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PlayChoice 10
Question from Brian: Hello, I have a question or a few for you/someone could help answer them for me.
I recently picked up a PlayChoice 10 dual monitors, and its in pretty good shape on the outside but inside the cab its probably the nicest I have ever seen (though that’s not close to as many as you guys have seen). Basically I was told this used to work (as imp sure every seller says LOL). He also said something about it was working and maybe a power surge hit and then it didn’t work anymore. Bottom monitor has zero burn and top has barely enough to make out a number where the countdown is, so it’s a toss up how long it worked, and how long it sat. Everything on this machine inside looks brand new…but I know that doesn’t mean something isn’t broken.
Ok I turn it on I can hear the power supply hum/turn on. No sound, neck glow, or really anything BUT the red LED light does come up on the board. I have checked the power supply connector going into side of the power supply (what I call the unit on the mounted on the side of the PCB housing cage with P9 and I think P10 hooked up to it…that is getting 120v. I checked the converter/transformer??? that both monitors plug into and marquee light and those are throwing out 105.4v to the monitors.
Now as I’m new to most of this, I know what a warning label looks like and I just don’t go poking around stuff seeing if it wants to pop me or not 😉 So at this point I’m kinda stuck with what the next move it. I even called a local “arcade guy” who has a arcade repair shop and was told he was not interesting in looking at it or fixing it?!?!?! There is no one local that I know of in Macon, GA where I live. As I am a KLOV member, not everyone on there can explain things as I would need to understand them so far (basic lingo). So now my choices are you guys 1st, then KLOV, then taking this machine 2 hours north to ATL.
I usually can figure most stuff out via instruction videos, or even step by step instructions (sometimes not all questions are answered as I seem to ask a few others to grasp more of a concept). Any help would be great!
P.S. I know you guys are busy so no rush…cheers!
Thanks,
Brian from Macon, GA
1 answer
Response from Jonathan: Brian,
From your message, it sounds like all of your AC voltages are good. Good job on testing those first as that’s usually where we start most of our repairs. Our next step would be to test the DC voltages to make sure they are good as well. Just because you are getting the red LED on the board doesn’t necessarily mean it has enough voltage to actually run the board.
The best place to check the DC voltages in your cabinet is where your wiring harness plugs into your board. You can accomplish this by turning off the game, unplugging your board from the cabinet, turning the game back on and testing your voltage using the correct pins on your harness. You should be able to find the pinouts for your Playchoice 10 cabinet in the manual for your game. If you do not have a manual, you can find the one for your cabinet on the Playchoice Games & Resources page. Make sure you adjust your power supply if your voltage is too high or too low. This should ensure that you are getting the correct voltage to the board. You can also check the voltage with the board hooked up by placing your multimeter probes just slightly below the corresponding voltage and ground pins. This second method should give you the most accurate reading of the voltage that your board is receiving. If you are having problems getting the correct voltage from your power supply, it might be time to rebuild or replace it.
On a side note, it’s not uncommon for local “arcade guys” to not be interested in fixing things. Problems like the one that you are experiencing can be very time consuming and frustrating to track down. If a repair guy thinks it’s going to take him a while to find the problem, it can really inflate the price he quotes and most people are not willing to pay a lot to get an arcade game fixed because it is a luxury item (compared to most appliances which are pretty much a necessity). Many times it’s just easier for the repair guy to turn down the work than come out and quote you a price that you’re probably not willing to pay.
Anyways, let’s start off with the DC voltages and make sure those are all good. If the voltages are correct and we continue to have problems then we might be looking at a board issue which means either getting it repaired or replacing it altogether. Of course, you can check out our post on Inspecting An Arcade Board for some tips that might help you get it running again.
Hope that helps. Thank you for your question and good luck with your repair.
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