Access door addition for PCB swapping?

[Cariba]

All,

I recently have acquired various Arcade PCBs, and was looking at modifying my cabs to allow easy access of switching out PCBs.

I know they sell PCB switchers, and I may get some to use, but still predict that I may require further manual PCB switching often.

Has anyone ever made any access doors mods on their cabs, on the FRONT, to be able to access and switch PCBs.

I know this is likely not something to be done on original and restored cabs, but mine are not original and wouldn't hurt me to do that...although mine do have coin doors in front, so space is somewhat limited - BUT I think there is enough room to do a kind of sliding tray system like the Sega Candy cabs have.

Anyone done anything like this before?  Or is it not worth the trouble, and if someone if going to be switching PCBs that often then they are better off with another option (such as RPi boards, pandoras boxes etc)?

Thanks,

[lilshawn]

if i was building a cabinet to swap boards in and out of, i'd just put a hinged door on the front, a couple of Utrusta ikea hinges, and a built in shelf inside. that way i could run my jamma harness to the shelf, then just plug in whatever, and close the door.

when i want to change, shut it off, open the door swap out the board, close the door, and power it back on.

[baritonomarchetto]

If you are not a purist, go the emulation way. Pandoras,  raspberry, PC... They all work. The choice is up to you, but let me suggest the last one: it's cheap and emulation of the best quality.
If you are a purist and cannot live with the idea that your games are "only" 99% accurate, keep in mind that your cabinet should be preserved as much as possible in it's original shape. It's an hystorically (and monetary) valuable piece of hardware.

[Cariba]

if i was building a cabinet to swap boards in and out of, i'd just put a hinged door on the front, a couple of Utrusta ikea hinges, and a built in shelf inside. that way i could run my jamma harness to the shelf, then just plug in whatever, and close the door.

when i want to change, shut it off, open the door swap out the board, close the door, and power it back on.

Ok, thanks for advise, only thing is I am not building cabinet from scratch, they are already there.  They aren't anything special (one is just a wood grain finish, other is a capcom without any art etc), so I was thinking of retrofitting it with some kind of access door at front for easy PCB swap outs. 

Wondering if there are any after market slim type doors I can add (if I route out a slotted hole in front of cabinet) and if anyone ever do anything like this before?

[lilshawn]

yeah, you could absolutely cut a slot in the front of the cabinet. maybe install a shelf on some sliders (think like a keyboard drawer) and cut a piece of wood the same size as the opening, and attach it to the front of the shelf... that will hide the hole, and provide an access hole big enough.

you could even find sliders that lock in place and you press them in and the drawer pops out then you can pull it out... you then slide it shut to the end, press it in a bit click back into their locked position like a retractable pen.

[Cariba]

Yes, those are along some of the ideas I was thinking BUT I really think I need special pre-made access door, with a lip around to hide the actual cut wood edges- because making a matching door from a cut slotted hole, that looks half decent will be very difficult.

Problem is finding that access door I am looking for...

That's why I was curious if anyone has made something like this before.

[harveybirdman]

I can't comment on a front facing access door, but the project I never finished had a pretty sweet rack to hold 6 pcbs and i just put hinges on the lower back panel.  I think the link is still in my sig.

Also the switchers are awesome and work well, you can also get a chip to soder in that gives you pushbutton pcb switching instead of that ridiculous remote they come with.

Good luck with your project.

[Malenko]

Just look at an original Mortal Kombat 1 cab.  Access door in the front, latched on the inside, wood the PCB is mounted to slides forward.