What is the hardest game you have ever repaired?

KevinSin

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Donor 3 years: 2012, 2014, 2016
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Mine, so far is DEFENDER and I'm still trying to fix it!

They should have named this arcade Defeater!

Let's make a list so I can think twice about certain broken games :)
 
Tempest. 2 year struggle with that bastard.

New big blue, rebuilt 6100 including a fan and the lv2000 kit, rebuilt ARII, new edge connectors, board swapped, then repaired, then repaired again. Now after all that when I turn the machine on, my flipper is missing as are most of the enemies. I can see them at the bottom, but as they climb they disappear. Then there are vector lines flashing in and out around the playfield like lightning, and most of the tunnel is missing from view as well. All the while the game is playing fine but I can't see where I am on the rim in relation to the enemies.
 
Although I did not fix it, I would say the hardest game to get working was cosmic chasm.. nightmare wiring and add a g08-105 monitor to the mix..
 
Sinistar for me. Between sound board issues, bad rams, battery holder, flaky monitor, I think I rebuilt/repaired the power supply around 10 times...
 
So your working on a game that belongs to someone else, It's a rare game so parts are almost impossible to find. Repair is the only option. Bad Power supply design means, if you probe the wrong part, It will turn into a complete rebuild. More than one bad prom on the board Does indicate that this board had suffered a Power fluctuation. Too slow memory was installed just adds to the over problems. 6 bad proms is just another sign of what this poor board has gone through. It's not repaired but every little problem that has been fixed has brought this machine a little closer to working..

While I am helping in the repairs, I am teaching the owner of this 1 of 500 unit arcade machine, The process of tracking down problems. The old it's doing this, What might cause this to happen. He has learned so much. After this arcade machine is repaired, The community will have a new expert in this machine.
 
Bubbles. It started like this:

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and ended up like this:

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I have an original Bubbles optical joystick to put in it next. Then I am done. For now.

ken
 
I spent two and a half years on my Omega Race. Got it working and sold it. Loved the game, probably should have kept it.
 
omega race

Yep Omega Race - I have fixed 3 of them over the last 15 years. Always kicks my ass, everytime. I won't give up though!
 
My Qbert...for sure. Love the game I did a total restore including having the cabinet painted in the car dealership I worked for. A lot of elbow grease. It's like new....
 
Almost forgot (how could I)... Omega Race. Oh that beast.... I gave up. I had to ship it off to a Canuck to tame (Thanks Tester!)...
 
Zookeeper.. As I own 25-30 dead or somewhat dead CPU pcbs.. Damn acid damage.. I must get one email a week from someone on klov, do you fix ZK pcbs or know anyone who does??

Battlezone comes in second.. Owned a few, each one worked once in a while.. Eventhough the pcbs were rebuilt.
 
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