Battery Life in Coleco Tabletops?

[prostx23]

Hi Folks,

 

I recently unearthed my old Coleco PacMan tabletop game. My dad gave it to me for Christmas of 1981, and it was probably my most anticipated Christmas gift (along with my 2600jr. in 86) of all time. I couldn't wait to get this, and when I did, suprisingly, it met all expectations... anyway, I do plan on eventually buying a Perma Power because this baby is going to be getting frequent use (it's still a blast to play) but in the meantime, does anyone know about how long, in hours, the batteries will last? I've since learned that VFD games like this mow thru batteries. Somehow I don't remember how often I changed batteries back when I first got this.

 

Thanks,

Mike

[raskar42]

i never noticed any serious battery drainage. the main concern is corrosion on the battery terminals.

[prostx23]

i never noticed any serious battery drainage. the main concern is corrosion on the battery terminals.

 

The contacts are clean. It was hammered home to me as a kid never to leave batteries in something that wasn't going to be used for a long period of time. As it turned out, since I had many battery operated devices as a kid, the batteries would tend to float from one thing to another. My PacMan tabletop has been in storage for the better part of 20 years without any batteries in it, or battery cover on it.

[the-topdog]

You will get about 2 hours of gameplay off of a set of batteries. The Perma-Power is definitely worth it.

[akator]

I have one in working order, clean and no corrosion. It lasts about 2-3 hours tops on the same batteries.

 

I suspect that because it's "old," the caps and other electronics are less efficient. I remember playing one for at least 4-6 hours back in the day. It's a pretty strong memory, because my father was pissed off that I went through the batteries so quickly...