Thought I'd killed my Esprade...

rolins · Post by **rolins** » Wed Apr 29, 2009 9:53 am

For older PCBs its common to increase the +5V to get the game running properly. Esprade pcb isn't that old though, and I have a Dodonpachi pcb that's older than yours and it doesn't need a +5V adjustment at all. So I don't know, maybe being on for 9 hours put too much stress on your esprade.

robivy64 · Post by **robivy64** » Wed Apr 29, 2009 11:21 am

There is no such thing as "stressing" an arcade board by running it for too long. These things are designed to run 24/7 on route if needed.

emphatic · Post by **emphatic** » Wed Apr 29, 2009 11:48 am

robivy64 wrote:There is no such thing as "stressing" an arcade board by running it for too long. These things are designed to run 24/7 on route if needed.

+1. More like spoiling it.

IronGiant · Post by **IronGiant** » Wed Apr 29, 2009 5:08 pm

When you say that you turned up the +5 volts to 5.2, is that when measured at the edge connector or elsewhere on the board? It should be measured on the board to get a more accurate reading of what the ICs are receiving. However, if you've never done that before then be careful - one slip of the measuring probes and you may end up shorting something to +5 volts (or worse).

Also, never go above 5.25 volts (DC !) or you could shorten the life of your ICs.

Arasoi · Post by **Arasoi** » Wed Apr 29, 2009 6:51 pm

IronGiant · Post by **IronGiant** » Wed Apr 29, 2009 6:54 pm

The whole PCB won't be declining, just one (or more) chips. But running it at anything over 5.25 volts is going to accelerate the decline of some of the ICs I'm afraid.

Magic Knight · Post by **Magic Knight** » Wed Apr 29, 2009 10:44 pm

IronGiant · Post by **IronGiant** » Thu Apr 30, 2009 8:02 am

5.9 ? Ooops!

Keep an eye on it and see how it goes.

BTW, have you tried cleaning the edge connector with a pencil eraser?

Ex-Cyber · Post by **Ex-Cyber** » Thu Apr 30, 2009 11:35 am

How old is the power supply you're using, and how close are you running it to its 5V current rating?

neorichieb1971 · Post by **neorichieb1971** » Thu Apr 30, 2009 11:38 am

I would be careful mate, putting other boards on that current might fry them.

I have many Cave PCB's and never had to touch the default 5V setting. Even my trusty Galaga 88 runs fine (the oldest board I have).

Magic Knight · Post by **Magic Knight** » Thu Apr 30, 2009 12:20 pm

IronGiant · Post by **IronGiant** » Thu Apr 30, 2009 12:27 pm

You'll find that the older boardsets draw more current simply because a lot of them have more boards in the set and hence have more circuitry to power.

The worst offender is Atari's PaperBoy (and similar) boardsets (not JAMMA, but I have a JAMMA adaptor for test putposes) - that one really sucks the juice out of the JAMMA PSU on my test rig, and even cranking the power up to max only just manages to get to +5 volts. Newer boards are of course far more compact and so should need less juice.

PC Engine Fan X! · Post by **PC Engine Fan X!** » Thu Apr 30, 2009 3:45 pm

Yeah, R-Typer meant Atari Games' Paperboy PCB. ^_~

The oldest standard Jamma based PCB in my collection is none other than the Japanese region Sidearms PCB circa 1986. It still works like a charm despite it's age of being a 23 year old PCB. ^_~

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~