330V mega shock! (grounding problem)

i just noticed an odd grounding problem with my super neo 29. i havent opened it up to look but ill describe the symptoms.

first the power cord is your regular two prong unpolarized cord. it works both ways. its plugged into a 3 prong polarized surge protector which is plugged into a 3 prong polarized outlet.

when everything is on, theres no problem.

when the surge protector is on but the power switch on the cabinet is off, no problem.

when the cabinet is unplugged, no problem. (imagine if there was? )

but when the switch on the cabinet is on, and the surge protector is off, theres a problem.

im getting between 3 and 20v ac between the outlet neutral/ground and the ground on my cabinet. i noticed it when i was unscrewing the screws that hold the pcb board in place. but the easiest place to find it is the metal coin slot.

any ideas what would be causing this? i assume adding a 3 prong power cord would fix this, but would it be a true fix or just cover up the underlying problem?

im going to take a look at it some time tonight or tomorrow.

Try reversing that 2 pin plug in the outlet. If Hot/Neutral become reversed and you don't have the cab grounded then you can get shocked like that.

If you have it grounded and the hot/neutral are reversed then you may end up popping a fuse or tripping a breaker.

RJ

I really don't understand this. Who the HELL would fit a 2 prong plug to an arcade cabinet??

Hewitson said:

I really don't understand this. Who the HELL would fit a 2 prong plug to an arcade cabinet??

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Could be old wiring in the house before 3 prong was standardized.

My Candy cab came with a two prong...I think most do.....That sucker used to give me a small zap when it was off,mainly when touching the control panel metal..OMG!! did it used to piss me off.I'd brush up against the cab and Zap..
There's a screw on the back of the cab to run a ground wire to.
Instead of tearing up the two prongs plugs factory job and puttling in a three prong plug as I wanted to.... I took a three prong plug,. and ran it's ground wire to the rear screw on the cab..The other two prongs are not used and the wires sealed off but I need the prongs on to hold the plug end in the surcge protector
I then run the two plugs to a surge Protector..,No more zap..So it's like my cab has two plugs........(A WTF!!)

I just don't want to cut up the clean way the cab was wired up with the two prong plug.

In America cabs are often not grounded (like many other appliances)- hardly ever see that in UK/Australia etc where electrical safety regulations seem stricter. For safeties sake earth your cab.

ttooddddyy said:

In America cabs are often not grounded

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Really? I can't believe its not required by law to earth any electrical appliance with exposed metal on the outside of it.

Xian Xi: Are you saying that electrical plugs/sockets having an earth is only a recent thing in the US?

Hewitson said:

Really? I can't believe its not required by law to earth any electrical appliance with exposed metal on the outside of it.

Xian Xi: Are you saying that electrical plugs/sockets having an earth is only a recent thing in the US?

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It is not mandatory, as it is in Australia- UK - NZ - PNG etc.

Hewitson said:

I really don't understand this. Who the HELL would fit a 2 prong plug to an arcade cabinet??

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japan. http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/dd/OutletPlug.jpg

its a japanese cabinet, hence the 2 prong cord.

if i reverse the cable the voltage is just there its just more or less depending which way it is.

gotta get me a 3 pronger.

This is how I ground all my candies, doesn't require hacking any power cords:



That yellow plug is a hospital grade take apart type you can find at home depot.

That's a Nice set up SamuraiShodownSensei ,I like that..Very clean cab too..

..............................
I plan to make this a little cleaner..(I didn't have any black tape..)all the wires go up into that gully when wrapped up..

In that square gully is a two plug plug inlet to plug another cab into this cab.



Two prong candy Plug,Three Prong just using the ground

I have absolutely no idea why you wouldn't prefer to replace the plug with a 3 prong one, but good to see you've got it sorted out.

Hewitson said:

I have absolutely no idea why you wouldn't prefer to replace the plug with a 3 prong one, but good to see you've got it sorted out.

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Myself,because I can't do the job as neatly as the factory wiring to the power supply was done..It's so neat that if I change it it'll look like a hack job and I prefer to keep the cab as original as possible.
I prefer to keep the two prong plug intact as the cab came original and just use the screw ground on it's back like I guess they do in Japan..

In other words,I want the cab grouned but I want to keep it original..

Hewitson said:

I have absolutely no idea why you wouldn't prefer to replace the plug with a 3 prong one, but good to see you've got it sorted out.

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As Chris1 said, why hack apart the cab when there's no reason to. All my candies haven't been modified, with the exception of a korean POS I have that has a tri sync wells gardner from an old golden tee cab, joysticks/buttons/PSU and jamma wiring loom from an old dynamo.

just wanted to say i added a 3 prong power cord and it fixed the problem.

and i didnt have to "hack apart" anything.

you cant even tell it was replaced.

hey SamuraiShowdownSensei (or anyone else with knowledge on grounding a candy) ...

I know this is an old thread, so sorry to bump it a couple years later but I'm about to get a candy cab & after reading this i'm guessing I should probably try and ground my cabinet when I get it....

Any chance anyone could shed a little more light on how to connect up that ground wire to that yellow electrical plug (maybe a photo of the inside of the plug with how it's all connected inside?) I know very little about electrical stuff & don't want to cause more damage to anything. Thanks!!

You can physically ground it (i.e. run a wire to a metal object affixed to the ground, such as a pipe). If you don't have the electrical knowledge, don't try to mod a plug, for the sake of your own safety.

yeah, thats what I was thinking, haha---don't want to mess around with anything that plugs into an outlet. With my luck i'd end up electrocuting myself while trying to make something that is designed to try and stop electrocution.