Do Most of You Repair the Games You Own?

Jesse69

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Do Most of You Repair the Games You Own? Or do you send out the boards for repair or you let a repair shop or electronic technician repair your games?

Me, I only got 3 games, and I bought enough equipment to repair my Stargate, Defender, and Multi Williams [Jamma Board] games. So I'd try repairs myself and I did fix my resetting Stargate problem. But if I couldn't fix my Defenders, I'd have Yellowdog fix them.

How about you?

How much do you pay for a repair shop or electronic technician to repair your games?
 
I make sure my games work before I buy them. Wiring and hooking up everything, I'm okay with. I just don't have the skills to fix boards myself other than swapping out bad chips.

Although, I did take a risk when I bought my Mario Bros. without a monitor. Although, it was cheap, so the risk was worth it I guess. Tested the board when I got home and it was 100% working. :)
 
Of the games that I've had, the only one that I can say that I have bought with no problems was Back to the Future Pinball. Every other has had anywhere from somewhat minor to very serious problems. Of all my board issues the only game I had to send out was Breakout. I sent it to Mark Spaeth back in 2007; no problems since.

I tend to stay away from total basket cases but I also typically dont buy working games. I just like to have somewhat of a general idea of what I'm getting into. After all, dead games are the worst (well actually they often are power related but that can have bad side effects as well)

Still for me:
Game issues=lower price and bargining power (ie "When I send this out to have it repaired it's going to cost at least $xxx.xx so maybe the price shoudl be less" then I do the work myself for free :) lol)
 
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I repair all my games. Although I recently broke down and sent off a WG K8000 to Chad, after fighting with it for a few months. I've never yet bought a working game, they are much cheaper when dead... :) 6 of them were actually free because they were "non-working". 4 of the 6 where running within an hour of getting them home. :)
 
Most of the time it is easy fixes; the previous owners just either didn't know anything about games or electronics or didn't care enough to spend any time on them. The previous owner of my galaga sold me the game cause he said it was "all messed up" because it wouldn't accept credits. A SINGLE wire had come loose from the coin switches, that was it!
 
I haven't paid anyone to fix anything for me yet. I have bought a working board to replace a bad one that is too acid-damaged to attempt repair.

Although I may end up having someone fix the Pole Position boards I have if I think it's cheaper than doing it myself...
 
I fix all my own stuff. The only way I would get someone else to do it would be if it was a case of not having the right equipment to do the work, such as surface mount chips.
If you dont know how to do something there is tons of information on the web on just about any subject so if you want to learn you should be able to. The trick is weeding out the bad internet info from the good.
 
i fix all my own stuff, except board repairs. i'm not adept enough and don't have the tools, so were i to have board issues i'd send 'em out. but everything else i do myself.
 
i fix all my own stuff, except board repairs. i'm not adept enough and don't have the tools, so were i to have board issues i'd send 'em out. but everything else i do myself.

+1

For the most part, I do all of my own monitor repair and do some board troubleshooting but it's mostly just luck, checking connectors, reseating chips, cleaning stuff, or replacing simple PCB parts like pots. Boards are still a mystery area but I do try before I give up.
 
I try to do most of my repairs. I'll attempt a monitor repair up to a point I feel It's taken too long. If it's a game PCB I'll do easy stuff like clean the connector, check for touching pins and reseating roms. Beyond that if it's an expensive board I would send it off to ChannelManiac if it's not then I just buy a replacement.
 
I make sure my games work before I buy them. Wiring and hooking up everything, I'm okay with. I just don't have the skills to fix boards myself other than swapping out bad chips.

This is where I sit. I can do all sorts of aesthetic restoration, but my knowledge of repairing electronics is limited to do simple things like reseating chips and installing cap-kits.
 
Most of the time it is easy fixes; the previous owners just either didn't know anything about games or electronics or didn't care enough to spend any time on them. The previous owner of my galaga sold me the game cause he said it was "all messed up" because it wouldn't accept credits. A SINGLE wire had come loose from the coin switches, that was it!

How much did you pay for the Galaga?
 
How much did you pay for the Galaga?

$250

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It was the orange wire on the right. The one leading to the board was disconnected from the switch making both coin switches and the credit button installed on the front of the machine not work. The previous owner was baffled!
 
like most, i do most of my own fixes such as power supplies, wiring, monitors, cabinets and aesthetics, but rarely PCB repairs (unless it's something simple or obvious.)

of course for most PCB stuff i have Dick Millikan about 15 minutes from my house. darn convenient. and if he can't or won't fix it (he doesn't do every board,) i can usually find a working replacement.
 
This is the very reason im getting out of this dead end hobby. Not being to fix your own junk (key word junk) is why I have sold most and soon to be all of this crap. Just the fact that every other thread on here is fix my s*** please should have been a clue as to where this is going.
 
I have learned a bit by reading these forums but wouldn't say I could do most repairs by any stretch. I look for games that folks have restored lovingly and eventually end up selling for like $50 less than what they likely have into it not taking into account time or effort as well because they want the space back. I own games because they are a direct link to my youth and I enjoy playing them in compeitition as well.
 
i fix my own stuff whever possible...

for one, its gratifying puting my hands on something and fixing it..

the other thing is that im a cheapass and im poor right now hence my motovation to fix my own stuff
 
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