Arcade Collecting > Restorations & repair
Mario Bros in Red !
Level42:
Funny how interesting it can be to read your own old thread :) Was a nice way to refresh my memory.
Wunder, yes I need a harness. All the plugs and cables I have are for the Radar Scope/Early DK boards and won't fit the MB PCB set.
Level42:
First steps:
Cut off the UK power plug and installed a proper one (:P).
I removed the cable that ran to the incadescent light bulb that was on the marquee. That bulb didn't have the screw-in connection as we have over here, but the one with two pins sticking out the sides. I guess that's a US version (Japan) ?
Anyway, I will install a new TL fixture anyway so I removed the mains cable. And plugged it in:
FLASH and all of a sudden TV went out as well. The circuit breaker had jumped. There was another loose piece of mains wire that was unisolated and short circuiting :S
Stupid !
Removed it, next power up. The transformer puts out about 98 Volts AC. Looks OK to me. Chose one of the PSU and connected it, I can measure the usual voltages on various pins so I guess this one is OK. No time to check the other,but there was still time to plug in the monitor.
No sparks, but a nice start-up sound. We have neck-glow and (and that's a great feature of an inverted signal) an all white screen ! Exactly like it shoud be without a signal connected.
Damn, that's sweet !
Sure it has some problems, it's moving a bit in the horizontal direction and there seems to be some sync issues, but there's no signal connected now and I guess it could do with a cap-kit.
There's a slightly burn-in that clearly gives away that it has been used in vertical position. There's a high-score on the top and some stuff on the bottom, but I can't identify it. This actualy may well be from the Radar Scope game !!!
Who knows, maybe they half-converted it and still played Radar Scope in it ? I guess that's a 2-way game too....
A very good start indeed ! :)
Level42:
Man it's great to have some time to work on a cab....
This is how it looked when it came out of the shed: What a shame about all that side damage.....but with some good cleaning it will already look a lot better....still uncleaned here:
I removed the bezel and marquee before it went into storage and put them in a safe place.
The coindoor has already been powdercoated and just needs to be mounted back.
The back is going to need a fresh black paint:
What do you do when the original Japanese sized 100V tube dies ? You replace it with a carefully mounted incandescent light bulb all the way on the right side of the marquee area. I bet it gave a nice even lighted marquee !! The wood under it was _just_ not burned all the way through ! :banghead:
Needless to say I removed this "nice" set-up.
I wondered what that grass-like stuff was under the original fixture. Turned out it was some tape that dried out so much is became like straw....weird. There was also stuff like that over the typical Japanese starter-lamp. My guess is that those tapes should have been removed when the machine was first put in service but no-one bothered....
I'm still not sure wether to find for an original tube for the original fixture or replace the whole thing. The last option is probably easier, cheaper and giving a more even lit marquee.....
This is the dirtiest cab I've found so far. The dust inside looks black/dark grey, like car exhaust particles, maybe it was in a garage for a long time ?
Anyway, it needs some serious vacuuming...
Yes vacuuming is pretty needed and effective:
Removed the power supply board. This was what it originally looked like, even vacuuming doesn't get it that clean :)
First things first: Let's check the power supplies.
Let's see what comes out of the transformer:
Looks fine to me. It doesn't produce 100VAC exactly because the mains wiring is hooked up to the 240 VAC tab (former UK standard) and we now have 230 VAC all over Europe (and yes, that includes the UK, wether they like it or not :P). Anyway, the other option would connect it to the 220VAC tab, but that would give a (slightly) too high voltage. All in all, this is the set-up I choose, so I let it be as is.
As a "bonus" the cab came with two PP-7B supplies.
Let's check both the PP-7B's:
The first works fine. Power levels as expected, maybe needs some small adjustments but it's unloaded now....
The second is completely dead. Maybe just the fuse, but could anything of course. Will check that out later.
Level42:
The CRT. The spots sare just dirt which cleaned off without a problem. There is a light but clearly identifiable burn-in of Radar Scope. I can see the high score words on the top and the lines of the "3D" grid. Also the power meter (or where the ship moved) on the bottom.
So, at one time it looked like this:
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dmi9q19lC34[/youtube]
Inside shot of the monitor cage. Here's a "left-over" from possible controls on the front-side. The control area is covered by a lid on the front (normally this is under the black covering bezel).
The controls board. I think the audio section is here too, but I'm not sure. Is this the same on the 20-EZ ?
The monitor PCB. There's no indications of what type of monitor this is. The CRT does have a Sanyo label. The Radar Scope manual mentions some 14" monitors (for the cocktail of course) and the 20EZ, but also the 20-DZC. Since D comes before E, I guess that is the one inside my cab....
Needless to say this needs a good cleaning....
There is no separate instruction card on MB, unlike DK and DKjr. instead it is "integrated" into the CPO. So, I will need to remove those sticky residues and paint the bar above the CP black again.
It's also not in the best physical shape, it can do with some extra screws here and there:
Original speaker. Look at the kickplate, it's been hit badly right next to the speaker....The way of "mounting" the kickplate to the lower CP part is also not very sturdy: staples ! Will need to fix that...
Some more vacuuming of the wood that carries the monitor cage.
The speaker looks fine still:
Just a bit dirty:
This shows the kickplate damage better:
This doesn't look very nice at all:
If anyone knows where to find exactly the same laminate covering in the correct color.......
Still, cleaning will get it to look a lot better already....
Extreme nudity:
Monitor removed:
Level42:
Well......of course I need a horizontal monitor for MB right ?
So, the simplest way is to simply rotate the wooden cage:
Nice idea, eey.........there's only one slight little tiny problem:
And another, problem, it doesn't fit between the two sliding guides on the carrying panel:
You see the strips on the right and left here.....so they must go !
After removing the strips it sits nicely. Now let's see how to solve the sticking out part of the cage.
Luck is with me: there are no essential parts of the monitor itself sticking out ! It's just "empty" space. Only the controls (audio?) PCB is in the way, but that's easily moved to a bit lower spot in the cage.
So, let's mark what I will have to remove to make it fit:
I'm a bit worried that the strength of the structure of the cage will be a lot less when I remove that part, but I can flip over a part of the wood and reconnect it, making a new angled back-end. I will also have to fix the cage to the cab support, but since it's wood all-over that won't be a problem....
Another good thing is that I can still turn the monitor back in vertical position when I want to.
Regretfully I didn't have the time anymore to put the saw in the wood.....
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