Star Tech Journal

Issue: 1987-April - Vol 9 Issue 2

STAR*TECH Journal
ACME '87 Seminar Programs
The technical seminars this year at the
American Coin Machine EXJ;Osition (A01E),
held March 20-22 in New Orleans, were very
well received and numerous IX)Sitive
cormrents were heard from the many
attendees.
STAR"'TEX::H JCURNAL played an irrq;:ortant role
in this year's program. An unusual turn of
events left the promoters without
technical speakers at the last minute.
STJ's staff of regular contributing
writers reslX)nded to the call and manned
the IX)diurns for all of the service-related
programs.
Todd Erickson, Summit Amusement, St. Paul,
MN presented Max.imizing Profits From
Pinballs. 'lhis seminar covered such
subjects as; 'lbe mathematics of pinball
operations -% of replay and other
adjustrrents required to customize the
games for individual locations. These
adjustrrents are also necessary to keep
older games earning at their peak as well.
Failure items, maintenance schedules and
parts replacerrents were also covered.
Sam Cross, G::>dwin Distributing, North
Little Rock, AR presented Comprehensive
Troubleshooting Part I. This in-depth
service seminar covered the subjects of
Power supplies and r-t>nitors in detail. 'llle
theory of operation was covered in each
case as well as field problems and
solutions.
James Beck, Greater Southern, Atlanta, GA
presented Colprehensive Troubleshooting
'Part II. This technical seminar picked up
where Part I left off; specifically,
printed circuit board repair. The major
subjects covered were: Input devices and
Output devices for videos, pins and
cranes. Audio amps and their associated
circuitry was also covered.
John Batistic, Cleveland Coin, Cleveland,
OH presented Corwersions. This
discussion centered around the preparation
April 1987 (4)
of games for conversion. Subjects covered
were: Cabinet selection, l'bnitor rrounts,
Backglass prep, Control panel selection
and cabinet prep. Also covered were the
cleaning process, painting/priming
preparation and the step-by-step
installation procedure necessary to make
conversions look as good as new games.
Jim Ennis, Fun Time, Ocean City, MD
presented Basic Teclmical For 'Ihe
Non-Technical Oimer Or Manager. This
seminar included the topics of: Working
with Coin rnechs, switches and Power
sources for all coin-op games.
r-t>st-encountered field problems were
discussed as well as their solutions. Game
adjustments and self-test procedures were
covered, as were cleaning and adjustrrents
necessary for highest earnings.
Frank Seninsky, Alpha-Qnega Sales, Edison,
ru presented Cutting Expenses And
Increasing Profits. This session covered
-
the subjects of: Preventive maintenance
and Quick-fix service tips. Also covered
was the irnp:>rtance of good service and how
it affects profitability.
TROUBLESHOOTING ELECTROHONE
& WELLS GARDNER MONITORS
A troubleshooting manual covering the
servicing of the most popular color video
monitors used in the Coin-Operated
Amusement Industry, has just been
published by STAR*TECH JOURNAL.
This very thorough and detailed manual
covers every aspect of monitor repair
including: Power Supply Section - symptoms
and solutions. CRT Construction and
Operation -brightness problems and
solutions. Deflection Circuitry -sync
circuit description and troubleshooting.
Color Problems -including degaussing,
purity, white balance and convergence
adjustments.
Troubleshooting Electrohome & Wells
Gardner Monitors is priced et $19.95 (US)
plus $2.50 shipping.
Distributed by STAR*TECH JOURNAL.
POB 1065, Merchantville, NJ 08109.
April 1987 [5)
STAR*TECH Journal
-
Hints & Tips For Operators
& Technicians (Part 2)
By
Sam Cross
Godwin Distributing Co.
North Little Rock, Arkansas
'Ibis series of articles is a collection of
hints and tips for the operator and
technician in the Amusement and Game
Industry. I hope you get sorre good out of
this because, I know, I sure have
benefitted from sorre of these things.
Last Issue: Maintenance of blade switches
and properly testing fuses.
Ibi To Tell If A Flooresoent Lanp Ballast
Is Shorted.
Ever replaced a fluorescent lamp and when
you turn the lamp fixture on, the lamp
emits a bright flash then goes out again?
If so, then you might have a shorted
ballast, the unit which provides a high
starting voltage for the lamp to get
.
arted. It is the thing which looks like
a transformer but is actually only one
winding of wire.
1le, ~ \f\S '9)c,J\J ~
-..,e.~ ,~ ~\st:lt-ce,
ojf\h eaa'!o\k~C()
e ~ O"d.
~C[C&=7
fl\A~,i\"S
L for e the
resistance reading I am giving you is
type of ballast that runs 14, 15,
or 20 watt lamp:;. A good ballast will have
a straight resistance of 25 ohms or
slightly more. cne of 10 or fewer ohms
than this should be highly suspect of
causing short lamp life and one of ten
ohms or less should absolutely be
replaced!
A good way to not waste a bulb to find out
if the ballast is shorted is to take the
burned out lamp out of the socket and
check to see if the pins on either end are
continuous with each other (see figure 2).
If one end or both are not continuous, you
should check the ballast resistance to see
if it is at or near 25 ohms.
Also, when replacing a lamp it is a good
idea to replace the starter with an
equivalent new starter because an old
starter can wear out a bulb quick if it
doesn't get it started in just a few trys.
Tradewest IKARI WARRIORS
Joystick Replacement
By
Todd Erickson
Sunroit Amuserrent
St. Paul, Minnesota
Recently I waited about 3 weeks for a
joystick for my IKARI WARRIORS by
Trade-west. This seems to be an excessive
amount of time to me. (I hesitated to buy
the game when it was first released
because of the joystick).
Control Marketing Inc. has just released a
rotary joystick for the game industry. The
cost will be about half of the cost of the
Tradewest OEM joystick. The product is
similar to their original joystick with
the addition of a grayhill rotary switch.
Control Marketing can be reached at
312/593-6130 in Illinois.
'roP GUNNER kit instructions (by Konami)
stated that it must be used with a rotary
joystick. It was shipped with Wico 8-ways.
I will be installing the new Control
Marketing joystick on my game. I expect to
see a big increase in earnings.
My

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