Project Epic Arcade

[epicfatigue]

Hey there fellow arcade followers! i am back and have put a full day in today and planning on another full day tomorrow!

So where to start.

I Guess a good place is the new addition to the cabinet... Yeah i know right?
what could i be doing now!

RBG Buttons to a PAC-LED64 allows every color combination fade etc.
pictures do not do it justice they are so bright colors are true it looks amazing.






Now these buttons are for Ultimarc.com they are aazing build quality but they had one massive flaw, which i think should be redesigned.
The issue is the cables that come through the bottom would get in the way of the micro switch. With careful placement you could get them to function well but after a few hours on the machine you would find a button here or there not pressing right gettting stick clicking etc, and extra pressure on the housing of the switch itself.

I found that if you drill directly through the side you are able to bring the cables through the center and two out either side and getting 100% out of the button with no chance of failure or stress on the mounting.





Now i also have added something else... i know i know but i just have put in so much effort into this machine it needs to shine! and shine it will!!!!

Some have you may have noticed from the above pictures the joysticks look different well right you are!
Auto switching Joysticks, they switch between 4 and 8 way automatically.


So now, the buttons will light up the correct color as what the game would have had, the joysticks will automatically switch to the correct location.
And the monitor will turn if needed!



So today i fully gutted the machine, and started to rewire the old wiring to be neat and safe.
I also started on working on the frame for the wind tunnel and PC case.
I could have swore i took more photos but it appears i didnt.

Will take some tomorrow!

[harveybirdman]

This build is awesome, I'm glad your back to work!

[epicfatigue]

So i had a very productive day today, where to start?

I guess we will start with the monitor.
I have completed the front, i know it looks horrible but i am waiting for the glass to come and with the addition of decals and paint it will come up a treat!
I have some surprises planned in that department too but i will reveal that later.





Below is the machine gutted with the supports put in place for the frame.
In this picture one level is in.



Here is the start of the entrance to the wind tunnel, i decided to make this out of ply instead of MDF because i am still tossing up on somthing but i wont bore you all with that.



Time to start working on the PC sliding insert, this will hold the PC in place and create a large amount of static pressure.







Now i am yet to finish the top level i just ran out of time, the idea will be that there will be a glass window to be able to see inside the machine, and alot of other things, but we will talk about that when we get there cant ruin the surprise now can we?

The bottom 2 fans draw in air to cool the power supplys and pull the air through the case then expell the hot air up to the next level, in that level is where the 4 fans pull air aswell to the back where another 2 fans inline with the others expell hot air up to the next level. words can not explain how much air is being pushed in this design and we are still only half way there .

I will revel the next stage soon!
Please comment if you have anything to add.

[jongunz]

was there a sell on fans at the computer store???  I think your cabinet may be able to propel itself down the street... 

[epicfatigue]

was there a sell on fans at the computer store???  I think your cabinet may be able to propel itself down the street...

The cooling fore this machine were donated by Corsair, so all fans and Water cooling.
And yes it pulls some serious air thats for sure!

[epicfatigue]

Well the time has flown by and i have finally got back into working on the arcade machine,

So where are we now?


Well i guess the first thing to point out is the project now has a new Sponsor!
I Would like to thank Asus ROG for joining the project!
They have donated a amazing board!




The system runs at a happy 5ghz new ram SSD etc





Moving onto the cabinet,

The time has come to start the repairs on the machine, the corners have had alot of damage over time and on the bottom right hand corner it was missing a large amount of wood about 30 cm by 20cm.
I stripped the cabinet and filled in the damage plus i also filled all the graffiti that has earned its place over time on the whole machine.





Then it was time to build the new control panel and step out that is commonly seen on the Killer instinct machines, i was very happy with the result.





The front control Panel has a special hinge that allows it a soft close function and it can reverse backwards for easy access to the controls.
Stay tuned guys i have the nect 2 days spare to get working on this beast!

[Generic Eric]

That sure is a lot of fans.  Do you have any temperature monitors?  I'm curious if they will be always on or if they turn on as needed?

Thanks for sharing your project and posting pictures.

[Malenko]

how can I get them to sponsor all my projects?!

[Generic Eric]

how can I get them to sponsor all my projects?!

He is the prime minister of the Republic of Gaming 

[harveybirdman]

Happy to see the update I was wondering what was up with this one.

[rCadeGaming]

Good to see you back at it.  So... yeah seriously, how did you get that stuff donated?

[epicfatigue]

That sure is a lot of fans.  Do you have any temperature monitors?  I'm curious if they will be always on or if they turn on as needed?

Thanks for sharing your project and posting pictures.

Im glad you asked , as silent as they are that many still makes alot of noise, i have a couple of other surprises in store have to wait and see on that one!

how can I get them to sponsor all my projects?!

how can I get them to sponsor all my projects?!

He is the prime minister of the Republic of Gaming 

Happy to see the update I was wondering what was up with this one.

Good to see you back at it.  So... yeah seriously, how did you get that stuff donated?

Thanks Guys its good to be back, how did i get it donated?
Well i simply asked like anything presentation is the key i drafted a detailed proposal and documented everything, and i pitched my idea, there are still alot of things to come, i wouldnt say im holding out but stay tuned takes more then just an arcade machine to sway a company

[epicfatigue]

Productive weekend for me,
I had a noticeable amount of damage to one side that needed attending to top and bottom, there was also pitting all around the sides of the machine. I didn’t want to have to laminate the machine with this all around because it would have stood up like dogs balls and not worthy of the time and effort I have put into the machine. So I got out the builders bog and some dressed pine and built a bracket around the machine so I could simply just fill in all the pitting and remake the two sides with large amount of damage. The results speak for themselves looking at it in person you can not tell that it was ever repaired!




Now there is a lot more work to be done on this space but I thought it was time to share it 
I plan to have this machine set up in my pool room. I want it to be able to play music while i am having a game if its not in use.

[Gatsu]

Lookin really good so far.

Got a question for you though. That speaker setup....it looks like alot getting pumped out of one area. Why didn't you put the sub and the 2 "surround" channels at the bottom of the cab? Put 2 speaker holes close to the bottom aimed up or something.

Just curious.

[epicfatigue]

Lookin really good so far.

Got a question for you though. That speaker setup....it looks like alot getting pumped out of one area. Why didn't you put the sub and the 2 "surround" channels at the bottom of the cab? Put 2 speaker holes close to the bottom aimed up or something.

Just curious.

Hey I tried this, it echoed the sound.
The odd thing is, having it configured like this        LF LR CENTER RR RF
It actually sounds like surround up close and from a distance so thats what i went with

[epicfatigue]

Well got alittle done to night.

Lined up all the holes to where i wanted them and drilled away.
Man yellow tongue flooring is bloody hard to drill, least i know the additional parts i made for the cabinet should last just as long as the rest of the machine.
Tomorrow night i hope to rout out the joysticks what fun that will be!
Time to hit the hay!

[BadMouth]

You do some very strange things.
But you do them so well and have executed the technical aspects of your cab so well that I question nothing. 

[epicfatigue]

You do some very strange things.
But you do them so well and have executed the technical aspects of your cab so well that I question nothing. 

Ahaha thanks mate, im sure your wondering what the hell thats all about, theres something going there but i havent made it yet all in good time /.




Well routed out the joysticks and tested out the layout.
Felt awesome!

[epicfatigue]

Knew i was forgetting something, forgot to allow for the auto switching motor controls, so i pulled it all back apart and routed it out,.

[epicfatigue]

A Quick dry run of cable management before i laminate the control panel and install the perspex

 

[epicfatigue]

Sorry for my absence i have been sorting out a few things of late,

But i would like to present one of the projects news sponsors LAMPTRON

for providing us with the most powerful fan controller on the market, that will be able to control all of the fans used in this project.

Lamptron CF525 - No Frills, Just Power

[epicfatigue]

So i finally got time to sit down and start to strip the machine to get it ready to a state where i could run cables, fill in holes and paint etc and look over the work i had been slowly chipping away at.

And then i cracked the shits and scrapped all the work i was unhappy with.
I wasnt myself when i was working on it with little time rushing this rushing that so i tossed it all out and started again.

So i pretty much spent the weekend fitting everything i was unhappy with, and i am glad i did it inspired me to get involved again.
Every shelf is exact now, every level is withing 1 mm and everything looks perfect, i have also changed my design somewhat and i will share that with you as it progresses.

Here are some photos of how it all traveled.





Then i cracked the shits

[scream1973]

This thing is awesome.. can't wait to see what other bells and whistles you end up putting in there

[epicfatigue]

And finally got time to get in a days work into the arcade machine,

First thing i did was rip to back off lol, didn't like the idea of having a separate plate to access things if something went wrong, so i decided to make it one large door with 180deg hinges with magnetic locks, and it works perfectly i am going to include a arcade lock as-well yo stop kiddies from exploring the world of High Voltage.

Now, i have never really spoken how the airflow works in this machine, and thats mostly because i am way to lazy and im sure not matter how much detail i went into a picture would tell a thousand words.

The idea is the bottom is its broken into two sections, 2 fans as intake to cool power supply's and transformer circuits that control a number of things in the arcade machine, all with fuses accessible from the front panel, at the other end is PVC pipe wich directs the air up to the top level.

The next Level has a slide out draw that hols the computer system, this is so if it needs to be replaced repaired or god knows what it comes out with one connector and slides out .

Above this (not shown) Is a glass panel, one of these will also be in the back of the door so the system will be visible from the back.
Like the lower level there are two pipes that divert this air to the top of the machine.

At the top of the machine there is a angled bit of wood which diverts the air to the exhaust, here there will be a filter that is removable and accessible from the front for easy cleaning, the whole unit is air tight no leaks so the air flow is well its strong trust me!

All fans are powered by the controller located in the coin box, so you can either have positive or negative air flow as the design is symmetrical!

The control panel folds open nicely using the same 180deg hinges.

I completely gutted where the monitor originally sat as the wood was old and hammered, so i cut out all new bits with angels the pictures do not do it justice it is very neat and looks amazing, it was very fun making the unit Air Tight.

The monitor has been risen and set back more then it was originally to make the control panel have a much nicer feel, and the machine itself is solid as a rock, i used yellow tongue flooring 19mm thick, this thing will last a life time.

I am at the stage of creating all custom PCBs which will act as connectors for all the wringing to make everything neat and modular for servicing because i would like this thing to be easy to work on and last a life time.

Once i finish this i will install the motor control unit and 1 other little surprise i have stored away

Picture overload incoming.

[TopJimmyCooks]

Needs more fans.

[epicfatigue]

Needs more fans.

I have more lol and there are more going in lol

[emphatic]

Very nice rotate mechanism!

[BGoulette]

Needs more fans.

Yeah, with a handful more, you might be able to get this thing to hover via ground effect! In all seriousness though, looks like you've thought through just about everything! Will the fan noise be too distracting, though? Or will the audio be so much louder no one will care?

[epicfatigue]

Today was a very sad day for this project.
My 20inch WG K7000 has a bad gun, with combined with the slight screen burn in made me just throw it in the bin.

Sadily the rotating system will not be happening now, as i do not have another 20inch however i did manage to score a non working nanao ms8-29 dual sync
This baby was fully original, and had a thick coat of dust/mud yuck!

I fully restored the chasis, dismantled all the transformers, and line filters and hand cleaned them, then removed all the components and scrubbed to PCB down.

Recapped the machine then put it all back together and man what a picture this baby spits out!, i will have to take another photo of the chasis i forgot to take one after the full recap!

Funny thing is this monitor with the sides cut off is actually larger then my other monitor rotated to the correct position go figure!?

The hard thing was i now need to redesign the back as this monitor is so large that it touches the back where the fans were located so back to the drawing board there.

[epicfatigue]

Sorry guys i had abit of a break there for awhile but i am back with some updates.

First thing i removed the stereo... Duno what went on there for a little but that idea is gone.

So with that a replacement top was created.

I ran my 240 down the bottom.
The only thing missing from this photo is the isolation transformer.
The power connector is not power input that is the door point (Will see this later) i have 2 25v 2200uf Saxon caps for my 24v PSU 11amp for the namco recoil guns, they will provide a nice clean kick.

This layer has 2 corsair fans intake for cooling.






Then we have layer one the PC Wind tunnel, this layer has 4 corsair fans
and the pc All cables are hidden through holes, the corsair water cooler is not installed just yet, as i am working out mounting for HDD and cooler.





Then there is the top layer, The top layer mounts the nanao chasis, and acts as the junction point and exhaust for all the corsair fans, this way it has added cooling to the Monitor chassis. As the Nanao has a habit of running hot on the horizontal output section.

however directly below i have installed a anti slam soft close (love this thing) slide.

The purpose for this is there is a key directly above it, when turning the key it isolates the mame PC from the arcade and you can plug Jamma boards into it and mount them to the slide out draw! This way i can play original games without a fus.





I then did the front step just to see what it would look like put some of the tmolding on.

[makeao]

Will you keep with the project? You're like a god!!

[reptileink]

I've never been more repulsed and impressed in my life. 

I admire the handiwork here, and am blown away by the amount of work done, but I can't help but cringe inside when each bling component is added. As they say, "it's your machine", and this thing will be a force to be reckoned with for sure when finished.

[harveybirdman]

This one lost me with the scrapping of the rotating CRT.  It was easier to overlook the silly amount of fans, speakers in the marquee, 8 LED buttons, etc. when he was pulling off the unicorn of a CRT rotating multi.

[stigzler]

It was easier to overlook....when he was pulling off the unicorn.....

Man, that's some specialist s**t right there...

[bimm25e]

So in the diagram, the "micro switch trigger" in the mid-left of the page, is that a second switch attached to your trigger? Could I run an opto-isolator off of an area 51 arcade board's gun trigger circuit?
(say, this one amybe: http://www.mouser.com/ProductDetail/Fairchild-Semiconductor/MCT9001/?qs=VnWRSnLxLU04MTtRhIe%252bQA%3D%3D&gclid=CNaR16yRk9MCFdWIswodCOIKcA )

And the moment alot of you have been waiting for.

Its a very simple circuit, this is just for rapid fire,
When the SPDT switch is on rapid fire will be active, the recoil will act as normal.