This was an unexpected addition to the line-up! The local operator (who is in the process of downsizing/clearing out his cabs) had this Australian-built Gottlieb Challenger 26″ cabinet that he just brought in from a site, with the monitor not working.
They have a Zenith tube, which has slightly off-normal impedance, and runs with a modified K7000 chassis. You cannot get the flyback for these, so if that’s dead, it’s end of line (other than finding a donor or possibly finding a universal chassis that covers that impedance range).
He recapped the chassis and got a pretty decent picture, but there was a massive ripple.
I had only just freed up a space (my repair spot), and I went through the following list in my head:
- Nice decent design cab, with a good control panel
- Easy to access from the front of the cab, to service and change games (very important considering I really can’t be moving cabs all the time with my back)
- I could try replacing the filter cap, DC Regulator, and DC voltage pot (in that order)
- If the chassis was no good, I could try and source a universal
- Failing that, I could find another donor monitor (harder, but worth it for such a nice cab).
- The game that came with it was Snow Bros. I had not played it, but I am a fan of Bubble Bobble, so I was sure I probably would enjoy it. Plus, if it was a genuine board, then it was worth about what I paid for the whole cab.
- It was very cheap!!
So in a moment of weakness, I said yes, as he was frustrated with the time he had already wasted, and he knew it was a dead-end chassis. As part of the deal, he had to drop it off and put it in my one remaining spot.
Deliver it he did, and later the same day I had a quick look through it, removed the chassis, took one look at the filter cap and went “Well that looks pretty toast!”. I searched through my filter cap box, and amazingly, I had one (filter caps are expensive!). I removed the old one, soldered in the new one. The old one is so gone it could be used as a decent maracca!
Plugged everything back in and it works perfectly!!
Nothing wrong with that (well, other than some minor adjustment). So not planned, but a great new addition to the lineup and a keeper. I will have to finish fixing and move on to another cab to free up the repair spot again.
