Do You Have a Checklist For New Game Acquisitions?

KidVidiot

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In terms of after you have bought a game and brought it home, is there a list you go through in terms of upgrading/changing/checking in order to get the cabinet up to your standards?

I'm reading a lot in a bunch of different places of people doing things like upgrading memory, adding or switching out external battery pack, adding a switching power supply wired to header pins so wiring harness doesn't get hacked up or swapping in an original power supply, recapping the monitor, t-molding, etc (I don't exactly know what all of this actually means yet).

Basically what should I be doing when I acquire a classic arcade game to make sure it's going to keep working and stay in good shape?
 
Cap kit is probably the biggest. I usually clean them before I even plug them in. A clean game is the easiest to work with and notice problems. First look for possible shorts and other problems that can be visibly seen. Then fire it up and pray :). Take notice to anything its doing if anything. Cosmetics usually come last because who knows if its worth it or not in the end...
 
Honestly depending on the game. Let me explain.
Some games have known issues. Like Pole position (Never Flex the board), Galaga (Replace the socket before corrosion eat the legs off the chips), Any basically any vector game. A recap kit (a Bag of capacitors) for the monitors is always good to have. The electrolytic in the capacitors drys out over time. Replace the Big blue cap in the power supply in some atair games.

Where it goes depends on is on the list of things to do to the game. A arcade machine that goes into the garage can be in a rougher shape compared to one that goes into the house into the game room or the living room.

Buy your first arcade machine, You will learn the terms pretty quickly.
 
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