SO-CAL Arcade Restoration Workshop.

2-cents

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Hey everybody,

So I've recently decided to begin collecting arcade games...... Problem is, I have absolutely none of the skills or knowhow one might need when it comes to restoration or upkeep on these machines..... I've done a fair bit of research and as far as the cosmetic stuff goes I'm pretty sure I can get by. There will be mistakes for sure but that is all part of the learning process. The electronics on the other hand, I am totally freaked out to go near.

After purchasing a StarWars cabinet at the age of eighteen (I'm now 33) for an amazing $200.00 from a local comicbook shop owner I had every intention of getting into the hobby but it just never happened... Career, Relationships etc. You get it. I played the game for years in my bachelor apartment only to have it sit it total darkness in the corner of my garage once I got married and bought a home around 6 years ago. Now I'm finally in a place in my life where I can really start devoting some time and effort into this hobby.

Once I received clearance from the wife to convert our garage into a gameroom/workshop my first purchase was an EDOT (factory cut)! This will be the first of may purchases on my way to recreating the magic of the local arcade in my own back yard!

But, like I said I really have no skills......... I mean none.

So I was wondering (and please tell me if this is a dumb idea here) if there was anyone here in the southern california area who is proficient with arcade restorations inside and out that would be willing to do an "Arcade Restoration Workshop". I'd be happy to pay for the time. And if there is anyone else out there like me who loves these machines but has no way of getting inside and tinkering with them you are welcome to join up. I can't be the only guy who wants to dive in the pool but never learned to swim can I?

If something like this already exists and I missed a post about it please let me know. Any and all feedback is welcome.

Thanks for your time,

-J
 
So you are looking for someone to teach a class on a full restoration or just simply give you hints, tips and some minor examples? You can learn a lot of stuff here in the restoration section. Everyone here is always more than willing to help and there are no dumb questions. Especially if you're new to the restoration thing.
 
Star Wars and EDOT. Well at least you started with a couple of the easier games to fix.
 
So you are looking for someone to teach a class on a full restoration or just simply give you hints, tips and some minor examples? You can learn a lot of stuff here in the restoration section. Everyone here is always more than willing to help and there are no dumb questions. Especially if you're new to the restoration thing.

Totally. All the resources here have been WAY helpful so far! And everyone is super nice too. There's just a bit of a disconnect for me when reading tips online and seeing it done right in front of me. Or being able to ask questions in realtime and getting the answers right there in front of you. I'm looking for basics. And I'm sure that once I have a decent grasp on that I can roll onto handling the bigger stuff on my own.... Or at least feel confident enough to trust in my ability to enturpuet online instructions/schematics. Honestly I cannot stress enough how little experience I have with this stuff. I'm more than likely going to miss something if someone is not there to catch it and the last thing I want to do is fry a board or worse start a fire! lol.

I'll definitely keep looking around for answers to questions I have I just figured it couldn't hurt to see if someone local was willing to run a little Restoration 101.

Thanks,

-J
 
I think you're going to get a lot more mileage by being more specific. Being super general about wanting to learn how to restore a machine isn't going to attract very many, if any, local collectors to come over and help. What issue are you tackling right now? With what machine?

There is only one person I know of that does something "close" to what you are asking: Randy Fromm...but he is on the other side of the states. Youtube has a ton of videos floating around of some of the more "universal" stuff (cap kits, monitors, visual restoration, what all this crazy crap is, etc.).

Another avenue is to somehow wind up as an apprentice to an op tech...but if you're gonna make really bad 2011 career goals you might as well also pursue being a VHS VCR technician or Delorean mechanic.

I realize it's been said and you know, but I am gonna repeat it: this place is FULL of info with links to pictures and videos. Plus we're all bored at work and enjoy replying to threads. Some of us even know what we're talking about when it comes to repairs. I recommend utilizing these boards like crazy.

Edit: DUH! You mentioned your games. Why did I think you didn't mention your games? I'm braindead tonight.
 
I think you're going to get a lot more mileage by being more specific. Being super general about wanting to learn how to restore a machine isn't going to attract very many, if any, local collectors to come over and help. What issue are you tackling right now? With what machine?

There is only one person I know of that does something "close" to what you are asking: Randy Fromm...but he is on the other side of the states. Youtube has a ton of videos floating around of some of the more "universal" stuff (cap kits, monitors, visual restoration, what all this crazy crap is, etc.).

Another avenue is to somehow wind up as an apprentice to an op tech...but if you're gonna make really bad 2011 career goals you might as well also pursue being a VHS VCR technician or Delorean mechanic.

I realize it's been said and you know, but I am gonna repeat it: this place is FULL of info with links to pictures and videos. Plus we're all bored at work and enjoy replying to threads. Some of us even know what we're talking about when it comes to repairs. I recommend utilizing these boards like crazy.

Edit: DUH! You mentioned your games. Why did I think you didn't mention your games? I'm braindead tonight.

LOL. well I am pretty happy in my current career but VHS tech does sound Awesome. Thanks for shooting straight there. I guess I'll put together another post detailing all the stuff I'm looking to do. Starwars definitely needs a bit more love than DOT as its been in my garage for the past 6 years collecting dust. It still fires up though so I suppose thats a good sign.

I saw Randy Fromms add and came to the same conclusion that he was too far. Consider these boards utilized! and thanks again.

-J
 
Hey there 2c, welcome to the addiction man :) Im probably in the class of user/restoration novice, but might be able to get you pointed in the right direction on some things and share what others have shared with me. if there's any games in my sig you are contemplating adding one day, you're certainly welcome to visit and you can see what kinds of things to ex expect. You could do an indivual visit or could also join us on one of our gamenights. My good friend stuffmonger usually arrives early and we work on all kinds of things. My other good friend xray2 is currently modding the Fonz which is super interesting as well.

Regards
Tom
 
Welcome to the boards 2-cents. Working on games takes a little time to really get into the interesting parts of it. Like fatherpain said, I help him with some of his games, and have done some location work as well (for friends). But, my specialty is the more mechanical stuff. Once you get into board issues and theory, I get lost unless it's obvious. Aesthetics are also not my strong point. I'd be willing to help you out a bit and teach you a few things. Should at least make you able to maintain your games and root out where your problems are should they arise.
 
Just take everything one game and problem at a time .

If money is a concern and you gotta fix things yourself to save money , then post your problems in the repair section and somebody will have the answer .

If money is NOT a concern , you can send all your game boards , monitor chassis , power supply's , out to get repaired . Theres guys that fix this stuff so you don't have to worry about it , but it gets expensive .

Thats about it . You learn as you go and pretty soon you'll know your games inside and out .
 
Well that is good to know!

Sorry 2cents but I'm afraid I was joking. Star Wars and EDOT are two of the harder games to fix. My Star Wars has given me a lot of trouble over the years and My Spyhunter still isn't working right.(Spyhunter and EDOT use same basic hardware and power supply)
 
Sorry 2cents but I'm afraid I was joking. Star Wars and EDOT are two of the harder games to fix. My Star Wars has given me a lot of trouble over the years and My Spyhunter still isn't working right.(Spyhunter and EDOT use same basic hardware and power supply)



It's all good. A little sarcasm never hurt no one!

Well the guy I picked up the DOT from DID say that the Bally/Midway board was kind of problematic (I think he called it an MCR board but I'm probably wrong). especially the ribbon wires. He said Bob R sells a replacement set but that they might be kind of tricky to install as they require the installer to cut into the small tabs between the boards to make them fit.

Sad to hear they're tough to work on but hey, hopefully in a year or so after I get proficient with these machines I'll be able to tackle all the others!........ Hopefully.
 
Hey there 2c, welcome to the addiction man :) Im probably in the class of user/restoration novice, but might be able to get you pointed in the right direction on some things and share what others have shared with me. if there's any games in my sig you are contemplating adding one day, you're certainly welcome to visit and you can see what kinds of things to ex expect. You could do an indivual visit or could also join us on one of our gamenights. My good friend stuffmonger usually arrives early and we work on all kinds of things. My other good friend xray2 is currently modding the Fonz which is super interesting as well.

Regards
Tom

That would be awesome! Yeah Spyhunter, Punchout, Afterburner and Asteroids are most definitely on my list! just let me know the "when's and where's" and I'm there!

Much appreciated!

-J
 
Welcome to the boards 2-cents. Working on games takes a little time to really get into the interesting parts of it. Like fatherpain said, I help him with some of his games, and have done some location work as well (for friends). But, my specialty is the more mechanical stuff. Once you get into board issues and theory, I get lost unless it's obvious. Aesthetics are also not my strong point. I'd be willing to help you out a bit and teach you a few things. Should at least make you able to maintain your games and root out where your problems are should they arise.

Right on. Yeah that would be great. The next time you all get together I'd love to tag along. At this point I'm pretty "sponge-like". There probably isn't anything that you could show me that I've seen before. So any little tip will help and hopefully (fingers crossed) sink in!

Thanks,

-Joaquim
 
Just take everything one game and problem at a time .

If money is a concern and you gotta fix things yourself to save money , then post your problems in the repair section and somebody will have the answer .

If money is NOT a concern , you can send all your game boards , monitor chassis , power supply's , out to get repaired . Theres guys that fix this stuff so you don't have to worry about it , but it gets expensive .

Thats about it . You learn as you go and pretty soon you'll know your games inside and out .

Yeah that's some solid advice there. I have a feeling I'll be doing a little of both. I'm sort of using Jedi-Dentist's restoration posts as a water mark for where I'd like to be in a year or so. Bringing the cabs up to speed visually but also being able to take them apart and root out the more minor technical stuff. As is right now if I had to disassemble a cab to sand it down refinish etc I'm pretty sure I wouldn't be able to put it back together again. At least the guts of it. Once I can do that I'm happy to call in and expert to rebuild a Power supply and handle more of the crazy stuff.

Thanks,

-J
 
Hi Joaquim,

I live in Northridge, not too far away. Been doing quite a bit of restoring and fixing, be great to meet a local.

Give me a shout :)


-Jeff
 
Couldn't ask for a better new guy to the community. J is a huge 80s fan. Real nice guy to talk to. If only I didn't live on the complete other side of the country. Can't wait to see his thread up in the restoration section.
 
All you Cali guys just suck with all your game selections, auctions, warehouse raids and general "living within 10 hours of the nearest other arcade people" and the "hey welcome new guy, come check out my 'cade"-ness.

All I get is Chris25810 and Phet in MN, and in those situations I'm either getting yelled at or hit on. It's like an f'd up long distance relationship. Not a pretty sight.
 
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