TECH: Donkey Kong help please

[Guest]

Archived from groups: rec.games.video.arcade (More info?)

Hi-

I have an old DK upright game with a Sanyo monitor. The display has
developed horizontal white bars and is "scrunching" in on the sides. I have
made some local calls (Mpls/St. Paul) and have been told a capacitor kit
($15) will almost always fix it. Someone else told me the same thing, but
would charge me $135 to come out and do it for me. I can handle a soldering
iron pretty well, but am concerned about the voltages on the tube and
capacitors. Any advice?

Thanks for your time,
heymikey

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: rec.games.video.arcade (More info?)

My first cap kit was on a Sanyo monitor. You can get the cap kit from
Zanen Electronics for Less than $15 and It will take you an hour or so
to install. The biggest pain is all of hte stuff you need to remove to
get the board out. Once it is out it's pretty simple. Save yourself the
money and do it yourself. Just make sure you demagnetize the tube
before you start replacing the caps.

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: rec.games.video.arcade (More info?)

Here is the tutorial I used to replace the caps on my Sanyo.

http://www.arcaderestoration.com/index.asp?OPT=3&DATA=4&CBT=3

As for discharging the monitor. I used a long flat head screwdriver and
purchased a cable with alligator clips on both and and secured on end
to the metal on the screwdriver and the other end clipped to the metal
housing on the monitor.

The tutorial explains the rest..

I hope this helps

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: rec.games.video.arcade (More info?)

Thanks for the quick response!!

Newbie questions: What is the hte stuff you mention, and by demagnetize do
you mean discharge the voltage (if so, how do I safely do that)?

Thanks again,
heymikey

"clanggedin" <arcade30@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:1112212884.611671.316370@z14g2000cwz.googlegroups.com...
> My first cap kit was on a Sanyo monitor. You can get the cap kit from
> Zanen Electronics for Less than $15 and It will take you an hour or so
> to install. The biggest pain is all of hte stuff you need to remove to
> get the board out. Once it is out it's pretty simple. Save yourself the
> money and do it yourself. Just make sure you demagnetize the tube
> before you start replacing the caps.
>

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: rec.games.video.arcade (More info?)

I just did my first cap replacement on my Dig Dug monitor which uses
the same Sanyo as the DK series (20EZ if I remember correctly). The
biggest pain for me was finding each and every of the 15 or so
capacitors on the PCB and then squirming around the board to get the
old ones out and put the new ones in (I left the pcb attached to the
tube assembly). The reward was that it almost completely fixed my very
severly screwed-up Dig Dug display (was squeezing on the right side and
game was completely unplayable). I can play now - only problem is
my DIg Dug character is BLUE instead of WHITE (maybe a problem with a
chip or something on the game logic PCB).

Anyway, research the procedure HEAVILY because tubes can store voltages
in excess of 12,000 volts which can be LETHAL (even when turned off for
a while). Other parts can be HV (high-voltage) as well. Best thing to
do is use a High Voltage Probe to completely discharge the monitor
before servicing. And there is a specific way to do this.

Now, I'm not condoning this but I performed the cap replacement
procedure without discharging anything- but the machine has been turned
off for weeks. That doesn't mean there wasn't voltage inside and I was
still extremely careful. Do not mess with the suction cup on the tube
(this covers the anode hole where the voltage charge can come out and
bite you like a snake).

Steve

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: rec.games.video.arcade (More info?)

Bob Roberts sells a discharge tool, but the way I explained works just
as well. I have performed a number of cap kits on different monitors
since then and have successfully discharged them with my home made
tool.

Just be careful, but you don;t have to buy a special tool to discharge
the tube. I usually will touch the metal clip under the cap a couple of
times before I remove the suction cup, then I touch the hole again a
few more times just in case.