit from Zanen).

DogP

[tholly]

alright...i just looked at the side of my monitors, and they have a sticker on the side that says

Sharp
41
470NVB22
(MVB)

is this what i would have to use to find a cap kit, or am i looking in the wrong place??

[spoon]

The part number is listed as: Video Monitor XM-1801N. I always thought they were either Sanyo or Wells-Gardner monitors. My system doesn't have any, so, I can't check.

I also have operators manuals for the Vs unisystem, and regular Vs. System.

[tholly]

The part number is listed as: Video Monitor XM-1801N. I always thought they were either Sanyo or Wells-Gardner monitors. My system doesn't have any, so, I can't check.

I also have operators manuals for the Vs unisystem, and regular Vs. System.

so the sharp numbers i have listed above match up to the video monitor xm-1801N cap kit?

[FABombjoy]

As for the Vectrex kits, they don't offer them for sale. As maxlords said, they specialize in arcade monitors, and I'm sure the Vectrex kits aren't big sellers for them.

Well, advertised or no they do offer them. It took me 2 weeks of phone and email tag to get them to understand the kit has the wrong parts; the whole time I felt like I was inconveniencing them with my request. Then I was sent MORE incorrect parts, even after I took the time to cross-reference visually & by schematic (discovering an error in the Vectrex schematics at the same time). I would think they would be a but more greatful for someone to put in the time and effort to aid them in correcting a product. To me, this is very bad business. Maybe I'm too sensitive to the difference between the way business is done in the south compared to the midwest.

What's worse is that I was fixing Vectrexes for a customer. Fortunately, I had him order the kits & ship me the Vectrex consoles & cap kits at once. It took them no less than 3 weeks to even ship the kits to him first. When I had to explain to him that I was waiting on parts from Zanen, he had already 'been there done that' and knew I wasn't BS'ing him.

Maybe if I was a big time game operator, I'd have received better service. Then again, I'm sure their high-volume kits aren't as messed up as the Vectrex kit is. Regardless, they either need to sell the correct product or don't sell one at all.

[tholly]

Well, I ordered my kit from Zanen and as my father (the electronics expert) was working on it, we came accross some problems. Of the 24 capacitors involved in the kit, 7 that Zanen sent do not match up with the caps that are currently on the board. He said he would send out replacements, but this is a hassel. We are running to Radio Shack tomorrow to see if we can pick up the needed parts. If not we will just have to wait for the correct parts from Zanen. All I have to say is that I cannot recommend this dealer to anyone. Instead of using the schematics from the 1801 monitor, he said he used the 2001 (may not be the correct numbers, but i didnt want to look them up) and he based the kit off that. So, instead of doing the proper research before offering a product, the just made up a kit and hoped it was right. Take your business elsewhere, as I will do so also next time I need parts.

[spoon]

That just stinks. That is what they specialize in and they can't take the time to get it right. Thanks for the heads up tholly.

[leonk]

Not sure how the radio shack around you is, but here in Toronto (biggest city in Canada and one of the top in North America) they all SUCK!

Find through the yellow pages a local electronics store that specializes in components. You'll be buying the caps for pennies (rather than dollars!)

As far as mismatched capacitors.. the important thing is the voltages much match and the capacitance can be higher.

So if the part you're replacing is 12V 500uF. You can put in a 12V 1000uF just fine.

In fact, 1/2 the caps in Bob Roberts' cap kit are all upsized like that and still works fine.

[tholly]

Not sure how the radio shack around you is, but here in Toronto (biggest city in Canada and one of the top in North America) they all SUCK!

Find through the yellow pages a local electronics store that specializes in components. You'll be buying the caps for pennies (rather than dollars!)

As far as mismatched capacitors.. the important thing is the voltages much match and the capacitance can be higher.

So if the part you're replacing is 12V 500uF. You can put in a 12V 1000uF just fine.

In fact, 1/2 the caps in Bob Roberts' cap kit are all upsized like that and still works fine.

well my radio shack didnt have the parts and if they did the caps were $1 a piece, but there is a local electronics store that i will check

i called zanen and told him about the problem
he said that 2 of the 7 caps i told him about were def. wrong and that he would send out replacements, but he said of the other 5, they had the right uF but higher voltage which he said would be fine

you are saying that the uF can be different and the voltage must be the same and zanen said that the uF must be the same but the voltage can be different.....so which is the right way for this??

[98PaceCar]

Under NO circumstances should you ever use a capacitor that has a different uf rating that the one you are replacing. It will cause problems!

Higher voltage is fine and in a lot of cases better, but is by no means necessary. A lot of the cap kit guys (Zanen and Bob Roberts) will ship caps with a higher voltage rating as some of the caps they are replacing are difficult or expensive to find with the original voltage rating.

Again, do not ever replace a cap with a different capaticence rating or use a cap with a lower voltage rating than the one you are replacing.

[tholly]

well, after contacting zanen it was decided that i need 2 caps to be sent out. he said he would send me the ones i needed. well, a week later i get 5 caps in the mail. 4 of the 5 dont match anything that is needed or already on the monitor. the 5th one was one of the 2 that i need him to send, but it was destroyed...i.e. he sent them in a regular envelope and it got flattened.

after hoping that i would not have to completely bash this seller and hoping that he would make everything better i have to say that i DO NOT recommended zanen to anyone and i would recommend that everyone take their business elsewhere. he doesnt take the time or effort to make his sales work and just seems incompitent on the phone and in his dealings.

instead of dealing with him again, i spend extra money at a local store and bought the last 2 caps that are needed......hopefully, this will fix the monitor.

[DogP]

Wow... that sucks... I just ordered another few sets of cap kits from them, and so far I haven't had any problems. I've talked to many people in the arcade business and they all recommend Zanen. I wonder what is up, or maybe I'm just not paying attention when I do the cap kits and replacing how the paper says and not what was originally in there... maybe I'll be more careful next time I install, and when I get time I'll check back over the ones I've already done :-/.

DogP