Return to Q&A Database
Non functional monitor on Arcade (MAME) cabinet
Question from Rich: Hello, I’ve been following your series of YouTube videos on arcade repair. I have a video game arcade cabinet (MAME) from DreamAuthentics (model is the Excalibur). The monitor is non-functional. I’ve reached out to the vendor and they mentioned the monitor is no longer made and there is a very high chance it can be repaired and I should look for a local vendor. They gave me some vendors. I thought I would try you since we are in Texas. The monitor, a Makvision D2929, is non-responsive (blank) with no picture. If I hook up a regular VGA computer monitor I can see the picture so I’ve isolated the issue to the Makvision d2929 monitor. I’ve checked the fuse on the board and it looks fine (although I might replace that). I’ve checked power to the monitor chassis with a multi-meter and that looks fine as well. A light goes on when the board/machine has power so I believe basics like fuse and power are ruled-out as root cause. I don’t see any glow in the neck of the monitor and of course screen is blank/grey so maybe an issue with capacitors or the hot or flyback? What are next steps? Can you give me a quote on how much it would cost to repair (ballpark is fine)? What would be the process? Would I take off board/flyback and mail you just that part? Thank you so much. Rich from Cypress/Houston, TX
1 answer
Response from Jonathan: Rich,
Yes, this is definitely related to an issue with something in the power supply section of your monitor chassis. It could be the HOT, flyback or other power supply related parts. Unfortunately we are not familiar enough with these Makvision monitors to know for sure without looking at the chassis with the schematic. Repair costs are probably going to run you anywhere from $150 to $300 depending on the issue.
We are not taking any monitor repairs at the moment but we do have several people we recommend. Since you have a Makvision monitor, you might try contacting Suzo/Happ first to see if they can help you out. I believe they were a retailer for this monitor so they may have people on staff who are familiar with it. We usually recommend Chad at arcadecup.com as our primary monitor repair guy. He is a very reputable guy and has a pretty fast turn around time. You could also contact our friend Arthur at highscoresrepair.com. He has answered several questions on our Facebook page in the past and definitely knows what he’s doing. There is a list of additional monitor repair technicians on our resources page under the Monitor Repair Services & Information heading as well. In order to get your monitor repaired, you will probably need to ship the chassis off to one of these companies/individuals (unless you can find someone in your area who will come out and fix it). Check out our post on Removing And Installing A Monitor Chassis for more information on that process.
Hope that helps. Thank you for your question and good luck with your repair.
This question has been closed
