New Arcade Machine

Focusflute

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Hey guys,

Just got my first arcade machine in a while!

This one needs a little love---

1. Its a six button control panel for each player--1p and 2p (its for fighting games). However the bottom row of buttons do not fire at all! Hard to play Street Fighter 2 with no kicks haha!

2. Every now and then, the controls become completely unresponsive for a few seconds and then they are able to be used again. Controls basically go from functioning to not functioning and back. Very weird.

I am going to try my hands at fixing this all myself for the first time as I want to know how my machine works and how to take care of her!!!!!
 
go from functioning to not functioning and

would start by looking at the gound wires on the 3 intermittent buttons
check em all the way to the connector there that attaches to the game board
then continue on back to the power supply
they need to be clean and well attached both in the pins inside the connector and the screw on the power supply


good luck
 
I would have to ask what board you have installed. How well it was wired, is it a "multi game" or a single, is it JAMMA? IIRC JAMMA needs a kick harness for the extra buttons to work. Many things it could be. OH and Photos of your machine inside and in detail will also help :)
 
Congrats on the pick-up! We're all eager to see the new cab, and help with getting it running properly. Pics please! :D
 
Hey guys thanks for the responses so far!

Ok a few more details about me:

-I have never opened a cab before except for switching arcade boards (just pull one out and put another in) and replacing joysticks and buttons

-I have no idea what "ground" is or what this mess of wires do in the back LOL but I am willing to learn!

I will try to provide some pics tomorrow. :)
 
in terms of controls, ground is the common wire that goes across all the switches. just as an example, ground will come from the JAMMA harness to player 1 button 1, another wire will be attached to that and connect to player 1 button 2, then another wire will be attached to that and connect to player 3 and so on.

each switch on the joysticks and buttons will have a corresponding input wire. when you move the joystick in a direction or press a button, this closes the circuit between the respective input and ground and tells the board to activate that switch. when you're not moving the joystick or pressing a button the circuit in the switches will be open, or not active. each of your switches will have 3 terminals. the one on the bottom shaped like an L is the ground terminal, or alternatively known as the common (which implies that it's the common connection); the middle terminal is for normally open -- this means you have to press the switch to activate it. the top terminal is for normally closed -- this means the switch is active unless you press it, then it opens the circuit and shuts it off.

since the grounds run in order across all your switches, if you have a break somewhere it will end the connection at every switch after the point of the break. if NONE of your switches work then you'll have to track where the first switch is that gets ground off the JAMMA harness (the harness that you plug your boards into)

I hope this gets you started on the right track.
 
in terms of controls, ground is the common wire that goes across all the switches. just as an example, ground will come from the JAMMA harness to player 1 button 1, another wire will be attached to that and connect to player 1 button 2, then another wire will be attached to that and connect to player 3 and so on.

each switch on the joysticks and buttons will have a corresponding input wire. when you move the joystick in a direction or press a button, this closes the circuit between the respective input and ground and tells the board to activate that switch. when you're not moving the joystick or pressing a button the circuit in the switches will be open, or not active. each of your switches will have 3 terminals. the one on the bottom shaped like an L is the ground terminal, or alternatively known as the common (which implies that it's the common connection); the middle terminal is for normally open -- this means you have to press the switch to activate it. the top terminal is for normally closed -- this means the switch is active unless you press it, then it opens the circuit and shuts it off.

since the grounds run in order across all your switches, if you have a break somewhere it will end the connection at every switch after the point of the break. if NONE of your switches work then you'll have to track where the first switch is that gets ground off the JAMMA harness (the harness that you plug your boards into)

I hope this gets you started on the right track.

Mecha this was great info! Love your avatar also haha!
 
**UPDATE**

-wanting to post pics but not sure how to on the forums. Ya I'm old and dumb. Took some pics on my phone just don't know how to post them here. *embarassed

-Its a Midway Cab with Street Fighter 3: Third Strike. This game meant a lot to me as I used to travel to tournaments for it before I was married with 2 great kids!

Anyway, was able to get to get part of my past to have in the home, but I can't move it to the game room until its fixed!

-I think I figured out that part of the harness was not plugged into the board "kick harness"? So buttons 4, 5, 6 on both player sides are all working now.

-Still having the issue where the controls and buttons just stop working at all for a few seconds and then they work again.

-Replacing the American style buttons with Sanwa buttons and that has gone smoothly so far!

-I am trying to replace the american sticks with the sanwa JLF P8YT shown here:
https://www.focusattack.com/sanwa-jlf-tp-8yt-joystick/

...but I have no idea how to switch the sticks out because of the different wiring. I can mount the plate and do the rest I think.

**THANKS TO EVERYONE!!!**
 
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here's what you can do for your joystick swap. you can download any manual for the Mortal Kombat games, this will tell what the various colored wires are for. I usually take masking tape and run that around the wires as a label and write what that input does. makes it a lot easier when you get around to "building". next, you need to know the pinout for the Sanwa plug. I'm sure you know that those just have a plug that connects the JAMMA wiring. you'll therefore have to splice your existing wires to the harness that comes with the new Sanwa joysticks. then that should take care of that.

Williams/Midway was my favorite company, and those Mortal Kombat 2 style cabinets are the absolute best. I've had a few of those cabinets over the years where the grounds were intermittent. you just have to figure out where they "stop", and cut the old quick disconnect off, strip both wires, twist them together, and crimp a new quick disconnect on. that's an electrician tool you'll need to crimp those. you repeat as necessary on the next set of grounds to a switch until the problem goes away. once you're all put back together then you do a final test of wiggling the wires around to see if it's stable.

Midway games have the best switch test, I diagnose these ground issues by moving all the input wires to the normally closed (NC) tabs on the switches so that they're all active -- then you wiggle the wires around and pay attention to which switches deactivate. SF3 has a test mode to do the same exact thing, it might just be a little more difficult to access that switch test with janky controls; the Midway test mode you just activate any button a couple times and you're in there. :)

I feel compelled to make a video on this now.
 
here's what you can do for your joystick swap. you can download any manual for the Mortal Kombat games, this will tell what the various colored wires are for. I usually take masking tape and run that around the wires as a label and write what that input does. makes it a lot easier when you get around to "building". next, you need to know the pinout for the Sanwa plug. I'm sure you know that those just have a plug that connects the JAMMA wiring. you'll therefore have to splice your existing wires to the harness that comes with the new Sanwa joysticks. then that should take care of that.

Williams/Midway was my favorite company, and those Mortal Kombat 2 style cabinets are the absolute best. I've had a few of those cabinets over the years where the grounds were intermittent. you just have to figure out where they "stop", and cut the old quick disconnect off, strip both wires, twist them together, and crimp a new quick disconnect on. that's an electrician tool you'll need to crimp those. you repeat as necessary on the next set of grounds to a switch until the problem goes away. once you're all put back together then you do a final test of wiggling the wires around to see if it's stable.

Midway games have the best switch test, I diagnose these ground issues by moving all the input wires to the normally closed (NC) tabs on the switches so that they're all active -- then you wiggle the wires around and pay attention to which switches deactivate. SF3 has a test mode to do the same exact thing, it might just be a little more difficult to access that switch test with janky controls; the Midway test mode you just activate any button a couple times and you're in there. :)

I feel compelled to make a video on this now.

YES MAKE A VIDEO PLZ! :) Haha ya I'm a little lost. Not sure about crimping/splicing wires or which ones.
 
Got some pics uploaded!
 

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more pics uploaded
 

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I have no idea what "ground" is

there is earth ground and logic ground

when measuring the +5v or the +12v, you want to measure from logic ground (black wires) as opposed to the green wires or earth ground. if you happen to measure from the earth ground, you will get screwey readings
 
How in the world do I connect these two things and where? I have been searching the internet all day and cannot find an answer. :(
 

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I would suggest putting male quick disconnects on the ends of the sanwa 5-wire plug. Then connect them to the approprioate female quick disconnect that you pulled off of the original/american joystick switches. That way you don't have to modify the original wiring/connections.

Here is the pinout for the sanwa connector:

https://www.google.com/search?q=san...=0qBQWISAOYqYjwOugKPQDQ#imgrc=pao0J3O7Ti2tGM:

Just take the black (ground) to any one of the ground connections you pulled off the original/american joystick.
 
Here it is as an attached picture, in case that link doesn't work like I'm hoping it does.

Worse case scenario, if you use quick disconnects and screw something up based on the pinout, you can just interchange the male/female connections until you get them right.

:edit: and btw, that's a pretty sweet looking cab...for a conversion. :p
 

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I would suggest putting male quick disconnects on the ends of the sanwa 5-wire plug.

What guage/size do you use for the male spade end? Everything I see at local hardware stores is too wide to fit in the female end of JAMMA harness plugs. (Op probably needs to know as well)
 

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Could I just snip the ends off the old wires then twist them around the wires of the Sanwa JLF and cover w electrical tape?

Just trying to find an answer so I don't have to order and wait on parts.

If I DO need to order parts----which should I order?
https://www.focusattack.com/electrical/wiring/wiring-accessories/wire-connectors/

yes, but there's a greater risk of connections coming loose over time. Soldering the two ends together then covering with electric tape or (better) with shrink tube, would be a better option. I've recently soldered in the "channel" of the female quick disconnect. This is another non-destructive means of accomplishing the goal, as you could simply desolder and use a solder sucker to return the female quick disconnect to it original state if you ever wanted/needed to.

The male quick disconnect would be .187, for 22 gauge wire. Double check the wire gauge of the sanwa connector leads, but button/stick wiring is typically 22 gauge.
 
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