AboutOctane Expertise I can answer questions on Arcade or Home Console repair or modification.
Experience Repair, rewire, modification, rebuild, restore. (I repair numerous business and private Arcade machines in my area of the state. I partner with a shop that stocks older console based systems and games, I am the on that repairs them back to working order.)
Education/Credentials Have been building, customizing and repairing all types of arcade games for the last 4 years. I have been repairing and modifying video games since the late 80's. (Most of my knowledge is self learnt and following others that have trailblazed in the industry.)
Expert: Octane Date: 8/24/2008 Subject: question about williams stargate defender upright arcade
Question I just recently bought a williams defender uprght arcade game..Bought it a a auction, they said it worked, so I believed them, that was my biggest mistake. It didn't work, So why I have money wrapped up in a nonworking arcade I would like to maybe somehow fix it if all possible. When I got it home I plugged it in and nothing came on did not get any video or audio. The lights came on the machine. it acted like the coin mechs didn't work for I tried to put money in to get credits on game nothing. then I procended to take the back off to get to the pbc boards. I noticed on the main board there was battery corrosion on the battery terminal. it did not look like it got onto board. (I figured it was to keep high score and whatever else that need to have power to when machine shuts off.) So, I was not worried about that too much (hope I was right on that one). Then, I proceeded onto the next board, which was the rom pcb board. I noticed that one there, there was a led number light on it well that did not come on when I turned on game. Then I proceeded to the power supply board..I notice there are 3 led lights on that board..all of them came on except for one so that means that there is something out but not sure what. I looked at the wiring schematics, I could not find out where the led lights goto. and when I do turn it on there is a light humming noise to it..I did find a reset button on it pressed that and did nothing. then I found a test button on the power board I think, and when I pressed that button on the power board I could here it going through stages, but could not see anything. Here is what I gathered from looking at the arcade, if you could give me so assistace that would be great..I just want to be able to get what I need so I can get it to work agian..
thanks,
Josh
Answer Gday Josh,
Now older arcades machines might be fine but as soon as you move them the movement about might short something out, bump older dust, disconnect something. etc. (So it may have been working just when it got moved it has problems. I work for a couple of places and as soon as them move there machines 3 feet they stop working or have problems. Even a simple bump occasionally causes problems.)
Your theory with the battery is sound. They are used for highest score and saving machine settings. So I would not worry too much about it at the moment.
The humming you hear is probably the monitor. So we can assume it is working or at least getting power to it.
The test button on the power board which you pressed and you could here it going thru some sounds is really the sound card check. (If it makes sounds then you have a working sound card)
Your starting point is the power supply. If it does not light up those 3 LED your are in a world of hurt. Those 3 LED represent the 3 different voltages the machine needs to work. Power supply is usually the biggest pain in the butt in the Defender machine. If one of them is not lighting up that means you are missing one of the voltages and thus the machine will not work.
I would first do a couple of things. (I would also think about investing in a multimeter and a solder iron because you will need these as a minimum.
Download a manual which can be found at http://www.robotron-2084.co.uk/manualsdefender.html which helps 10 fold and has a good trouble shooting guide. (even if you only have a simple knowledge of electronics this will help.)
Secondly (with the machine turned off) Disconnect and reconnect every molex plug you see coming off any PCB circuit board. (Sometimes even this helps) Occasionally something will jar loose when you move the machine. Start with the power supply at the bottom and work your way up.
Thirdly check all fuses on the Power supply. One of them may have blown which is a really simple fix. It has a 5 fuses.
Make sure they are okay and they are the correct fuse.
Fourth you might want to take out the power supply PCB and check the back side of the board occasionally the pins for the connectors need to have solder flowed over them again. Check for obvious burn or short outs which may point to why it is failing. Or anything that looks like it is blown or burst. (It has a number of capacitors I would check them for bulging or being popped and a bridge rectifier, the big square thing, that burn up. You can buy rebuild kits to fix up your power supply as good as new.)
From there it is a little harder as you would then have to check voltages on the power supply in various places to see if it is outputting them correctly.
Here is another good reference page in regards to power.
Again once you get the power working properly you can move on from there, again this is the biggest problem on Defender machines. (After that monitors are the next biggest pain).
