Trying to fix this vectrex, Help!

[nitrosport]

Hi all

 

I bought me another Vectrex off ebay thinking it would be an easy fix like my last one. It wasn't.......

 

When I got it, it would turn on and it would display a dot in the middle of the screen with no sound. I replaced all the caps and reseated all the Ic's and now when it's on, I can hear the game playing and the screen shows a picture but it is all jumbled up and off centered. Here is a pic:

 

 

What could cause this? Any help would be much appreciated!

Edited November 3, 2012 by nitrosport

[ilovethevectrex]

i think i know why; the brightness is turned all the way up. there is a nob on the back of the console that you can turn to make the brightness go down. hope that helped

[nitrosport]

Unfortunately, that was the first thing I tried but it didn't turn out to be from it.

[thevnaguy]

Check the connections at the back of the tube at the yoke. Even though the IC's have been reseated, you still could have a bad one or one not making good contact with the socket. Check to make sure there are not broken pins on the IC and that the sockets are clean and have the flat piece of spring metal in them to make contact with the pins.

 

Since you hear the game playing, the main program IC's and such are fine. IT is just the IC that controls the picture. It is a small one down towards the end of the board close to the connector that goes up to the back of the tube. That would be the area to concentrate on.

 

Here is a website with some great vectrex info on repairing and such - http://console5.com/wiki/Vectrex

[FABombjoy]

The "Z" signal is stuck on. In my experience this is usually because the cable from the CPU board to the Power board needs to be reseated.

 

Pull and reconnect the connector J301 on the CPU board, and J402 / J506 on the Power board. Pull and reseat them a few times to help clear away any buildup that may have formed over the years. See if that helps!

 

If not, you'll need to follow the Z signal on the schematics to find the culprit.