Re: Asteroids Deluxe backlight (follow up)

What you just described is the result of a shorted starter, and the wire you
knocked off was one of the two wires to the starter. At this point you can
either just replace the starter OR repair it (HUH?)---yes, repair it. If you
carefully unbend the four tabs on the outer can of the starter you can remove
the guts. Inside you will find the "glowtube" (basically a neon bulb with a
bimetalic strip that shorts the bulb out when it gets hot then opens back up
when it cools---this all happens fairly quick), and (except for the cheapest
models, Hemco is one of them) a capacitor. "Expensive" starters will have a
ceramic capacitor, but MOST starters have a waxed paper and aluminum foil
roll. These are usually what shorts out. Just snip it off and chances are
good the starter will work normally.

What is the capacitor for? Mostly radio interference protection. Will it
cause a problem? Probably not. Never has for me.

Oddly enough, I don't usually use FS-2 starters, I use FS-20. Most hardware
stores won't have a clue on these, but they are FS-2 with the addition of a
circuit breaker and a ceramic capacitor. They cost about 10 times what an FS-2
does. If a bulb goes bad the starter will try to get it going for about 15
seconds then the circuit breaker will trip and take the starter out of the
circuit. This keeps the bulb from flashing as players are trying to play the
game. Then, when you replace the bulb, you just press the reset button on the
top of the starter and it's good as new. Where these really pay for themselves
(other than the customer not having to deal with a flashing bulb) is by saving
ballasts from burnout due to excessive starting or a shorted starter. In
normal use the starter only gets about half the powerline across it (rest is
dropped in the bulb). When the starter is closed, though, the ballast current
goes up and it has almost the entire powerline across it. It runs VERY hot
under this condition.

Noel Johnson wrote:

> Thanks everyone for all the great tips. I managed to locate a loose GE
> F15T8-BLB bulb that I had laying around. I mounted it in the game and
> noted what appears to be the original ballast and a Marvel brand FS2
> starter. I thoroughly cleaned the angled piece of lightly smoked glass
> that serves as the mirror for the monitor and also gently wiped down the
> cardbard asteroid field bezel that lies behind it. Turned on the game
> and only got a dim amount of violet light coming from each end of the
> bulb. While testing the quality of the connections to each end of the
> tube, I accidently knocked one of the four wires off that connect to the
> ends of the tube. Oddly enough, I got a significant increase in the
> amount of light coming from the bulb - with only *three* of the four
> wires attached. I thought it might just be a static charge or
> something, but the light remained on as long as I only had three of the
> four wires connected. I am still not sure if I am getting enough
> brightness, as the asteroid field is visible, but doesn't seem to really
> "glow" like I hoped it would. Can anyone tell me what's going on with
> the three wire connection and how bright should the asteroid field
> look. (it's been quite awhile since I've taken the time to really look
> at a fully restored Asteroids deluxe - to know how bright it should be).
>
> Thanks again!
> Noel Johnson
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