A busy cabinet that has been earning all weekend can stop earning when the screen goes black or the joystick sticks. Most issues begin with simple causes, such as low power, dirty sensors, or a clogged ticket path.
People who are willing to manage a venue or repair floor units know how quickly minor faults accumulate. Organizing common issues in a logical order saves time.
If you need a quick look at current arcade games categories and cabinet types while you work through fixes, it can also help you match symptoms to likely parts and layouts.
That’s why in this blog post, we are going to cover them all in proper sequence and provide valuable insights to the readers.
Let’s begin!
Key Takeaways
- Looking at safe start checks
- Uncovering the use of controls and sensor fixes
- Decoding the value of coins, cards, and tickets
- Understanding the VR and motion backs
- Exploring a weekly care checklist
Begin with power. Confirm the wall outlet with a known good device, then check the cabinet switch and fuse. Inspect the power cord for cuts, bent prongs, or heat marks at the plug. If the cabinet has a power entry module with a fuse drawer, remove it and check that the fuse rating matches the label inside the door. Replace with only the same type.
Open the rear door and watch the fans when you flip the switch. Fans that twitch and stop often point to a failing power supply. Use a basic multimeter to check the 12 V and 5 V lines at the distribution board. Low voltage makes boards boot, then crash, or it scrambles input signals.
Avoid static damage when touching boards. Wear an antistatic strap or ground to bare metal before you unplug a connector.
If the game boots to a vendor logo and loops, reseat edge connectors and ribbon cables. Gently push on socketed chips if the board is older. If the cabinet uses a PC, check SATA and RAM seating. Record any on-screen error code before you cycle power.
Interesting Facts
In arcades with high foot traffic, power cables can be damaged or become pinched in coin doors. Bad crimps, damaged wires, and dirty harness connectors can cause resistance and low voltage, which can lead to intermittent operation or system shutdown.
Unresponsive controls are often a link, not a part. Start with the wiring harness from the control panel to the I/O board. Look for pinched wires under the panel. Check for loose grounds that cause random inputs or “ghost” presses.
Mechanical controls fail in simple ways. Buttons stick when soda dries on the plunger and spring, or when micro-switch blades wear out. Replace the switch, not the whole button. Joysticks loosen at the pivot. Tighten the dust washer nut and check that the restrictor plate is set for the correct game movement.
Sensors on ball toss, puck, or roll games collect dust. Clean the optic pairs with a soft swab and isopropyl alcohol. If a lane sensor still reads wrong, swap the left and right sensor plugs. If the fault moves, the sensor is bad. If it stays, the input channel on the board is the issue.
Many modern cabinets include an operator menu. Use the built-in input test to see live button and joystick states. This test is faster than guessing and shows which input lines fail under load.
If a game will not take credits, break the path into steps. For coin mechs, shake out jams from foreign coins, bent tokens, or doubled coins. Set the dip switches to match the token size and pulse width the game expects. In harsh environments, add a coin door magnet shield to cut false trips.
For card readers or tap-to-pay systems, confirm the reader has power and network link. Many readers show link lights inside the bezel. If the reader shows “offline,” reboot the reader first, then the game. Check that the game’s price, pulse count, and protocol correspond to what your cashless server expects.
Hopper and bill validators often fail from dust. Clean the bill path with a validator cleaning card. Check firmware levels in the operator menu. If bills go in and bounce back out, the stacker may be full or the anti-string sensor is stuck.
Ticket dispensers cause long lines when they jam. Open the path, remove torn tickets, and check that the roll feeds from the bottom, not the top. Set the tension arm so it does not crush the stock. Run the ticket test in diagnostics to issue a small batch and watch for drag points.
Blank screen fixes begin at the source. Confirm that the game is producing a signal. Use the cabinet’s service button for a color test or crosshatch to rule out the panel. Check the video cable at both ends and look for bent pins. Try a known good cable if the signal flickers.
If the monitor shows “no signal,” look at the scaler or video card. Many modern games use a separate scaler board. Power cycle the scaler and check for onboard status LEDs. If the panel lights but shows a washed image, enter the panel OSD and load factory defaults.
Sound issues often come from one loose connection on the amp. Confirm input from the game board, then the speaker wires. If one channel is silent, swap left and right at the amp input to see if the problem follows the source. Watch volume levels in the operator menu so you do not chase a wiring problem that is only a muted line.
If the cabinet uses LED strips or beacons, check the 12 V rail and the first LED segment for burn marks. Replace the first failed segment and the rest often return to normal.
Connected games need a stable Ethernet or strong Wi-Fi. Test with a short patch cable direct to the switch where possible. If the game only pings your server occasionally, look for long runs or low-cost couplers. Label each cable with the cabinet ID so that faults can be traced later.
Keep firmware and game code current. Many bugs vanish after an update, and you gain clearer error logs. Back up settings before you patch. Snap photos of price, volume, and input calibration screens so you can restore them fast.
Time drift breaks some features, like online leaderboards or session sync. Set games to use the same time source in the operator menu. If your site uses network time, confirm the switch or router allows NTP to pass.
VR cabinets add a few steps. Check the headset cable for twists and the lens area for smudges that confuse tracking. Clean reflective sensors and remove any bright point light sources that are causing drift. Each time you move the cabinet or change the flooring, launch the VR calibration tool from the operator menu.
For motion bases, inspect limit switches and seat belts. Loose limit switches cause over-travel alarms. Verify that all e-stop buttons reset and that the motion controller boots without faults. Never bypass safety interlocks during tests. If the motion controller logs a fault code, record it before you cycle power so you can match it to a service chart.
A 15 minute weekly check prevents most outages. Use a small list:
Store spare parts that fail often. Keep micro-switches, fuses, belts, ticket stock, and a known good power supply on hand. Label every shelf with the cabinet families those parts fit.
Most arcade faults can be traced back to power, inputs, credits, or displays. Work in that order, and test rather than guess using the operator menu.
Keep simple spares on the shelf and record error codes before you reboot. With a steady routine, you reduce downtime, protect earnings, and make busy weekends smoother for your staff and your players.
Faulty controls are the most common arcade machine problem.
The arcade video game industry began to decline in the mid-1990s, when home consoles like the PlayStation and Saturn began to accurately recreate the coin-op experience at home.
You need to deeply assess the architecture of the circuit and identify the breaking points.
