Yes, you can improvise replacement anode wires for these.
I sometimes replace them voluntarily, because the stock v2000 wires are incredibly stiff, and it puts additional stress on the diode. I'll reuse anode wires I'll cut from other dead flybacks. (Which is why it's important to NEVER THROW ANYTHING AWAY, lol.)
It's very hard to destroy the metal cups. They can get burned to hell, but you can clean them up with a vinegar soak and tumble, and/or you can grind out the insides of them with a Dremel and a diamond-coated cylindrical grinding tip. (You also need this to grind out the remains of the previous anode wire stub, which were spot-welded to the cups at the factory).
Strip the anode wire and clip it so there's about 2mm of conductor sticking out. Bend it over into an 'L', and put it through the hole in the cup. Then fill the bottom of the cup with the best quality solder you have. Not a lot, but you want to fill about 1/4 of the cup, so the anode stub is fully covered.
Then take some Goof Off and Qtips, and FULLY clean all flux residue out from inside the cup. You need that surface to be SPOTLESS. You also want the solder to be somewhat flat, so the spring can seat well in the cup.
I use silicone hose to make new boots when needed. The stuff I got on ebay was listed as '6mm (1/4") ID, 8mm OD flexible fuel/air vacuum hose'.
Note that you have to be careful here, as the hose/boot needs to seal the anode wire and diode AIRTIGHT. (There can be no air gaps). If the anode wire you're using is thinner than the hose, put a couple of layers of regular shrink tubing on the anode wire to thicken it up. This is critical, because if the hose doesn't seal both the anode and diode completely, you'll get arcing and it will burn up again.
I don't use grease when I redo these. I don't think there's any harm in using it, but it's more likely to make a mess, and potentially cause the boot to slide off if you get it in the wrong places. So if you do use it, you only want it INSIDE the cup, where the springs make contact.
Also, I always solder the springs to the diode. This is tricky to do, because the springs are steel, which solder doesn't like to stick to that easily. But it can be done, with a hot iron, good solder, and if you sand or file the spring, so it's bare shiny metal. I have another post on that here:
I have updated first post with some of the myths and their status. Will try to catch up and add some others but if you feel real strong about changing status of one, quote it and post a fact. The fun ones are fine but too many for me to try and update.
forums.arcade-museum.com
And one last tip: Because the anode wire transfers so much mechanical stress to the diode, another thing I do is zip tie the wire to the plastic ferrule at the point where the wire enters the cage. This just beefs things up, so the diode is a little better isolated from movement of the wire. Use two zip ties, crossed over each other, and both as tight as you can get them. This way, most of the movement of the wire is isolated from the diode assembly.
