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Best Voltage Settings For These Games

UltraCombo

UltraCombo

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Hey Guys,

My SuperGun is arriving in a few days, and I can't wait to start playing these boards I've collected. I've seen in various threads the topic of proper voltage coming up again and again. Would you guys kindly fill me in for which voltage is best to set my SuperGun to for these boards? Thanks in advance!

Best Voltage:
Aliens
Battletoads
Simpsons
TMNT
Killer Instinct
Golden Axe
Popeye
 
5v
5v
5v
5.0v
5.00v
5v
5v

(You measure and adjust the voltage on your power supply each time you switch boards, so that the 5v jamma pins are receiving 5v. The supergun just relays the power.

If for some reason that isn’t working, measure the 5v pin on a rom or logic chip directly on the pcb and not in the sound section. But the edge is easier. There is some slight drop between the edge and the logic chips but we’re talking about 5.05 at the edge dropping .05 to be 5.00 at a chip. Buy a multimeter, and measure the 5v rail while the board is plugged in and turned on i.e. “under load”.)

Moar:
View: https://youtu.be/vkMZRKH0h-c
 
Last edited:
ekorz said:
5v
5v
5v
5.0v
5.00v
5v
5v

(You measure and adjust the voltage on your power supply each time you switch boards, so that the 5v jamma pins are receiving 5v. The supergun just relays the power.

If for some reason that isn’t working, measure the 5v pin on a rom or logic chip directly on the pcb and not in the sound section. But the edge is easier. There is some slight drop between the edge and the logic chips but we’re talking about 5.05 at the edge dropping .05 to be 5.00 at a chip. Buy a multimeter, and measure the 5v rail while the board is plugged in and turned on i.e. “under load”.)

Moar:
View: https://youtu.be/vkMZRKH0h-c
Click to expand...
Thank you. I’m seeing a trend here lol. The power supply I have has an adjustable 5v rail and the SG has a multimeter on it. The PSU’s dial is currently at 5.15v.
Does that mean I should turn it down to 5.0?
 
AaronNM1 said:
The voltage will change once a board is connected. Then adjust it to 5v
Click to expand...
Ok I think I’m getting it now. If I’m understanding properly, basically all games want to be at 5v. However once power is run through them, each board channels the power uniquely, thus the operator needing to dial up/down the voltage. Must be related to the efficiency/quality of components and different tolerances between manufacturers.
 
UltraCombo said:
Ok I think I’m getting it now. If I’m understanding properly, basically all games want to be at 5v. However once power is run through them, each board channels the power uniquely, thus the operator needing to dial up/down the voltage. Must be related to the efficiency/quality of components and different tolerances between manufacturers.
Click to expand...
It's not the quality or manufacturer of the components that matters, it is more the total power draw.
As a rule of thumb, more components mean a higher power draw. Bigger boards will draw more power because they have more components and longer traces, hence higher losses.
The tolerance is pretty much the same for all components, 5% in general.
So... tl;dr: set the voltage at 5V.
 
just realize when you adjust your 5v, ur adjusting your 12v as well. keep that in mind when you are making adjustments. for example, if a board is running at 5v on the 5 volt but 12.5 on the 12v, u def wanna lower it. the boards have decent tolerances so u can run most boards on 4.8 volts and everything will work properly. understand that each series of boards, while following the jamma standard, are not all created equal and some wil be very picky when it comes to voltage. i hear irem boards can be that way. i run my big red set to exactly 5v at the jamma edge for my 4 slot MVS. this same setting will get me 5.06 on my taito f3 multi, 4.76 on my cps2 multi, 4.88 with my STV multi, and 4.98 on my seibu spi with raiden fighters. the cps2 is a little low for most ppl, but everything still runs well. for me to read a full 5 volts on the cps2 would cause my 12v to be closer to 13v than 12... im by no means an expert, but i dont think that would be good for my speakers or anything else using 12v. theres so many variables to take into account so your experience will likely be different than mine, but best advice i could offer is to set the cheapest board you have to as close to 5v and 12v as you can, and see how the rest of your boards take that voltage setting. you can tweak from there.
 
@imbord3rlin3 you're sort of right. The voltages are tied together on cheaper PSUs for sure, but some let you dial in all the voltages separately. So the best advice is to upgrade your PSU so you have full control over all required voltages. Second best advice would be actually to dial in your 5v rail to 5.00v and let the 12v float. It's all about getting longevity out of the parts involved, they have an ideal and a tolerance. Some boards don't use 12v. If they do, it's for audio. Also:

tolerance of 5% on 5v is +/- 0.25v, so 4.75 to 5.25v.
tolerance of 5% on 12v is +/- 0.6v, so 11.4 to 12.6v.
So you have more 'room" for the 12v to be off, but within tolerance.

Beyond that, I'd much rather over-work a 12v generic audio amp than anything in the 5v rail. e.g. a 5v logic custom chip that you can't replace unless you're Caius or have a donor board. I can replace audio parts all day long if (when) they die.
 
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+12V runs audio amps on most boards. Amps don't usually care what voltage you're feeding them.

For instance the TDA1510 has an operating supply voltage range of 6V to 18V.

You can look up other amps' spec sheets, they're more or less the same as above.
 
Somehow I feel terrified to enter this hobby now. I really don’t want to damage these boards!
 
these boards are all used already man, it's just a matter of time until they die! What's the youngest pcb in that group, 25 years old? Just get a multimeter or a voltmeter for your edge connector, and dial in each board to 5v after you turn it on. Many will run for plenty of more time, but yes all will die at some point -- from something preventable like leaking capcitors, or something unpreventable like fatiguing logic chips or bit-rot on ROMs.

I see (older than me) dudes driving 57 corvettes, and either they know how to fix them or they know a good mechanic.

If you don't want to fuss with the hardware side, use MAME or MISTer. I've been slowly moving on from pcb's I don't play much and don't want to maintain anymore. But the hobby is very rewarding despite the risk - you're playing the original and nothing beats that.
 
ekorz said:
these boards are all used already man, it's just a matter of time until they die! What's the youngest pcb in that group, 25 years old? Just get a multimeter or a voltmeter for your edge connector, and dial in each board to 5v after you turn it on. Many will run for plenty of more time, but yes all will die at some point -- from something preventable like leaking capcitors, or something unpreventable like fatiguing logic chips or bit-rot on ROMs.

I see (older than me) dudes driving 57 corvettes, and either they know how to fix them or they know a good mechanic.

If you don't want to fuss with the hardware side, use MAME or MISTer. I've been slowly moving on from pcb's I don't play much and don't want to maintain anymore. But the hobby is very rewarding despite the risk - you're playing the original and nothing beats that.
Click to expand...
I might have been a touch dramatic! I love your analogy of driving a classic car. That’s what we’re doing here. So cool. Yeah, let come what may- I’m driving an original PCB. 😎
 
If you need to dial in voltages in your cab, you're doing something wrong.
Ohms law comes into play, voltage=current * resistance - in this case it's the resistance of the wires between the psu and the game board.

The higher the resistance of the wires, higher the fluctuation you will see between boards using different current.

The fix is simple, beef up the wires between PSU and JAMMA to lower the resistance to the point it no longer comes into play.
 
invzim said:
The fix is simple, beef up the wires between PSU and JAMMA to lower the resistance to the point it no longer comes into play.
Click to expand...

Really? So you don't adjust at all when you switch from Gradius IV to a SH3 Cave board?
 
I increased the copper on my power lines and did notice that I don’t have to adjust voltage on my PSU as much. Still requires adjustment but not as much as before.
 
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