RE: Tech Tip - Cinematronics SPACE WARS monitor critical upgrade!

Thanks guys!

I have freeze spray at home so I'll give that a try...maybe I'll have some time this weekend. Will also check the PC voltage first :) . That's the thing...I'm not sure if this an issue with the monitor itself, or the PC, or even the power supply.

I have an extra DAC chip (just 1) if that turns out to be the problem. The monitor board has 2 of these chips, though...they are not cheap anymore, eh? ;) .

Jon

Subject: RE: VECTOR: Tech Tip - Cinematronics SPACE WARS monitor critical upgrade!
Date: Thu, 3 Jan 2013 09:06:26 -0700
From: jess@askey.org
To: vectorlist@vectorlist.org

Freeze Spray Time! Let the game warm up nicely, then systematically and carefully spray each IC on the PCB (work from the bottom up so you don’t drip/run downwards with the Freeze Spray. When you hit the one with the thermal issue, the vectors will be broken up again (and probably pretty badly) until the IC warms up again. Don’t flood the PCB, just a tiny squirt will take care of the IC, if you can get the trigger understood to get drips out of it rather than the big blast, just put a few drips on an IC at one time. Sometimes I will blast a region of the PCB to at least figure out which area the issue is in initially. Now, your monitor also has the DAC portion of the circuit on it if my memory serves me correctly, so you may have the issue on the monitor. Others should chime in here. There are a couple things to understand if you will be poking around in the monitor with freeze spray.. 1. DON’T SPRAY THE PICTURE TUBE (especially the neck) – very bad things may happen. If you are careful this shouldn’t be an issue2. There are high voltages in the monitor, be aware of where they are and avoid spraying the monitor High Voltage sections. Again if you are careful, this shouldn’t be an issue, you are only targeting the DAC and support chips. Hope that helps… the good news is that you should be able to fix this pretty easily! jess From: owner-vectorlist@vectorlist.org [mailto:owner-vectorlist@vectorlist.org] On Behalf Of Jonathan Koolpe
Sent: Thursday, January 3, 2013 12:06 AM
To: vectorlist@vectorlist.org
Subject: RE: VECTOR: Tech Tip - Cinematronics SPACE WARS monitor critical upgrade! While we're on the subject of Cinematronics monitors...

I have a Star Castle on loan from a friend. It works fine but for one oddity:

When the machine is first powered on, the vectors are very scattered and skewed...but usually after about 5-15 minutes, they "settle" down and the picture is fine...very clear and crisp in fact. My friend (the owner) said that this is the way this monitor has always been since he picked up the machine (from Zonn Moore no less :) ).

But the other night I had the game on for a couple of hours, and the vectors never quite settled down all the way. The game was still playable, and the center of the screen was fine, but as your ship would move to the edges of the screen, the vectors would still break apart (for lack of a better description). The text on the score screen was also somewhat off even after the couple of hours.

I'm thinking maybe it was the fact that it's winter and my garage is cold...but I'm in California (near San Francisco) so it's not that cold...say in the upper 40s when I had the game on the other day...

I have never worked on a Cinematronics monitor before...is there anything I can try to possibly fix this problem?

Jon> Date: Wed, 2 Jan 2013 21:30:19 -0800
> From: pinball@telus.net
> To: vectorlist@vectorlist.org
> Subject: Re: VECTOR: Tech Tip - Cinematronics SPACE WARS monitor critical upgrade!
>
> Pat Danis wrote:
> > Thanks John. Wasn't aware of that bulletin. I have 3 of these
> > machines. I'll have to dig them out and check them at some point.
> >
> > Pat
>
> I imagine this advisory applies to both Cinematronics and Vectorbeam
> monitors.
>
> While you are in there you may want to consider replacing the
> electrolytic caps in the HV section (and probably all of the caps in
> that monitor - what the heck). These are getting old, and can lead to HV
> drive transistor failure.
>
> Note the original caps may even seem OK in static tests - I had used
> both a ESR and Capacitor meter on these and they tested OK, but after
> replacing them the HV worked as it should.
>
> Need to do some more tests on Friday when I get back to the shop as
> there are interesting differences between the Vectorbeam and
> Cinematronic monitors that I wish to report on to the group as a short
> list of suggested upgrades.
>
> John :-#)#
> >
> > On 1/2/2013 1:08 PM, John Robertson wrote:
> >> Been going through my Vectorbeam files as I am adding my NOS
> >> Vectorbeam stock to flippers/catalog site and found this notice that
> >> you guys may (or may not) be aware of:
> >>
> >> ---------------------------------------(quote)----------------------------------------
> >>
> >>
> >> SERVICE BULLETIN
> >> CINEMATRONICS' SPACE WARS
> >>
> >> It has been brought to our attention that the windings of the high
> >> voltage transformer located under the copper coloured (sic - writer
> >> must have been a Brit or a Canadian! - JR) shield on the monitor
> >> chassis P.C. Board have a breakdown temperature of 50 centigrade, and
> >> the operating temperature under the shield sometimes reaches 70
> >> centigrade causing a resistor to burn out.
> >>
> >> To rectify this problem, remove the monitor and add a 1/8 inch spacer
> >> (two or three metal washers or one nut) between each side of the
> >> shield and the P.C. Board, allowing more air to circulate and bring
> >> the operating temperature down to tolerable levels.
> >>
> >> This change, which may be done on location, should NOT be disregarded
> >> as repairs are costly and down time is worse.
> >>
> >> ------------------------------(end
> >> quote)----------------------------------
> >>
> >> John :-#)#
> >>
> >
> > ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
> >
> > ** Unsubscribe, subscribe, or view the archives at
> > http://www.vectorlist.org
> > ** Please direct other questions, comments, or problems to
> > chris@westnet.com
> >
>
>
> --
> John's Jukes Ltd. 2343 Main St., Vancouver, BC, Canada V5T 3C9
> Call (604)872-5757 or Fax 872-2010 (Pinballs, Jukes, VideoGames)
> www.flippers.com
> "Old pinballers never die, they just flip out"
>
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Received on Thu Jan 3 13:50:25 2013