Introduction
Got an email asking if I would repair a Midway Pac-man arcade. The owner stated the game was dead and just wanted it working even if the “guts” are replaced with something different. My initial thought was to make it a 60-in-1 similar to the Ms. Pac-man that I recently completed. When I arrived at the owner’s house, I was expecting to see an upright cabinet, but instead saw the cocktail version. The game key did not work, which told me the owner never opened it. I was able to get the game open and right away noticed that there was no monitor chassis. At that point, I decided to load up the game and take it to my shop.
Game is missing the chassis to the monitor!
Repair
I went ahead and found a rebuilt G07 chassis for sale, which I bought. In the meantime, I started going through the game. All the fuses were good, and the game was playing blind. I put in my test monitor and noticed the game was not syncing correctly. I moved the PCB to my test bench and noticed the same problem on a different monitor. Looking at the schematics, I traced the composite sync back to chip 5N (74LS08) and two signals going into the chip were pulsing, however the output was stuck low. I replaced the chip and the game was now working correctly. I tested sounds and controls while the PCB was on the bench.
No sync on test monitor 5N removed 5N testing bad Schematic of Composite sync
Once the G07 chassis came in the mail, I installed it thinking I was going to be done with the game, but noticed the colors looked horrible. I plugged in my TPG and showed much better colors. The pins on the video and sync cables needed replaced. Doing this brought a much improved picture. I replaced a few light bulbs and cleaned out the inside of the game to complete the repair.
Bad looking monitor Color are way off Connector with 2 new pins and 2 old pins
Conclusion
The owner acquired this game from a restaurant that went out of business. Putting on my detective hat, I imagine the previous owner thought the monitor had problems when in fact the PCB need the repair. They took the chassis out to get repaired and maybe never found the problem or gave up on the game. I was glad to repair this Pac-man arcade back to its original self, and the owner decided not to put a multicade in it. He really just wanted the game working. Amazing how well the game looks after 40 years!
Working Pac-Man Cocktail Pac-Man Cocktail with lights
My Pac Man game looks just like the on this web site . When it is turned on the screen will flash once but then stays dark . I can hear the sound working but the screen stays dark. Any ideas about what is wrong ?
Sounds like your monitor is not working correctly. Can you switch out a different motherboard to confirm it OR try a different monitor? It’s not uncommon for the monitor to go out on these. Most of the time it can be fixed with new caps and possible flyback.
When I set the dip switches to test, the screen flashes on a colored grid pattern that only stays on for less than a second. Should the new circuit board work right out of the box or does it programming ?
Does it go to another screen after the flash? It should boot to a crosshatch pattern and then you can advance to the menus next. What’s is it doing in the regular mode (not test mode)?
With dip switches 2 and 3 on when the power is turned on the screen flashes ( SYSTEM INITIATION ) and it only stays on for less than a second and then the screen remains dark and a repetitive tune starts playing
Tell me more about your setup? Do you have a 60-in-1 running in an original Ms Pacman game with adapter? Or, is it wired to JAMMA. Can you test the board in another JAMMA machine? How is your power supply? Are you getting +5 volts on the motherboard?