arcade cabinet cooling...

learpilot2

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I have heard many people add cooling fans to their machines to extend component life. I have several vector games. I heard Tempest and Star Wars owners cut holes in the back door, and install a fan to blow air over the deflection board. Others are running machines with the back doors off for extra cooling. I hate doing that because it is unsafe, and pcbs collect dust. Is it really neccesary to add extra cooling to arcade machines? They seem to have worked for 30 years the way the factory made them.
 
'Need' is relative.

Should you do it? Yes.

Would Atari have done it if it were economically feasible? Yes.



Just my opinion, but you asked. :D
 
Heat is a killer for all things electronic. Vector Games like Star Wars, and Tempest tend to generate alot of heat in the monitor section. This reduced the life of components, and puts more strain on them. Heat also kills electrolytic caps faster.

What it boils down to, is do you want your games to last longer, and play longer. Or do you want to work on them all the time?
 
I install fans BUT they are set to extract air from the cabinet not blow air into the cabinet.

This actually helps reduce the dust inside as well as reduce the operating temp of everything.

There is only one reason manufacturers didn't include them - cost! Remember these machines were only ever intended to operate for a few years and then be junked.
 
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