restoring a robotron

VMAXMADNESS

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Just curious as to how easy it would be to restore my robotron.
I bought a video trivia and found out the cab is a robotron.
The bezel is still there (minus instruction card) but other than that I'll need to buy all the boards and marquee and convert the cp back.
worth it???
Is there a place I can get the boards from?
cheap?.... or reasonable?
 
Check with Yellowdog, he might have some or all of the boards you need.

There is also a metal mounting that the boards attach to. I think I have one of those. Let me know if you are interested.

You'll also need the wiring harness. Check with Quarterarcade. Others may have some other leads.

Could you find one for less than the cost rebuilding one? Anything's possible. I think I paid $250 for mine and it was 100% complete.
 
You can also check with DOKERT here on KLOV for the wiring harness. The Williams harness generally are the same with the exception of the wiring for the widget interface to the Control Panel.

You'll need:
MPU video board
Robotron ROM board
Widget interface board
Sound board with Robotron Sound ROM
Williams Power supply and heat sink
Robotron Control Panel (at least the Robotron joysticks)

You can check with Yellowdog on all of the above.

Good luck!
 
since it was a conversion the power supply and heat sink should be in there...I'll have to check tho.

I'd assume you'd be lucky if the op who converted it left that stuff in there.

I wasn't so lucky when I got my Joust cabinet that was converted to a Merit Pit Boss.

Darren Harris
Staten Island, New York.
 
I'd assume you'd be lucky if the op who converted it left that stuff in there.

I wasn't so lucky when I got my Joust cabinet that was converted to a Merit Pit Boss.

Darren Harris
Staten Island, New York.

Never "ASSUME" Darren, most OP's leave the power supplies in Williams games when they hack in a switcher.
 
Never "ASSUME" Darren, most OP's leave the power supplies in Williams games when they hack in a switcher.

+1. Most use the Bob Roberts hack and leave the power supply board in when they swap in a switcher. That way the coin door still works. That being said, the power supply board probably needs to be rebuilt because that is most likely the reason the operator swapped in the switcher in the first place.

ken

Edit: Some pictures of the inside would help to determine what you have and what you need.
 
Everything is available (or can be found) to get this back. You also have the option of finding a JROK board to put in there with a jamma harness.

Dokert can make you a new harness. Gamestencils has the stencils available. Quarter Arcade has repro marquees and a number of used parts. Arcadeshop has the cp overlay and bezel. Bob Roberts has a number of miscellaneous parts that you may need.
 
I'll get some internal pics within the next few days.
special thanks to creepykenny for the marquee! looks great lit up!
is the instruction label that goes on the bezel reproduced?
 
+1. Most use the Bob Roberts hack and leave the power supply board in when they swap in a switcher. That way the coin door still works. That being said, the power supply board probably needs to be rebuilt because that is most likely the reason the operator swapped in the switcher in the first place...

Well, like in my Joust cabinet the original is long gone. (Unless he doesn't know what to take a picture of).

Now I assume that Dokert can sell him a Williams power supply. :D

Darren Harris
Staten Island, New York.
 
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Yep- that's the Williams transformer block.

You'll have to judge whether or not to put the old power supply back in. It isn't necessary as you can power a set of game boards off of a switching supply.

Even though everything you need may be available, it will run into some money before you are done.

If you can find a Robotron for around $400, I'd grab that instead.

Oh- replacing an overlay sucks.

Kerry
 
All the parts for this game come up on Ebay pretty regularly. It can be brought back but the cost will probably be more than the game is probably worth, judging by the few parts that you have. That hasn't stopped me in the past from restoring a game but it's worth considering.

There was a time when Robotron commanded a premium over many other classic games. The value is not what it used to be and I think a nice example could be had, if you are patient and wait for a deal, for around $500.

Of course like many others here it's my all time favorite game. It never gets old.
 
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