Step Down Convertors for Japanese / Candy Cabs

[jcmorris]

Hey everyone I wanted to offer a service I preform mostly for friends or locals to the NG and Shmups communities. I modify the VCT Step downs to output 100V to the standard 2/3 prong American style plug.

I know some, or most, would say that using a step down converter is unnecessary, useless, over the top, blah blah blah; but when your dealing with equipment this old and sometimes impossible to replace components, you can never be too safe. I have personally seen many chassis overheat or have various other problems related to voltage the second they were used WITHOUT a step down.

To me its a no brainer, a moderately cheap investment to ensure the longevity of my precious hardware But I digress...


I personally use the 500W model on every single cab I own. There are models with larger wattage that can allow for daisy chained cabs as well; but I recommend using the single 500W unit per cabinet. If you have any questions please feel free to ask. Prices cover the unit brand new, my labor, shipping costs, materials, and include shipping CONUS.

VCT-500J: $70
VCT-1000J: $100
VCT-2000J: $140

 

[RAZO]

Both my candies have been hooked up without a step down for years and never had any issues but I guess there is nothing wrong with taking a extra precaution.

 

[ChuChu Flamingo]

Any pictures of your mod/insides? Would probably help with the sales.

Is Simran another name for this brand? From some of the reviews the insides can have shoddy wiring and soldering.

 

[jcmorris]

Both my candies have been hooked up without a step down for years and never had any issues but I guess there is nothing wrong with taking a extra precaution.

I totally understand, I would say 90%+ of the owners out there do not. Im definitely the odd man out, but I firmly believe it extends the life considerably in comparison to running at 120V. My hypothesis is that some of the components are near the brink of failure, and when its getting 20% additional juice on top of what its rated for, that can definitely shorten the lifespan on ICs, electrolytic caps, and others parts. Just a theory and have no actual evidence, other than anecdotal, to back it up.

Any pictures of your mod/insides? Would probably help with the sales.

Is Simran another name for this brand? From some of the reviews the insides can have shoddy wiring and soldering.

Your totally right I need to take some photos. The most recent iterations are different from ones I did in the past, cleaner etc.

You can buy this model for about $40 on amazon then get an adapter for about 8$ more and it would accomplish the same thing. But I like having everything cleaned up inside (wires resoldered and rerouted with shrink tubing etc.) and to look stock, rather than extra adapters sticking out.

Im not sure about the brand being the same as Simran? Iv never heard of those but after looking at them they appear to be identical. I tried a few other more expensive brands in the past but had a few fail suprisingly.. Iv used these for years with no problems whatsoever.

 

[ReplicaX]

I totally understand, I would say 90%+ of the owners out there do not. Im definitely the odd man out, but I firmly believe it extends the life considerably in comparison to running at 120V. My hypothesis is that some of the components are near the brink of failure, and when its getting 20% additional juice on top of what its rated for, that can definitely shorten the lifespan on ICs, electrolytic caps, and others parts. Just a theory and have no actual evidence, other than anecdotal, to back it up.

You would have to literally pull datasheets on everything to confirm tolerances. On the power side of the house, most circuits are more than 20% due to their application. It also varies on the PSU, switching, linear, etc.

I'd say what is even more important than even a stepdown is the fact a majority of owners on Video/Pins are going super cheap or not using surge protection at all on their machines. This is a huge issue and spikes on components are the majority of my board lvl repairs, besides cap replacements. Then there are just some really poor PSUs out there I won't even touch and instantly replace. Like Wei-ya and especially if I run across a Ming Dong.

Another factor is owners not doing a proper cleanup. Like when I repair chassis and they are literally just caked in dirt and grime. Thus not even allowing proper heat dissipation.

 

[ChuChu Flamingo]

This is an old thread but thought I would bump it since I received my step down converter.I have an Egret 2 for reference.

At 120 AC input exactly low power boards (like PGM/MVS) 5v is usually at at 5.05ish for pgm, 5.10-5.16ish for MVS depending upon cart on both my PSUs.This is with the voltage pot at the lowest setting. If you google some threads you can see others having the same problem on their Egret 2. Not being able to adjust the 5v to 5v exactly on low power boards.

With this in mind it makes sense as the stock Egret 2 PSU (TAITO M1300010B) is a linear PSU iirc. The more AC input, the higher the 5v rail. The lower the AC input, the lower the 5v rail. I've observed this on both my old psu and NOS E2 PSU. Both behave exactly the same.

With no stepdown converter with PGM connected the 5v was usually 5.01.-5.08 depending upon AC input voltage. With the arcade cabinet plugged into the stepdown converter the 5v with PGM was 4.25-4.29. A pretty big difference as I had to adjust the 5v voltage pot.

Now normally running 5v a little higher wouldn't be a problem and is well within specs of a lot of chips. But running them higher is never a good idea if you can avoid it and once you approach 5.20-5.25 is when things start dying..What this means is if you get a AC spike (which won't trigger surge protectors since clamping is usually 330volts min iirc) you could be running your 5v at 5.25 possibly killing chips. Could also dip too low for 5v and cause logic errors.Only way to prevent it is to run on a UPS or have a power conditioner/voltage line regulator. I believe this is what killed my Shen Jian cart as the voltage was fine at 5.05ish, but when metered again the volts was 5.25-5.35 fluctuating.

in any case I will be replacing my PSU with a nice Meanwell switching since 5v flucuating like that (even +-1 volt ac does it) is unacceptable for a PSU.Makes me wonder how many boards have gotten silently because of this.

Just thought I would warn people. Thanks for the stepdown JC!

 

[thchardcore]

Interesting. Thank you for the informative update.