You asked us if this is a power issue and it sure sounds like one. We recommend checking your 5 VDC and 12 VDC on your power supply to make sure that both are giving you the correct voltages. You can also try checking the power at the board on the JAMMA harness to see if you’re getting the same 5 VDC and 12 VDC there. Keep in mind that it’s better to be a little high on these voltages than low so make your adjustments accordingly. If you continue to have problems after you have adjusted the power supply then it might be time to look at your board for problems.

We have also featured your question on episode 11 of our Q&A podcast. Please listen to it for more of our thoughts on your question. Thank you for your question and good luck with your repair.

We are curious as to what arcade game this is going into. Some of the newer style games use 24 VDC but typically have the 12 VDC and 5 VDC included as well. While we have never seen an arcade game that just uses 24 VDC, it is very possible that you have one in your possession. We recommend locating the pinouts for this game to see if they show the 24 VDC line and where it goes on the harness.

It is also possible that someone installed the wrong power supply in your game. Should you need a new power supply, we recommend a standard switching power supply from therealbobroberts.net. These are very similar to the one we use in our Checking And Replacing A Power Supply post. If you buy one and follow the instructions there you should be fine.

We have also featured your question on episode 11 of our Q&A podcast. Please listen to it for more of our thoughts on your question. Thank you for your question and keep us updated on your progress.

Any help on this would be great, thanks!

my question is, how do i wire up this power supply since there are no 12v or 5v??

thanks guys.

We would say that your old power supply was is pretty good shape and could probably be put back in place of the new one. This problem sounds more like a monitor issue. We would definitely check the wiring going from your PCB to your monitor and maybe tap on you monitor frame with the game on to see if it generates the vertical lines you’ve described. If you get the vertical lines, check for cold solder joints on your chassis.

We have also featured your question on episode 3 of our Q&A podcast. Please listen to it for more of our thoughts on your issue. Thank you for your question and good luck with your repair.

The best place to start on this problem is to make sure you have power coming in from the wall. If you saw the video on Checking And Replacing A Power Supply then you should be familiar with using a multimeter. Take a multimeter, switch it to VAC mode and check the AC voltage coming into the power supply. It should read around 115, if it’s a little high or a little low that’s fine.

If you are getting good AC readings, check your DC voltage. There should be slots on the power supply for 12 VDC and 5 VDC. These are typically indicated by yellow wires and red wires respectively. Switch your multimeter to VDC and check these slots. If the voltage is too high or too low, use the adjustment knob to change it. If you get no voltage then you probably have a bad power supply.

Now this problem could be indicative of a bad board or bad monitor. If you check your power supply and everything seems good you might move on to some of our other videos on monitors. Thanks for watching our videos and good luck with your repair.

Thanks for your suggestion. We get this request quite a bit so expect a post and video on it very soon. If you don’t want to wait till then, check out a power supply conversion kit from Arcadeshop Amusements. This kit makes it very easy to install a switching power supply in your older arcade games.

Visit the Arcadeshop Amusements page at http://www.arcadeshop.com and do a search for “Super Pac-Man power supply conversion kit” without the quotes for more information. We bought a kit for our Qix a while back and it worked like a champ. The kit usually comes with a little board, a new switching power supply and some instructions.

You can, of course, do it without the kit but it requires a lot more time and going through wiring. This kit will save you a lot of time and possibly a headache. It’s pretty much a plug and play solution.

Thanks for you interest and good luck with your project.

No, it is not normal for a good power supply to drop that much on the +5 VDC under a load. This could definitely be the reason why some of your PCBs aren’t working. We highly recommend trying a different power supply, preferably one that is for arcade games. Remember that if the board is not receiving the correct voltage it will not work properly.

Thanks for your question and watch for more posts.