Hello,
Signed up here after VAPS went down. They've been down for quite a while and I'm a bit desperate to get my machine going before Halloween (assuming there IS a Halloween this year.) :/
Just a preface: I'm relatively new to arcades and I'm not terribly technically minded, though I do know how to solder even if I don't know what a part does. I've recapped a two-dozen vintage computers as well as 2 CRTs (Joust and Defender), and most recently my Defender power supply.
So I have an original Williams Defender arcade in almost mint condition (I'm the second owner). Had it set up last year for Halloween (along with Joust, Centipede, and a skill crane.) Someone tripped on the power main power cord and forced the power to go on/off quickly. All my machines restarted and came back up, except for my Defender. I shut it off, turned it back on, and nothing happened. No sound, no picture, nothing. I looked inside the cabinet and all 4 diagnostic LEDs are lit. According to my manual they're used for error codes ... well, it doesn't have a situation where all 4 are lit.
Back on VAPS I was told I should invest in a good mutli-meter before continuing, all I had was an old cheezy Radio Shack. So I finally got a Brymen BM257s that was on sale. I tested the power supply, and something was wrong. The voltages were way off on some of the pins (I THINK the 12v was closer to 7v, and the 5v was running high.) Unfortunately, I didn't write down what was wrong and I don't remember which pins were reading wrong, which I now realize in hindsight it could have been really useful in diagnosing.
The giant capacitor had a broken lead and was bulging on the negative terminal. One other capacitor was dented in the middle like it had been pinched by a pair of pliers. There was some electrolytic spillage, too.
The original owner apparently recapped the power supply, but used the completely wrong capacitors. The larger capacitor was connected over lamp chord. I think it have contributed to the failure.
In any event, I cleaned and recapped the power supply, and everything now reads perfectly. I had hoped that was the only problem, but unfortunately the 4 LEDs are still on. The good thing is that I hear the bong again when it turns on. I noticed that it does that on my Joust as well. It'll do an audible bong, THEN do the startup sound for Defender or Joust. Before the power supply recap, there was no bong. It was dead silent. So I guess that's an improvement.
Anyway, I'm at the point where I don't know how to proceed. I've recapped the bad power supply (something died when the power was tripped), but it didn't fix the overall issue. I'm worried that the flaky power supply and bad giant capacitor caused a surge and killed something. All the fuses are good, though. I even put in brand new fuses, but no change.
I do have a working Williams Joust which I've read shares a lot of the same parts as Defender. I don't know if that can be used to help diagnose the Defender.
Thanks,
oP
Signed up here after VAPS went down. They've been down for quite a while and I'm a bit desperate to get my machine going before Halloween (assuming there IS a Halloween this year.) :/
Just a preface: I'm relatively new to arcades and I'm not terribly technically minded, though I do know how to solder even if I don't know what a part does. I've recapped a two-dozen vintage computers as well as 2 CRTs (Joust and Defender), and most recently my Defender power supply.
So I have an original Williams Defender arcade in almost mint condition (I'm the second owner). Had it set up last year for Halloween (along with Joust, Centipede, and a skill crane.) Someone tripped on the power main power cord and forced the power to go on/off quickly. All my machines restarted and came back up, except for my Defender. I shut it off, turned it back on, and nothing happened. No sound, no picture, nothing. I looked inside the cabinet and all 4 diagnostic LEDs are lit. According to my manual they're used for error codes ... well, it doesn't have a situation where all 4 are lit.
Back on VAPS I was told I should invest in a good mutli-meter before continuing, all I had was an old cheezy Radio Shack. So I finally got a Brymen BM257s that was on sale. I tested the power supply, and something was wrong. The voltages were way off on some of the pins (I THINK the 12v was closer to 7v, and the 5v was running high.) Unfortunately, I didn't write down what was wrong and I don't remember which pins were reading wrong, which I now realize in hindsight it could have been really useful in diagnosing.
The giant capacitor had a broken lead and was bulging on the negative terminal. One other capacitor was dented in the middle like it had been pinched by a pair of pliers. There was some electrolytic spillage, too.The original owner apparently recapped the power supply, but used the completely wrong capacitors. The larger capacitor was connected over lamp chord. I think it have contributed to the failure.
In any event, I cleaned and recapped the power supply, and everything now reads perfectly. I had hoped that was the only problem, but unfortunately the 4 LEDs are still on. The good thing is that I hear the bong again when it turns on. I noticed that it does that on my Joust as well. It'll do an audible bong, THEN do the startup sound for Defender or Joust. Before the power supply recap, there was no bong. It was dead silent. So I guess that's an improvement.
Anyway, I'm at the point where I don't know how to proceed. I've recapped the bad power supply (something died when the power was tripped), but it didn't fix the overall issue. I'm worried that the flaky power supply and bad giant capacitor caused a surge and killed something.
All the fuses are good, though. I even put in brand new fuses, but no change.I do have a working Williams Joust which I've read shares a lot of the same parts as Defender. I don't know if that can be used to help diagnose the Defender.
Thanks,
oP
