A monthly phone survey reflecting
comments on specific technical
topics.
TELEffECH
THIS MONTH'S TOPIC: Cinematronics'
Dragon's Lair laserdisc game has been in the
field since August of last year, distributor
service managers were asked what type of
repair problems they were encountering with
these units.
Audio Visual Amusements, St. Louis MO:
Doug Nobilette, Service Manager, said
that out of the 200 or so Dragons that his
company has distributed, the most common
failure was dirty disc players. "The majority of
Pioneer PR7820 laserdisc players that come
into the shop need only to have the objective
lens cleaned," stated Doug.
In fact, Doug went on to say that the best
operating procedures for this game are to
leave the game and player powered on, 24
hours a day, 7 days a week! The machines
operating under this schedule have proven to
be the most reliable.
Preventive maintenance is very important
also. Doug said that "lack of a proper PM
schedule, in general, was the main cause of
downtime for these players. Our company
offers training for the operator and his per-
sonnel and we recommend that the player be
cleaned every week by the person making the
collections."
The Pioneer models LD-V1000 (later pro-
duction Dragons and Space Ace) and PR821 0
(Mylstar's MACH 111) were holding up well but
still require the periodic cleanings.
Doug indicated that the lid design for
these two players allowed air and dust through
an opening in the rear of the unit. This dust
flow continues into the objective lens opening
and onto the optic slider assembly. Doug
recommends taping the rear lid openings to
prevent possible premature player failures.
Banner Specialty Co., Pittsburgh, PA:
Don Holtz, Service Manager, told us that
fully 90% of the players coming into his shop
for maintenance were restored by cleaning
the optics and the disc! Don said, "the areas
being most neglected are the filtering systems
in these games. If the filter hasn't been cleaned
in a month, that's going to restrict air move-
ment and increase the temperature inside the
cabinet as well."
Don also told us that out of the 50 to 60
original Dragons his firm has sold, three have
recently come in for repair with bad laser
tubes. These tubes cannot sustain their power
during initial focusing and appear to blink on
and off. This symptom, according to Pioneer
service, indicates that the helium-neon (He
Ne) laser tube is exhausted and must be
replaced. "This," Don said, "could be the
beginning of a trend for the original Dragons
shipped last August and September."
Bally Advance, San Francisco, CA:
Bill Bolton, Service Manager, described
what sounded like an epidemic! He said of the
more than 200 Dragons that his company
sold, about thirty have come into his shop for
laser tube replacement. Bill said, " I think
eventually this figure is going to approach
100%. We're getting more of them in every
week. I've got 30 dead PR7820s now and
that's not counting a significant number that
went to Pioneer service centers in the area!"
Bill said his customers have three options
when their original Dragons go down with
worn out laser tubes. First, exchange their
PR7820 for the newer LD-V1000 kit. Second,
exchange their Dragon's Lair for a Space Ace
conversion with the newer player or third,
have the PR7820 laser platform exchanged
for a rebuilt unit with a new laser tube.
Comment: The Pioneer data sheet rates the
PR7820 modelfor4,000 hours laser tube life.
That's not alot of time in an arcade environ-
ment! (Also, keep in mind that these players
were never intended for an application such
as this.)
Nevertheless, the full impact of the failing
players will never be felt, fortunately, because
of the conversions available. Most of the
originals will be converted to Space Ace (LD-
V1 000) and a significant number of those that
remain Dragons will be replaced with the
newer and more reliable LD-V1 000.
Operators will have to get used to the idea
of performing preventive on these videodisc-
based games. If cleaning can be performed by
the non-technical personnel, then this should
be included in their routine to minimize
downtime.
PRICE
CONVERSION
BREAKTHROUGH!
FOR ROWE
CIGARETTE
MACHINES
• Will vend up to $1 .75 in
increments of 5¢ .
• Same mechanical
dependability using your
present totalizer. No
electronic components.
• Accepts any combination of
nickels, dimes and quarters.
• 4-minute installation on
location OR
• Send us your totalizer - we
will convert it ($5.00 service
charge).
PRICE
REDUCED
$29.95 (In Lots of 10)
1 to 9 Units - $34.95 each
GOI ILIEB
POP BUMPER BOARD BVMPTOM/BOLUTION
BY DANIEL ZAVARO, ELECTRONIC TECHNICIAN,
S.F. MUSIC & GAMES, SAN FRANCISCO, CA
SYMPTOM: Pop bumper holds in for a long
period of time; sometimes blowing the
solenoid fuse.
SOLUTION: Measure the voltage across C3
(4.7MFD/1 0v) on the pop bumper board. If the
voltage measures less than 3.2 volts, replace
C3 with a 3. 7 M FD/1 0v capacitor. (REM EMBER
TO OBSERVE POLARITY.) Manyofthe4.7MFD/
1 0v capacitors used in this board leak and
consequently take too much time to reset the
7 4121 . If the 7 4121 isn't reset, the solenoid
stays energized.
All orders shipped UPS/COD.
TELEPHONE:
516-928-6868
COIN UP-DATE
INDUSTRIES, INC.
14 Hulse Road
E. Setauket, NY 11733