An Easy solution to a potentially expensive problem with Asteroids Deluxe arcade games.
I found an abandoned Asteroids Deluxe arcade game that was tossed out when a neighbor down the street was moving. After replacing a handful of 4A fuses I was delighted to find that the machine would work.. for about 5 minutes. After that the displayed image would get really huge and the game would not be playable anymore.
The Test Pattern should look like this:
Not Like This!
After inquiring about the problem to several shops around town, I was appalled to find that no one services this machine much less knows how to fix them. One person in particular pointed me in the right direction and told me that this problem is the result of something in the HVAC area (b+ for all you TV geeks) that was flaking out.
The issue is caused when a component heats up and changes its value. I was directed to mount a fan on the HVAC cage that ran the monitor in an effort to fix the solution.
The only other option would have been to replace the monitor with a factory refurbished one at the hefty tune of $1500US. I figured that a $15.00 fan at Atex was a far more cost-effective approach.
So I fixed it.
The first step was to completely remove the monitor. After sliding it out of the back of the machine per the instructions, I removed the wooden mounting bracket. I grabbed a 110V Rackmount muffin fan and attached it to the HVAC cage as instructed. I then tapped into the safety interlock system for the 110V that was necessary to run the fan. When the connections had been made, I turned on the power and waited... and waited.. and waited.. After about 40 minutes, the test pattern was still holding!
