Tinkerer or videogame hero

pacman71

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I am admitted limited on my skills at fixing games. My soldering skills are poor. I can follow directions, but much more than replacing simple parts, and putting together a few multi games and I am lost.

Just curious what percentage of Klovers are acutally electronics guys who are pretty good at this business, and how many are tinkerers that cross their fingers alot.

I have learned enough to make basic repairs and replace parts, but I still spend a chunk or two getting repairs done by another collector friend.

Just curious if I am the norm, or the exception around this place.
 
As far as diagnosing and fixing problems, I know exactly two things: jack and shit; and jack left town.

Cap kits, swapping controls, and buying new parts. Thats me.
 
There's two kinds of arcade collectors: people who don't know jack about diagnosing problems, and people for whom diagnosing and fixing problems is part of the allure. I don't know what the percentages are, but I would guess we're split right down the middle. I'm definitely firmly in the latter camp.
 
While I do enjoy playing the games I have, I do enjoy repair these old classics. I took a 80 percent jammaized ms pacman and converted it back to plain old ms pacman machine (I still need a Marquee for it). When I have been at friend's places. I have adjusted monitors, replaced connectors, replaced CPU's and while some others were having fun playing. I am having fun getting a game working playing a round or two and looking for the next machine to work on.
 
Coming to you from Kansas City and twenty plus years of professional game and juke repair. I don't work in the amusement service because anymore because there are no jobs. How dose this relate to your question you ask? There is alot of broken games out there but the question is can you sell them once they are running. The two games for sale in my garage say it's not that easy to sell them. But it's fun to fix them.
 
repair is part of the fun... I cross my fingers a lot, and sometimes shotgun when i can't fully diagnose, but never sent anything out for paid repair, and hope to keep it that way (the lv2000 i sent out this week for replacement doesnt count)

granted some things stay in disrepair too long sometimes, but working on them, keeping them alive, is a good part of this hobby

- gwarble
 
I'm definitely in the tinkerer camp. I get a sense of accomplishment when I'm able to fix something on my own, but I usually need a helping hand or two.
 
Tinkerer.

I can figure out basic stuff just based on research done here, the net, and Randy Fromm tapes, but PCB logic level stuff, not so much.

ArcadeMaze!
 
It seems like to really be good at soldering you'd need a lot of practice. Getting a nice shiney connection is usually almost always a 50/50 for me.

The learning curve seems to get steep fast after you get past the basics.

I do enjoy fixing what I can. I am pretty sure the hobby would be less fun and more frustrating without all the information and connections you make here.
 
Tinkerer FOR SURE

But with the help of this and other forums, its getting alot easier! Plus fixing stuff myself is what Im all about.
 
It seems like to really be good at soldering you'd need a lot of practice. Getting a nice shiney connection is usually almost always a 50/50 for me.

The learning curve seems to get steep fast after you get past the basics.

I do enjoy fixing what I can. I am pretty sure the hobby would be less fun and more frustrating without all the information and connections you make here.

I think the mistake most people make is using cheap solder and a cheap iron and also an iron that is not hot enough and the wrong tip.

Personally, I think i am beyond tinkerer but not hero status yet. Somewhere in between but working hard to learn as much as I can. I will be taking on vectors and other things for repair as soon as I get set up, probably right after the first of the year, maybe sooner. Aside from Amps, I will be doing K6100's, G05-801 and G05-802's and 19v2000's. I can do G07's too. Can also do some of the Atari and Midway power supplies. I will leave most of the board repairs to the resident experts.

Bring out your dead.

Edit: I think anyone that tinkers and tries to save a game is a hero in my book.
 
I think the mistake most people make is using cheap solder and a cheap iron and also an iron that is not hot enough and the wrong tip.

You nailed it right here.

You can't learn on a cheap iron. You just can't. You can't use the $10 irons to do anything until you use a nice, temperature-controlled, high-wattage iron to teach yourself how it's supposed to be done. And once you have the nice iron, why settle for less?

Soldering is maybe 10% skill. The other 90% is all in your tools. A good soldering iron is one of those things you splurge on, because believe me, it's worth the money.
 
You nailed it right here.

You can't learn on a cheap iron. You just can't. You can't use the $10 irons to do anything until you use a nice, temperature-controlled, high-wattage iron to teach yourself how it's supposed to be done. And once you have the nice iron, why settle for less?

Soldering is maybe 10% skill. The other 90% is all in your tools. A good soldering iron is one of those things you splurge on, because believe me, it's worth the money.

I don't use a temp controlled station, just a nice Weller with a good tip on it but a station ain't a bad way to go. I just don't like hauling those out on location.
 
You nailed it right here.

You can't learn on a cheap iron. You just can't. You can't use the $10 irons to do anything until you use a nice, temperature-controlled, high-wattage iron to teach yourself how it's supposed to be done. And once you have the nice iron, why settle for less?

Soldering is maybe 10% skill. The other 90% is all in your tools. A good soldering iron is one of those things you splurge on, because believe me, it's worth the money.

I will have to agree to disagree here. You would be amazed what I can do with a Radio Crap $7 iron.

If you suck at soldering and you have a $2K iron, you still suck at soldering but have a really nice iron.

Soldering is all about the skill, and when you have the skill you can solder with any old warm turd.
 
I don't use a temp controlled station, just a nice Weller with a good tip on it but a station ain't a bad way to go. I just don't like hauling those out on location.

I have a station on my bench, but I keep one of these temp controlled handheld irons in my toolbag for onsite repairs:
http://www.tequipment.net/Hakko922MV12.html

I don't notice too much difference between using it or the station, but it can't be adjusted like the station can. Though I haven't changed the station's temp in years.
 
I think anyone that tinkers and tries to save a game is a hero in my book.

Add to that anyone who full-on restores games. Saving the electronics is important but so is saving the cabs and preserving/reproducing/restoring the artwork. You guys and gals who tear down a two-steps-from-the-grave game all the way to the ground and build it back up again deserve hero status too, especially with the '70s and '80s stuff. There are going to be classics around for us to enjoy for a lot longer thanks to you.
 
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