Robotron 2084 restore

Junt

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I'm new to arcades, After I built a mame 2 player bartop, I got ahold of a robotron dirt cheap, It's a bit beat up and was not booting. I'm documenting my restore process on youtube. The first video I ask a lot of questions that have since been answered.

I'm open to any criticism or tips. The current snag I'm having is finding the right metallic silver paint :p


I was really lucky to find that all the parts were original. Everything is there. The bezel is in great shape, and the marquee is flawless. Cabinet wood is structurally sound, but a little beat up. The Plywood was coming apart at the bottom from the lack of leg levelers minor water damage on the MDF on the top. The previous owner/operator screwed cabinet where it was coming apart at the bottom. Yuck.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l4eaX4OY3gI&list=PLQdT-D0EVPeSK2lcMGQ-Pv4o-EP25jy5l

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Done list

  • Recap monitor chassis
  • Recap power supply
  • Reflow PS board
  • Wood repairs/bondo work

To-Do List


  • Recap sound board
  • "NOS" joystick grommets and springs (Shipped!)
  • NOS CPO (Shipped!)
  • T-Molding (Shipped!)
  • Paint & Side art
  • Replace broken RAM socket (Bank 3 Chip 5)
  • Restore rusted joysticks
  • Replace top half backdoor. (water logged)
  • New Instruction card
 
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Welcome to the forum and good luck with your Robotron 2084 restoration. What a great game to restore, a real classic! There should be a ton of information on here that will be helpful to you while you restore this machine. Just use the search function tool or start your on thread. Be sure to post pictures and keep us updated as you move along with your project.

Again welcome to the madness, your life will never be the same again LOL...
 
Yesterday I got these pesky rusted T-nuts out of the Control panel. The screws broke off inside the wood due to the level of rust. A hammer and a Thin phillips head popped them out with minimal damage to the wood. Also pictured is the broken screw next to a rusted screw that didn't snap. I'll have to replace all of these.

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Also pictured is where I'm at with the wood repair. This is my first time working with bondo so it may appear as sub-par quality.

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^ This one is going to get cleaned up before paint.
 
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No they didn't. I just bought the two part paint at Lowe's this past few weeks. I have enough left over to paint at least two more cabs...I should have bought quarts instead of a gallon.

Thats where I hit a dead end. Lowes discontinued Valspar Brilliant Metals Pewter Luster.
 
Well, I really screwed up this time. I was trying to replace socket 35 and lifted two traces. I tried fixing it by adding solder to the two traces and soldering them back to the through hole, but it didn't take. I added a socket and inserted the ram to get greeted with errors (static screen and red screen) I really messed this one up, I tried to fixed it 4 times now and I can't get the game to boot normally. I'm really frustrated right now :(

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Attempted fix before adding the socket.

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I'm a little bit confused here, everything seemed to be having the correct contact.

Before I removed the socket I recapped my sound card and that didn't fix the sound issues, so I have to figure out what else is issue is with the sound.

Volume pot and speaker does work, I get a small amount of feedback hum, and when I adjust the volume pot I can hear the fluctuations in the hum intensity.

Possible issues?: MPU, Sound Rom, 6821 PIA chip?
 
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The RAM sockets are a bad place to try to learn soldering, but I think you found that out already.

When you lift a thin trace off the board like that, the best thing to do is to clip it off back where it is still anchored to the board and then use a small 22 gauge wire to jumper between the pins on the back side of the board, effectively wiring around the broken trace. Once it is loose, a trace may make unintentional contact due to the very close proximity of the other traces.

If you do try to reattach the floating trace, you need to check for continuity and you also need to check for unintentional continuity to the surrounding pins as well.

ken
 
Thanks for the advice! I'm going to get to get to work on this board tomorrow! School and work is stretching me thin, but I can't stop thinking getting this cab up to snuff.
 
In the meantime of getting my CPU/ram board fixed, stuff came in the mail and I'm excited. I got to work sanding down the joysticks. I used 400 grit, it got rid of the rust and left a lovely patina I'm going to keep. I like the way it looks over brand new.

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NOS (second gen) gromments came in the mail along with springs,

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The CPO also arrives, however I'm a little bit upset by the way they shipped the CPO. The box that was used was small and not fitting for the CPO at all. It left creases and bends in the very nice looking silk screen cpo. I'm going to hit it with a hair dryer and hopefully it will iron out.

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*It was advertised as NOS, Here is it matched up with the old CPO
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I went to work on this old CP adhesive. The rumors are true, this is the worst stuff ever. Booger city. Goo gone and goof off can't penetrate. Soon as you apply some and scrape it off you have 7 more layers of adhesive to deal with. I bought this MEK stuff and a wire cup brush and went to town on the CP. MEK is helping it break up a bit but its still being stubborn.

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I use lacquer thinner (let it soak for a few minutes) and scrape with a razor blade to get the glue off, still work, but the easiest method I've found so far
 
Welcome here and awesome game....looks like you will have a lot of reward for your work :)

I'd contact the seller of that CPO if that damage was caused by bad packing, I doubt that will not be visible after installation.
 
There's a thread about the glue here, there's a couple paint removers that work wonders for the stuff. (i used jasco on 3 panels now and it works fantastic.)
 

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