Moving to PA, any arcade issues I should worry about?

tanalos

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Moving to PA, any arcade issues I should worry about?

I'm moving from WA to PA this week and looking for advice. We're renting a place with a decent size basement for my arcades and pins and I'd like to do some preventative maintenance. Any recommendations for humidifiers, tips or tricks for protecting your toys back there? Any horror stories that could be prevented. Much appreciated guys!
 
it all depends on the house. one thing you may want to do is to check the age of the sump pump and put a watch dog/battery backup on the pump.

whereabouts are you moving? there are many of us in PA..
 
There is a lot of variation in temps and humidity here in PA, so it all depends on what kind of basement you have. The age of the house makes a difference, there are a ton of old houses around here that originally had a dirt basement that they finished off.

What kind of heat your place has may also make a difference. If it has a gas or propane system, you may need a humidifier through the winter.

And as Cueball mentioned, there are a lot of collectors around here. More Pinball collectors than video collectors.
 
Welcome to the Mid Atlantic. You are now right near two of the best pinball shows out there, York, PA and Allentown, PA.

If you want to take a bit of a drive, we are having a KLOV get together at Crabtowne in Glen Burnie, MD on February 9th.
 
Moving to PA, any arcade issuse I should worry about

Appreciate the input! We'll be in Harrisburg. The house has an unfinished basement with sealed concrete pretty old but power is modernized. Humidity is my biggest concern it appears, any swelling or warping for pins? No heat in the basement, propane throughout the rest but I could run a space heater. Will check in to the sump as well. I'm definitely down for a KLOV get together and excited about meeting fellow enthusiasts in the area. WA area has a wonderful group of collectors who come together almost monthly for repair parties, get togethers and supporting the local arcades. Thanks again for the responses.
 
I like in NY, and whatever you do DO NOT use a humidifier!!

You want a dehumidifier, unless you want your games to smell like mildew.

My basement is dry, but I'm the winter you will get condensation.
 
Humidity is my biggest concern it appears, any swelling or warping for pins? No heat in the basement, propane throughout the rest but I could run a space heater. Will check in to the sump as well.

No heat may not even be an issue. My basement is unheated, but with hust the radiant heat off the furnace (and it's insulated) it rarely drops below 60, and the absolute coldest I saw was 55. Humidity is definitely a concern, so get a good one.

Also if your basement has a Sump pump then you know it's going to get water. If you lose power during a storm it'll be that much worse. I have a dry basement (no water yet) but last year during the huricane / floods of the great north east I decided to prop up all my games "just in case", and I recommend you do the same. 2x4's are cheap, and just cut them so your coasters will be sitting on them instead of the floor. Hopefully you never NEED them, but if you do get some water you just bought yourself "2 inches worth of time" to get the water out there before it touches anything.

Best of luck, and welcome to PA!
 
Moving to PA, any arcade issuse I should worry about

2x4s seem like a good investment in case of flooding, will definitely grab some before my games arrive. You guys use pallets at all for games?
 
2x4s seem like a good investment in case of flooding, will definitely grab some before my games arrive. You guys use pallets at all for games?

2x4s soak up water if they sit it it for any extended period of time. I have mine on 16x8x4 in. concrete blocks. Yes, the cabinets sit 4" higher, but when Sandy came through, and we had 3" of water in the basement and no power for a week, they still were higher and safe!
 
I'd keep them off of a basement floor anyway, never know when a water heater will give out and start trashing things.
 
I have all my games in casters, not that it matters as my basement is really dry. Also the pit in the corner that the French drain runs into has a inch pipe in the bottom that comes out on the hillside drop-off, you could (and I have) run a garden hose in it and the water will run right out.

But I still have a dehumidifier (not a humidifier). Please let's be clear here it is a dehumidifier.
 
PA

All my games are on casters too. So are Jeff/Orion3311's. Nothing to do with us being in PA though - juts easy to move & access!

:0)
 
I live about a half hour north of Allentown, PA and have my games in my unfinished basement. In winter, the temperature drops to about 57-degrees and in summer, it hits in the 70's. No problems. I don't run a humidifier and the lowest I've seen the humidity go has been around 35%, which is still fine for the games.

I just bought this dehumidifer this past year (can't remember if I bought the 45 or 50 quart one) because my 14-year old one just didn't cut it anymore:
http://www.lowes.com/pd_377192-3761...&pl=1&currentURL=?Ntt=dehumidifier&facetInfo=

My old one wouldn't work below 65-degrees, but this one works great even down below 60-degrees. I keep it on 24/7, and this is the first winter, too. I keep it set low enough so that the humidity holds around 45% year round. Even in the winter, I have heard it kick on a few times.

PA has humid weather, so the dehumidifier will be a must. Other than that, check to see if the basement you will keep them in gets any water in it at all. Mine didn't, but I still had a french drain and sump pump installed last year as a "just in case." Keep in mind that it's a $6000 project (unless you can do it yourself). Since you will be in a rental, you probably won't be able to go that route.
 
Appreciate the input! We'll be in Harrisburg. The house has an unfinished basement with sealed concrete pretty old but power is modernized. Humidity is my biggest concern it appears, any swelling or warping for pins? No heat in the basement, propane throughout the rest but I could run a space heater. Will check in to the sump as well. I'm definitely down for a KLOV get together and excited about meeting fellow enthusiasts in the area. WA area has a wonderful group of collectors who come together almost monthly for repair parties, get togethers and supporting the local arcades. Thanks again for the responses.


I may be at Crab Towne this time around; I just need to coordinate my schedule well enough to make it work. I'll know by the end of this week.

You should go - it's no Dorky's and doesn't have the atmosphere of Shorty's but it is still very cool.


Another thought, now that you'll be semi-permanent on the east coast I may start abusing you for storage...
 
casters

I need to consider this. I have mine on the furniture sliders but casters would make it much easier to move. What casters did you use?


Every few weeks harbor freight puts their dollys on sale. Cheaper them buying separate wheels. I buy those and take off the casters.
 
Also if your basement has a Sump pump then you know it's going to get water.


Depends. If its a solid cement hole, then yes. Most likely. My old house was like that. But where I live now, which is also a very old house, the sump is in a rock pit, so it's used to help remove excess water accumulating underneath the foundation. It will run during a bad storm, yet my basement floor will never see a drop. But I would still advise having good leg levelers on all games just to bring them up off the floor a little and keep the games from rocking during play since some basements have lumpy floors.
 
Moving to PA, any arcade issuse I should worry about

Awesome feedback everyone!
- definitely picking up a dehumidifier, propping up the games as suggested
- Harbor Freight dollies/ moving casters would be good as well
- Will talk with the land lord on what is and isnt allowed for improvements, more outlets for games will be a must though
- Oz, youll definitely have a place to stash games between your trips back and forth, think mini version of Mctaggarts storage (I'll post on the SMAC board too)
- just checked the link and planning on going
Thanks again everyone, this really helps clear up some of moving fears!
 
2x4s soak up water if they sit it it for any extended period of time. I have mine on 16x8x4 in. concrete blocks. Yes, the cabinets sit 4" higher, but when Sandy came through, and we had 3" of water in the basement and no power for a week, they still were higher and safe!

Yeah I get that. I wouldn't let them stay on them too long if I had a water problem, but I hadn't even considered water in the basement until Irene came through the area, and I had a number of 2x4's handy.

Since then though all my games (and fridge) have been raised up. on 2x4s. The only exceptions are the playchoice 10's since they have a 3-4" lift built in.
 
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