sega 3050 light phaser troubles

[bdrs]

I recently obtained a sega 3050 light phaser for my master system. The only problem is I can't get it to work properly. When I try to use it the fire button seems to work but it will only fire into the center of the screen regardless of where the gun is pointing.

I tested it on a pal master system 2, using Laser Ghost, and a 34cm (approx. 20") tv(also pal). Does anyone know of any incompatibilities with small tvs, the sms II, zone lock out or any other possible cause for this problem?

any help would be appriciated

[FM-77]

Is it a 50Hz TV? It won't work with a 100Hz TV.

[viletim!]

I don't think 100Hz TVs come that small... 34cm is about 14"

[bdrs]

Yes it is a 50hz tv. And I also tried it on a larger tv(also pal 50hz) today and the same problem occured. I think the gun itself has lower sensitivity than it should because it sort of worked on rambo 3, still even then it was unuseable and slow. Does anyone know of anyway of restoring it to a useable state? perhaps a sensor or other internal part needs to be replaced, any ideas of which part(s)?

b.t.w. Thanks for pointing that 34cm is about 14", I don't use imperial measurements much and I was thinking of the next size of tv.

[kendrick]

Believe it or not, dust is the main cause of most light gun failures. What should be a vacuum sealed, precision metal instrument turns into a couple of injection-molded plastic shells once the marketing guys convince the engineers that nobody will buy a $200 light gun. (Not that it stopped the Menacer from being developed.) If you're careful, it's reasonably easy to open the thing up and blow out all the dust, and then wipe down the lens (or lenses) with some Windex or pro-grade optical cleaner.

Once you're inside though, you can make a couple of other quick diagnoses. Are there any fiddly bits broken off, or any clips bent the wrong way around? It's not uncommon for the lens or the sensor to be askew, and therefore for the sensitivity of the gun to be affected as a result. It's also possible that you've got a bouncy trigger switch, which causes the light gun sensor to trip too soon or too late.

Point is, you should open it up and check. Count the screws coming out and going back in.

-KKC, inordinately productive at work today.