New Astro City and PCB running hot.

[pegboy]

I finally got my New Astro City monitor rotated so I could actually use it for shmups and I've noticed that after playing Ketsui for about 30 minutes the heatsink on the Ketsui pcb was extremely hot. It was so hot I could barely touch it. When I had previously played the same PCB on my HAS supergun I never had an issue with the heatsink heating up like that.

I figure it was has something to do with my new astro city's power supply. Voltage to the Ketsui PCB runs around 4.92~4.95 based on my Jamma voltmeter (get similar readings when running with my HAS). I'm wondering if anyone has an idea why it would be running so much hotter in the cab vs the supergun? Looking inside the cab I wonder if the original power supply was replaced with parts of a pc power supply and maybe that is why? Also does turning up the audio volume too high in my cab make the PCB run hotter?

Thanks for any help.

[Frank_fjs]

Taking a guess here, is it the sound amp that's heating up? If so I'd be checking your 12V output and not 5V.

It's normal for sound amps to run warm, could be running hotter in the cab due to the speakers it's powering. The HAS attenuates audio which would explain why it runs cooler with it.

[dingsbums]

Is the sound working perfectly on the cab ?
Do you have the power supply model with an onboard amp in the NAC ?
The heatsink on the amp of the PCB getting hot (touch the amp also, but normally it gets hot otherwise the heatsink would not be hot) when either:

- the sound (or 12v) is wired up wrong in the cab.
- the amp inside the power supply needs a recap (its not a bad idea to recap the complete power supply with the amp included).
- the amp on the PCB is dying / dead. (your statement that the PCB is not getting hot on the supergun speaks against this).

That would be the first things to check. I would check the first two points first.

PS: Post a picture of the inside to see the power supply (to see if the original power supply is replaced). When it is replaced with a PC power supply I strongly recommend to get a proper arcade power supply (because a PC power supply runs on a way different amplitude compared to an arcade power supply).

[pegboy]

Thanks for the reply. Here's a picture:


It appears there are wires running from the top power supply into the bottom part. The large black wire coming out from the back of the top power supply (looks like a standard PC computer power cable to me) is running underneath the bottom part too.

I also have a few more findings to report.

It appears that my Ketsui board does have some damage too it from battery leakage. I just tested it out and apparently the "A" button on the 2 player side does not work. Not sure how I can fix that but hopefully it's possible.

I know all the buttons work with the cab because I have a jamma test pcb that I've used and they all function. It also shows that I'm getting the 12V line but I have not tested the exact value. The one thing I do not get is -5V, my jamma tester shows that it is not connected.

Also, I do notice that the voltage readings when running in the NAC are lower than when running in the HAS. Sometimes it goes down below 4.9V. The thing is, there are no obvious issues when playing, the sound works and I wouldn't have even noticed any of this if not for the heatsink burning my hand.

When I run my Jamma test PCB, the NAC reports 5.13 volts. I put Ketsui in and it drops all the way down to 4.9V or lower, seems to go lower the longer I play.

[dingsbums]

Oh boy .
A PC power supply hacked into the original power supply .

If I would be you I would get rid of that hackjob, recap the original power supply & wire it up properly.

PS: I would not run my Cave PCBs on this power supply conjunction
PPS: Get rid of the battery on your Ketsui PCB (and clean the area on the PCB with vinegaer first and then Iso alcohol 90%).

[_rm_]

Just use your supergun until you find an original replacement for that power supply.

As dingsbums said, god forbid if i ever would plug a Cave PCB in there. Don't risk it anymore.

[pegboy]

Oh boy .
A PC power supply hacked into the original power supply .

If I would be you I would get rid of that hackjob, recap the original power supply & wire it up properly.

PS: I would not run my Cave PCBs on this power supply conjunction
PPS: Get rid of the battery on your Ketsui PCB (and clean the area on the PCB with vinegaer first and then Iso alcohol 90%).

The battery was already replaced when I got it, but I will probably just remove the new one too. I did clean it with vinegar a while back but have not applied the alcohol. I'm still wondering how I would fix the broken P2 button.

[pegboy]

So it's worse than I expected. The original PSU has been completely gutted. Any idea where I should go from here? I'm thinking of just hacking in a normal arcade power supply instead of this PC supply but I guess I could also try and source a NAC PSU to replace this one? Although I've heard they don't work with CV1000 games, which is a lot of what I play.

[Syntax]

If wired correctly PC power supplies are better than arcade ones. They have cleaner power.

I'd just double check all routing and keep or replace it with another pc one.

[dingsbums]

The battery was already replaced when I got it, but I will probably just remove the new one too. I did clean it with vinegar a while back but have not applied the alcohol. I'm still wondering how I would fix the broken P2 button.

There is propably a broken trace somewhere. Follow the trace from the button that is not working - start from the JAMMA edge and see if the trace is disconnected/broken somewhere.

I would get rid of this of this power supply completely to be honest.
Just buy yourself something like this:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/NEW-ARCADE-15- ... rk:20:pf:0

Wire it up and play the games you want.

Your other options are: desolder this wire mess from the original power supply (and then get rid of this PC power supply), recap the original and wire it up properly (this or a new power supply are the best options)

The worst option is to hack a third power supply into this mess - it begs for problems.

[evil_ash_xero]

Every time I hear about these Astro City's, this comes to mind.

[pegboy]

Unfortunately I cannot recap the original power supply because the entire thing has basically been removed. The only part that remains is the PCB where the cables plug into. I feel like an idiot because I rushed and ordered a cap kit without even inspecting it. If I forgoe hacking a new power supply into the existing shell of the original PSU then I would basically have to cut the connectors off on the Jamma harness and wire them directly to a new PSU?

The battery was already replaced when I got it, but I will probably just remove the new one too. I did clean it with vinegar a while back but have not applied the alcohol. I'm still wondering how I would fix the broken P2 button.

There is propably a broken trace somewhere. Follow the trace from the button that is not working - start from the JAMMA edge and see if the trace is disconnected/broken somewhere.

I would get rid of this of this power supply completely to be honest.
Just buy yourself something like this:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/NEW-ARCADE-15- ... rk:20:pf:0

Wire it up and play the games you want.

Your other options are: desolder this wire mess from the original power supply (and then get rid of this PC power supply), recap the original and wire it up properly (this or a new power supply are the best options)

The worst option is to hack a third power supply into this mess - it begs for problems.

[Syntax]

Ive got my money on a poorly wired jamma adapter. Compare it to your supergun with regards to power routing.

[RGB]

Do you have stock speakers in your Astro? By the looks of it, the speakers require a lot of power (way more than the supergun), that's why the amp gets hot. That, or it's a problem with speakers wiring (verify the cables, connectors, solder joints). Worst case, the amp is dying :/

Although I've heard they don't work with CV1000 games, which is a lot of what I play.

The CV1000 probably doesn't load the PSU enough, you could potentially fix that by adding a cement resistor of calculated value between the +5V and GND.

[pegboy]

Do you have stock speakers in your Astro? By the looks of it, the speakers require a lot of power (way more than the supergun), that's why the amp gets hot. That, or it's a problem with speakers wiring (verify the cables, connectors, solder joints). Worst case, the amp is dying :/

Although I've heard they don't work with CV1000 games, which is a lot of what I play.

The CV1000 probably doesn't load the PSU enough, you could potentially fix that by adding a cement resistor of calculated value between the +5V and GND.

Yes I have stock speakers. You think the amp on my Ketsui PCB is dying or something else? I do feel like the voltage has been constantly going lower and lower on my HAS voltmeter when I play Ketsui on the supergun. At one point it was reading 4.9V, then for a while 4.6V, now when I'm playing with the HAS it's down to 4.2V. I can bring it up by raising the voltage of my PSU hooked up to my HAS but I wonder if this is going to do damage to my Ketsui PCB.

Also I'm currently looking into purchasing an original new astro city power supply from Yahoo Japan and just swap it with this gutted one.

[dingsbums]

Unfortunately I cannot recap the original power supply because the entire thing has basically been removed. The only part that remains is the PCB where the cables plug into. I feel like an idiot because I rushed and ordered a cap kit without even inspecting it. If I forgoe hacking a new power supply into the existing shell of the original PSU then I would basically have to cut the connectors off on the Jamma harness and wire them directly to a new PSU?

Ahh ok.
In that case:

I would get rid of this of this power supply completely to be honest.
Just buy yourself something like this:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/NEW-ARCADE-15- ... rk:20:pf:0

Wire it up and play the games you want.

That's the best / cheapest way.

Sourcing an original NAC power supply is harder & more expensive (and since it's old again you propably have to recap it also).