Monitor (click sound) and Marquee light Not Working

[Srkmagnus]

Hello Everyone,

I am new to arcade machine owning and have been trying to learn a lot about how it works. Long story short I have a NAOMI MVC2 machine with a VGA monitor, which I had hooked up a Xbox 360 and PS3 using a VGA switcher. Everything was working fine and I was hooking up a capture card to the PS3 when I noticed the marquee light not working. I switched back to the arcade Video output and there is no picture and a clicking (or ticking) sound that I didn’t notice before. I can hear the game so no issues with audio just no video. To summarize:

- No video on VGA monitor and there is a ticking sound (see video)

- No light on the marquee

- Coin slots DO have light.

I have searched and seems like it could be a bad monitor. But no light in the marquee and power to coin slots lead me to believe it could be a power supply issue. I plan on picking up a tester to check the power supply tomorrow. But in the meantime wanted to see if anyone has ideas on what it could be and if the ticking sound from the screen is a power cycling issue (that’s what I found searching).

Here is a video of the clicking sound. The lights in the back are from the coin slot. Angle

https://photos.app.goo.gl/sn4jcA2x6hMKdb1i6

Any thoughts would be appreciated.

Thanks in advance!

Chris

 

[nem]

AC from your wall powers the monitor, marquee light and PSU. Your PSU outputs DC voltage for the game board. Coin slots are usually powered by the PSU too. If you weren't getting AC at all, your game wouldn't be running. It could be a power distribution problem, but I doubt it.

Verify this by measuring that you're getting a full 120V on the monitor and marquee light. Unplug the power leads that plug into the monitor and the light, set your multimeter to AC voltage and put the meter leads in the connector housings.

Don't have a multimeter? Get one.

What's the make of the monitor?

 

[Srkmagnus]

AC from your wall powers the monitor, marquee light and PSU. Your PSU outputs DC voltage for the game board. Coin slots are usually powered by the PSU too. If you weren't getting AC at all, your game wouldn't be running. It could be a power distribution problem, but I doubt it.

Verify this by measuring that you're getting a full 120V on the monitor and marquee light. Unplug the power leads that plug into the monitor and the light, set your multimeter to AC voltage and put the meter leads in the connector housings.

Don't have a multimeter? Get one.

What's the make of the monitor?

I appreciate you’re reply!

Picking up a multimeter today and will report back results. the chassis has two stickers: PVG/Semco and another that says Sharp Image repair/service and number (I assume this is a repair co.).

 

[nem]

Looks like a Wei-Ya. These were rebranded often under different names.

Sharp's a repair company, yes.

 

[nassekova]

I had exactly same ticking sound with my Hantarex Polo when the HOT was broken/wrong kind of part. So perhaps check your chassis HOT (Horizontal Output Transformer)? Or then it is some kind of voltage problem like you suggested and it triggers that over voltage safety mechanism which makes that ticking sound.

 

[Srkmagnus]

Looks like a Wei-Ya. These were rebranded often under different names.

Sharp's a repair company, yes.

I had exactly same ticking sound with my Hantarex Polo when the HOT was broken/wrong kind of part. So perhaps check your chassis HOT (Horizontal Output Transformer)? Or then it is some kind of voltage problem like you suggested and it triggers that over voltage safety mechanism which makes that ticking sound.

Thank you, both. I’ll report back voltage check a little later today. Appreciate the help.

 

[Srkmagnus]

Quick update that I tested all three power sources coming out of the power supply (monitor, marquee, and Game board).

The line powering the game board is receiving 5V power. I checked At the controls and receiving 5V to the joy sticks, so seems like power is moving through that line no problem.

The monitor and marquee lines out of the power supply have no power.

Am I safe to assume that replacing the power supply is what I should do? Not sure if there is a fuse inside that I can check but if there are other ideas I’m all ears.

Thank you again for the information to help me figure out what’s happening.


Chris

 

[Srkmagnus]

@nem and @nassekova here are pictures of the power supply if it helps.

 

[nassekova]

Quick update that I tested all three power sources coming out of the power supply (monitor, marquee, and Game board).

The line powering the game board is receiving 5V power. I checked At the controls and receiving 5V to the joy sticks, so seems like power is moving through that line no problem.

The monitor and marquee lines out of the power supply have no power.

Am I safe to assume that replacing the power supply is what I should do? Not sure if there is a fuse inside that I can check but if there are other ideas I’m all ears.

Thank you again for the information to help me figure out what’s happening.


Chris

If the lines are dead I would change the PSU. I have Meanwells on all my setups and so far they are running great. Chinese caps inside on everything these days, but you can always re-cap them in advance if want to play safe and keep them going for longer times.

https://www.meanwelldirect.co.uk/pr...me/104w-ac-dc-triple-output-for-video-game-4/

 

[nem]

Am I safe to assume that replacing the power supply is what I should do? Not sure if there is a fuse inside that I can check but if there are other ideas I’m all ears.

First, double check that you're not getting AC out from the PSU. Are you sure? It's a different setting on the multimeter than DC.

OK, then, still nothing?

It's possible that the AC output from the PSU is behind a fuse, which could have blown for reasons unknown. However, there's no reason to swap the PSU. There's nothing wrong with the DC output. The PSU does absolutely nothing to the AC output, except maybe protects it with a fuse. It's just a distribution point.

Open up the PSU and see where the AC lines come from. Is there a fuse nearby? If there is, great. If it's glass and visibly burned, it's blown. If it's a ceramic one, you'll have to check it with a multimeter. Put your multimeter on continuity / diode check, and put your meter leads on both sides of the fuse. Is there continuity? If there isn't, the fuse is blown. If the fuse is in a holder, pop it out. If it's soldered, you or someone will need to desolder it. The fuse will have an amp rating written on one end. Buy atleast three or four replacements. The likelihood of you blowing one soon after is somewhat high.

Once you have the replacement in, and the PSU back in its place, don't just plug everything in. If you plug in both the marquee and the monitor and the fuse goes, you still have no idea which one is faulty. Just plug either one. For instance, first plug in the marquee light. Flip on the power. If the marquee light lights up, cool, that isn't the issue. Then you can plug in the monitor. If the monitor works too, awesome. You managed to create a short somehow, but it didn't break anything. If the monitor doesn't work, well, we're going to tackle that if it comes to it.

EDIT: This all said, I would be somewhat surprised if there's a separate fuse for the AC output. There's a circuit breaker on the back of the PSU, it's next to the red light. If you had blown something on the AC line, IMO that should have gone, and the PSU wouldn't be outputting anything, AC or DC. But I have been surprised by things before. To reiterate, check that your measuring AC correctly. Measure it from the end of power plug that connects to the cab, so you're absolutely sure you're getting a reading.

 

[Srkmagnus]

Quick update that I tested all three power sources coming out of the power supply (monitor, marquee, and Game board).

The line powering the game board is receiving 5V power. I checked At the controls and receiving 5V to the joy sticks, so seems like power is moving through that line no problem.

The monitor and marquee lines out of the power supply have no power.

Am I safe to assume that replacing the power supply is what I should do? Not sure if there is a fuse inside that I can check but if there are other ideas I’m all ears.

Thank you again for the information to help me figure out what’s happening.


Chris

If the lines are dead I would change the PSU. I have Meanwells on all my setups and so far they are running great. Chinese caps inside on everything these days, but you can always re-cap them in advance if want to play safe and keep them going for longer times.
https://www.meanwelldirect.co.uk/pr...me/104w-ac-dc-triple-output-for-video-game-4/

Am I safe to assume that replacing the power supply is what I should do? Not sure if there is a fuse inside that I can check but if there are other ideas I’m all ears.

First, double check that you're not getting AC out from the PSU. Are you sure? It's a different setting on the multimeter than DC.

OK, then, still nothing?

It's possible that the AC output from the PSU is behind a fuse, which could have blown for reasons unknown. However, there's no reason to swap the PSU. There's nothing wrong with the DC output. The PSU does absolutely nothing to the AC output, except maybe protects it with a fuse. It's just a distribution point.

Open up the PSU and see where the AC lines come from. Is there a fuse nearby? If there is, great. If it's glass and visibly burned, it's blown. If it's a ceramic one, you'll have to check it with a multimeter. Put your multimeter on continuity / diode check, and put your meter leads on both sides of the fuse. Is there continuity? If there isn't, the fuse is blown. If the fuse is in a holder, pop it out. If it's soldered, you or someone will need to desolder it. The fuse will have an amp rating written on one end. Buy atleast three or four replacements. The likelihood of you blowing one soon after is somewhat high.

Once you have the replacement in, and the PSU back in its place, don't just plug everything in. If you plug in both the marquee and the monitor and the fuse goes, you still have no idea which one is faulty. Just plug either one. For instance, first plug in the marquee light. Flip on the power. If the marquee light lights up, cool, that isn't the issue. Then you can plug in the monitor. If the monitor works too, awesome. You managed to create a short somehow, but it didn't break anything. If the monitor doesn't work, well, we're going to tackle that if it comes to it.

EDIT: This all said, I would be somewhat surprised if there's a separate fuse for the AC output. There's a circuit breaker on the back of the PSU, it's next to the red light. If you had blown something on the AC line, IMO that should have gone, and the PSU wouldn't be outputting anything, AC or DC. But I have been surprised by things before. To reiterate, check that your measuring AC correctly. Measure it from the end of power plug that connects to the cab, so you're absolutely sure you're getting a reading.

@nassekova and @nem I will be confirming power readings and checking things out in the power supply this week as soon as I have time.

Would the tick in the monitor still occur assuming I took accurate power readings and there was no juice from the PSU to the monitor?

 

[nem]

The tick means your monitor chassis is faulty in some way.

 

[Srkmagnus]

The tick means your monitor chassis is faulty in some way.

Thank you! Will post updates when I am able to get to it.

 

[Srkmagnus]

Update:

Just double checked power and getting AC of 120 out of the monitor and marquee lines.

This tells me that something is up with the monitor and possibly the bulb of the marquee may be popped. I took it out the other day and didn’t see anything that may have lead me to believe the bulb was burnt, but didn’t test like I should have.

From what I read the monitor issue could be the Flyback or something else, but if it’s for this monitor that may not be an easy fix, correct? From this point it’s a little out of my expertise, and though I am sure with some time and patience I can learn what the problem is. Working with a friend to get it looked at.

Thank you both for you’re help!

 

[gunblade]

most likely the issue will be the horizontal output transistor short as already mentioned

 

[Srkmagnus]

After going back and tracing what I was doing When the monitor went out I realize that I did hit the degaussing button for sure once possible a second time. Stupid me.

Hope to have it back up and running soon or replaced.

 

[Franco23444]

This has happened to me when I got a zaxxon arcade for free. It had everything but it was untested. I plug it in and I had an annoying ticking sound and the marquee light was dead. I looked inside the cabinet psu and monitor transformer to see if I could see something. All I saw was layers of old dust until I found a burnt fuse. I changed it and it started working again.

 

[Srkmagnus]

This has happened to me when I got a zaxxon arcade for free. It had everything but it was untested. I plug it in and I had an annoying ticking sound and the marquee light was dead. I looked inside the cabinet psu and monitor transformer to see if I could see something. All I saw was layers of old dust until I found a burnt fuse. I changed it and it started working again.

Thanks for the information!

I ended up purchasing a new power supply before I retested the current power supply to make sure I was checking for correct power out of the lines. After a retest the marquee and screen lines had power, and I have since pulled the panel off the marquee and the light bulb is dimly lit (can't see it with the marquee in). I am getting less than 120v at a second connection to the marquee, so although I suspect the bulb may need to be replaced and there may be another issue with the monitor, I am still going to try the new PSU when it arrives.

Your post gives me hope lol . Although I can check for fuses in the current PSU since one is already on its way figured I'll just wait until it arrives and plug it in.

Hope to report back positive results in the coming days.

Thanks again for your feedback!

Chris