Closed Vectrex Help Required

[ReplayRetro]

Hey there everyone, really hoping someone can help, here's the facts

I own 2 Vectrex machines, one of which has always had the dreaded white dot and one of which has always been fine . . . . untill recently
a few months ago when i last used the 2nd (working) machine all the graphics were bunched in the top right corner but after 2-3 minutes they moved into place and everything worked fine, this happened whenever i wanted to use it and i had no real issue with it as it was only a few minutes . . . however today when i go to switch it on the graphics were more bunched than ever and it took more than 20mins for them to settle into the right position and even then they weren't quite right (very wobbly, occasionally shifting and resizing etc) clearly the problem has gotten much worse
Looking around the interwebs it seemed the most simple possible fixes were to brush the dirt off the boards with a paint brush (the 1st system had very dirty boards, the 2nd much cleaner), reseat the socketed chips and clean the cables which connect the 2 boards, i've tried this on both units but got no change out of the systems.
I'm no genius with these things but looking around i couldn't see any signs of cap leakage or damage to the trace on the boards so now have no ideas what to do/try next?
any help would be greatly appreciated
alternately anyone in the local area (Leeds) who thinks they can fix the units would be welcome to one if they got one of them fully working for me to keep but due to the size, weight and fragility i'm not going to post these guys, i've included some photos to explain better


Above: both units, one on the left is the one described as "2nd" with squashed image, right is white dot system


Above: shows the one with squashed graphics struggling as it warms up


Above: after being on for quite some time she's just about showing the image but its not stable

i can provide video if needed too so you can see the shifting/resizing of the screen

Thanks in advance for any help people can offer, even if it's just what i should be looking at or what i should do next

Regards,
Matt

- - - Updated - - -

p.s. yes i'm aware of the immense risk of death from this machine, but is life without a vectrex really a life?

 

[SkydivinGirl]

p.s. yes i'm aware of the immense risk of death from this machine, but is life without a vectrex really a life?

This is part of the reason I haven't tried working on mine yet. I've always been very scared of discharging the screen on any CRT monitor.

I hope someone here is able to help. We've got some brilliant people here.

Heather

 

[ReplayRetro]

I've never had an incident (touch wood) and i've tinkered inside them before, generally i leave it on unplugged for a while, think i've only ever tried physically discharged it once or twice and never got anything so who knows.
yeah let's hope someone can help, if needs be i'll have to post it somewhere (let's face it this is probably a Job for The Corfiot but i thought i'd check for local support first (TC if you see this let me know if you're interested though, i may also have other jobs for you )

 

[TheCorfiot]

I can indeed look at them for you my friend, but I need to clear my backlog first before people get angry with me..
Should be clear in a week or two if you still need help.

TC

 

[ReplayRetro]

Ok well if nobody more local has any help then that's probably my best option, i still need to send you my 5200 for an AV mod, hmmmmm i wonder if the Mrs fancies a weekend away in Wales?

 

[sir_beaker]

I can indeed look at them for you my friend, but I need to clear my backlog first before people get angry with me..
Should be clear in a week or two if you still need help.

TC

Yes, less typing more work!!!

 

[Sardine]

@RepleyRetro
Your Vectrex could not be in safer hands,

@sir_beaker
I thought Metallic lime green paint is hard to source

 

[sir_beaker]

lol, that's only the tip of the iceberg... icard it's not me you understand, as a true hoarder I have a load of retro machines stored in Wales, Greater Manchester and Eastleigh, and people are beginning to want their houses back lol. OK, so it is all my doing probably One of them has already dumped my crap in the corner of the office in Eastleigh and moved back to South Africa Hopefully we can get most of it shipped over in the next few weeks

 

[Sardine]

if you need to store an amiga 4000D for a few years I can use erm.. store it for you