New member, Mortal Kombat II

blazin06

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Hello, I'm new to the arcade repair and restoration scene, and this board seems like a great resource! I picked up a Mortal Kombat II conversion cabinet yesterday (pic attached) and was told that the PCB was faulty and needed to be replaced. I was told everything else worked fine tho, including the monitor. Well, I got it home and turned it on and everything seemed to be working fine to me in terms of the PCB. The ROM check passed, and the game seem to load just fine. I tried playing it, but found out that both Joysticks have issues. Do you recommend trying to refurbish them, or just buy new ones? I've taken one out so far, and it looks like it has a bad "Cherry" switch. I still need to take out the other Joy and see what issues it's having. Both seem very stiff and make clicking sounds when I force them to move in certain directions. Do they need to be greased up or anything?
Thanks for any help, I'll keep searching threads in the meantime.

-matt
 

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The clicking sound is more than like the microswitches used in newer joysticks, as opposed to leaf switches in older joysticks. I would hold up your control panel, move the joystick in the "bad" direction and see which switch it is activiating. I would then try to use switches from the other joystick to get at least one good joystick working, before ordering new switches. Of course you can always just buy 2 new joysticks if you want, but you want to verifiy it is the joystick that is the problem instead of the board or the wiring. Swapping switches will tell you that.
 
check if you have good connections to the switches. Sometimes people just loop the wire around the male terminal making a loose connection.
 
I'm fairly certain that it has nothing to do with the wiring. I'll look at it some more when i get home tonight. I didn't realize new joysticks were this cheap, this might be the way to go in the end. The one joystick I have out looks like it has a rusty spring inside of it anyway, so that's just one more part to replace.
I'm sure there are lots of threads on the best kind to buy, so I'll do some searching.

I was also surprised to find the original side art and manual inside the cabinet. The art was all rolled up and never put on for some reason. :)

Any other recommendations as to what else I should look at before playing this full time? I'm slightly worried that the PCB might start having issues again like the previous owner suggested.
 
Yes, if you know how to use a meter you should check your power supply to ensure you are getting stable power out. The terminals should be marked.


Also, if you are having any monitor issues you may want to replace the caps. Kits for that can be ordered from Bob Roberts' site. He also has a page that has pictures to help you identify waht monitor you have.
 
for the low cost involved, I'd say replace them both with red Happ Competition joysticks. :)

and maybe get some extra microswitches. they're cheap enough.

I'd open the control panel up (feel around inside the machine for latches) and watch the underside of the joystick and circle it around and watch the actuator. see if it's hitting switches at diagonal angles or whatever. the actuator should just "float" between all the switches and not turn with the twisting of the joystick handle.

give all the switches a good looking over too, too many times I've seen games that had pop spilled in them and the switches obviously get sticky and won't work right as a result. in a pinch I mean, you could take an old toothbrush doused in windex and run it along, but whatever gets stuck inside the switch well... yeah, I told you they were cheap to replace right? :)

of course check your wiring too. if need be you could try grounding out your button wiring to see if it lights up in the Switch Test to at least rule out that it's a wiring issue and determine that it's the microswitches at fault.

I'll tell you all you need to know about MK2, that's actually where I got my start with the personal hobby end of things. and believe me, you'll learn a lot about reseating rom chips and all sorts of other fun stuff with that one. LOL
 
Yes, if you know how to use a meter you should check your power supply to ensure you are getting stable power out. The terminals should be marked.


Also, if you are having any monitor issues you may want to replace the caps. Kits for that can be ordered from Bob Roberts' site. He also has a page that has pictures to help you identify waht monitor you have.


I think I have a meter somewhere, I'll check it out.

So far the monitor seems to be OK, I'm also a little leery to work on it because of the "High Voltage" stickers everywhere.
 
for the low cost involved, I'd say replace them both with red Happ Competition joysticks. :)

and maybe get some extra microswitches. they're cheap enough.

I'd open the control panel up (feel around inside the machine for latches) and watch the underside of the joystick and circle it around and watch the actuator. see if it's hitting switches at diagonal angles or whatever. the actuator should just "float" between all the switches and not turn with the twisting of the joystick handle.

give all the switches a good looking over too, too many times I've seen games that had pop spilled in them and the switches obviously get sticky and won't work right as a result. in a pinch I mean, you could take an old toothbrush doused in windex and run it along, but whatever gets stuck inside the switch well... yeah, I told you they were cheap to replace right? :)

of course check your wiring too. if need be you could try grounding out your button wiring to see if it lights up in the Switch Test to at least rule out that it's a wiring issue and determine that it's the microswitches at fault.

I'll tell you all you need to know about MK2, that's actually where I got my start with the personal hobby end of things. and believe me, you'll learn a lot about reseating rom chips and all sorts of other fun stuff with that one. LOL


Thanks for the tips, I'm thinking I'll probably go with the Happ Competition joysticks as well and some extras. :)
You may be receiving some PMs from me in the future with questions! :)
 
I was also surprised to find the original side art and manual inside the cabinet. The art was all rolled up and never put on for some reason. :)
Sweet! The sideart would have cost you at least $50 to buy seperately. If the cabinet has dings, scrapes or any other damage you should fix that before applying the sideart. Other than that, replacement joysticks are cheap. If you do encounter problems before you post what the problems are before attempting any repair yourself.
 
Sweet! The sideart would have cost you at least $50 to buy seperately. If the cabinet has dings, scrapes or any other damage you should fix that before applying the sideart. Other than that, replacement joysticks are cheap. If you do encounter problems before you post what the problems are before attempting any repair yourself.

What's the recommended way of fixing dings and scrapes? Should I put new laminate on, or just try and repair it with something else? I know there are some, but I don't think they are too severe.
 
people generally use bondo to fill in the gouges or whatever, sand, maybe more bondo, sand some more, primer, more sand. LOL

people's approaches vary. just depends on how much effort you want to put into it. there's gobs of topics on it in the Restoration section.
 
I would replace the battery on the board so you can save your settings.
 
I would replace the battery on the board so you can save your settings.

Is it a common battery size? Something I can pick up at the hardware store?

Also, what size bit do I need to take off the plexiglass on the control board. It looks like some kind of star security bit. Something a hardware store might also carry?
 
Sweet! The sideart would have cost you at least $50 to buy seperately. If the cabinet has dings, scrapes or any other damage you should fix that before applying the sideart. Other than that, replacement joysticks are cheap. If you do encounter problems before you post what the problems are before attempting any repair yourself.

I took another look at the sideart I found, and it's not the full sized side art :(
It's the same artwork, just shrunk by like 50%. Better then no side art I suppose.
 
I took another look at the sideart I found, and it's not the full sized side art :(
It's the same artwork, just shrunk by like 50%. Better then no side art I suppose.
I didn't think it would be the full sideart. The full sideart is on dedicated machines. The sideart you would have would be the one used for conversions.

You can buy repro sideart at MAME Marquees for $189. The fact that you found some unused is great.
 
I took another look at the sideart I found, and it's not the full sized side art :(
It's the same artwork, just shrunk by like 50%. Better then no side art I suppose.


Yeah, I wasn't going to mention it but the cab you have is a conversion. It looks to me like the cab may have originally been a Sega Moonwalker...
 
Is it a common battery size? Something I can pick up at the hardware store?

Also, what size bit do I need to take off the plexiglass on the control board. It looks like some kind of star security bit. Something a hardware store might also carry?

the battery you seek is a CR2032 -- found most commonly at places like Wal Mart or K-Mart or whatever place sells watches and carries the funny little lithium batteries :)

it's a very common battery... most PC motherboards use them too.

the security torx or security hex heads on the bolts/screws can be removed with a 100-bit set that you can get at Harbor Freight. I'm not entirely sure if you can order those online or not either from them, but they crop up on ebay or whatever (usually at double the price, I'm told they run about $10, so don't get screwed like I did before I knew where to find these things :)). it's worth noting that if you're gonna order new joysticks or switches or other parts, that the same kit can be had at Happ Controls for I believe the same price.

and not to be a debbie downer, but considering you already have a conversion machine instead of a dedicated one anyway, it might be in your best interest to take that sideart you found and sell it and turn it into money and not bother with it on your cab at all. just a thought... what I'd do, anyway.
 
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