help with a wobbly control panel base (showcase cab)

[hulkster]

okay, for those of you who know, ive had my showcase cab built for some time now.  ive moved into my new house, and i finally have room to work on it a little.  it works fine, but the control panel base is really wobbly.  ive had to put boards underneath the control panel base just so it has a completely flat surface to stand on to decrease the wobbling.  you really only notice it when playing games like street fighter or something.  most people dont notice but i do.  anyway, i was wondering if anyone has any idea how to keep these things stable?  right now its not attached to the monitor base, so i guess that would be the best thing to do, but im not sure how to go about doing it.  any suggestions?  if you need pics, check out my site. 

[CheffoJeffo]

Leg levellers, like on a washing machine ?

Cheers.

[paigeoliver]

Leg levelers combined with extra weight in the base. Slap a 50 lb sandbag in there, that should help keep it down.

Note to self, you keep forgetting to get the 50lb sandbag you wanted for your own cabinet.

[hulkster]

50 lb. sand bag?  wow.  well ive tried weights and that seemed to help, but i put like 30 lbs or so in there and it was still wobbly a little.  leg levelers made it worse when i tried them.

[SirPeale]

leg levelers made it worse when i tried them.

Then you haven't adjusted them correctly.  Their sole purpose is to make the cabinet 'level' by turning them to match the levels of wherever you put them.  Back corner rocking?  Turn it out more.

[hulkster]

okay, all i have are the little black round thing levelers.  the ones you get in packs of 4 at home depot.  are you talking about crazy complicated levelers?  my problem is that the coin door is too heavy in the front.  when i put levelers on, it just made it worse.  maybe im not doing it right.   

[hulkster]

bump

[IntruderAlert]

They mean leg levelers like these illegal "MAME" leg levelers on ebay:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=13718&item=6186627748
Somebody alert David Foley!!!
If these leg levelers get sold it'll be CHAOS FOR SURE!!!

[hulkster]

hmmm, well where can i get these legally?    (at what store, or online)

[hulkster]

buuuuuuuuuump

[hulkster]

no one likes me?  i just want to know where i can get these leveler things.

[AlanS17]

Here's a link...

http://www.arcadedepot.com/HTML/CabinetAccessories/LL1.html

I'm sure you can find them elsewhere too.

[IntruderAlert]

pssst.. i was only joking about those levelers on ebay being illegal

[AlanS17]

pssst.. i was only joking about those levelers on ebay being illegal

LOL

[jcroach]

no one likes me?

[AlanS17]

Home Depot carries a plastic version that may not be heavy duty enough.

[DrewKaree]

no one likes me?

I never saw someone get married and turn all girly so quickly!

Next you'll be telling us all about your feelings and how you want to "talk" 

[AlanS17]

no one likes me?

I never saw someone get married and turn all girly so quickly!

Next you'll be telling us all about your feelings and how you want to "talk"

[Kev-in DFW]

Check with Peale, he HAD leg levelers.... that is, until I talked him into selling me the ones he had for his own project.  Maybe he can get some more in for the "stability challenged".

Good luck!

Kev~

[quarterstringer]

I remember someone had the same problem last year.
Oh wait, it was you.

[IntruderAlert]

wait a second.. you're talking about your MAMESTROSITY cab?
If you've got the control panel base mounted securely to the rest of the cab I don't see how it could wobble that much

maybe instead of looking at the feet you should be looking at a better way to bolt everything together securely

[hulkster]

I remember someone had the same problem last year.
Oh wait, it was you.

[IntruderAlert]

take some pics of the whole thing from the sides and from the top

I've been looking at your project and am a little worried about the way that everything is held together with those L brackets
That may be the root of your problem

But right off the bat I'm thinking about 2 long pieces of MDF maybe 6" wide or so screwed along the bottom of the entire thing on the right and left sides like baseboard trim on a wall with several screws in each section
You'd want the screws long enough to go almost through or all of the way through 
Recess the screws a little and fill in with spackling, paint it all black of course and put black T-Mold on the edges of it
That shoud help tremendously

But if you post some pics we might see some alternative methods of fastening it all together

[MrSaLTy]

Happs has real arcade levelers and mounting plates here......

http://www.happcontrols.com/amusement/acesor/cab.htm

[AlanS17]

Most large machines that I've seen that come in more than one piece just slide together and then bolt down in a couple spots. You just need a way to interlock them. Mounting them flush against each other won't do the trick.

[BobA]

Showcase cabs in arcades need a piece between the control panel and the monitor cab to give support and to protect the wiring.

[IntruderAlert]

Yes, my recommendation is probably a bit too permanent.

But that control panel base is going to always be wobbly until you find a way to bolt it all together

can you show us some detailed pics of the area Bob is talking about?

[hulkster]

well the area Boba is talking about is non-existent.  when i first cut the pieces and built the thing, i had that little piece sticking out to connect to the monitor base.  however, once i got it put together and got the control panel part on top of the cp base, it was way too high, so i had to cut off the bottom of my cp base, thinking it wouldnt be a problem.  well that shows my carpenter skills and knowledge and of course now its wobbly.  instead of posting pics, it will be just as easy to post the link to my site here  http://bellsouthpwp.net/d/d/ddilday13/home.html  and then you click on the Construction link to the left and it will show you just about all the pics you need.  (cept for a few that arent working)  i know your idea was a more permanent solution, but you are right...its going to have to be connected to the other base in order to stabalize it.  otherwise, im going to have to rebuild the cp base. 

[IntruderAlert]

Would it be possible to mount some brackets from underneath?

[hulkster]

for what purpose? 

[IntruderAlert]

to connect the sections together

[hulkster]

hmmmm, well im not exactly sure how that would work.  are you talking about mounting L brackets underneath the cp base?  and then taking 2x4's and putting them across or....um....im confused.

[IntruderAlert]

i was just thinking of several of these connecting the two sections where they match up
]

or do they match up at all?

[hulkster]

yeah, the two sections match up somewhat.  they arent exactly the same width, but there is space where i can lay a couple of boards down on the base platest of both sections.  yes this would be more of a permanent solution, but it would definitely help wouldnt it?

[hyiu]

well... that depends...

if the floor is carpeted, then I'm sure it'll still shake a little...

but by linking the tv part and the CP part to 1 solid piece, it should be more stable...

basically, now when you're playing and egt nervous, you shake your CP piece, but once they're linked, you're trying to shake the WHOLE thing... which should be harder...

(also, add weight - any unused weights from your workout equipments, sand bags... heavy books... in the bottom piece of your control panel... that should help too...

[IntruderAlert]

yeah
good idea about the weight

[IntruderAlert]

well.. did you fix it?

[hulkster]

nope.  im still trying.  the weight wont fix it enough for me, i really just need to attach the whole thing to the monitor base.  im still trying to figure out the best way to do it though.  i dont want to have to rebuild the cp base, but i might have to  i just dont think 2x4's will hold it all together and be sturdy enough.  i want to be able to take it apart again sometime if i move in the next few years ya know so i dont want the fix to be too permanent. 

[IntruderAlert]

I can't tell..
Is the unpainted part down at the bottom here solid wood across or just a hollow opening?

[hulkster]

yeah its hard to tell from that pic, but its a hollow opening.  there are two little pieces of wood that fit in between on either side, but there is an opening in the middle. 

as a side note, i have contacted the guy that built the Arcade Machine 2 (showcase cab) and he stabilized his cab by just sticking a piece of wood over the top of the gap in between his two bases.  its hard to describe, but im talking with him now to find out exactly what he did.

[DrewKaree]

You could do the same thing with a 2x whatever size is larger than what you need....just make it long enough to reach the front of your pedestal (where the coin door is) and an equal length back into the base.  You also could take a sheet of half-inch or quarter-inch ply and screw it to the bottom of the whole shebang, which will avoid the whole ugliness-atop-the-good-looking-stuff.

[IntruderAlert]

in that case.. why not put a piece of 2x4 inside going across behind the 2 little pieces of wood and secure it into place with some screws.
Then open or take off your coin door and shoot several screws from the inside of the control panel cabinet into the new 2x4
You may want to mark it off and pre-drill from the outside first to make sure that you're going to hit the 2x4

[hulkster]

okay ive thought about this some more, and im wondering if i take 2, 2x4's or 2xwhatever's and just run them from the control panel base to the monitor base and screw them in the bottom of each....will that stabalize it?  i guess i could always add more after that, but im thinking two thick boards screwed to each base would hold it.  what do you think?

[DrewKaree]

It'd prolly work, but I'd do like what I was trying to say, and Intruder Alert made sensible.  Take the 2xwhatevers and run them inside, that way, if your pedestal wants to rock backwards, the 2x keeps it from doing so because the other end is inside the base, keeping it in place.  If it tries to rock forward, the 2x keeps it from doing so, again, keeping it in place.  If you can cut it to the right width, you might not even have to screw it in place, or you can run two more 2x's across, making a big square that doesn't need to be screwed in place.

How tall is that opening?  Looks like 6-ish inches.

I'll see if I can whip up a pic

[DrewKaree]

Allright, try not to get caught up in admiring my mad Photoshop skillz

The yellow represents the 2x-whatever and you'll slide it into that opening in the pedestal.  If you just make a simple square frame, you prolly won't even need to screw it in place.  That should take care of your problem, and if it's still slightly wobbly, screw it down, and that should be the end of your problems.

[IntruderAlert]

well.. that's not exactly what I was trying to say either
so I decided that I'd better render some visual aids as well

here was my first idea:

But right off the bat I'm thinking about 2 long pieces of MDF maybe 6" wide or so screwed along the bottom of the entire thing on the right and left sides like baseboard trim on a wall with several screws in each section
You'd want the screws long enough to go almost through or all of the way through 
Recess the screws a little and fill in with spackling, paint it all black of course and put black T-Mold on the edges of it

The plywood or MDF "trim" would run on the outside along the entire length of the right and left sides as indicated by the dark areas in this picture:



..and here was my second idea:

in that case.. why not put a piece of 2x4 inside going across behind the 2 little pieces of wood and secure it into place with some screws.
Then open or take off your coin door and shoot several screws from the inside of the control panel cabinet into the new 2x4
You may want to mark it off and pre-drill from the outside first to make sure that you're going to hit the 2x4

the 2x4 would go across the opening as shown in this picture just behind the little pieces of wood that you have on each side:


then you would shoot screws into the 2x4 from inside the control panel cabinet like this:

[hulkster]

hmm, well IntruderAlert that first idea would require me to paint those outside beams so im not all fired about that one.  the next one sounds good, but the only problem is that my cp base is not flat like you are showing there.  that would be a good idea if my cp base was flat at the back part. 

DrewKaree your idea seems the mose feasible for me to try at this point.  im pretty sure it will work too.  i may just go get some 2xwhatevers and put them along the bottom of the bases though.  the square thing is a good idea, but my cp base is narrower than my monitor base so it wouldnt be as stable.  so im just going to screw the boards into the bottoms.  im guessing some really long wood screws would be best?

[IntruderAlert]

yeah

and since your carpet is so spongy it might be a good idea to bring in a piece of plywood large enough to set everything on while you screw it all together just to make it a little easier to line everything up

[hulkster]

yeah

and since your carpet is so spongy it might be a good idea to bring in a piece of plywood large enough to set everything on while you screw it all together just to make it a little easier to line everything up

good call.  too bad im at work right now 

[hulkster]

so do you think wood screws will be good enough?  i mean, this thing probably wont be moving for about 5 years or so. 

[DrewKaree]

i may just go get some 2xwhatevers and put them along the bottom of the bases though. the square thing is a good idea, but my cp base is narrower than my monitor base so it wouldnt be as stable. so im just going to screw the boards into the bottoms. im guessing some really long wood screws would be best?

I wanna make sure I'm explaining myself well.  For explanation's sake, let's say you'll be using a 2x6 and the opening on your monitor tower thingy is 6" tall by 20" wide.

You'll take the 2x6 and put it into the opening with the 6" side going straight up and down....one on one side, the second on the other side.  That means the 20" wide opening will be reduced to a 16" opening (let's just say for this explanation a 2x is EXACTLY 2")

Does all that sound like what you were thinking when I explained it?

And if the 2x-whatever's fit in there well, you shouldn't need any plywood either.  Have the wife (or a buddy) push the CP pedestal at the bottom to square up and remove the gap between the pedestal and the monitor base, and just screw into the 2x-whatever's.  The 2x's, after being screwed into, will help keep everything level and square as well, so they serve a few purposes.

I think you're gonna be fine with a 2" screw.  Using longer screws may end up splitting the 2x or coming out the side, and they're just overkill....like using liquid nails when elmer's glue is already more than enough

If you need a better explanation, you'll have to shoot me a pm....if you MUST do this quickly, give it a go.  I'm unavailable in a few hours until Sunday

[DrewKaree]

Coarse thread drywall screws will work just as well, be cheaper, and be easier to blend in if a few of 'em show

[hulkster]

oooookay....i think we are going about this two different ways.  i was talking about taking my 2x's and laying them flat (the wide part would be laying down) parrallel to each other.  then i would just take some wood screws and screw the boards straight into the bottom piece of wood on each base.

thats my idea...but yours sounds more industrial strength...although im still not understanding what you are saying.  you have to draw me a pic 

[DrewKaree]

oooookay....i think we are going about this two different ways.  i was talking about taking my 2x's and laying them flat (the wide part would be laying down) parrallel to each other.  then i would just take some wood screws and screw the boards straight into the bottom piece of wood on each base.

thats my idea...but yours sounds more industrial strength...although im still not understanding what you are saying.  you have to draw me a pic 

Your idea will definitely work.  That was my original idea, but I didn't know if you'd want to go that route, and I was thinking of something that could be concealed.  Going that route, I'd use 2x6's AT LEAST (8's if your base is wide enough) and I think that'll work just fine.

I couldn't find the pics I have of your CP base, but I'm afraid I was thinking something that isn't present....I thought the CP base had an opening on it as well which would allow the 2x's to be run from the front of your CP INSIDE into the monitor base.

The easy way is the way you're thinking of, and exactly what I first thought of.  You'll be fine that way, bro!

[hulkster]

oooookay....i think we are going about this two different ways.

[DrewKaree]

Yep. 

It'll be stouter to turn the "skis" on their sides, but you can always unscrew the screws and re-do it if you think the skis laid flat are almost perfect but you want a touch more sturdiness.

If the skis laid flat idea works, then no worries at all, and you're on your way

[hulkster]

well i dont see how turning the skis on their sides would make it more stable.  they wouldnt be resting up against anything, they would just kinda be standing upright held in by i guess L brackets...not sturdy. 

[DrewKaree]

Alright, you're not following me, I can see that.

You wouldn't need a single L bracket at all, in fact, it would be a waste of money to even throw them in there. 

You would be buying a larger-than-the-opening 2x-whatever, with the "whatever measurement being trimmed in order to fit it into the opening, and then screwing into that from either the top or the bottom to hold it into place. 

The way I'm describing it, the 2x would be touching both the top and the bottom of the opening, one on each side, giving you strength and support on BOTH the top and the bottom, and also keeping it from tipping either back or forward.  Done properly, screws might not even be necessary, and it'd STILL work.

Your skis laid flat idea, unless your CP base opening is exactly the height of the shorter dimension of a 2x, won't be as sturdy and will allow your CP to rock backwards a touch.  Maybe sturdy enough for your purposes, in which case it will work perfectly. 

I don't know what I'm missing in my explanation of my idea, but my idea is strength by physics, not with L-brackets.  Hopefully your idea worked.  Let us know what you did so we can learn from you.

[hulkster]

okay, i finally understand what you are saying...BUT....it wont work.  the monitor base opening is like 6" high...no problem...but the cp base is completely wide open.  the opening is about as high as the coin door, so i can just stick some boards in there.  if you remember from my earlier comments about how i screwed up in the beginning by making the cp base too high, and having to cut off the stablizing section of the cp base, this is why i have a huge opening in the back and why i cant do what you are talking about.  still, screwing two boards into the bottoms of each of the bases will not be a big task.  i went to home depot yesterday to get the boards, but they wouldnt fit in my car, so im going to have to do it next week some time.  ill keep you updated.

[hulkster]

okay i know its been like 8 years since i asked this question, but i finally got some of this done. 

i got some boards and layed them across the bottom of my cp base and monitor base and drilled them in.  it helped a little, but it was still wobbly.  although i was a lot more confident that it wouldnt topple over or anything because it is now attached.  so then i decided to get some cinder blocks and put them in the cp base.  of course they wouldnt fit, so i had to break them up with a hammer.  so i put broken up pieces of two cinder blocks in the base, and now its quite a bit more solid, but still a little bit wobbly...but not much.  im thinking about getting some sand bags and maybe that would be better.  any thoughts??

[DrewKaree]

okay i know its been like 8 years since i asked this question, but i finally got some of this done. 

i got some boards and layed them across the bottom of my cp base and monitor base and drilled them in.  it helped a little, but it was still wobbly.  although i was a lot more confident that it wouldnt topple over or anything because it is now attached.  so then i decided to get some cinder blocks and put them in the cp base.  of course they wouldnt fit, so i had to break them up with a hammer.  so i put broken up pieces of two cinder blocks in the base, and now its quite a bit more solid, but still a little bit wobbly...but not much.  im thinking about getting some sand bags and maybe that would be better.  any thoughts??

You got pics of what went down so we can see if we can improve on that?

Get those polybagged tubes of sand if you get sand.  Duct tape the piss outta the bags OUTSIDE before you bring 'em in. 

[hulkster]

yeah ill take some pics tonight.  and if i get bags of sand, I'll probably double bag them in garbage bags...that will be easier than duct tape dont ya think?

[DrewKaree]

yeah ill take some pics tonight.  and if i get bags of sand, I'll probably double bag them in garbage bags...that will be easier than duct tape dont ya think?

I speak from experience here.  Easier than duct tape, yes.  When you end up poking a hole in those bags though, you'll be wishing you duct taped it.  My wife NEVER lets me forget that day.  The poly bag and the duct tape will make that bag the closest thing to bulletproof you can get.  Seriously, don't get that paper-bagged sand.  Those bust REALLY easy.  They make some white-colored poly fabric tube of sand they sell at Home Depot.  I think a single tube will fit and work in your CP stand.  Should cost $2.50 ish.

[hulkster]

how heavy do those get?  i need some significant weight.

[DrewKaree]

how heavy do those get?  i need some significant weight.

I think the tubes run ~30 lbs.  Not positive though.  The paper bags of sand are usually 20 pounders, and these hold more.