Sega Genesis Konami Justifiers not working

[NavesRegge]

After, like, 12 days of waiting I finally got my pink and blue Sega Genesis Konami Justifiers. Guess what? The start button works, the screen flashes when I pull the trigger, but the thing doesn't "register" on the screen. I may as well be missing the TV screen everytime. So, I thought, the CRT I'm using has some discoloration so maybe something other CRT would work with the Justifiers. Nope. Still the same problem.

So, how would I go about fixing them? The store only had these two Justifiers, so I don't know that I could replace them without having to wait another 12 days or so. Are these just completely useless now, or can I save them?

[kool kitty89]

You have them it port 2 right?

Did you try cleaning the plastic lenses? How about adjusting the brightness of the TVs?

Did you try calibrating them? (I know LE has a calibration mode)

My justifier seems a bit inaccurate at times, but is otherwise fine.

[NavesRegge]

I just tried the old "stick the firing end in front of a bright light bulb until it works" trick. Now, the blue Justifier works, but the Pink one doesn't quite work. When I pull the trigger for the pink one at a calibration screen the screen doesn't flash, but the screen flashes when I push the trigger on the blue one. The start button works on the pink one, though. Unless the 1st and 2nd player take turns in the game. I wouldn't know because I've never played it before.

[ooXxXoo]

I once had to replace the phototransistor inside a Konami justifier in order to work again....

[NavesRegge]

I once had to replace the phototransistor inside a Konami justifier in order to work again....

The main problem now is getting the pink one to work. As I said, the trigger doesn't work on it but the start button does. So I think the "phototransistors" are pretty alright.

I did open up the pink one and saw that all the wires seemed to be in good shape, but the input phone plug thingamawhatsit on the blue one seemed kind of worn. I'll check on that.

[ooXxXoo]

Can't really recall at the moment, its been a while, but I'm pretty sure the trigger is just a tact switch...

[NavesRegge]

Can't really recall at the moment, its been a while, but I'm pretty sure the trigger is just a tact switch...

It is. It must be worn down quite a bit or something. I imagine replacing it should be relatively easy? I also assume precision soldering will be needed. I need to learn to solder!

[ooXxXoo]

Does it feel worn?...

[NavesRegge]

Does it feel worn?...

It sounds louder than than the blue one, but I'm not sure if that means it's worn. It doesn't stick at all, so I kind of suspect a faulty connection of some sort. I'm not sure what to do. I don't know if it's the button, some wires are loose, the weird phone cord is broken somehow. I think I'll try a different cord because I imagine a normal phone cord would work since the output and input plugs are both the "same" plugs. (EDIT: I was wrong. I'm not sure why I'd think that'd work.)

Sorry to sound totally incompetent (which I probably am ), but the problem is unclear to me.

EDIT: Okay, I guess the tact switch/trigger button is really worn. It feels almost nothing like the blue one's trigger. So, I'll have to see about fixing that. A very techy friend of mine will be visiting some time in May, so if I see him I'll probably have him take a look at it and see if he can repair it. Replacing a simple switch shouldn't be too hard for him, I hope...

[ooXxXoo]

Don't feel bad, in reality, it could be just about anything...If you have a multimeter, do continuity checks between wires, pins and the switch itself as well....

[kool kitty89]

It could also be dirty/corroded contacts on the link cable connector (or female connector on the blue justifier) or broken wire. (less likely)

[NavesRegge]

It could also be dirty/corroded contacts on the link cable connector (or female connector on the blue justifier) or broken wire. (less likely)

Everything looked pretty clean generally and no wires were broken from what I could see. They're both in good condition cosmetically. The blue justifier's female connector did look a bit dirty so I think I'll give it a simple cleaning.

Anyway, the blue one now plays perfectly now (thanks to the light bulb trick) and Lethal Enforcers is a blast to play!

[17daysolderthannes]

light bulb trick? I don't see what pointing it at a light bulb could possibly do to make a gun work all of a sudden. I find it helps to play at night with the lights off, though. Did you just happen to try it during the daytime first and then at night it started working?

[NavesRegge]

light bulb trick? I don't see what pointing it at a light bulb could possibly do to make a gun work all of a sudden. I find it helps to play at night with the lights off, though. Did you just happen to try it during the daytime first and then at night it started working?

No, it was daytime all the time. Though, for whatever reason, pointing the gun at a light bulb instead of at the screen and shooting when playing got it to work. Maybe my screen wasn't bright enough (can't adjust the contrast. I can't even go one channel down because there's only a channel up button!) and the thing needed a burst of light to get itself going or I'm spewing utter nonsense. Anyway, whatever works. I won't complain .

Actually, I think I heard of the light bulb trick (or maybe it was called the lamp trick or something) from an AVGN episode where he had a bunch of defective NES Zappers and he mentioned that trying the light bulb trick didn't even fix them. I originally thought this would make it so you would never miss because the gun looks for the white light as the target so if you held it to a light bulb then the gun would always see the white light. I guess there was more to it. As long as it works, I'm okay with it.

[kool kitty89]

THe light bulb trick isn't supposed to fix things, it's an old trick for early light guns to get 100% hits as those gins simply detected white objects. (the Zapper is not one of those, it uses the beam timing to read the shot precisely, though more primitive than later light gun mechanisms)