RIP my UMK3 (yes it was MK2 originally) cabinet...

brandogg

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...had to gut and get rid of this bad boy. I got it about a year and a half ago, it was just an empty cabinet. When I finally got to populating it I noticed one of the little support blocks inside the control panel was gone, I thought maybe it was just a QC issue or something. Several months back i was replacing the monitor and noticed a pile of what looked like sawdust, but more of a "big sand grain" consistency. I was like "ah shit maybe it used to have termites and this minds fell out when I moved it". So, I vacuumed it up, kept checking every few days, never saw anything else, until about a week ago when I saw another pile. I also saw a bunch of wings when I opened the coin door (never saw that before) and there were a few in front of the cabinet. Did some googling and came to the same realization that it has dry wood termites. I pulled it out, completely gutted everything (luckily the control panel is new and seems to have not been infested, but I took it all apart and the wooden part is wrapped in plastic wrap for now). I pulled out and thoroughly inspected every other machine, fortunately there's not a single sign of any other machine being infested (or my garage, for that matter, and I did have am exterminator come out), and I guess that makes sense it's pretty much a sealed "home" that they were in. Of course I'll keep checking every so often. But, I digress. About to break down the cabinet and either burn (probably not a great idea, its hot ass and still pretty dry Florida summer) or take to the dump. Gonna pour one out for this champ tonight.
 

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I know it's possible to spot treat or spray with something like bora-care and hope that it soaks through and kills them over time, but I don't think it would be that effective since its basically 50% covered with black paint so bora-care won't soak in, and soaking particle board isn't the best idea anyway. These are dry wood termites so they're just gonna eat for a year or so then send out swarmers to look for a new place to infest...not worth the risk and hassle of ineffective in my view. The exterminator said they could maybe fumigate just the cabinet but it would be several hundred dollars (I spent $150 on it, with a burn-free 25" tube included), so there's that. Also, before making this decision I searched around about treating an arcade cabinet and actually several forum posts came from this very site with the overall consensus being "get rid of it, it's not worth the risk". Besides, I have a Mace the Dark Age cabinet (not the game) that's in need of repair and being converted to something else anyway...so now I think I have a plan for that. Also "perfectly fine" would not describe this cabinet, there's some pretty decent damage done now, the control panel box would need to rebuilt and there was a good amount of termite frass inside and under the side panels. They've been inside eating away for probably a few years at this point. Yes, dry wood termites are pretty slow eaters, but they still do damage. If you look at the last two pics, I pressed my thum in on the last one (see the recessed crease), if I wanted to, I could push right through that. When I tooke the bolts out to get the latches off the grass was pouring out like a faucet, there's basically nothing left, so it sucks, but I have no doubt I'm making the right call here.
 

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Last edited:
Nah...
 

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Did find out this originally came from Wet N Wild in Orlando just now though, so that's pretty cool (I bought it from a dude in Orlando).
 

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Have you called an exterminator company they might be able to save the cabinet, they can tent it and now there is a less aggressive way than tenting it, reach out to one and see, never hurts to ask, it's a shame but yes you will see them in swarms when it rains, and see there wings on things, keep an eye out next time it rains and see if any more movement
 
I literally just tore it apart, mostly by hand. It was way worse than I thought, every time I took out a bolt or pulled 2 piece apart, termite frass would pour out. Found a lot of larvae and a few adults too. I'll keep an eye out for sure, but yeah this thing was beyond saving, the bottom is totally rotted out, the little MDF panel that you mount the PCB on was actually all that was keeping the left side in tact, when I took that off it just separated on its own. They also made their way in through pretry much all of the T-molding grooves, so this really was a lost cause. You could maybe save a few pieces but there are a billion MK2s out there.
 

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