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Monitor issues
Question from Kevin: Hello,
First I would like to say that this is brand new to me. I usually work on cars. I am trying to get into Pinballs, arcade and gaming machines. I have a few projects for myself right now. The one I have found your youtube videos helpful for is a draw poker machine that I just got. When I picked it up it had 2-3 errors on the screen. Then when I begain to inspect it and learn how everything worked, one of the times I turned it on the screen no longer came up at all. I watched a few of the videos most important is the “troubleshooting monitors with Michael”. In the video you said to check the power coming in and the first thing is the fuse. I checked it and my fuse is blown. But the next thing is to check that the surrounding components are not “shorted to ground”. How do I that? Also the next step would be to check the HOT (Horizontal Output Transistor) to make sure it is not shorted, how do I find that, what does it look like and how do I check if that is shorted? I will start with these questions for now.
Thanks so much,
Kevin
1 answer
Response from Jonathan: Kevin,
Typically when your monitor is blowing fuses it’s related to either some bad diodes or a bad HOT. We would start off by checking the diodes to make sure they are good. Check out our post on Checking Diodes On An Arcade Monitor for more information.
If you check the diodes and they are good then the culprit is probably the HOT (or Horizontal Output Transistor). The HOT typically has 3 legs and is mounted to a heat sink on the monitor chassis. Here’s a picture of one so you know what you’re looking for: https://www.jestineyong.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/horizontal-output-transistor.jpg.
Please note that this is TYPICALLY the case. All of these descriptions can change depending on the monitor chassis. If you need some additional help with replacing the HOT, our Volume 2 DVD has an exclusive video on Checking The Horizontal Output Transistor that will help you out further. You can order this DVD from our online store.
I will say that there is a very slim chance that it’s the flyback (the round, black box with the anode (or suction cup) coming out of it). I would recommend replacing the HOT first. If your monitor is still blowing the fuse after the HOT replacement then replace the flyback.
Hope that helps. Thank you for your question and good luck with your repair.
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