Daytona USA vs Daytona USA Limited

sabrewulf69

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What are the differences between the original Daytona USA and Daytona USA Limited Edition? Are the boards the same? Can you link a Limited to an original?
 
I don't know this for a fact, but I don't remember ever seeing mention of there being a difference in the game or PCBs. I always thought it was just like a later run of cabinets in a different, less deluxe cabinet design. Interested in hearing from someone who knows for sure though.
 
What are the differences between the original Daytona USA and Daytona USA Limited Edition? Are the boards the same? Can you link a Limited to an original?
Same exact software, just in a more compact cabinet design. Not much special about it...
 
Same exact software, just in a more compact cabinet design. Not much special about it...
Gotcha, thanks. A limited in what seams to be really nice condition poped up nearby for $300. I just wanted to make sure I could link it with other daytonas if I ever found one.
 
The boards are the same and you can link LEs with any other cab type. I think most of these had a later rev of software that adds a Sega Saturn promotion to the attract mode. If you don't turn it off when linking with a machine that doesn't have it, it'll throw off syncing the attract screens up, but it still links fine otherwise. It can be disabled in GAME SYSTEM menu.

I personally dislike the LE cabs - they're one of the harder cabs out there to move without assistance. They also shipped with a WG monitor (a downgrade from the twin's Nanaos) and the steering wheel shaft is different than all other cab versions (twins/DX/Special) as it will only accommodate the plastic Happ wheel the shipped with. If you're a Daytona player like me then you might want the original foam rubber wheel, but if you aren't, then no loss. Lots of twins out there were converted to the Happ wheel but those still have the splined shaft that accepts the OEM wheel.

They're harder to find than twins, so if you want a linked rig, you might want to get a twin when you find one, but at $300 it's worth a buy even if it doesn't work. I usually buy these to scrap for parts to keep twins going. The boards not being under the seat means they're always clean & in great shape. LE cabs are often in fairly poor cosmetic shape, the side art likes to peel off them and the marquees usually yellow.
 
The boards are the same and you can link LEs with any other cab type. I think most of these had a later rev of software that adds a Sega Saturn promotion to the attract mode. If you don't turn it off when linking with a machine that doesn't have it, it'll throw off syncing the attract screens up, but it still links fine otherwise. It can be disabled in GAME SYSTEM menu.

I personally dislike the LE cabs - they're one of the harder cabs out there to move without assistance. They also shipped with a WG monitor (a downgrade from the twin's Nanaos) and the steering wheel shaft is different than all other cab versions (twins/DX/Special) as it will only accommodate the plastic Happ wheel the shipped with. If you're a Daytona player like me then you might want the original foam rubber wheel, but if you aren't, then no loss. Lots of twins out there were converted to the Happ wheel but those still have the splined shaft that accepts the OEM wheel.

They're harder to find than twins, so if you want a linked rig, you might want to get a twin when you find one, but at $300 it's worth a buy even if it doesn't work. I usually buy these to scrap for parts to keep twins going. The boards not being under the seat means they're always clean & in great shape. LE cabs are often in fairly poor cosmetic shape, the side art likes to peel off them and the marquees usually yellow.
I bought it, and like you said the sideart is peeling off, but I have found HQ scans and I think I can have new side art made. The wells gardner has been swapped out for a MakVision/WeiYa of some kind, currently collapsed but it is at least burn free, I should be able to get it going. The powersupply in it is also dead and not the original, I'm going to see if I have a PC power supply with high enough watts to replace it. My plan from the start was to find a twin to go with it, with daytona the more the merrier lol.
 
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Also glad that the seat, steering wheel, shifter, cpo and bezel are all in good shape. The marquee is yellowed and the cpo is a little too but it's very passible.
 

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Just buy a 200W 9-pin PSU from TQ, Betson, Happ, AS or whoever for $45.
Doesn't matter where you order from since they're all made by the same company (Twinfly) in Taiwan. These work in any game with a 9-pin molex--all US-built Daytona cab types originally came with a 150W XT-style supply, but the form factor doesn't matter. These are smaller (AT-style) and will plug directly in with no hacking.

 
Just buy a 200W 9-pin PSU from TQ, Betson, Happ, AS or whoever for $45.
Doesn't matter where you order from since they're all made by the same company (Twinfly) in Taiwan. These work in any game with a 9-pin molex--all US-built Daytona cab types originally came with a 150W XT-style supply, but the form factor doesn't matter. These are smaller (AT-style) and will plug directly in with no hacking.

Shoot lol, I wish I saw this first. I ordered a different one off of arcadeshop.com friday. it said it was for daytona but it had a different connector I was just going to swap them, the one you linked was quite a bit cheaper too. Oh well live and learn.

 
Shoot lol, I wish I saw this first. I ordered a different one off of arcadeshop.com friday. it said it was for daytona but it had a different connector

He has had that listed incorrectly for a while, but that info was probably wrong on Happ or Betson's site and was copied over.
Many of the games on that list actually use the standard 9-pin molex connector and not that 12-pin Universal Mate-N-Lok.
 
I had to get all hacktastic to replace a power supply in my virtua racing. Now I'm wondering if these are a direct drop in.
They are a direct plug-in for VR as well, if you didn't hack out the original 9-pin molex. All the US-built model 1 & 2 games use the same 9-pin molex standard of those $45 supplies. Japanese-built stuff use different [very high quality] supplies with unique wiring that should just be capped and retained. I often find I need to replace the game side's male pins in the 9-pin molex connectors as I'm seeing some decent drop across them. Tarnished pins and broken strands in the wire at the crimp.

In Daytona twins, I make a second 9-pin molex harness to attach to the power buss bars since they ALWAYS have .15-.5v voltage drop between the PSU and the buss bars, since it's having all the power pushed through just 3 18awg wires before it's broken out into about 40 wires on the buss bars. These new supplies have two 9-pin molex outputs, so it just plugs in and then you won't see any voltage drop at all. Mandatory fix, IMO.

VR is a bit weird in that it also uses a 15A screw-terminal supply in addition to the original 150W XT box switcher for each side, so it has 4 power supplies.

The boards in all of these games are sensitive to voltage, and the original supplies themselves are pretty reliable other than the +5 adjustment pots getting scratchy and the fans failing. Spending $45 per main board on Sega games is cheap insurance considering what boards or repairs cost, really, though the pots and fans on these new supplies aren't actually any better, but I never really see issues with them after years of daily use. Certainly no problem in only occasional home use.
 
Thanks for that info!! I'm pretty sure I cut the harness from the bad supply and wired it to a screw-terminal power supply. So no, I don't think I damaged what was there originally. I'm going to check it out this evening. Yeah, didn't hack it.

I'm planning to sell my 2 Twins+Live in the future, probably in the next couple of years. So I'm trying to clean up some loose ends with it. There are 2 operators nearby that have expressed interest, so I feel like I should include all hardware and switch all mine back from regular screws and bolts and replace with security screws like it had originally. Proactively replacing power supplies seems like a good idea also, though surprisingly it looks like I've only had to change 2 of them out over nearly 20 years.

Do you remember what type of screw went into the sides of the floorboards that cover the power supplies? None of either of my Twins had these screws, so the floorboards are just sitting there. They don't move around, but still. I'm going to guess they are security torx like most of the others. Did they have washers that stayed on the outside of the plywood, or did they get tightened in so the heads would go into the holes and be hidden? If you can even remember this detail.

Thanks!!
 
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