Hi all! This appears to be *the* spot for VB discussion. I acquired a VB today, including the controller and AC adapter, all for $40. The guy that I bought it from warned me that it didn’t power on but u thought it might be worth the gamble, at that price.
When I plug everything in, I get nothing whatsoever. No whirring, no signs of life. I don’t know anyone that has a working one that I might try to swap out parts with to test. Before I do anything crazy, I’d like to at least check to see if the AC adapter is an issue. I don’t want to go further in the hole with this before I at least exclude some “simple” possible issues.
Are there any issues I could check for that are common, or at least easily diagnosed? I could get a multimeter if necessary.
I ordered a few and they haven’t arrived yet, so no. I thought that even without a game it would still start to whir up or something. Is that not the case?
No, nothing will happen when you turn it on without a game, but you should still hear the mirrors moving (just tried with mine, the mirrors still seem to turn on)
DMC wrote:
The AC adaptor is the same as the one used on the NES/SNES. Do you have one of those consoles to try it on?
Yes, I have both – but since the VB one has the plastic piece that snaps onto the controller, wouldn’t I have to modify the NES/SNES ones to work with the VB?
I picked up a multimeter and checked the AC adapter. It’s carrying 9.6 volts through the piece that snaps into the controller, so I don’t think that’s the issue.
speedyink wrote:
Yeah sounds like the AC adapter is working. Next in line, you’ll need to check the controller. I’m not sure which pins carry the power though..
Got something here. I checked the pins on the controller. Even though I had plenty of voltage coming out of the AC adapter, I’m getting about 4.5 volts on the controller pins. My multimeter wasn’t small enough to fit into the pin connector so I had to use bent paper clips as a go-between – I don’t think that would change anything though.
So if I’m losing voltage somewhere in the controller – what might the fix be?
speedyink wrote:
Yeah sounds like the AC adapter is working. Next in line, you’ll need to check the controller. I’m not sure which pins carry the power though..
Got something here. I checked the pins on the controller. Even though I had plenty of voltage coming out of the AC adapter, I’m getting about 4.5 volts on the controller pins. My multimeter wasn’t small enough to fit into the pin connector so I had to use bent paper clips as a go-between – I don’t think that would change anything though.
So if I’m losing voltage somewhere in the controller – what might the fix be?
Are you saying that, on pin 6 (VBat), you’re only getting 4.5V, or that the highest voltage you got from any pin on the pad was 4.5V? If the latter, which pin was it, and what did you get on pin 6? Also, where are you putting the black lead of your meter? I’m assuming, of course, that you had the switch on while testing, but I thought I’d mention it, just in case…
Another thing you might want to check for is corrosion on the power terminals and the controller plug. Your paperclips likely scraped enough away on the plug to make contact, though. If not, use it to gently scrape the insides of all the pins and try it in the VB again.
I tested it on pins 5 and 6. Now I don’t seem to be getting anything. Is there something in the controller itself I can check to see if there’s a specific issue?
There’s really nothing between the battery/adapter and the pins on the connector except the power switch. It’s unlikely that the switch is worn out, but as I mentioned before, there could be corrosion on anything, including inside the switch or between your probe, the paper clip, and the connector. Plugging/unplugging connectors, and switching switches back and forth, can sometimes scratch off enough to make a better connection. I can’t really advise beyond that without physical access to the parts… sorry.
Okay. I’ll scratch at everything. I may try to pick up a working used battery pack and controller combo from eBay and see if that works. That should at least tell me if it’s the system itself that’s broken, I guess.
So I went on eBay and bought another controller that came with an AC adapter and Galactic Pinball for $45. It worked. The AC adapter that I originally had was bad. Not to mention the screens inside the VB are PERFECT. So it looks like I’ve got a perfectly working VB for about $80, less whatever I can get for the extra controller!
