How many of you are using original Nintendo marquee lamp fixtures?

MaximRecoil

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How many of you are using original Nintendo marquee lamp fixtures?

When I first got my Super Punch-Out machine in late 2005 (which was also my first arcade machine), I wanted to use its original marquee lamp fixture. It had no lamp at all, though it still had its starter. I started this thread on BYOAC asking about where to get a lamp for it:

2.) The fluorescent bulb for the marquee is missing. The fixture itself appears to be original to the machine. I have read that an exact replacement would be a 12" NEC FL10D. Where can I get one? The only references I see to that bulb online are on Japanese sites and one Australian site, and I'd imagine prohibitive shipping costs from either. I'd rather not swap in a standard 120v fixture if it is at all avoidable.

No one seemed to know. So I swapped in a standard 18" 120v fixture and it worked fine ever since:

oldfixture.jpg


I drilled new mounting holes in the fixture to match up with the original screw holes in the cabinet (because I had it in the back of my mind that I'd put the original fixture back in its rightful place if I could ever find a lamp for it, and I didn't want to make new screw holes in the cabinet). I also bought a cheap white extension cord from the dollar store, cut it to the right length, and spliced it into the fixture so as to have a long enough cord for an SPO machine.

A couple of years later I came across threads on this forum with information about where to get lamps and starters for Nintendo fixtures, and I was about to buy some, but I couldn't find my original fixture anywhere. It of course wasn't in the place that I thought I'd left it. So I forgot about it, and then recently I came across it while looking for something else. Then I remembered that I'd put it there so I wouldn't forget where it was, which ironically had the opposite effect. It was filthy from decades of dirt that had caked on it, so I thought I could quickly clean it up with some rubbing alcohol. Wrong. Rubbing alcohol didn't even put a dent in that caked on grime no matter how much I scrubbed. However, oven cleaner made quick work of it, and it cleaned up nicely aside from some minor staining in some areas that seems to have gotten into the white paint itself.

So I ordered a couple of FG7E starters and a couple of FL10D lamps from Bulbtronics (the glass starter in the picture is the original NEC one that was still in the fixture when I got the machine):

lampstarter.jpg


fixtureoff.jpg


It works perfectly:

fixtureon.jpg


marqueez.jpg


I know it doesn't really matter what you use for a marquee lamp fixture, but I just like having original parts whenever possible. It was nice seeing the old memory bends in its cord lining up with all of the original wire retainer things in the cabinet as I routed it along its original path and plugged it in.

So this machine is mostly original now, including its original black finish, T-molding, Sanyo 20-Z2AW monitors (burn-free), power supply, wiring harnesses, CPO, controls, bezel, marquee, etc. Some of the parts are "original" in the sense that they are original Nintendo parts, but they came from other PO or SPO machines. The only reproduction items on it now are artwork related, i.e., the screen printed "Super" side decals, screen printed "Ducking Pull" decal (both of which I helped to reproduce by vectorizing scans of NOS originals), and the screen printed "Punch-Out" sideart (from QuarterArcade, I had nothing to do with reproducing those, though they are excellent).

ETA: And here is a full picture of the machine. It isn't pristine like a machine that's been sanded down and had a full-blown restoration, but it is in rather good condition considering it is pretty much all original. The original T-molding still being in good shape (no missing chunks, no significant cracks) is what surprised me the most when I got this machine 7 years ago:

spoonfs.jpg
 
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Nice Punchout!

I ended up "replacing" the 18" replacement fixtures in my machines with originals. I like the idea of having original parts (especially internals). I don't like the idea of plugging 120V Home Depot fixtures into Japanese electronics, especially because you have to hack up the cords. There seem to be two camps on this point, but I personally found the 120v fixtures to work much more inconsistently in Nintendo cabs.
 
I also didn't see the use of installing an original florescent tube in my Playchoice, and so opted for the Home Depot special. ;) It would be nice to use the original (which I still havent removed) but I don't feel like it cheapens the experience because the outcome is the same.

I'm not really one to split hairs about that kind of thing though... ;) Love the restore job on that SPO cab!

EDIT: Also wanted to mention that no wires were hacked in the install process with my Playchoice and I don't plan on it.
 
EDIT: Also wanted to mention that no wires were hacked in the install process with my Playchoice and I don't plan on it.

Same here. I always wanted to put the original fixture back in eventually if I could ever find the lamp and starter it needed, so I definitely didn't want to hack any wiring in the SPO machine, nor did I want to steal the cord from my original fixture. I didn't even want to make new screw holes in the wood for it.

I took the el generico 18" fixture apart, and saw that its original cord was spliced in there with those translucent white crimp-on splice caps from the factory. Its original cord was too short for an SPO machine of course, so I cut it out of there right at the splice caps, and then cut a cheap white extension cord to the right length, spliced it in there with the same style of splice caps, and put the fixture back together. Also, the original A/C outlet for the lamp in the machine didn't have the wider slot on one side to accept modern polarized A/C plugs, so I had to file down the wide blade on the new cord to make it fit. Then I drilled the new mounting holes in the fixture to match up with the original screw holes in the cabinet, which resulted in an install that did no harm to the cabinet; completely reversible.

As I said, it always worked fine, but in the back of my mind it always bugged me a little bit that I wasn't using the original fixture in there.
 
I trashed the originals in both of my DK cabinets during restorations and replaced with some fixtures from Home Depot.

Darren Harris
Staten Island, New York.
 
Beautiful Super Punch-Out! I still use the original fixtures in my DK and DK Junior. And I just bought a couple working spare fixtures from member JimKirk recently for future projects.
 
Beautiful Super Punch-Out! I still use the original fixtures in my DK and DK Junior. And I just bought a couple working spare fixtures from member JimKirk recently for future projects.

Nice. I wonder if the ballast in original Nintendo fixtures is prone to failure, and if so, if suitable replacements are still being manufactured anywhere. The lamp, starter, and ballast are the only components in these fixtures, and if you had a few spares of each, the fixture should be set for life.

Anyone here ever know of a ballast in a Nintendo fixture failing?
 
Recently got a DK Jr. and a Punch-Out!! and both original fixtures were gone. The Dk Jr. had a 25W incandescent bulb in it with a cord going to a ceramic fixture that was held in by a tiny nail. It pulled off with less force it takes to pull a door shut. The Punch-Out!! had a pretty darn close to original as far as size and looks but it was a later replacement of some sort as it was 120v.

Needless to say thanks to a few people on here I was able to get 2 original fixtures and make them "right" again.
 
Needless to say thanks to a few people on here I was able to get 2 original fixtures and make them "right" again.

I'm glad you were able to find some. I've heard of more than one person who simply threw theirs away after replacing it with a hardware store fixture.

By the way, from what I can tell, the ballasts in these Nintendo fixtures are simple magnetic ballasts (which are basically just coiled wire to create a magnetic field, i.e., an inductor) which are highly unlikely to fail. There is a capacitor there too, which I suppose could fail, but is easily replaced.
 
i never understood people going out of their way to stick to the original marquee light fixtures, or even go so far as to put up want ads looking for original light fixtures. it's the freakin light fixture! go to home depot and buy a new one for ten bucks!
 
I think I've got one if someone needs one. I switched my PC10 to a modern lamp, and the guy who bought it didn't want the original part.
 
i never understood people going out of their way to stick to the original marquee light fixtures, or even go so far as to put up want ads looking for original light fixtures. it's the freakin light fixture! go to home depot and buy a new one for ten bucks!

I already did that, and it worked perfectly, but I still wanted the original fixture back in its place. I'm the same way about the original power supply as opposed to a modern replacement, or pretty much anything else for that matter (as long as the original solution doesn't have inherent problems).

When I first got this machine the original wiring harness and power supply were missing, and it had a JAMMA harness and an off-the-shelf switching power supply instead (because it had been converted to "Time Killers" at some point). After obtaining a Super Punch-Out kit, I made a JAMMA adaptor just to get it up and running, and it worked fine, but I had absolutely no intention of leaving it that way. I replaced it all with a real Punch-Out wiring harness and power supply as soon as I could find them.

For many people (myself included), there is more to it than simply whether or not it works.
 
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I'm using the original fixture in my DK. Had to special order the bulbs/starter but thats what you've got to do...

I just like knowing its there .. just like the orange button down below is original as well.
 
For Nintendo cabs I try to find or keep the original fixture due to the way that the original plugs into the 100v outlet in the cab. Plus so many of these have been replaced with incandecent bulbs which produce lots of heat whic is not good for marquee art. For other cabs, I don't think it matters as much as long as it is a low heat producing bulb.
 
Mine had a light bulb fixture in it when I got the cab. I should be receiving an original fixture today in the mail from a klover. So for me I like to use original parts and restore them.
 
Both my DK and DKJr have the original fixtures and cords.

When I bought my DK, a previous owner had hacked in an incandescent bulb fixture, all but destroying the marquee. I tracked down an original and love knowing it's there. Crazy, I know.
 
Both my DK and DKJr have the original fixtures and cords.

When I bought my DK, a previous owner had hacked in an incandescent bulb fixture, all but destroying the marquee. I tracked down an original and love knowing it's there. Crazy, I know.

Kind of like this? Mine came with an incandescent also. Picture on the right is after acquiring the correct fixture.
 

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I'll be honest. Whenever I get my hands on a dead Nintendo fixture I sell it here, then use those funds to buy a couple of new kitchen fixtures. I too don't see much point in the hassle of resurrecting an original fixture but a lot of Nintendo fans are willing to. Whatever floats your boat I guess.

I too have seen incandescents in their place, usually not even mounted. Just resting on the wood ready to ignite the cab at any moment. I just don't get it. a $10 kitchen fixture plugs right into these cabs.
 
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