TECH: GO-8 Fusing

[Guest]

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

Ok all here is what I'm thinking.....

When the GO-8s "catch on fire" they are doing this because of the power
transistors are shorting, right? Well what about fusing them? Say a 20
amp slo-blo glass or ceramic fuse in the little plastic fuse holders
mounted to the side of the cabinet.

I know initially this might not look good but hey it would protect the
circuit/monitor better than blowing up the game, right?

Anyway, my question is what leg would I want to fuse? The base,
emitter, or collector? Also, do I fuse it at the current limit of the
transistor or like 10% above? What formula do I use for this
calculation? I'm looking for longevity here folks and don't want to
risk a major problem down the road with "fires"

TIA,

Eric A.

 

[Guest]

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

eavedes...@comcast.net wrote:
> Ok all here is what I'm thinking.....
>
> When the GO-8s "catch on fire" they are doing this because of the
power
> transistors are shorting, right? Well what about fusing them? Say a
20
> amp slo-blo glass or ceramic fuse in the little plastic fuse holders
> mounted to the side of the cabinet.

I think someone calculated it once that more than 20 amps are going
across those transistors. They're rated for 65 amps, I believe.

> I know initially this might not look good but hey it would protect
the
> circuit/monitor better than blowing up the game, right?
>
> Anyway, my question is what leg would I want to fuse? The base,
> emitter, or collector? Also, do I fuse it at the current limit of the
> transistor or like 10% above? What formula do I use for this
> calculation? I'm looking for longevity here folks and don't want to
> risk a major problem down the road with "fires"

I think you're worrying too much . This statement is coming from
someone who runs 4 G08 monitors in their gameroom regularly.

If you're worried about "fires", do a Google of this newsgroup for
"caught" and "fire" and you'll see you'll need to also fuse every G07,
WG raster, WG Vector, and Amplifone monitor you own as well, because
they've all caught fire at one point. Sure, you'll see a lot of talk
about G08 monitors (usually the same story about how one burned up 10
years ago in an arcade; Thanks Duncan! ;-)) most of the discussions
contain a "G08 monitors aren't bad if maintained correctly", which is
the case for any monitor.

--
Mark Jenison

 

[Guest]

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

>) most of the discussions
>contain a "G08 monitors aren't bad if maintained correctly", which is
>the case for any monitor.

What maintenance needs to be done?


--
Eric A.
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[Guest]

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

Feed it the correct power, keep it ventilated - make good ground
connections. Should last quite a while. Assuming it worked to begin
with...

 

[Troy]

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

Here's some pics of one that practically exploded on me.
Bad transistors shorted, it made a very large HISS and POP.
the thing had 6 inch flames coming from two locations.
thank god I was testing it outside my game cabinet.
otherwise this thing would have liked to burn up my zektor cab.
I have worked on about 30 of these monitors and this was the first and only
one to do this, knock on wood. Most of the time they just blow some fuses.
http://troysarcade.com/GO8_fire/



Troy,


<eavedesian@comcast.net> wrote in message
news:1114653988.795132.319900@l41g2000cwc.googlegroups.com...
> Ok all here is what I'm thinking.....
>
> When the GO-8s "catch on fire" they are doing this because of the power
> transistors are shorting, right? Well what about fusing them? Say a 20
> amp slo-blo glass or ceramic fuse in the little plastic fuse holders
> mounted to the side of the cabinet.
>
> I know initially this might not look good but hey it would protect the
> circuit/monitor better than blowing up the game, right?
>
> Anyway, my question is what leg would I want to fuse? The base,
> emitter, or collector? Also, do I fuse it at the current limit of the
> transistor or like 10% above? What formula do I use for this
> calculation? I'm looking for longevity here folks and don't want to
> risk a major problem down the road with "fires"
>
> TIA,
>
> Eric A.
>

 

[Troy]

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

no comments on the burnt chassis?
anyone else ever have this happen?


Troy,


Troy <troyl@lvcm.com> wrote in message news:1%ice.199$ZN.51@fed1read07...
> Here's some pics of one that practically exploded on me.
> Bad transistors shorted, it made a very large HISS and POP.
> the thing had 6 inch flames coming from two locations.
> thank god I was testing it outside my game cabinet.
> otherwise this thing would have liked to burn up my zektor cab.
> I have worked on about 30 of these monitors and this was the first and
only
> one to do this, knock on wood. Most of the time they just blow some fuses.
> http://troysarcade.com/GO8_fire/
>
>
>
> Troy,
>
>
> <eavedesian@comcast.net> wrote in message
> news:1114653988.795132.319900@l41g2000cwc.googlegroups.com...
> > Ok all here is what I'm thinking.....
> >
> > When the GO-8s "catch on fire" they are doing this because of the power
> > transistors are shorting, right? Well what about fusing them? Say a 20
> > amp slo-blo glass or ceramic fuse in the little plastic fuse holders
> > mounted to the side of the cabinet.
> >
> > I know initially this might not look good but hey it would protect the
> > circuit/monitor better than blowing up the game, right?
> >
> > Anyway, my question is what leg would I want to fuse? The base,
> > emitter, or collector? Also, do I fuse it at the current limit of the
> > transistor or like 10% above? What formula do I use for this
> > calculation? I'm looking for longevity here folks and don't want to
> > risk a major problem down the road with "fires"
> >
> > TIA,
> >
> > Eric A.
> >
>
>

 

[Guest]

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

The GO-8 certainly have the reputation for catching fire. I passed up
a couple working ones cheap recently only because of that issue.

It's one thing to risk burning up a montor or machine, it's another to
have to worry about burning your house down. Not a risk i'm willing
to take.

I have not heard too much about this risk what other monitors. What
should I do to prevent this from my other monitors? Currently I have
an Asteroids Deluxe, Tempest, Space Invaders, electrical-mechanical
pinball and a few other classics. Should have room for about 15
machines.


Also, my new gameroom i'm working on in the basement has a very low
ceiling. About 6.5 to 7 feet. What can I do to the ceiling to make
it flame retardant?

The basement currently has a river running though it. I'm working on
solving that problem, but i'm sure at the other end of the room some
water will enter and exit out a pipe that will be put in. I'll also
be using a dehumidifier.

Is there any risk of fire under these conditions? Could dampness
cause a fire?

Thanks.

 

[Troy]

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

> The GO-8 certainly have the reputation for catching fire. I passed up
> a couple working ones cheap recently only because of that issue.

I'm always in the market for cheap GO8's

>
> It's one thing to risk burning up a montor or machine, it's another to
> have to worry about burning your house down. Not a risk i'm willing
> to take.

I only operate them basically when I'm in the same room using them.
hopefully I would catch them before my house burnt down.
Can't image running them when I was gone or something.

>
> I have not heard too much about this risk what other monitors. What
> should I do to prevent this from my other monitors? Currently I have
> an Asteroids Deluxe, Tempest, Space Invaders, electrical-mechanical
> pinball and a few other classics. Should have room for about 15
> machines.

I don't think there's to much you can do, other than make sure there
serviced.



>
> Also, my new gameroom i'm working on in the basement has a very low
> ceiling. About 6.5 to 7 feet. What can I do to the ceiling to make
> it flame retardant?
>

use a flame retardant insulation.

>
> Is there any risk of fire under these conditions? Could dampness
> cause a fire?
>

I'm not sure about dampness, I live in the desert, no moisture here.
couldn't be good though. a dehumidifier sound like a good idea.
Try to keep it heated in winter.


Troy,

 

[Guest]

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

Vector monitors blow up when they have ground problems.

Sega games were worst for that as the power supply did not have a
ground braid going between it and the monitor common - and when the
power supply cooked the common connector the monitor would burn up the
output transistors.

The simplest solution to make the monitor/game reliable is to replace
the original 5VDC power supply with a switching power supply and make
CERTAIN that you have a separate common wire for both the game board
and the monitor that is connected to the common on the new switching
power supply.

All the Sega XY games I have done this to are still working up to ten
years after I've sold them!

John :-#)#

On 27 Apr 2005 19:06:28 -0700, eavedesian@comcast.net wrote:

>Ok all here is what I'm thinking.....
>
>When the GO-8s "catch on fire" they are doing this because of the power
>transistors are shorting, right? Well what about fusing them? Say a 20
>amp slo-blo glass or ceramic fuse in the little plastic fuse holders
>mounted to the side of the cabinet.
>
>I know initially this might not look good but hey it would protect the
>circuit/monitor better than blowing up the game, right?
>
>Anyway, my question is what leg would I want to fuse? The base,
>emitter, or collector? Also, do I fuse it at the current limit of the
>transistor or like 10% above? What formula do I use for this
>calculation? I'm looking for longevity here folks and don't want to
>risk a major problem down the road with "fires"
>
>TIA,
>
>Eric A.

(Please post followups or tech enquires to the newsgroup)
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