Arcade Cleaning

phoennix

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Not sure where to post this. I have a big blue 3K Koam cab that was sitting in a shop that cut marble etc... The game works fine but the insides are all covered in this dust. I'm going to go through and vacuum of course, but wanted to make sure if it's a good idea to use compressed air on the monitor neck/chasis etc and the power supply and iso transformer. I'm worried I'm going to blow the dust into some places it shouldn't be going and fry something next time I turn it on.

A simple vacuum won't be enough, so I guess I'm asking which areas should I be REALLY careful with using the compressed air.

Any help would be great.
 
For the monitor chassis, take it out, put it on the driveway and spray it with a garden hose. Fan dry it for a couple of days, blow compressed air under componets. While you have it out, do a cap kit. Make sure it's completely dry before re-installing. You might think it's nuts but it works.
 
For the monitor chassis, take it out, put it on the driveway and spray it with a garden hose. Fan dry it for a couple of days, blow compressed air under componets. While you have it out, do a cap kit. Make sure it's completely dry before re-installing. You might think it's nuts but it works.

You can also speed up the drying by putting the chassis into the oven at a low setting - usually 175 is as low as most ovens will go. A half hour to an hour usually gets it pretty dry.

-Ian
 
For the monitor chassis, take it out, put it on the driveway and spray it with a garden hose.

A garden hose? In the winter?

I think compressed air would be fine to use anywhere in the cabinet. If you want to clean the PCB and monitor chassis really well, you can wash them in the kitchen sink. I use Simple Green and a paint brush, rinse them with the hand sprayer in the sink, then use a hair dryer to dry them. (or in the oven as RetroHacker suggested, but with the oven turned off after it's preheated)
 
thanks for all the replies, I'll try the compressed air in a can with the vacuum close by for now. I guess removing the chasis and cleaning it is probably the best idea. Not sure I can bring myself to "wash" a PCB or chassis, it just seems wrong lol.

I will just replace the power supply (switching). I thought for sure something would have burned out with all the dust. I should've posted a pic, maybe I'll get one up tonight.

How about the monitor neck?
 
I will just replace the power supply (switching). I thought for sure something would have burned out with all the dust. I should've posted a pic, maybe I'll get one up tonight.
Why replace it? I thought you said the game worked fine? If it's full of dust, just open it up and blow/brush it out.


How about the monitor neck?
Just blow or brush the dust off. One thing that works really well is to just use a soft bristled paint brush to brush away dust, and compressed air, etc. Just be very careful not to bump or move any of the convergence rings while cleaning. And of course, the neck of the monitor is fragile, don't hit it with anything that could break the thin glass.

Honestly, I think you're overthinking this. The inside of the game does not need to be spotless. The only reason we wash boards or chassis is if they're hideously filthy (tobacco tar and grease/grime from being in a bar or pizza joint) - it's really hard to repair a monitor chassis when you can't see the board. Just blow or brush off as much of the dust as you can. A little bit of dust (and really, even, a fair amount of dust) won't really hurt it as much as you think it will.

-Ian
 
Wait a minute...
Don't you have to take off the chips, sockets, caps, etc before you wash it, and wouldn't it rust?
 
thanks for all the replies, I'll try the compressed air in a can with the vacuum close by for now.

ehh.... i would omit the vacuum. not sure if it's as dry where your games are as it is here at my place but static electricity is up right now because of the dry winter air. the vac will just make that much more of a charge.

it's also cheaper to use a air compressor as those canned ones are expensive as hell. i recommend doing it outside and wearing some sort of dust mask (paper one should be fine). these monitors get really bad.
 
Every arcade machine I buy, before it ever comes into the house gets the following:

1) All parts stripped
2) Interiors sanded down with random orbital sander
3) Any holes, significant chips, etc.. filled with Bondo and sanded.
4) Interior usually recoated with flat black paint unless it was really really clean and smells great and/or wasn't black to begin with
5) Exposed cross pieces like edges, speaker panel, top, sides around monitor all sanded/filled, primed and repainted with semi-flat black paint around monitor and Satin everywhere else
6) All wiring completely submersed and washed with a couple cleaners with a toothbrush, including all sockets. Dry all connections immediately
7) All metal pieces (every screw, bolt, metal bracket) cleaned with a couple cleaners, one to remove surface rust another to remove grime.
8) Any metal with rust left gets additional treatment such as LimeAway or Naval Jelly and/or disc sanding
9) Some metal recoated in laquer based semi-flat black paint to reseal, most not.
10) Monitor disassembled, everything washed with cleaner including chassis and tube--usually outside in summer with a hoze and a big paint brush and left to dry in the sun, chasis left to dry for a couple weeks before repowering up
11) Any colored sides, plastics, glass all touched up (I'm not as anal as a lot of people -- I want stuff to look okay, but don't invest in repro graphics, complete side sand down and color match and repaint).
12) Game reassembled and brought in the house smelling and looking clean.
 
Wait a minute...
Don't you have to take off the chips, sockets, caps, etc before you wash it, and wouldn't it rust?


Not really. Socketed chips should be removed if your board has them but pretty much all electronics have "tinned" legs which don't rust easily. The boards and components are made of polymers and plastics so water won't affect them. The real danger of doing this is getting water trapped under a component and not drying the board completely before applying power.
 
holy shit mongo posted

Not really. Socketed chips should be removed if your board has them but pretty much all electronics have "tinned" legs which don't rust easily. The boards and components are made of polymers and plastics so water won't affect them. The real danger of doing this is getting water trapped under a component and not drying the board completely before applying power.
 
Not really. Socketed chips should be removed if your board has them but pretty much all electronics have "tinned" legs which don't rust easily. The boards and components are made of polymers and plastics so water won't affect them. The real danger of doing this is getting water trapped under a component and not drying the board completely before applying power.

As in classic games like Pac-Man?
 
A little bit of dust (and really, even, a fair amount of dust) won't really hurt it as much as you think it will.

I just wanted to be sure, never have come across this much dust or this kind of dust (from marble and slate).

Here is a pic I had on my phone that shows how much is on the bottom the cab.
 

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I just wanted to be sure, never have come across this much dust or this kind of dust (from marble and slate).

Here is a pic I had on my phone that shows how much is on the bottom the cab.
That's pretty dusty, but I've seen far worse. Vacuum it out, blow/brush it off the boards/chassis, you'll be fine.

Marble and slate dust is all non-conductive. The absolute worst thing it could do is insulate heat-producing devices a little bit, maybe cause it to run a little warmer. In theory it could get in connectors and cause bad connections, but that could only happen if someone unplugged the connector and plugged it back in without cleaning it out. I.e. the dust isn't magically going to get into an intact connection.

-Ian
 
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