4
STAR*TECH JOURNAL/AUGUST 1983
* VARISTOR PROTECTION
* SEGA'S STAR TREK KIT
NEW-TONE ELECTRONICS , INC.
* TAITO RECTIFIER HEAT SINKS
* WILLIAMS NEW PLASTIC CABINETS
QUALITY REPLACEMENT
SEMICONDUCTORS
AVAILABLE FOR THE
ELECTRONIC GAMES
INDUSTRY,
By Todd Erickson, Summit Amusement, St Paul, MN
Varistor Protection
INCLUDING THE FOLLOWING
MANUFACTURERS,
• ATARI
• BALLY
• CINEMATRONICS
• EXIDY
• GOTTLIEB
• SEGA/
GREMLIN
• MIDWAY
• STERN
• WILLIAMS
AVAILABLE FROM YOUR LOCAL
NTE DISTRIBUTOR
Rush me a FREE Electronic Games
cross reference Gulde #CR10
COMPANY NAME
YOUR NAME
TITLE
ADDRESS
-
CITY
STATE
ZIP CODE
PHONE NO.
CLIP AND MAIL TODAY TO :
NEW-TONE ELECTRONICS, INC.
DEPT. G1 / 44 FARRAND STREET
BLOOMFIELD, NEW JERSEY 07003
WE
REPAIR
EVERYTHING
FAST!
Board
Specialists
Video Games
Domestic & Foreign
Technicians
formerly with Bally
Send your
repair work to:
REPAIRS
UNLIMITED
119 Robin Road
Altamonte Springs, FL 32701
(305) 339-6601
-
This spring we have had a lot of thunder storms here in Minnesota. During one of these
storms, six of my games went out of order. Of these six games, three of them were Boom
Balls by Meltec. Another interesting point is that no Williams' games were damaged.
Most of my other games and my Williams games have one thing in common: a 130-volt
varistor is wired into the incoming 11 0v line after the fuse. The generic number is
D130LA10A. They are available from Wico and most electronic parts houses. The
varistor provides protection against high voltage transients ( surges produced by
lightening, motors, fluorescent bulbs, etc.). These units are extremely valuable if there
is any question as to the reliability of the 110-volt source. Because I lost all of my Boom
Balls, I strongly recommend installing varistors on these units. They are installed
across the 110-volt line after the fuse. It acts like a pair of zener diodes clipping any high
voltage spikes. If the spike is very large, the varistor will blow the fuse.
A few years ago, at one of my locations, something went wrong with the power. The
music amplifier belonging to the band cost over $200 to repair. I had only ruined a
circuit breaker and cooked the varistor on a jukebox. Needless to say, my repair was
well under $200.
Saga's Star Trek Kit
Sega has just released their new Star Trek Kit. It will sell for about the same price as
other kits, except it will include a new color X-Y monitor. It consists of a complete game
minus cabinet and coin door. This will enable the operator to take old black and white
games and make them into new color Star Trek games. I feel this is the best buy in kits
today. I will follow next month with more on the subject
Talto Rectifier Heat Sinks
Adding the small heat sinks for the bridge rectifiers supplied by T aito turned out to be a
disaster. They don't do the job. Taito has a new 3-inch long one they claim works, but I
have bolted the bridge rectifier to the cash box cavity and hard wired the bridge to the
power supply board.
Two additional tips I received from Taito: 1. When replacing the bridge, also
replace the diode across it; and 2. Make sure there are no cold-soldered joints on the
fuse holder.
WIiiiams New Plastic Cabinets
Last week, I picked up my new Williams upright Sin is tar. This unit has the new plastic
cabinet Williams told me to give it some abuse. For starters, I decided not to tie it up in
the back of the truck. Over it went. As I picked it up, I noticed it was still in one piece. I
tried kicking it as hard as I could and hitting it with a hammer. Again, no damage was
delivered. The top plex is made of Lexan. Lexan is also known as bullet-proof plastic.
I own a video game called Computer Space that was made in 1970 by Nutting &
Associates. It is made of fiberglass and is still in perfect shape. My sit down Night
Driver by Atari is over 5 years old and still looks like new. Williams Sinistar is far
superior to these older fiberglass products and is made of high-impact plastic. If it
should be dented, a heat gun will repair the damage. A cut can be welded using a
soldering iron. Williams, I feel, overbuilt this cabinet. I would rather see a
manufacturer overbuild than underbuild a new cabinet like this. It weights about 25
lbs., less than a comparable wooden cabinet. The cabinet has an inner and outer shell.
The game is made in two halves that are welded down the middle. This will allow them
to change the upper front half and radically change the styling of the game. The coin
area has a metal surrounding to product the coin box. I feel they should have made a lip
around the key area to make it extremely difficult to pry open with a screwdriver. The
sides should have some artwork also.
As Williams gets a better feel for this, I feel they will be able to cut another 25 lbs.
from the game. This will make the game much more comfortable to move and cheaper
to ship when new. This will also be the first of many plastic cabinets.
The California-based manufacturers, where good plywood is at a premium, would
be wise to look at this. The press-board cabinets are much heavier and damage much
easier than plywood. Williams makes excellent plywood cabinets now. Their plastic
cabinet, I feel, is far superior to the wooden cabinets produced today. I feel they will be
the trend of the future. Another first f?r Williams' engineering!
***