Initial questions before taking the plunge!

[JCHusky77]

Hello,

This site has been a great source of information and inspiration!! Ive been reading for quite sometime and have been planning in my head to build my own mame cabinet. I was thinking about building from scratch as well as scouring craigslist for a deal on an existing cab. There is a guy I met today who is helping an old lady out sell her deceased husband mismosh of arcade parts and some cabinets.

The cabinets do show signs of damage and some environmental damage on the wood. Since I was going to gut it mostly the inside will be redone. He also has a bunch of joysticks, trackballs and pushbuttons and guns. I was looking at the pushbuttons and the microtransistors in them have 3 prongs. I noticed on the ones that happ sells they have 2 prongs, any difference there?? The joysticks have 4 prongs. Basically, everything needs a good onceover with cleaning.

Should I buy an existing cab with some damage? And with the pushbuttons he has, does the 3 vs 2 prongs matter?

He also has tons of JAMMA boards, are they worth any money??

Thanks!

[BobA]

Your questions are a bit confusing.   

pushbuttons do not have microtransistors in them.  Maybe you mean micro switches.   Most switches have 3 prongs, a NO NC and common.   Switches with 2 connections are usually leaf switches which are older and may need some TLC to get them to work.  Old joysticks with only 4 prongs would have me guessing that they are 2 way with 2 prongs for each direction or 4 way and you are not seeing the common wire connections. 

Water damage to the cabs can always be fixed by cutting away the damaged area and replacing it with new mdf or plywood.   

Jamma boards can be worth money if they work but you would have to test them before offering them for sale as untested boards are almost worthless. 

Pictures to go with your questions always help.   I am only guessing at what you are looking at.

Hope that helps.

[JCHusky77]

Sorry..yes you are right....microswitches.

What is the best way to test the jamma boards? He has some really big ones and some smaller ones.

And the three pronged ones are the ones I need to make my own control panel hooked into an ipac into my pc?

[PL1]

Welcome aboard, JCHusky77.

I was looking at the pushbuttons and the microtransistors in them have 3 prongs. I noticed on the ones that happ sells they have 2 prongs, any difference there??

The difference is that the 3-terminal version has a "normally closed" contact that is normally unused.

There is a HUGE range of attributes and quality in microswitches.

If you like the feel of them they might be worth getting.

Just remember that you can get a new Arcade Prime button with Standard Soft Touch switch for $1.20.

If there are any non-repro orange/blue Nintendo Donkey Kong style pushbuttons in good shape there are always collectors who want them to finish off their restoration.  Pics here if you want to see the difference.

The joysticks have 4 prongs.

You might want to check your count.

Should be 5 pins (right side of pic) for L/R/U/D/ground . . .


or  8-12 tabs, depending on whether the microswitches have 2 or 3 tabs each.

Should I buy an existing cab with some damage?

If the damage isn't too extensive, you have the skills to repair it, and the price is right, yes.

He also has tons of JAMMA boards, are they worth any money??

Depends on the board and whether it is working.   

Pointing out that you're buying it "condition unknown" can give you some leverage on price.   


Scott

[JCHusky77]

With regards to the joystick...from what I remember when i turned it over..when you moved the joystick, a rod touched different metal pieces which then activated the switch. There were four microswitches and the joystick did move in all 8 directions.

Can you buy the microswitches by themselves? Are the button microswitches the same as the joystick microswitch? And is a microswitch a microswitch a microswitch? meaning if you have one, it works for all??


Oh, i forgot to mention...he also have a small DMD screen about 12 inches long and like 2-3 inches wide....any idea where this came from?

[PL1]

With regards to the joystick...from what I remember when i turned it over..when you moved the joystick, a rod touched different metal pieces which then activated the switch. There were four microswitches and the joystick did move in all 8 directions.

Maybe you can pick the stick out of a lineup here or here.  Could be a Happ Super. 

Can you buy the microswitches by themselves?

Yes, you can buy switches separately.

Are the button microswitches the same as the joystick microswitch? And is a microswitch a microswitch a microswitch? meaning if you have one, it works for all??

Not necessarily.

Some switches have a lever arm like you describe on the joysticks, some don't.
 
Some switches require only 20 grams to actuate, some require 125 grams.

Switches are like cars -- They are similar in that they have 4 wheels and get you from point A to point B, but can be as different as a "Smart" car and a Suburban.

Choose your car/switch according to what you want to do with it.

Oh, i forgot to mention...he also have a small DMD screen about 12 inches long and like 2-3 inches wide....any idea where this came from?

Might be from a pinball machine or a digital sign, but without pictures or part numbers it's impossible to say.


Scott

[JCHusky77]

After doing some research..the cabinet in question that I may buy is an old Xevious cabinet. it still has the original side art and picture above the monitor. The guy who owned it changed the control panel into a bowling game and changed the bezel. But otherwise..its a Xevious Cabinet.

Is Xevious a game where it is sacrilege to gut the cabinet? Or worthwhile to restore if he has a working Jamma??

The joystick bottoms reminds me of the Happ Competition, however the handle was not blue, it was black and shaped more like Happ/ILs.

I wish I just took some pics while I was there 8( but alas...im new to the scene and wont make the same mistake!

[paigeoliver]

A converted Xevious is a great choice for a Mame cabinet. They often sell for around $200 in really nice condition, which tells me that the demand for them is low and thus there is no reason to try to turn a converted one back into Xevious.

A converted bowling game isn't the kind of thing you would want to restore either. There are a lot of different arcade bowling titles, but only a few that warrant any restoration work, the black and white ones from the 1970s (as they are all super rare), the DEDICATED version of Capcom Bowling, and the two different ones where you roll a cue ball into the cabinet and a sensor reads it and shows the bowling on screen (Super Strike and one version of Strata Bowling). All other bowling titles are not really worth trying to restore. Fix them up a bit? Sure, I have a Capcom Bowling conversion that I fixed up a bit (rebuilt the trackball, bought sideart), but I sure wasn't going to try to do a full restoration on it.

[JCHusky77]

Oh, i was never going to restore a bowling game. Im just going to convert it into a Mame cabinet. the guy who owned it turned the control panel and bezel into a different one for his bowling game.  The cabinet is Xavious..

Im going to try to get the cab and buttons and see what I can do.