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Post by aidet1 on May 12, 2014 18:28:02 GMT -5
Hi I'm new to the forums so sorry if im posting in the wrong place I bought a vectrex and neither the 3 or 4 buttons work any help?
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Post by vectrexmad on May 12, 2014 18:52:11 GMT -5
Hi I'm new to the forums so sorry if im posting in the wrong place I bought a vectrex and neither the 3 or 4 buttons work any help? If you have access to multimeters and oscilloscope there are of course many checks you can make to identify the problem. However, I am assuming you don't have access to these. The problem could be to any number of issues (which I list in order of likelyhood) : 1) Controller buttons worn out / dirty contact - need to disasemble controller, and wipe clean the contacts for the buttons - there are guides on the internet how to do this - you need a hair dryer to gently lift off the plastic decal at four points on the controller surface inorder to access four screws which hold the controller casing together. If contacts are worn out, you need need to attach some foil to the button base, so that when it is pushed down it shorts the switch underneath. 2) Bent pins in the Vectrex controller port. Observe if the pins are not bent, if they are, use long nose pliers to gently straighten the pins. 3) Faulty Circuitry for Vectrex controller ports. First though, to make sure it is the Vectrex at fault and not the controller, test the Vectrex port with another controller and observe if you are getting full operation. If full operation, its your first controller at fault. If not full operation its your Vectrex. If its your Vectrex, then you probably need to change the AY-3-8912 chip on the logic PCB (the horizontal positioned PCB at the base of the Vectrex). This can be relatively straight forward if your Vectrex has this chip mounted in a socket or quite difficult if the chip is soldered onto the PCB. Opening your Vectrex can be dangerous if you don't know what you are doing - since there is the potential for high voltages present even when the Vectrex is switched off and unplugged from the mains). So if you don't leave to someone who has more experience. |
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Post by VectorX on May 12, 2014 19:33:57 GMT -5
Hi I'm new to the forums so sorry if im posting in the wrong place Normally I don't mind if a thread goes off topic, but that was in one that was on its 12th page worth of posts, so I just made it into a new topic. Welcome aboard though  |
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Post by centaura on May 23, 2014 7:43:43 GMT -5
I suffered the same case recently. Fortunately, It only was dirt, so I could solve it, like vectrexmad pointed (there are five screws, I think) doing a deep cleaning to the circuitry. I used vodka (isopropilic alcohol is best but expensive) Vodka is composed by water and ethanol (a very pure alcohol). Nothing else. Unlike others liqueurs, there are not sugar or others heavy particles in vodka, so it´s very used for "electronic cleaning tasks". With drunk cotton swab, you can rub metalic contacts under the buttons. It worked for me  P.D. You can find all kind of "creatures" into your controller, like millions of skin cuticles all around... so you should take advantage to carefully clean all corners you can find, mainly around and into the stick cabinet. |
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