Coin door vs. PC access

[Oldskool]

Has anyone out there rigged up something fancy for PC access?

I was going to put a PC door on the front of my cab, BUT having a coin door with mechs / coin bucket is also on my list.

Side door perhaps?

[Metimbo]

Not really a door per say, but you could add one easily.

http://www.verticaladdiction.net/cabinet1/page6.shtml#cpudoor

~Tim

[Ken Layton]

Happ Controls makes a blank access door assembly.

[mclaught]

I'm sure this isn't what you're looking for, but why not  put the computer directly behind the coin door and just open up the door and reach in when you need to access the computer? I can open the coin door on my machine and have full access to the cd-rom, floppy drives and power button. Once you have everything hooked up, you really shouldn't need to get to the back of the computer for anything. Even then, the backs of most cabs come off easily once you remove the screws so if you need to fix something, you can. I left the back panel off my cabinet for easy access, you can't see it from the front and it provides better ventilation.  

[Hammerbot]

Metimbo, Nice slider.. Great solution, too bad about the repaints...

Why do you need access to the computer so badly?

I'm hoping that mine will be more like "fire and forget"...

[Metimbo]

Actually, not my cab, just one I had bookmarked b/c of the nice walkthru and humor and finish.

I'm hoping mine is "fire and forget" as well )
~Tim

[_Iz-]

The only "computer" part you need to access is the cd-rom drive. I frenched mine into the side of my cabinet. Click the "WWW" link below my name to the left to see...  

Edit - some older computers might need the floppy drive accessable. Mine boots from cd so no problems there...

[OSCAR]

I agree that there aren't many devices that require access on the PC, but when you do need to get to something, good access is key.  I have my upright cabinet connected via network instead of using a CD-Rom, but there have been occassions that I needed to get to the guts of the cabinet, to replace an exhaust fan, for example.

What I did was install an access hatch (like you would see used in residential housing for access to plumbing/ductwork/wiring/etc) in the rear of the cabinet:






A pic looking through the hatch to the inside of the cabinet:





A pic through the front plexi with the hatch shown open:

[Oldskool]

I'm hoping that mine will be more like "fire and forget"...

So do I, but I just know that I'll end up tinkering.

I like the sliding shelf. Very nice, and it allows complete access without much bother.

[Brad Lee]

This was my original intention:

And it worked great  except for overheating

So I moved it to the back:

And it works great
That dangly harddrive has been mounted, the cables all tied up, and the cat removed. The black box in the very bottom is my sub

[Chris]

I ripped the 5-1/4" drive cahe out of an old case and I mounted it to the coin vault.  It holds the CD-ROM drive and a floppy drive in an EasyUSB drive tray, so I have access to the CD, floppy and USB through the coin door.

In this picture (before I cleaned up some of the cabling) you can see the 5-1/4" drive cage mounted to the coin vault:

[SpamMe]

Here's what I did, very easy access (you can crawl right in if need be) and not distracting/ugly imo (though not exactly arcade-standard, either).



www.upup.us

[JustMichael]

I was wondering what you need to physically access quite often on the pc that you would need a door for?
I have my cab hooked up to the house network so I just update the roms, Mame and anything else using the network.

[paigeoliver]

The whole front of my Artic Mini just opens up, so that makes for really easy access.

On my Space Firebird mini I mounted the computer parts on the back door, so if I need to mess with them, then I can just take the door off.

The computer that runs my Amazing Maze isn't even inside it. It is sitting underneath a pinball machine several games down the line. This is because I never bothered to wire a remote power switch for it, and there is no place decent to mount it inside where I can hit the switch easily (through the front OR back). I will be adding a power button and putting the computer inside eventually.

The Pac-Mini I recently made had a PC power button on the back. The comp in the Pac-Mini wasn't particularly accessable (but it is a DOS system, and not meant to be tampered with).

The Neo-Caberet I made for Ron has the PC inside a door that opens up in front.

The computer in my Solitaire is sitting where the original one was, I can either reach in the back door as needed, or the whole control panel slides out the front (along with the PC).

[SirPoonga]

My coin door is my computer access.

[Sephroth57]

yeah i just use the coin door, and if i need to do something major the back comes off so... yeah. although i do like that white panel that one guy had

[Minwah]

My (unfinished) cab has a removable door on the front (similar to the System 1 cab's I based the design on).  Then a wooden plate which sits just inside the door has all of the PC components (inc. fan) on - this can just be slid out if/when required.

I hope not to need access to the PC hardly at all, but it will be helpful if only when the fans need dusting

[Minwah]

My (unfinished) cab has a removable door on the front (similar to the System 1 cab's I based the design on).  Then a wooden plate which sits just inside the door has all of the PC components (inc. fan) on - this can just be slid out if/when required.

I hope not to need access to the PC hardly at all, but it will be helpful if only when the fans need dusting

[bluGill]

I haven't done it, but I've been considering a slot loading CD drive.   Cut a tiny slot in the cabinet, and place the drive right behind it.  Then place some USB ports under the control panel (depending on the cabinet, the designs I'm looking at have the control panel stick out a little so I can place the ports on the bottom where noone will see them until I need them)

I've been debating ethernet ports next to the USB.  I won't need them, but if a friend brings a laptop over they can plug in just about anywhere, which might be nice.

[SeanFu]

yeah i just use the coin door, and if i need to do something major the back comes off so... yeah. although i do like that white panel that one guy had

I was planning on leaving the bottom half of the back of my cabinet open, for ventilation and easy access.  I kinda figured it would be up against a wall anyway.  Is there a reason you guys paneled in the whole thing?

P.S.  I should mention that the longer this project takes, the more prone I am to doing less than "craftsmanlike" work on the unseen details...

[SpamMe]

I was wondering what you need to physically access quite often on the pc that you would need a door for?

I've got the door for a few reasons. My cab's downstairs in the living room, and all other PCs are upstairs. I don't have a wireless network, so any time I want to transfer files or use remote desktop, I've gotta run a 100 ft cable from the router to the cab, so in general I try to avoid doing it.
Also, the cab weighs a ton, is on carpet and sitting in a corner, and has a couch on the other side. It's no small task to move it away from the wall enough to get to the back and have enough room to access anything inside.
Lastly, I'm sure I'll be going into the cabinet less later, but as it is, my cab's a work in progress. I'm always getting in there for some thing or another (and forsee doing so for quite a while, I just don't have the time or money to just power through and get it done in a month or two).

[Lance]

Why not just put an ethernet jack on the front or side of your cab?  Then you could just plug it in and the jack would connect to your PC via a patch cable?

[Minwah]

P.S.  I should mention that the longer this project takes, the more prone I am to doing less than "craftsmanlike" work on the unseen details...

LOL, I know the feeling