Wow - I didn't Expect That

ArcadeTechGW

Well-known member

Donor 5 years: 2012, 2022-2025
Joined
Apr 16, 2012
Messages
25,896
Reaction score
12,997
I got a service call (referral from another customer) at a pre-school in Omaha. The owner said she had some games that she needed worked on.

I started in the gym. Centipede Cocktail. I popped the lid, replaced one connector, and got it back up.

There are like 10 games in there.

Then I went to the basement.

There was a jamma Sammy Wacky Bowler. Someone had replaced the CRT with a LCD screen, and had the converter in. The previous repair guy said "something blew," and he never came back. I rang out the wires, replaced the duct tape on the connections to the video with wire nuts (economy job), and then tried to configure the converter board. After around 5 iterations, I found the right resolution, and got the game going.

There was a Pac World there - like a walking/running PacMan with Super Mario like moves (jump, bump). It had three images on the screen. I pulled the back and found the coil around the back of the monitor had cut loose the rubber bands and fallen off. I made temporary repairs with some handy Scotch electrical tape, which got the game back online. What do you replace those rubber bands with?

The next game was a Galaxian. Original artwork and everything. Someone installed a multi-kit - it plays 10 games including Black Hole.

What I couldn't figure out was how to configure the games for all free play. Some (Galaxian) go to free play, others don't. Does anyone know the secret to this? (The multi-game kit has 4 chips - one is installed in a socket in a socket, and overlaps the socket with some additional wires run.)

There is a race game, but the monitor was blown, and it was late. I'll stop in with my handy-dandy discharge tool, and pull the monitor chassis for a re-flow job.

I could work a couple of weekends there. None of the games are locked up, and people are messing with the wiring. I have a NBA Jam conversion kit with wires ripped off the mini spade lugs, so I'll be trying to figure out which wire goes where on my next trip.

I'm encouraging the owner to lock stuff up, so the games get protected from the kids. I'll probably pick up a few packages of momentary pushbuttons, and wire them into the coin mechs for those games that won't go to free play.
 
what is this coil you speak of on the Pac World? rubber bands? what?

Yeah… Obviously the game is Pac Land. I'm guessing he is referring to the monitor yoke and perhaps the rubber wedges… Or maybe someone really did try to secure a yoke with rubber bands.
 
Be careful, if a kid sticks their hand in a game and gets bitten it may blow back on you as the last person that worked on the games.
 
The "coil and rubber bands" are the degaussing coil. I usually use zip ties to to reattach the coil to the frame and tight against the back of the tube.
 
Why does a pre-school have arcade games? Those kids wouldn't even be tall enough to reach the controls.
 
I'm really not sure. They have a big gym, and an area with the lower part of a dutch door with no handle on the inside (keeps the rug rats in), but I didn't see it "in operation."

I'm more curious about where the owner got some of the games. That Galaxians was in beautiful condition - no water damage, original art - if it wasn't for the multi-game job, a perfect example of the game.

For now, I'm going to advocate that the games be locked up, and then work to fix as many of them as I can. I'll need to focus on one at a time, to keep my exposure limited to losing track of what is going on. It's hard to spin work on 10 games at the same time.

We have some fun going at the full time job, so I'm not sure I'll be able to make it back next week to pull that monitor board, but if I can get out at a decent hour, that's my plan. Restore that one, and the basement is done, then I can transition to the gym, and start on those, one at a time.
 
Back
Top Bottom