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Coleco Ms. Pac-Man Mini-Arcade Troubleshooting

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Coleco Ms. Pac-Man Mini-Arcade controls (instruction guide 91758)
The Ms. Pac-Man controls as drawn in Coleco's guide; the right stick is player 1

The general symptom list and procedures for Coleco's VFD Mini-Arcades are in Coleco Mini-Arcade Troubleshooting. The notes below apply to the Coleco Ms. Pac-Man Mini-Arcade: how a working game starts, how its reversed stick layout affects fault finding, and the behaviour that is part of the game. Opening the game is in Coleco Ms. Pac-Man Mini-Arcade Maintenance and the display in Coleco Ms. Pac-Man Mini-Arcade VFD Repair.

What a working Ms. Pac-Man does

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  1. Fit four fresh C alkaline cells. Coleco's guide warns that weak batteries cause an erratic display or erratic play.[1]
  2. Move the Skill 1/Off/Skill 2 switch to Skill 1 (easier) or Skill 2.[1]
  3. Push the right stick left for Ms. Pac-Man, down for Head-to-Head Ms. Pac-Man or up for the demonstration. The left stick does not choose a game.[1][2]

Using the stick layout to find faults

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Because the right stick both chooses the game and moves player 1, a fault on it can look like a dead game.[1]

  • If pushing the right stick left does nothing at switch-on, try down and up. If Head-to-Head or the demonstration starts, the game is running and the fault is in the switch for the left direction under the right stick.
  • If no direction of the right stick does anything but the display is lit, check that stick's switches and parts before suspecting the board. Swapping the stick parts between the two sides shows whether the fault is in the parts or in the switches.[3]
  • In Head-to-Head the left-hand player uses the left stick and starts on the left of the maze; the right-hand player uses the right stick and starts on the right.[1]
Ms. Pac-Man symptoms
Symptom Probable cause Where to look
No game starts from the left stick Normal: the right stick chooses the game None[1]
Right stick pushed left does nothing, but down or up starts a game Worn, dirty or broken leaf switch under the right stick Coleco Mini-Arcade Maintenance[4]
Ms. Pac-Man moves without the stick being touched A stuck leaf switch under the right stick Free or replace the leaf[4]
One vertical line of the display missing Cold solder joint at the display, suspected by a KLOV owner; a Frogger with missing lines was fixed by reflowing its display joints Coleco Ms. Pac-Man Mini-Arcade VFD Repair[5]
Dead, or sound with a dark display Battery wires, power switch, transistors, display supply Coleco Mini-Arcade Troubleshooting[6]

Things that are not faults

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  • The bonus fruit blinks; it appears shortly after a power capsule has been eaten.[1]
  • The maze changes once it has been cleared, and play gets faster.[1]
  • Only the one-player game keeps a best score, and only until the power is switched off.[1]
  • A dark or silvery patch about half an inch across inside the display glass, and a faint whine from the display transformer, are normal on these games.[6]
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References

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  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8 Coleco Industries, The Official Ms. Pac-Man Instructions and Game Rules, guide no. 91758, model no. 2395, © 1983: cover (model number, four C cells or Perma Power #2298); p. 2 (games, controls and features, with the player 1 stick on the right); p. 3 (batteries, weak batteries, demonstration mode); pp. 4 to 8 (play, display key and scoring); p. 9 (special information and care); p. 11 (warranty and service policy). Hosted as File:Coleco Ms. Pac-Man Mini-Arcade Instructions 91758.pdf.
  2. ↑ MAME source, src/mame/handheld/hh_hmcs40.cpp, driver notes for Coleco Ms. Pac-Man (cmspacmn): made in Taiwan under licence from Midway; PCB label "Coleco 911171"; Hitachi HD38820A61 in a flat package; 1-bit sound; cyan/red Futaba DM-60Z 3I display; colour overlay (lives and playfield orange, best score pink, fruit yellow); game selection with the player 1 stick; port mapping. github.com/mamedev/mame.
  3. ↑ AtariAge forums, "Handheld/Tabletop repair options", thread 158637: worn joysticks on the Coleco Pac-Man, the thin metal joystick contacts, swapping the player 1 and player 2 parts to locate a fault, and microswitches as a replacement. forums.atariage.com. Community repair discussion.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Rik Morgan, Handheld Museum, "Coleco Game Repair", page 2: the four wires to the main board (B+, B− and two PZ speaker connections), the three board screws, the joystick parts, worn or stuck leaf switches, and the two lens screws. handheldmuseum.com. Owner's repair report.
  5. ↑ KLOV forums, "Coleco handheld arcade games - anyone fix those or have intel on them?", thread 505247, April to May 2022: a Ms. Pac-Man with "one vertical row in the display" missing, which its owner took to be a cold solder joint (no outcome reported), and a Frogger with missing lines fixed by reflowing the display joints; reproduction decals. forums.arcade-museum.com. Community repair discussion.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 Rik Morgan, Handheld Museum, "Coleco Game Repair", page 3: no-power faults (supply wires, power switch, the two transistors and reverse polarity), no picture with sound (broken glass, the exhaust tip, the display supply transformer, bad joints at the display), partial display faults, the eight filaments, the nine playfield grids and two score grids, and the repair of a corroded grid trace; with photographs of the 75690 board's power section (transformer, transistors T1 and T2, zener diodes ZD1 and ZD2, two electrolytic capacitors). handheldmuseum.com. Owner's repair report.


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