Arcade Room Electrical - Game On / Off - Master Power, etc.

JODY

Active member
Joined
Apr 29, 2010
Messages
596
Reaction score
12
Location
Omaha, Nebraska
Arcade Room Electrical - Game On / Off - Master Power, etc.

I know I saw some threads with some information in the past but can't find them now (or my saved links). I'll have plenty of circuits / power and with the games going to be close together won't be able to get behind them to plug / unplug them or turn them on via the regular switch on the back.

For those in similar situations, what did you do to allow master power on / off and to turn individual games on / off? I know I read about power centers / boxes with on / off for each game. I could have a switch to control a set of outlets but don't want a switch per game. Needs to be a generic type setup in case things get moved around in the future. May have some outlets on the ceiling to add more rows of machines down the road.

I would prefer to not leave them plugged in. Any electrical controlling device equivalents? It would be nice to turn on banks of machines at once but individual machines are a must as most of the time I would only be playing a single machine at a time or possibly a few with other family members.
 
They are individual controls but that doesn't mean you couldn't add a splitter and control multiple games per switch... but I use these:

1e28_1.jpg


They are DJ light control racks. They can be had for about $30 or less on ebay.
 
I use 5 belkin conserve power strips. They come in 8 and 10 outlet flavors, and use a remote to turn them on and off. My games are close together, and the power strip is behind the games. I use the remote to turn on a bank at a time.
 
They are individual controls but that doesn't mean you couldn't add a splitter and control multiple games per switch... but I use these:

1e28_1.jpg


They are DJ light control racks. They can be had for about $30 or less on ebay.

+1

Got three of these stacked mounted inside my inner wall. It's great to be able to turn every machine and light on and off individually....
 
I'm a fan of the X10 for turning games on and off. Of course I'm lazy and use a crestron system to send out the X10 commands from touch screens :)


The appliance modules are 15 amp, you can put them anywhere and you can get the wireless remotes or plugin remotes to turn them on/off. Plus its nice to have an all off button that turns everything off at once.
 
I use the X10 outlets as well so you can control it all from a remote, but I have one outlet that automatically turns itself on whenever I lose power, which is far too often in MI. DTE can't keep the power on to save their life. I used to use the cheaper plug in remote controlled outlets, but I had one that would randomly just turn itself one whenever it felt like it. Because of these issues I don't feel that either of these solutions are particularly good since most of these games are 30+ years old I don't like to leave mine on for extended periods of time. I plan on eventually making all my outlets in the basement switched. Probably the best method to keep games off when you want 'em and safe from surges.
 
I'm quite happy with my X10 setup. I have a HR12A remote, a TM751 transceiver and a bunch of AM466 appliance modules to turn on/off my games. The X10 stuff is fairly cheap on eBay, and it's pretty flexible. You could get an appliance module for each game to switch them on/off one at a time, or plug multiple games into one module to switch them in banks.
 
Do you ever have any trouble with your X10 stuff when you have power outages?

I'm quite happy with my X10 setup. I have a HR12A remote, a TM751 transceiver and a bunch of AM466 appliance modules to turn on/off my games. The X10 stuff is fairly cheap on eBay, and it's pretty flexible. You could get an appliance module for each game to switch them on/off one at a time, or plug multiple games into one module to switch them in banks.
 
They are individual controls but that doesn't mean you couldn't add a splitter and control multiple games per switch... but I use these:

1e28_1.jpg


They are DJ light control racks. They can be had for about $30 or less on ebay.


These are cheaper and help keep you under max amp draw on a single circuit/outlet since there are only 5 or 6 ports, and no need to run cords from super far away from. They also have a master as well as individual control switches.

These often are at thrift stores for $3-$5.
 

Attachments

  • $(KGrHqN,!jEE6fh-hCNNBOoZYP(rCg~~60_12.JPG
    $(KGrHqN,!jEE6fh-hCNNBOoZYP(rCg~~60_12.JPG
    29.9 KB · Views: 29
  • $(KGrHqR,!i!E6QwGhCikBOoZYQPTZQ~~60_12.JPG
    $(KGrHqR,!i!E6QwGhCikBOoZYQPTZQ~~60_12.JPG
    19.5 KB · Views: 26
These are cheaper and help keep you under max amp draw on a single circuit/outlet since there are only 5 or 6 ports, and no need to run cords from super far away from. They also have a master as well as individual control switches.

These often are at thrift stores for $3-$5.

I've got two of those as well. One is so old there is only one lamp in one of the switches still burning... and it flickers.

:D
 
I use THESE to turn our games on/off. I have anywhere from 2 to 5 games on each switch and they work perfect for us.

This thread reminds me, I need to pick up another one for the pins. :)
 
I wired all the outlets in the room to two 20 Amp light switches, one switch turns on half the room and the other turns on the other half.
 
The phase bridge I had at my panel blew out a couple years ago when we had crazy power spikes during a storm, but looking inside it's charred remains it seems they aren't the best constructed things to begin with :)

I've never had any issues with power outages either with my x10 and probably have 10+ modules

Every now and again I'll get a bad module that wont turn on. Maybe 2 in three years or more.
 
I just hard wired my basement so I have 3x 20 amp outlet runs.. Each run comes back to a main switch all in one switch box. I walk down the steps and flick the 3 switches to power everything up. Pretty simple..
 
Back
Top Bottom