Voltage testing help needed

[gyruss]

Okay, total noob question but i have to learn this someday, so here we go:

i just bought a multimeter to check some voltages on my spy hunter. This is the first time i ever used one and i have trouble setting the thing up for use.

I want to check the voltage going out from the power supply board to the rest of the machine. But i don't really understand the difference between the settings. For example: Do i set it up for DC voltage measurements, DC current measurements or AC voltage measurements?

And do you guys know any tutorials? I already checked varcadegames on youtube but i need something even more basic.  

Thanks for your help!  

[Etienne MacGyver]

In this case you need DC voltage

DC is + and - (dutch: gelijkspanning)
AC is ~         (dutch: wisselspanning)
DC Current is Ampere

hmm basics, let me search a bit and come back to you

EDIT:
Here is a start.... 

http://www.electronics-tutorials.com/basics/starting-out.htm

[gyruss]

Thanks Etienne!

So i checked the voltages on one connecter going from the power supply to the sound board and an absolute position board.
I did this by putting the black test lead on the ground (Y-W) and the red lead on one of the 3 5v openings (all red).
Is this the right way? I checked the manual for the right colors of the wire.  

The voltages that should be +5v (3 times) read 5.8v and the one that should be 12V reads 0.10V. So the 12V is way off??

Still have to check the other connector.

Oh, and i discovered something else: There are a lot of grounding wires going from the power supply chassis to pcb's and other parts, but one wire isn't going anywhere because the end is broken, could it be that this wire has to go to the power supply board?
 
Edit: I checked the other connector: the one that should be 5V is 5.6V and the one that should be 12V is 0.11V.

Why is the 12V one so different? Did i do something wrong??

[Etienne MacGyver]

5.6 on a place where you need 5 is good i would say

but 0.11 where you need 12 sounds to me like you found your problem  

about the wire, hard to tell where it supposed to go, but a good thing is to check all the parts that need ground (wich is all parts  )  are connected to ground.

a simple way of doing that is the continuetest on your meter (diodetest).
put one test lead on a metal part (does not matter what, they should all be grounded) and point the other testlead to all parts ground connector.
if you hear a beep, then there is contact with ground, and that should be ok then.

[level42]

Could it be that the 12V is AC ? You first have to check the manual/schematics to see what it should be...

[ckong]

http://www.ladyada.net/learn/multimeter/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KzjMIcER4EU

[gyruss]

Thanks for the info guys!

Some guys on klov told me that the 12V is used for the coin-door light and the sound, which both don't work: http://forums.arcade-museum.com/showthread.php?t=167166&page=3 Don't know if the 12v is AC, will check that too.

[Etienne MacGyver]

Thanks for the info guys!

Some guys on klov told me that the 12V is used for the coin-door light and the sound, which both don't work: http://forums.arcade-museum.com/showthread.php?t=167166&page=3 Don't know if the 12v is AC, will check that too.

not sure, but my guess is no, i think its DC.

[level42]

As my teacher used to say:

Meten = weten
Gokken = brokken.

So no guessing here !  

Pieter, switch the meter to AC voltage measuring and try to measure at the 12V points again, see what you get....

Aren't there any manuals/schematics...?

[Etienne MacGyver]

I'm sorry daddy  

Will not do it again  

other nice vids:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LPaTsBrd-Tg&feature=fvw
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bF3OyQ3HwfU&feature=related

part 1
part 2
part 3
part 4

and for another night of learning basic electronics by youtube;
Connect your PC / laptop / mac / whatever you have to your TV, grab a snack, lay back and enjoy Learn  

http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=basic+electronics&aq=0

[gyruss]

Thanks for the links, very useful.

Okay, switched the meter to AC and it didn't show anything. Maybe i did something wrong?
The 12v is for the coin door light and the sound, which both don't work.
I also measured everything again using a different grounds (as a guy on klov told me to do) and got the same results.

The second thing i did, was measuring the voltage on a capacitor on the sound board (again told by some people on klov).
The voltage should be 5.1v but i've got 5.45v.

[level42]

Well, seems the 12V is bad...

[level42]

OK I checked the schematics (here: http://arcarc.xmission.com/PDF_Arcade_Bally_Midway/Spy_Hunter_Parts_and%20_Operating_Manual_(Nov_1983).pdf)

Did you check any fuses first ?  (PULL power cord (no, switching off is not enough!), put DVM in diode/continuity ("beep") setting and measure the two sides of all fuses.
If they all beep, they are good.

If so, measure on Connector 4 on the power supply. This is the outgoing powers to all the boards.
Put the black lead on any of the GND pins (8,9 or 10 doesn't matter which one) and keep it there for all next measurements
Now put the red lead on 3,5 and 6 and you have to read (about) 5V on all.
Then put the red lead on pin 12 which should be +12V
Next move to connector 5 and do the same measurements (so check where it says 12V in the schematic and 5V etc.

Is there a battery on there somewhere ? The schematic says pin 1 of conn. 4 carries a battery voltage....

[gyruss]

okay, checked the fuses again, my meter doesn't have a beep (cheap one from Gamma) but i got something on screen by all of them. And on the outside they all look undamaged.

What do you mean by measuring the connector? I think i already did that or do i have to take out the connectors from the pcb board?
I got 5.6v on the 5v and 0.2 on the 12v. for both connectors.

And yes it has a battery, when i put the red lead on that pin and the black one on the ground it reads 2.54v, the manual say it should be 3.6vdc.

[Etienne MacGyver]

okay, checked the fuses again, my meter doesn't have a beep (cheap one from Gamma) but i got something on screen by all of them. And on the outside they all look undamaged.

What do you mean by measuring the connector? I think i already did that or do i have to take out the connectors from the pcb board?
I got 5.6v on the 5v and 0.2 on the 12v. for both connectors.

And yes it has a battery, when i put the red lead on that pin and the black one on the ground it reads 2.54v, the manual say it should be 3.6vdc.

No beeb = No good 
is the display different when you put it in ohm test if you short the testleads or not ?
if yes, then maybe you can still use it to test the fuses..
or does the meter only have voltage tests, and no ohms (resistance) ?
if you got a resistance test in that thing,  short the two testleads and see what you got on the screen (that means 0 ohm) and check if the fuses give the same result.
dificult to say if they are good, they can look undamaged, but still be bad.

maybe you got a pic of your hitech meter ?