Next Up - The Centipede Twins (pix added)
Last night I jumped in to see what was up with the two Centipedes I got in the "haul"...
The first one was working, but the monitor looked pretty asstastic.
I removed the back and noticed about 1/3" of dust across everything... taking note that there is a Wells Gardner monitor in the cab. After a bit of adjustment, the monitor looks beautiful! Sure, there is some burn-in, but you really can't see it at all when the game is powered up unless you stick a light right in front of the tube. I cleaned the cab up, vacuumed it out, etc. Overall, aside from the CPO, the machine is in quite beautiful shape. To do: New 3-prong plug (most of these have the ground pin removed), marquee light (tube and/or starter most likely). I'd already fired this cab up, so I knew it was working, so it wasn't a major surprise that I was able to adjust the monitor to look so nice.
The next Centipede is a non-working `pede... this particular cab was inaccessible until yesterday evening. I'd not even plugged it in. It was with great trepidation that I plugged her in... and amazingly enough, this cab has all 3 prongs on the power cord. Well, the machine fired up... mostly. I got the coin door click... upon coin up I got flashing Atari LED lights... and when I pressed P1 start I got... CENTIPEDE NOISE! Woot! It appears the machine is playing blind! After pulling the back off I noticed immediately that the machine was MUCH MUCH MUCH cleaner than the other `pede. I also noticed there is an Electrohome monitor in it. After checking for AC, sure enough, the monitor is getting power.... but not powering up. My guess: blown fuse on the chassis... likely the smaller one in the middle...the one on the back side looked fine from what I can "see". This is certainly nothing a Bob Roberts kit couldn't fix... I am going with the deluxe kit and replacing the flyback I think... just in case.
Well... to be sure the PCB was operating correctly, I pulled it from the non-working cab and dropped it in the working cab... it worked! NICE! High scores are all still saved too... the PCB from the working cab has a high score of around 350,000 while the PCB from the non-working cab has a high score of around 56,000. My guess is that Centipede was one of the first to "die" and get stuffed back in the "garage" of the place I picked it up from. To do: Fix the monitor chassis... replace the CPO... clean her up a bit. Everything else looks great!
EDIT: Here are some photos...
She cleaned up pretty nicely inside. It's sure nice not having to deal with mouse piss or crap...
The monitor looks good in semi-dark to dark lighting and on. If you put the monitor in direct light you can see the semi-substantial burn. I can make out Centipede and what MIGHT be Rampage?? I am not sure...
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Here is the control panel... it obviously needs replacing. Since this one I am selling, I am not sure what I am going to do. I doubt I'll get $50 more than I would otherwise if I do replace it. I am considering offering it up for $400.00 as-is ... and offering the option for me to install a new CPO for $60.00 and/or a new monitor for $225.00... of course KLOVians would get a "cheap bastard" discount on all those rates.
Last night I jumped in to see what was up with the two Centipedes I got in the "haul"...
The first one was working, but the monitor looked pretty asstastic.
I removed the back and noticed about 1/3" of dust across everything... taking note that there is a Wells Gardner monitor in the cab. After a bit of adjustment, the monitor looks beautiful! Sure, there is some burn-in, but you really can't see it at all when the game is powered up unless you stick a light right in front of the tube. I cleaned the cab up, vacuumed it out, etc. Overall, aside from the CPO, the machine is in quite beautiful shape. To do: New 3-prong plug (most of these have the ground pin removed), marquee light (tube and/or starter most likely). I'd already fired this cab up, so I knew it was working, so it wasn't a major surprise that I was able to adjust the monitor to look so nice.
The next Centipede is a non-working `pede... this particular cab was inaccessible until yesterday evening. I'd not even plugged it in. It was with great trepidation that I plugged her in... and amazingly enough, this cab has all 3 prongs on the power cord. Well, the machine fired up... mostly. I got the coin door click... upon coin up I got flashing Atari LED lights... and when I pressed P1 start I got... CENTIPEDE NOISE! Woot! It appears the machine is playing blind! After pulling the back off I noticed immediately that the machine was MUCH MUCH MUCH cleaner than the other `pede. I also noticed there is an Electrohome monitor in it. After checking for AC, sure enough, the monitor is getting power.... but not powering up. My guess: blown fuse on the chassis... likely the smaller one in the middle...the one on the back side looked fine from what I can "see". This is certainly nothing a Bob Roberts kit couldn't fix... I am going with the deluxe kit and replacing the flyback I think... just in case.
Well... to be sure the PCB was operating correctly, I pulled it from the non-working cab and dropped it in the working cab... it worked! NICE! High scores are all still saved too... the PCB from the working cab has a high score of around 350,000 while the PCB from the non-working cab has a high score of around 56,000. My guess is that Centipede was one of the first to "die" and get stuffed back in the "garage" of the place I picked it up from. To do: Fix the monitor chassis... replace the CPO... clean her up a bit. Everything else looks great!
EDIT: Here are some photos...
She cleaned up pretty nicely inside. It's sure nice not having to deal with mouse piss or crap...
The monitor looks good in semi-dark to dark lighting and on. If you put the monitor in direct light you can see the semi-substantial burn. I can make out Centipede and what MIGHT be Rampage?? I am not sure...
Here is the control panel... it obviously needs replacing. Since this one I am selling, I am not sure what I am going to do. I doubt I'll get $50 more than I would otherwise if I do replace it. I am considering offering it up for $400.00 as-is ... and offering the option for me to install a new CPO for $60.00 and/or a new monitor for $225.00... of course KLOVians would get a "cheap bastard" discount on all those rates.
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