My Craigslist find (Ms. Pac-Man)

[mrdude]

As inspired by John and then suggested to post here by the person on reddit.

http://imgur.com/a/Fck2c

He had this episode of a non-working Craigslist find for $50. I thought to myself, "With the power of the internet and everyone's skills combined, I can fix this machine!"

Thanks for the motivation John!

The plan for this machine is to get it up and running. Currently, it isn't working. The marquee turns on with the power, but that all I have noticed so far. I see some faint glows from the back of the monitor, but that's it. I haven't checked anything else yet. This game was grabbed at the request of my wife! It is the one game she would like for the basement, even though she is addicted to Space Invaders. Believe it or not, she said she would even help with this project too! How cute, a husband and wife project!

This will be my first game that goes from non-working to working (hopefully) project. Expect many posts from me after I've exhausted the Googles.

Side note: This cabinet fit in my wife's 2010 Subaru Forester. The front seats were a little tight but I managed the ride.

I finally got a few minutes to open the back and check everything out...Or at least poke around. Today I learned that you can pull the interlocking switch out and it will stay on vs. trying to keep holding it in to keep power going.

The marquee lights up and I hear static or noise coming from the monitor, but no picture. There is a tube in the back that has a faint glow...it looks like a light bulb that has been dimmed all of the way. It looks like it is the original monitor based on the 1982 date stamp I saw.

The power switch on the top has been cut so that is useless.

The power cord looks like it has been butchered and the ground prong is gone. That needs to be fixed. I was hoping I'd hear some sound but I don't know what the start up is like. I tried putting a couple of credits in but nothing happened. I didn't check the fuses but that's next when I have more time.

[lordkahless214]

Welcome to the forum, that is a very nice, restorable cabinet you have there, and having neck glow on the monitor is always good.

On ms pacman cabs you can try a few things to get it going, the first is to remove the little FCC filter board that sits between the wiring harness and the game PCB, these can often prevent the game from working at all or cause problems. it can be seen in your picture labeled "Game board".

Also, you should definitely check the fuses and fuse holders in the bottom of the cab, if you have a multimeter, you can check them with that, visual inspection is not reliable.

If you haven't watched them yet, John's videos on the pacman cabaret restore will help since the electrical stuff is almost identical.

that can get you started, keep up us updated on your progress!

[computerfixerguy]

Second that, man. Trash the RFI filter board and check your fuses with a multi meter. Do that then report back!!

[iankellogg]

Glad to see you signed up! If you need any help just post for help and we will do our best!

[mrdude]

Thanks guys! Appreciate it. I'm hoping this weekend to get into the machine a little more. Between the end of the school year (I'm teacher), an almost 5 month old, finishing the basement, and mountain biking, time can be difficult to find.

Not to mention the project I will be picking up tomorrow...pictures to follow!

[videolast]

Also, you should definitely check the fuses and fuse holders in the bottom of the cab, if you have a multimeter, you can check them with that, visual inspection is not reliable.

One additional step to this tip......pull each fuse and check it out of the cabinet.... I used the multimeter on each fuse at first when I got my Pole Position and they all checked out.. so I did a bunch more stuff for days and still could not get the game to go on... after inspecting the fuses again I found out that one of the fuses was unwelded on the inside and even thou it was making contact with the end cap, the voltage was not all going thru. Actually the glass and inside fuse came right off when I pulled it and realized the problem was the fuse was just too old... so don't test the fuses on the fuse block, if possible replace fuses too. After all the work that we put on replacing worn out parts why not replace the fuses too?

[mrdude]

Trash the RFI filter board and check your fuses with a multi meter. Do that then report back!!

Thanks guys!

Took it out and now we are in business!!!  Part of the board is in rough shape and may cause some issues down the line I'm thinking...

I need to fine tune the monitor. It looks like there is a wave going through it while you play. Then perhaps a cap kit will take care of that? A rejuve (John???)?

Some pictures below in an updated album (I should really register on imgur...)









http://imgur.com/a/67UVq

[computerfixerguy]

TOTALLY AWESOME Grab a cap kit from iankellogg on this very forum, then post more pics to show us how great it looks...

[lordkahless214]

That is indeed great news! it looks like you have a burnt edge connector, easily fixed with copper tape, you may also want to replace the harness edge connector as well, John covered this in one of his Pacman videos.

the "flag" wave indicates to me that the B+ is out of spec, so a cap kit should help fix it, make sure you get and replace the large filter cap on the monitor board as well as this is part of the B+ circuit, although the wave can also be caused by the fuse holders as well.

Glad you got it working 

[mrdude]

Thanks!

So I've noticed that the red color tends to cut in and out. I noticed that when opening and closing the coin door...It would some times flicker on/off. Also on a couple of occasions of closing the coin door the game reset. My guess is that there is a short somewhere?  

Would the cap kit fix the red? Or is that a tube issue?

Also, there is a ground strap that is connected to the filter board that I removed. Should I concern myself with reattaching it to something else or just remove it completely?

[lordkahless214]

Well the red cutting out leads me to suspect one (or more) of these things, the RGB headers may have cracked solder joints, which can be re-flowed, the red transistor could be going out (or needs to be re-flowed), the game harness and or monitor header connector plug is dirty or bad, or even a dirty/loose neckboard socket. It shouldn't be a tube issue because it would usually be weak or missing all of the time, the fact that the coin door affects it says to me there is probably something loose and just needs to be re-flowed. That dried up old solder can wreck havoc on these types of circuits.

cap kit may help this issue, just be sure to reflow those headers while you are in there.

the game resetting is caused by the tilt/slam switch on the coin door, it is attached to the coin door lock, looks like a leaf switch. And it resets by design to prevent people trying to abuse the coindoor to get free credits, if it is doing it too easily just adjust the switch a little.

the ground can be hooked someplace else if you wish or you can just tuck it out of the way, it's just there to protect from static discharge and the game board is typically already grounded through the harness. I would probably try to hook it up, but only because I'm super anal about that stuff  

[mrdude]

Thanks! very useful info. I appreciate it and will update further. Time to order that cap kit and a solder sucker...I have a feeling it may take a while with desoldering braid.

Any good resources for finding a normal speed ms. pacman? The wife doesn't like it playing super fast...and this is her game and all.

[lordkahless214]

Well, if you have access to an EPROM burner, simply download the Mame set and burn rom 6F (the one that controls speed) and swap it out.

If you do not have access to one, and most of us don't during our early days, you can order the rom you need from lots of places, Mike's Arcade, Arcadeshop.com and hobbyroms are three that immediately come to mind, you just email any of those places and tell them what you want, it's usually under $20. to have it done. Also ebay sellers often have the different rom speeds for sale as well.

There are also a few members on here that will burn EPROMS for you, but you would have to ask in the buy/sell/wanted section because I forget who does it.
I myself have the burner but do not have any blank chips on hand, I just order them as needed to fix my boards.

Another option available to you is that there are a few MS Pacman multi addon kits out there you can install that will let you pick different games and speed variations, might want to look into that if you like variety 

[yks104]

Best of luck, looks great so far. I'm working on a cabaret myself...