My Vectrex just died!

[garryg]

Not sure the last tme I had my vectrex on, but I tryed to turn it on today, and... nothing. No 'white dot,' no sound, nothing at all.

First I checked the fuse, but that was ok. Then I put my ear to it and heard a faint hum. Any ideas what would suddenly make it do this, as it was fine the last time I switched it on?

Is there enywhare in the UK that could fix a Vectrex?
Or is there anythging that I can check myselfe?  I have a basic electronics understanding, used to be a computer technician many years ago... I cas solder and replace components. But wouldn't know whare to start with a Vectrex.


Was actuially thinking about making a new game as well 

[vtk]

hi garry when u say u checked the fuse, do u mean the fuse found inside the vectrex?

faint hum means the power is getting to the transformer

maybe there is something wrong with your vectrex on/off switch?

with the back off of the vectrex, and then after turning the vectrex on/off switch on, you could use your multimeter to check the volts going into your on/off switch at the switch input pins, and then check the volts going out of the on/off switch at the switch output pins, to make sure the power is getting through there ok

if it is, then i would check the 4 wires power connector plug found on the logic board, to see that you are getting correct volts readings there.. (the power connector seen in the picture below on the left hand side with yellow, black, orange, red wires).
      the black wire is ground (0v), and the other wires should read -5v for the yellow wire, +5v for the orange wire, and -13v for the red wire.

remember to also check while the vectrex back cover is off and the vectrex is powered on, to see if there is any neck glow (orange light through the glass of the monitor tube neck, which is found at the back of the neck towards where the little circuit board is attached)

report back with results ... 

[nubiandaze]

Hi Garry,
I have one Vectrex that won't turn on when I turn it on on the Vectrex on/off knob.
But if I leave the Vectrex turned on, on the Vectrex knob then I turn on the power at the wall
socket, it will turn on everytime.
It's a simple fix that may work or not work for you but worth a try.

Cheers,

Daniel.

[binarystar]

Yeah, the power knob can often be the first thing to go on the Vectrex. I have a machine with the same issue.

[garryg]

I checked in the back of the Vectrex at the time but couldn't see anything obvious.

After leaving it off for several months (I was working away from home for back and forth for a while, and didn't have the time) I switched it back on, just to check and it actually came on a few minutes after switching it on.

Now the lines don't appear to line up properly on any game at first, especially in my own games, but this gets better the longer you keep the Vectrex on for.

So possibly it isn't a very big deal to fix this properly, any ideas?


Right now it appears to be working enough for me to periodically test my work in progress, after I let it heat up for a while!

[limitzer0]

Those of you who have power knob issues may just have dirty contacts. I bought a "broken" Vectrex that had the same issue (had to wait a few minutes for it to turn on fully). I sprayed DeoxIT Gold contact cleaner in the switch and exercised it. It has worked fine ever since. I may have mentioned it before.


I think something similar is included in the Buzz Off kits to get rid of that static sound when turning the volume up and down.