Neo-Geo EL Lamp Replacement Tutorial
This tutorial is meant to help you replace the EL Lamps on the Neo-Geo 2, 4, and 6 slot EL Lamp pcbs. If your marquee lights don't work it is most likely just the lamps. They go bad just like a regular light bulb only after a much longer period of time. It is possible that your inverter is bad but it is not nearly as likely. All pics used are from my 6-slot cabinet. The routine should be the same for other models.
**I used a kit sold by Being Seen Technologies, Inc. to fix my lamps and make this tutorial. You can contact Ed to order your kit. You could technically order the supplies and make the bulbs yourself but it would be much more expensive and more time consuming, especially since you are probably only replacing a few bulbs. If you email you will receive an automated response first and then he will send an actual response later. Please be patient. The better, quicker way is to call. Here is the contact info for Being Seen:
Being Seen Tech
www.beingseen.com
888 457-0117 (USA)
508 279-4244 (International)
508 930 2277 (cell)
If you have questions for me you can contact me at
Neogeolamps@suddenlink.net
Now onto the tutorial!
STEP ONE: REMOVE EL PCB
Remove the EL lamp pcb from behind the marquee. Depending on your cabinet, you will have different ways to access it. (Mine had two locks underneath the marquee overhang.) You must disconnect the rainbow colored connector that leads to the inside of the cabinet.
STEP TWO: REMOVE OLD EL BULB
Using a knife or a flathead screwdriver, carefully pry the old laminated EL bulb away from the pcb. It is held with a sticky substance.
While holding the bulb up so that it doesn't touch the sticky substance again, use a soldering iron to melt the solder and remove the old bulb from the pcb. You will have to pull slighly on the bulb while you melt the solder with your soldering iron. You could use a de-soldering iron to do this but I found that it is easier to replace the new bulb when you leave some of the original solder on the contact points.
Note: Do Not Clean the sticky substance off the PCB!! You will use it later.
STEP THREE: PREPARE NEW BULB
Here is what your new bulb will look like before any modification:
Note: You may need to use an old bulb to trim the new bulb down to size. You can just use a pair of scissors to do this if necessary. Also, your kit will most likely have thinner wires. I have worked with Ed and provided him with an old, dead bulb. Your kit will probably already have the bulbs at the proper size when you receive it. He will probably have smaller wires installed, also. This will make the fit even better on the pcb.
Soooooo, you may need to trim the bulb. You will also need to trim the wires down and splice the ends of them a bit.
You can place the new bulb in the old bulb's spot before removing it in order to determine the best length for the wires.
After you strip the wire tips a bit it is best to add solder the the tips of the wires before trying to solder them down.
STEP FOUR: INSTALL NEW EL BULB
Note: I have been told that the wire solder points should be interchangeable but this tutorial shows where the factory would solder the wires.
First off, look at the back of the new bulb.
There are two wires attached. Look at the bulb with the wires at the bottom. The bottom wire will actually be attached to the lead closest to the bottom of the pcb. The top wire will be attached to the top lead on the PCB. So more or less the same way the original bulbs were attached at the factory.
Note that some of the leads on the PCB are at the top of the bulb. In this case just install the bulb with the wires at the top. The top wire goes to the top lead and the bottom wire to the bottom lead, etc.
Now fit the new bulb in the spot that the old bulb was. The remaining bit of the sticky stuff on the PCB should be enough to keep the new bulb stuck in place. I suppose you could use a bit of rubber cement if necessary. Next, carefully solder down the wires to the proper leads on the PCB.
STEP FIVE: REPLACE EL PCB AND TEST
After verifying that you have good solder connections and the proper wires attached to the proper leads, replace the EL lamp PCB in your cabinet and reconnect the rainbow wire connector.
Now turn on your cabinet. By default the first slot light should turn on immediately (if you have a cartridge properly installed in slot one).
Now use either the game select button to test each bulb or go into the manager screen and select hardware test, then hit start until you get to the i/o test screen. It will automatically cycle through all of the marquee lights one at a time continuously.
Here are some reasons that a bulb or bulbs may not work:
--Bad solder connection: you may need to do a better job soldering the wires to the PCB.
--Wires soldered to wrong lead: verify that the proper wire was soldered to the proper lead. Try reversing the wires on the PCB. (I have been told that the wires are interchangeable but the tutorial uses the factory leads)
--Bad Bulb: This is extremely rare and most likely NOT the case. May never happen.
--Bad inverter: Also, probably not the case. Check all wire connections to and from the inverter (located behind the board that the marquee PCB is mounted to)
STEP SIX: ENJOY YOUR REVIVED NEO-GEO MARQUEE SLOT LIGHTS!!
This tutorial was made using Open Office. I also used my six-slot cabinet and pictures I took myself. In addition I also used an EL lamp kit purchased from Being Seen Technologies Inc.
© Walsdawg Management Inc. 2009
© Jeremy Walski 2009
Please don't distribute without my permission.
(Shameless self promotion, sorry)
