My First Arcade....and my first arcade problems. HELP!

[Cmosfm]

Well, I bought a working Primal Rage arcade Cab off of eBay. I got the machine yesterday, and I turned it on and it all played good and the machine looked good....but there was too much yellow and green in the moniter and it bugged the shit outta me. So i went to adjust the contrast and make sure it was aligned up well, and then the moniter went out...but sound and everything was still on. So I figured, hmmm, maybe its the fuse's? Took both fuses out and they looked just fine. I also made sure that some of the wires were hooked up, but i'm new to this, so I'm sure what I'm looking for.

Anyways, now the sound doesn't work either! When I turn it on it sounds like the moniter wants to come on, but stops about 1/2 way through and makes a sound which I can best discribe as fireworks fizzling. I've checked the Jamma board to make sure it was hooked up good....it all looks good.

So, basically what I'm looking for is some help in lamens terms...this is my first cab, and I'm afraid of shocking the hell outta myself also. So yeah, any suggestions?

[Flack]

The sound does not come from the monitor, but what they have in common are the power supply, and the PCB (printed circuit board, or the motherboard). If you're not getting video then there are a lot of things to check, but if you're not getting sound it's either the speakers, the motherboard, or the wires connecting the two.

According to KLOV, Primal Rage is a JAMMA+ board. That means you should be able to swap in any other JAMMA board (since you are new to cabinets you probably don't have another one, but you can pick a game up for as cheap as $10, sometimes less on eBay. Maybe there is someone from DP that lives close to you?) Anyway, that's the easiest way for me to check where a problem lies ... if I'm not getting video on a cabinet and I throw in a different game and I'm still not getting video, then it's a monitor problem. If I got video on the 2nd one, it's probably a motherboard problem.

If that's what it turns out to be, I see a Primal Rage PCB on eBay right now for $50, buy it now. Even a complete arcade newbie should be able to swap the PCB out in under 5 mins. That's worst case scenario though. Right off the bat I'd start checking wires and fuses like you've been doing. Follow all the wires and make sure they go "somewhere".

[Sosage]

I'd also highly suggest you search through rec.games.video.arcade (and rec.games.video.arcade.collecting) on google if you're new to this. There is a lot of information just waiting for you to dig through.

Fireworks fizzle sounds on anything arcade related, in my experience, is not normal (you might have blown something on the monitor from the sounds of it, unfortunately, I hate monitor work...because...).

As for shocking yourself, the most dangerous part of an arcade machine is the monitor (specifically the "suction cup" portion on the back...that contains enough power to knock you on your ass even when it is not "powered on"). Almost all of my zap accidents come from accidentally bumping my arm against a monitor's neck. Everything else, in comparison, is fairly safe to handle (just make sure to power off and unplug the machine when working on it as a safety precaution).

Good luck! Collecting arcade machines can become very addictive. :D

[Cmosfm]

Well, my mother knows someone who is an electrician and she's going to let him check it out, free of charge, and hopefully find the problem. I mean....if it IS an electrical problem I suppose he can find it.

I do have another Jamma board, never thought of swapping them out, I guess if we find nothing wrong this evening I can try that...it looks pretty easy at least.

[Cmosfm]

What did you do exactly to adjust the color?

If you're hearing "fireworks" from the monitor, I would guess either the flyback is gone (you'll see sparks coming from wherever the case cracked) or the tube neck was cracked (you may see sparks inside the neck).

Contrast, Brightness, Vcontrols, etc etc.

I can actually see sparks in the back when I turn it on...Im pretty well dumb on this so I dont know if it's the neck or the flyback...actually dont know what either of those are!

Electrician couldn't come out today...maybe this weekend. :(