Donkey Kong Jr. Refresh

ccie38296

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Donor 3 years: 2019, 2024-2025
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Every time I buy a game from someone I tell myself it doesn't need much work, just a little cleanup and then I'll put it in the corner and play it. And every time, I end up tearing the machine completely apart and doing tons more work than I originally expected/planned. And this time is no different. So, before I get neck deep in this thing and have too much to try to document after the fact, I'm creating myself a thread/log for the "refresh" on my new DKJ.

I call my projects refreshes because they don't live up to the epic restorations that other members of this forum do on games. I'm a middle-of-the-road preservationist… I try to keep the major game components original, but if I have to find a substitute due to time or budget constraints, I will. I don't usually get hung up on finding original screws or NOS zip ties or buttons (unless the buttons are very particular). I don't mind some patina, but I also don't want my games to be rusty/smelly/musty/scraped/gouged in the name of preserving said patina. I'm slowly becoming more conservative and measured in my approach, thanks to this forum, but I'm definitely not an ultra-purist. I'm looking forward to feedback and comments on my project, but I'm recording this mostly just as a store of my notes, not with the intention of being instructive in any way. I'm no expert and just trying to figure out how to make these games nicer after I acquire them.

Anyway, here is my latest acquisition, a Donkey Kong Junior. I bought it from a guy in southern Delaware. The seller does a lot of partial restorations/flips. In this case the game had been converted several times. When the seller got it, it was themed for Vs. Golf, but he said it had a basketball game of some kind in it. He recapped the 20EZ monitor, sourced a board set, and a control panel and cobbled together some original and some repro artwork. The marquee and side art are repro, the bezel *looks* to me to be original, but I'm not positive. It's got some decent scratches on it, so it's not new, that's for sure.

The game was functional when I purchased it, but as most games I buy the power cord was sketchy as hell with a cut ground pin and exposed conductors peeking through cracked insulation jacket. So I am replacing the cord. It also sits crooked, as the bottom base has rotted out some and one side is the original 3.5" tall, while the other side is a scant 3" or less. I'll be building a new base for it imminently.

Other things I found once I got it home:
  • Holy shit it's filthy inside
  • The joystick seems to have an 8-way restrictor, not a 4-way
  • Button colors are wrong
  • The control panel has multiple holes in it for buttons that are no longer present (although non-Nintendo leaf button holders are hanging there connected to terminals on the harness)
  • Marquee bulb and starter are both not working (although when the bulb is fully inserted in the fixture I can see it trying to start, so the fixture appears to be getting power)
  • Did I mention it's filthy?
I've already started disassembling, and already placed my first (several) order(s) of parts at Mike's Arcade.
 

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Ugh, gross. I removed the power unit to start cleaning it up. The transformer was packed with dust bunnies. I opened up the PP-7B power supply and there's a full 40+ years of dust and grime in there.

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An entire can of air duster later, it's definitely better. I'm still going to try to get a soft brush down in there to knock a little more loose but at least I can handle it now. I *think* it's working fine, so I'm probably going to leave well enough alone and not try to proactively recap the power supply; I am seeing the opinion that they are a pain in the ass to disassemble/reassemble. I should mention this is my first Nintendo cabinet, so I have a lot to learn here… they're definitely different than the Atari, Williams, and Midway machines I already have.

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One discovery as I started to really inspect closely is that there are a couple of damaged resistors on the CPU board. R70 appears to be broken completely in half, and half of it is pushed up against R71 which has a chip in the casing. R69 is also chipped.

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The schematic from the manual shows these are attached to the D1-D3 pins of the 2F ROM. It looks to me like they all just go to ground via R72, but I'm not good enough at understanding circuit design to be sure that's all they do.

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Regardless, if D2 is supposed to be grounded through R70 and instead is floating, I'm guessing that's not a good thing. The game seems to play fine, but I'm pretty sure I will want to replace those damaged components. I don't see any other damage to components or traces anywhere else on the CPU or video boards. Maybe something was dropped on the board and happened to hit that spot and damage those resistors. I can't imagine that as an intention modification…
 
The last update for now is around the lower bezel trim piece. This has a very smooth laminate type surface over it, but it's chipped out pretty badly in a couple sections. I don't like leaving stuff like that that's peeling away. It will eventually get worse. I'm debating between:
  • Trying to source more of whatever type of laminate that is, if I can find a source
  • Using laminate I have on hand to replace (don't really want to do this, the texture would be different, but at least it would be a similarly durable surface)
  • Removing the laminate and painting the trim (don't really want to do this)
  • Trying to re-secure what's left and either attempt to Bondo+paint the missing sections to smooth things out, or just leaving the exposed wood. I don't really love leaving exposed damage like this.
Anyone have a pointer on where to find matching laminate?
 

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Been making some slow progress recently. I stripped pretty much everything except the monitor out of the cab and vacuumed it thoroughly after wiring brushing the interior surfaces. Much less gross.

I also cut some plugs for the CP and filled the holes. I didn't bondo/finish the top side since it will be under the CPO plexi but at least the whole panel is structurally sound. I got all the parts from Mike's to rebuild the joystick and replace the buttons and mount proper switch assemblies. There's still some janky wiring going on in the CP that I need to sort out.

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Wow just remember you got this, but that's great progress so far hopefully your next game gives ya a break
 
I also mocked up and assembled a new base. Originally I was trying to find 1" thick stock because I'd read that's what the original was built from. I bought 5/4's pine stock thinking it was 1" actual. I was wrong, it's actually 1-1/8" finished thickness. And then I actually measured the original base on my Junior and it's made from 3/4"'stock. So my new base will be beefier. I'm OK with that.

I didn't try to reproduce the original base exactly. I used 1-1/2" square blocking for attachment/support points, glued and screwed. Then I used the same square stock for the corners and inset 3/8" threaded inserts in them for optional leveling feet or casters. I put casters on all my machines so that will be what I do here. If the wheels are removed, then the base will function like the original. The corner pieces are glued in place on 2 faces, have one screw into one of the side pieces along with 8, 2-in brad nailed through the sides and into the blocks on each corner. I don't think they're going anywhere. Exterior dimensions are the same as the original.

Yesterday I primed and painted it with semi-gloss black Rustoleum Professional. I put the casters on just so it can finish curing without laying on any surface. I left the face that will attach to the cabinet bare, as I may add some glue when attaching it.

Was hoping to actually get the old base off and this new on installed today but the day is moving fast and I may not get to it.
 

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Wow just remember you got this, but that's great progress so far hopefully your next game gives ya a break
Thanks! Part of the slow progress was I also bought a Gaunlet II in the meantime. Luckily that one is 98% good, just needs a little cleaning and lube of the controls and a quick vacuum.
 
Thanks! Part of the slow progress was I also bought a Gaunlet II in the meantime. Luckily that one is 98% good, just needs a little cleaning and lube of the controls and a quick vacuum.
Ooo nice pick up as well! Best of luck!! I'm still searching for something to start on
 
This weekend I finally got a small but important step completed: reinstalling the new base. Now the cabinet stands upright and level again!

I installed threaded inserts in the corners originally intending to put casters on the cabinet for a little lift and easier moving. The cool 3DK kit cabinet topper I bought from HSS wasn't going to fit where I plan to put the cabinet with wheels installed, though, so I went with leveling feet which still get the CP and screen about 1" higher. Unfortunately the threaded inserts keep backing out on me when I try to unscrew the feet (despite using glue and JB weld to try to hold them in place), so I think the feet are there to stay.

I applied glue on the face of the base that interfaces with the cabinet and also used some 2" cabinet screws in the base blocking to attach it (after confirming that the 2" screws wouldn't pop through to the inside of the cab). Since they don't have a ton of bite, I also used a nail gun to drive 2" brad nails into the base frame from the inside of the cabinet, just as the original was attached. I couldn't get the nail gun in under the coin box shelf, so the front half of the base is only glued and screwed. The back half is glued, screwed, and brad nailed. Pretty sure it's not going anywhere!
 

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Over the weekend I removed the coin door as it was filthy, scratched up and scuffed all over, and had some rusty spots. I removed the mechs and hardware, and this morning I coated the whole thing in Citristrip and put it in a trash bag to "stew" for the day.

After the first round of scraping and wiping it's looking pretty good! Another round tomorrow and maybe a little wire brush action for the stubborn areas and I think it will be nice and clean, ready to repaint.

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I also picked up a "sample" sized batch of Behr "Kumquat" satin paint, as recommended in several other threads as a close color match to the DKJ sides. It's pretty damn close! I'm planning to use it to touch up a few small gouges and some spots along the back edge that the gel coat had been chipped off. Not planning to go crazy with it, but for a couple small patch jobs it looks to me like it will be "close enough."

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Been making some progress over the past few weeks, in fact I'm not far from this guy being back together.

I decided to patch the areas where the original finish had been damaged. It was something of a detour and maybe not worth the time but I'm happy with how it came out. I applied Bondo (really I happened to have the JBweld version on hand, but same stuff) and sanded, then applied about 12 very light coats of the Kumquat paint, sanding with 1000 and eventually 2000 grit sandpaper between coats. The final coats got 3000 grit to smooth and blend the finish with the existing gel coat finish. You can still feel a bit of a texture difference, but the repairs did come out quite good.

I also reproduced the PCB support shelf to hold the PCB. Fortunately I bought a Nintendo Vs that was a DK conversion and it still had the shelf in it supporting the Vs PCB cage, so I was able to confirm dimensions and use that to give me some visual references. I had to use 1/2" plywood but my result matches my reference piece and other photos I could find pretty closely.
 

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This weekend I also reassembled and re-installed the coin door, laminated, reinstalled, and applied the instruction sticker to the above-CP trim, and cut/installed a new monitor shroud using the tired, worn, faded original as a template. I started to dig into the CP too, but didn't get it finished.
 

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Every time I buy a game from someone I tell myself it doesn't need much work, just a little cleanup and then I'll put it in the corner and play it. And every time, I end up tearing the machine completely apart and doing tons more work than I originally expected/planned. And this time is no different. So, before I get neck deep in this thing and have too much to try to document after the fact, I'm creating myself a thread/log for the "refresh" on my new DKJ.

I call my projects refreshes because they don't live up to the epic restorations that other members of this forum do on games. I'm a middle-of-the-road preservationist… I try to keep the major game components original, but if I have to find a substitute due to time or budget constraints, I will. I don't usually get hung up on finding original screws or NOS zip ties or buttons (unless the buttons are very particular). I don't mind some patina, but I also don't want my games to be rusty/smelly/musty/scraped/gouged in the name of preserving said patina. I'm slowly becoming more conservative and measured in my approach, thanks to this forum, but I'm definitely not an ultra-purist. I'm looking forward to feedback and comments on my project, but I'm recording this mostly just as a store of my notes, not with the intention of being instructive in any way. I'm no expert and just trying to figure out how to make these games nicer after I acquire them.

Anyway, here is my latest acquisition, a Donkey Kong Junior. I bought it from a guy in southern Delaware. The seller does a lot of partial restorations/flips. In this case the game had been converted several times. When the seller got it, it was themed for Vs. Golf, but he said it had a basketball game of some kind in it. He recapped the 20EZ monitor, sourced a board set, and a control panel and cobbled together some original and some repro artwork. The marquee and side art are repro, the bezel *looks* to me to be original, but I'm not positive. It's got some decent scratches on it, so it's not new, that's for sure.

The game was functional when I purchased it, but as most games I buy the power cord was sketchy as hell with a cut ground pin and exposed conductors peeking through cracked insulation jacket. So I am replacing the cord. It also sits crooked, as the bottom base has rotted out some and one side is the original 3.5" tall, while the other side is a scant 3" or less. I'll be building a new base for it imminently.

Other things I found once I got it home:
  • Holy shit it's filthy inside
  • The joystick seems to have an 8-way restrictor, not a 4-way
  • Button colors are wrong
  • The control panel has multiple holes in it for buttons that are no longer present (although non-Nintendo leaf button holders are hanging there connected to terminals on the harness)
  • Marquee bulb and starter are both not working (although when the bulb is fully inserted in the fixture I can see it trying to start, so the fixture appears to be getting power)
  • Did I mention it's filthy?
I've already started disassembling, and already placed my first (several) order(s) of parts at Mike's Arcade.
That doesn't look too bad, I hate working in filth though. That goes for old cars too, My motto is just get it running first then go from there. You can easily get in over your head on projects (financially) if you don't watch yourself. Just take it slow and pace yourself.It's not like an original DKJR cabinet or anything. So no reason to go beserk on a restoration. Sounds like one of those it's better than it was projects.😁
Good Luck
 
That doesn't look too bad, I hate working in filth though. That goes for old cars too, My motto is just get it running first then go from there. You can easily get in over your head on projects (financially) if you don't watch yourself. Just take it slow and pace yourself.It's not like an original DKJR cabinet or anything. So no reason to go beserk on a restoration. Sounds like one of those it's better than it was projects.😁
Good Luck
Haha, if being financially upside down on these games was something I am worried about I should just get out now…
 
Haha, if being financially upside down on these games was something I am worried about I should just get out now…
Yeah, pretty easy to get carried away, when working on a project. I always liked Donkey Kong Junior though,probably not a bad game to "restore or refresh" if you are going to pick one, even though there are probably a ton of them out there.
Good Luck
 
More work over the last few days. I cleaned up the hacked up CP harness, replaced the 8-way restrictor plate with a 4-way, cleaned, polished, and lubed the joystick, and replaced the buttons with proper color reproductions from Mike's Arcade. I reassembled and reinstalled the control panel. Additional work included making a new power cord and replacing R70 on the CPU board, which was broken in half for some reason.

At this point I think I just need to reinstall the power switch/fuse assembly and plug in the PCB harness. Hoping to get the game online this weekend!
 

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I think this one is pretty much done! Yesterday I got the power cord reconnected reinstalled the power switch/fuse panel, then plugged everything back up and confirmed the board was working. It played great, although the sound was scratchy with anything more than minimal volume. The previous owner did recap the audio section of the monitor, but I had purchased an outboard audio amp board from Mike's Arcade and I installed that which improved the sound and also gives me a volume control that can be accessed through the coin door.

Today, I pulled the board back out and installed the High Score Saves Ultimate 3DKJr kit (turned out to be very easy to install, the instructions were great). I reinstalled the board and everything worked on the first try! I'm really stoked about this! I set it up like my other multi game solutions… the board boots to DKJr, since that is what the cab is, but then you can drop to the menu to play ALL THE KONG! DK Original plays (and sounds) perfect! The remixes and alternate versions are fun to check out too. And now I get attract sounds and saved high scores! And I love the topper they sell to go along with it.

Really only 2 things outstanding:

1. After the game was running for a while this afternoon I noticed an occasional "tick" that sounded like a small snap and the monitor image would twitch. It *sounded* like it was coming from more like the anode cup than the flyback. I shut it down, discharged the monitor, pulled the anode cup off and cleaned that area well with IPA. I reseated the anode and it didn't seem to return right away. I will monitor (ha!) that. Hopefully not the flyback.

2. There's a bit of a dynamic convergence issue on the left edge of the screen. The red gun is noticeably misaligned, but only along the left edge. It's annoying, but the rest of the image looks really good so I may let that dog lie. I'm liable to screw up the 95% good convergence trying to fix the 5% that's not great.

I think at this point I'm just gonna run it and play it, and if the monitor "twitch" returns, I'll have to investigate further.
 

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I think at this point I'm just gonna run it and play it, and if the monitor "twitch" returns, I'll have to investigate further.

Did it return? I would suspect the FBT first, because those Sanyo ones are notorious for that. When I got my Punch-Out machine in 2005 both monitors were doing the exact same thing as yours (snap sound + raster twitch). I replaced them both with original ones from parts chassis, and that fixed it for a while, but those started doing it eventually too. I installed the reproduction FBTs (originally introduced by Cinelabs if I remember right) in 2012 and those are still good.

The way I originally confirmed that the arcing was from the FBTs back in 2005 was: I removed the back door, turned out the lights, and watched the chassis. When it happened I could see the arc from the FBT. It looked like the arc from a spark plug.
 
Did it return? I would suspect the FBT first, because those Sanyo ones are notorious for that. When I got my Punch-Out machine in 2005 both monitors were doing the exact same thing as yours (snap sound + raster twitch). I replaced them both with original ones from parts chassis, and that fixed it for a while, but those started doing it eventually too. I installed the reproduction FBTs (originally introduced by Cinelabs if I remember right) in 2012 and those are still good.

The way I originally confirmed that the arcing was from the FBTs back in 2005 was: I removed the back door, turned out the lights, and watched the chassis. When it happened I could see the arc from the FBT. It looked like the arc from a spark plug.
Yeah I think it's still doing it after being powered on a while. It's on the to-do list to dig more into at some point. Honestly I usually only have the machine on for a few games at a time and it doesn't seem to manifest.
 
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