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Author Topic: Neil's Donkey Kong Restoration **FINISHED!! 12-28-07**  (Read 114153 times)

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Neilyboy

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Re: Neil's Donkey Kong Restoration **Painted Parts Are In!!**
« Reply #200 on: December 27, 2007, 03:27:39 pm »
Well I have tomorrow off :) and im supposed to be working  until 6:00 tonight but, I have a bunch of personal time banked up that im going to lose first of the year so I think I may take off around 4:30 tonight. So I may have some time tonight to finish this bad boy up.

We will see!! Fingers crossed I could finish this bad boy up tonight.

***EDIT***
guys its done.. it looks awesome!! I took plenty of pics but the wife is in the living room expecting me to 'spend time with her' so I have to take a break from the DK and the web for tonight but I will be up early editing my pics for the final post!! stay tuned.

Neil
« Last Edit: December 27, 2007, 10:34:09 pm by Neilyboy »

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Re: Neil's Donkey Kong Restoration **Painted Parts Are In!!**
« Reply #201 on: December 28, 2007, 04:39:10 am »
I think you're a better "tension builder" then Alfred Hitchcock" !

But we can't blame you for "spending time" with your wife ;)

Neilyboy

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Re: Neil's Donkey Kong Restoration **Painted Parts Are In!!**
« Reply #202 on: December 28, 2007, 09:26:57 am »
Alright well its been awhile but I finally got around to finishing this cab up.  You probably all figured I was a big tease. I got it done before the new year! I started off with soldering some extra length to the nova matrix leads (that's my only complaint on these things is why the heck doesn't he include more than 3 inches of wire?). We can always cut the wire to our needs but its kind of a pain to add more. Anyway, soldered that up and used some heat shrink tubing to finish it off.



Then I installed the middle retainer.



Then installed the top marquee retainer with some security bolts.


Now that I had my painted pieces back I could install the speaker.


After that it was finally time to install the coin door.



I am going to repaint these coin mech faces. I had my painter friend blast them but he said it didn't do a thing to the finish of them (other than remove the Japanese stickers that were on them). I cant believe blasting them didn't remove the scratched up spots where the quarters have rubbed over the years. So I put these on just for some photos.



All put together.




lights out.


Dad getting his much deserved game in.


more random sexiness.








and the last one I took into photoshop and removed the background.



Well, what to say.. its been a blast. I hope all of the other cabs go this smooth.. I have a few plans for my next project. I will hint that it is a made from scratch jukebox. I have it all drawn up just need to put my drawings to actual measurements and go from there. I was lucky enough to get a tablesaw for Xmas from the wife and parents so hopefully I will be able to put it to good use. I actually have tools in my garage now.

Thanks so much to all of you here on the forum who have kept up with this project and keeping me going on it. A huge thanks to my father! Without him this wouldn't have been done. He is the one who really had the initial push to get it going and after that it went without a hitch (asides from my painter friend's delay).

And thanks to the wife who put up with me spending time in the garage working on what she calls "a stupid game" (well she only calls it that when she is mad at me, otherwise she likes it).

Feel free to message me anytime with questions/comments I will be sure to respond.

Have a great weekend and a happy new year!!

Neil

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Re: Neil's Donkey Kong Restoration **Painted Parts Are In!!**
« Reply #203 on: December 28, 2007, 10:01:59 am »
   :applaud::notworthy::cheers: Looks Awesome!  Can't Wait To See The Next Project :cheers: :notworthy: :applaud:

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Re: Neil's Donkey Kong Restoration **Painted Parts Are In!!**
« Reply #204 on: December 28, 2007, 11:07:45 am »
Awesome job Neil. Worth the wait IMO.  :cheers:

I am now collecting the NOS stuff to undertake my DK resto. I do have one question....

Where did you eventually tap into 12v for the Nova Matrix? I'm thinking about getting one but I have OEM wiring and PS to work with.

This is an awesome documented restoration and should be included here. Thanks Neil!!! :)
« Last Edit: December 28, 2007, 11:10:36 am by WunderCade »

Neilyboy

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Re: Neil's Donkey Kong Restoration **Painted Parts Are In!!**
« Reply #205 on: December 28, 2007, 11:28:42 am »
Thanks so much for the kind words guys!! Actually Wundercade thats where I am stuck now as well. In the past week I have brought home over 10 transformers from different equipment (routers, phones etc.) that I have tried to plug into the second spare power jack on the original nintendo power supply and get 12v from. I havent had any success yet. I tried a 5v cellphone charger which produced 4 volts out of the ps (not enough to light the matrix). Then I tried a 12v power supply and it for some reason pumps out 14v. So that is the one I used to take the pics with but took it off immediately after snapping the pic for fear that I would burn out the matrix. So I have yet to find a power supply which gives me the 11-12v that I am looking for. Hopefully something will turn up soon. Otherwise I guess I could put a PC power supply in the bottom of the thing haha..

This sum's up the restore.


Neil

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Re: Neil's Donkey Kong Restoration **FINISHED!! 12-28-07**
« Reply #206 on: December 28, 2007, 11:47:47 am »
Excellent work, my friend!!

Learned a lot from it for my DK Jr restore.  Just hope I document as much as you.

I did get a router and a $150 Home Depot gift card for Christmas, so look out!!!   ;D
My projects...

Finished:  Stargate (only 'cause I got it that way)
In progress:  Tron, 48-in-1 for School Auction, DKJr (currently a 60-in-1), Millipede, MAME System

SithMaster

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Re: Neil's Donkey Kong Restoration **FINISHED!! 12-28-07**
« Reply #207 on: December 28, 2007, 02:32:27 pm »
Nice :applaud:

Maybe this should be stickied so people who get conversions can see how a pro brings them back to glory.
Back in MY day we lived on the moon and we had to build a rocket ship from scratch to get to the Earth before we suffocated.

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Re: Neil's Donkey Kong Restoration **FINISHED!! 12-28-07**
« Reply #208 on: December 28, 2007, 03:32:53 pm »
Nothing short of brilliant restoration  :cheers: :cheers:  :notworthy: :notworthy:

Neil, that are two of those LED strips right, or is it one ?

About the power, use that 14 V thing and put this:


between the in (from the PS), out (red lead to the strips) and the middle pin to the black lead.....



Neilyboy

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Re: Neil's Donkey Kong Restoration **FINISHED!! 12-28-07**
« Reply #209 on: December 28, 2007, 06:20:03 pm »
Its just one nova matrix. but that is an idea thanks for the heads up buddy ill have to get over to radio shack and pick something like that up.. thanks again guys for all the great comments it really makes it worth it..

Neil

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Re: Neil's Donkey Kong Restoration **FINISHED!! 12-28-07**
« Reply #210 on: December 28, 2007, 06:38:52 pm »
Uhhhh, OOPS ,  of course I meant a 7812 NOT 7805 !!!! :D (but you got the picture I guess :D )

So...:



Jdurg

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Re: Neil's Donkey Kong Restoration **FINISHED!! 12-28-07**
« Reply #211 on: December 28, 2007, 07:20:33 pm »
Awesome job mate!  Great looking cab!   :cheers:
Donkey Kong High Scores:
1): 49,500
2): 35,600
3): 30,100
4): 29,400
5): 28,200

DonkeyKong

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Re: Neil's Donkey Kong Restoration **Painted Parts Are In!!**
« Reply #212 on: December 29, 2007, 01:08:36 am »
In the past week I have brought home over 10 transformers from different equipment (routers, phones etc.) that I have tried to plug into the second spare power jack on the original nintendo power supply and get 12v from. I havent had any success yet. I tried a 5v cellphone charger which produced 4 volts out of the ps (not enough to light the matrix). Then I tried a 12v power supply and it for some reason pumps out 14v. So that is the one I used to take the pics with but took it off immediately after snapping the pic for fear that I would burn out the matrix. So I have yet to find a power supply which gives me the 11-12v that I am looking for. Hopefully something will turn up soon. Otherwise I guess I could put a PC power supply in the bottom of the thing haha..

Neil,

First off, excellent work on the restoration!  You've given me a lot of motivation to actually get my first arcade machine and start fulfilling my desire to restore a DK machine to it's former glory.  As of a couple days ago, a working and very playable DK3 machine is sitting in my kitchen, waiting to be restored to DK.

For your power supply needs, a standard wall wart is just a transformer with AC to DC rectification and some filtering.  There is no voltage regulation circuitry, so as you load it down to it's rated current output, the voltage drops.  You are lucky if they have thermal protection or a fuse.  If you bought a 12V wall wart of this fashion, it should be rated for 12V at 400mA (if that's really what the Matrix draws - got it from GGG), to get your operating voltage down to 12V.  Chances are you got a much higher rated supply and that's why it's putting out 14V instead of 12V.  The wall warts will change their output based on input voltage as well... wasn't that 2 outlet strip 100VAC?  No matter, what you need is a switching power supply.

Like this:

regulated 12VDC, rated up to 1000mA.  It's nice and small as well, and it just might fit in the power strip.

Here's a link:
http://www.digikey.com/scripts/US/DKSUS.dll?KeywordSearch?MPart=DPS120100UPS-P5P-SZ
It's a little pricey though because of the extra power and compact size.  $16.63.

To save some money, this would still power the LED light bar, but might not fit if you don't have side to side room:

regulated 12VDC, rated up to 500mA.

Here's a link:
http://www.digikey.com/scripts/US/DKSUS.dll?KeywordSearch?MPart=EPS120050-P5P
More reasonable price.  $5.38.

Digikey is just an example... you might want to dig around to find a place that doesn't charge extra for handling if your order is less than $25 like they do.

Good luck!
Everybody, even Grandma, games. Meaning, checkers, cards, if not now, in the past.  Show me even a frickin' nun or hermit who hasn't done cards or checkers. -Mark Alpiger

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Re: Neil's Donkey Kong Restoration **FINISHED!! 12-28-07**
« Reply #213 on: December 29, 2007, 05:04:35 am »
That 7812 is about $0.50 and does the same job :)

So Neil, did you order DK II already ?  :P

Neilyboy

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Re: Neil's Donkey Kong Restoration **FINISHED!! 12-28-07**
« Reply #214 on: December 29, 2007, 10:38:32 am »
haha no dk2 yet level42! DonkeyKong thanks for all the information yeah the nintendo power source is 100v. So my thinking was if I plug in a 12v 500mah linksys power supply I should only be pushing 11-12v to the light which was just what I wanted. Well that isnt the case for some reason. I think because it is a 100v to begin with it does something goofy to the 'wall wart' and its expecting 120 so it puts out some goofy voltage. Who knows I may test it again with the light on it and see if it is putting out a 12v current with a load on it. Before I was always just testing it without anything attached to it.

Neil

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Re: Neil's Donkey Kong Restoration **FINISHED!! 12-28-07**
« Reply #215 on: December 29, 2007, 12:05:58 pm »
nice work. Looks great.

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Re: Neil's Donkey Kong Restoration **FINISHED!! 12-28-07**
« Reply #216 on: December 29, 2007, 12:44:21 pm »
That 7812 is about $0.50 and does the same job :)


I'm in the same situation.

So to make sure I understand...you just plug a power/ext. cord into the 100V socket and splice this 7812 thingy in between that and the Nova Matrix and that's it, you've got 12v?

It sounds too simple.
« Last Edit: December 29, 2007, 12:48:18 pm by WunderCade »

DonkeyKong

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Re: Neil's Donkey Kong Restoration **FINISHED!! 12-28-07**
« Reply #217 on: December 29, 2007, 12:54:08 pm »
That 7812 is about $0.50 and does the same job :)

Yeah, but the 7812 needs 2V of headroom to function properly, and it should have capacitors on it's input and output with the wire lengths we are talking about.  It's just more of a pain to wire up (and protect with heatshrink tubing or e-tape) than an alternative I list below if it must be hacked in.  It sounded like one of Neil's wall warts was putting out 14V while it was hooked up (now it sounds like maybe it was really unloaded and he doesn't need any extra regulator in series with it once it's loaded)

If it was 14V loaded though and I wanted to hack something up, I would just put two or three 1N4001 diodes in series with the output under shrink tubing.  It might only require one if the power supply is right.


The proper thing to do is just get the right power supply.  I'm very surprised GGG doesn't offer one for people that are not building a MAME machine and do not have a regulated 12V supply they can tap into.


DonkeyKong thanks for all the information yeah the nintendo power source is 100v. So my thinking was if I plug in a 12v 500mah linksys power supply I should only be pushing 11-12v to the light which was just what I wanted. Well that isnt the case for some reason. I think because it is a 100v to begin with it does something goofy to the 'wall wart' and its expecting 120 so it puts out some goofy voltage. Who knows I may test it again with the light on it and see if it is putting out a 12v current with a load on it. Before I was always just testing it without anything attached to it.

Neil, no problem.  Your thinking is correct and it should work (loaded).  My 2-outlet strip measures 108VAC actually.  That shouldn't do anything funky to any wall wart or switching power supply.  They are all designed to operate from approx. 90VAC to 135VAC, with the exception of the wall wart which is just a fixed transformer ratio so it will just drop it's output a little when supplied with less input voltage.

I would say if the supply is rated 12V at 500mA, hook it up to the LED light and get a DC voltmeter on the connections to the light, then have someone plug in the wall wart, wait for the voltmeter to settle and get a reading... if it's close to 12V you are probably fine, if it's high, tell whoever to unplug the wall wart while you go back to the drawing board.

I would then just stick one 1N4001 diode per ~0.7V you need to drop to get you closer to 12V. E.g. if the meter reads 13.2V, two diodes in series would bring it down to about 11.8V (13.2 - 0.7 - 0.7).

If you really want it to be clean though, just use a 12V switching power supply.  If I was at work and could dig through my stash and I had one, I'd send you one for the cost of shipping.

If you took some pictures of the Matrix LED light circuit board I could give you a better idea of how it regulates power to the LED's and if 12 or 13V would really hurt it.  I know they say 11-12V on the GGG site, but a properly designed LED light bar will have the binned or matched LED's in series with a current limiting device that will allow a much wider range of voltage on the input, and the brightness of the LED's will never change throughout that input voltage range.  If it's designed that way, you could push it to 13V or even 15V and it would be ok.

That's about all I can say without actually having one of those LED lights in my hands.  Let me know what you end up with.
Everybody, even Grandma, games. Meaning, checkers, cards, if not now, in the past.  Show me even a frickin' nun or hermit who hasn't done cards or checkers. -Mark Alpiger

DonkeyKong

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Re: Neil's Donkey Kong Restoration **FINISHED!! 12-28-07**
« Reply #218 on: December 29, 2007, 01:00:37 pm »
That 7812 is about $0.50 and does the same job :)


I'm in the same situation.

So to make sure I understand...you just plug a power/ext. cord into the 100V socket and splice this 7812 thingy in between that and the Nova Matrix and that's it, you've got 12v?

It sounds too simple.

NO no no (read as "ouchie!").  You need a power supply plugged into the 100VAC output first to regulate the AC to DC and get the loaded output voltage down in the 12V +2V (14V) range and above.  The 12V regulator needs 2V of headroom to basically power all of it's internals.  The voltage regulator goes in series with the output of the power supply.  The output of the regulator goes to the LED light.  The higher the loaded voltage is than 14V the more voltage there will be dropped across the 12V regulator, and under load you must multiply this extra voltage with the output current (400mA?) to get the power dissipated by the regulator.  If it's too much for the package to dissipate in free air, you would need to heat sink it to some aluminum or something of that sort.

I'll draw a picture in a second here...

EDIT:  Here is is... but I wouldn't recommend doing this.  I would just get a 12V switching supply... they are cheap enough.


« Last Edit: December 29, 2007, 01:32:52 pm by DonkeyKong »
Everybody, even Grandma, games. Meaning, checkers, cards, if not now, in the past.  Show me even a frickin' nun or hermit who hasn't done cards or checkers. -Mark Alpiger

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Re: Neil's Donkey Kong Restoration **FINISHED!! 12-28-07**
« Reply #219 on: December 29, 2007, 01:41:27 pm »
Woah!! Thanks for saving my bacon there DK. I was on my way to Radio Shack...lol.

OK, so I'll go get the switching 12V supply:


Then...I just connect the leads from the Nova Matrix to the corresponding leads coming from the 12V PS? Basically cutting off the end connector and splicing wires. All the regulating etc, is done in the PS box. Right?

Neilyboy

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Re: Neil's Donkey Kong Restoration **FINISHED!! 12-28-07**
« Reply #220 on: December 29, 2007, 01:49:45 pm »
Yeah WunderCade that will work.. yeah you could have gotten some really bright lights had you spliced up a power cable and feed them to the leads of the matrix hahaha.

I dont know much about the led strip other than I believe in a discussion somewhere randy from ggg (im not 100% sure it was him but..)said that any voltage above 12v would drop the life of the led's. I will try and dig up that discussion. heck it may have been in my thread somewhere. Ill go browsing now.

Neil

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Re: Neil's Donkey Kong Restoration **FINISHED!! 12-28-07**
« Reply #221 on: December 29, 2007, 02:09:32 pm »
Woah!! Thanks for saving my bacon there DK. I was on my way to Radio Shack...lol.
Then...I just connect the leads from the Nova Matrix to the corresponding leads coming from the 12V PS? Basically cutting off the end connector and splicing wires. All the regulating etc, is done in the PS box. Right?

That's correct.  Just cut off the connector and splice it into the LED light bar.  To figure out which lead is the positive, just use your voltmeter - after your cut the connector off just plug it into the wall and measure the output.

The only thing that may be required is lengthening the lead wire.  The Matrix has a short pigtail on it (leads) and that wall adapter only has 70 inches of wire (5.8 feet).  This may be enough, but my gut says it's going to come up just shy of the light bar if you run everything against the sides cleanly.

If you are ordering from a place like Digikey, you can pair up the power supply with the appropriate DC power jack, and not have to cut the connector off the power supply.  This could help you in disconnecting the two easily if you ever had to replace the light or power supply (unlikely), or just making it cleaner yet.

This is the right one for that power supply (2.1mm):

http://www.digikey.com/scripts/US/DKSUS.dll?Detail?name=CP-024A-ND
A little pricey, but completely optional.


I dont know much about the led strip other than I believe in a discussion somewhere randy from ggg (im not 100% sure it was him but..)said that any voltage above 12v would drop the life of the led's. I will try and dig up that discussion. heck it may have been in my thread somewhere. Ill go browsing now.
There is probably no regulation circuitry on the LED light bar then, and he expects you to have that 12V PC power supply rail.  The 12V switcher really is the way to go.  Randy should start supplying these so you can grab it right when you purchase the LED light bar.
« Last Edit: December 29, 2007, 02:12:10 pm by DonkeyKong »
Everybody, even Grandma, games. Meaning, checkers, cards, if not now, in the past.  Show me even a frickin' nun or hermit who hasn't done cards or checkers. -Mark Alpiger

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Re: Neil's Donkey Kong Restoration **FINISHED!! 12-28-07**
« Reply #222 on: December 29, 2007, 03:17:34 pm »
I can only say: Donkey Kong is right about everything. I'm even sorry I suggested using a discrete electronics part, because frankly, some people here want to connect these parts right to the mains......... :dunno

There's a number of resistors on the bar clearly:


There's also a diode...which seems a bit strange.

Normally, voltage is a _relatively_ unimportant component with LED's. Current is all that really matters. Depending on the voltage, you limit the current going through the LED(s) with a resistor. I don't see 1 or 2 volts extra going to hurt those LED's really that much.

It would have been very nice if the bars would be working on 5V and 12V. That wouldn't be too hard to make, but then, you get people connecting 12V to the 5V lead etc.....

Is there nothing close to 12V available from the PSU Neil ?






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Re: Neil's Donkey Kong Restoration **FINISHED!! 12-28-07**
« Reply #223 on: December 29, 2007, 05:28:23 pm »
The diode is actually good design practice and prevents someone from damaging the LED's by hooking them the LED light bar in reverse.  The diode just blocks the reverse connection.

Most of these white LED's operate at 4.0 to 5.2V, and have a max. current associated with them.  Usually you try to apply a current limited source to a few LED's in series, and the LED's themselves will forward bias to some voltage between 4 and 5.2.

This design apparently doesn't work that way, and uses current limiting resistors to help limit the current to the LED's.  This design won't handle a wide input voltage because the LED brightness will vary and you could approach the current limit of the LED's.

With 16 LED's on the board and 4 similar resistors, and 2 other similar resistors, I don't really see how the strings of LED's are set up.  However, I would guess that there are 4 series stands of 3 LED's each with a very low (15-47 ohm) resistor in series for protection, and 2 series strands of 2 LED's each with a higher value resistor (120 ohm) to absorb the voltage of a missing LED in those strands, all in parallel with a diode in series.  The two different series stands of LED's will probably have a slightly different brightness but you will never notice with the strip of lights behind a marquee.  With this setup, I doubt the LED's are running at maximum brightness and current, but are probably bright enough to approximate a standard marquee light.

A better but more costly approach would be to build a step-up/step-down regulator on the LED light strip that would power all of the LED's and handle an input voltage swing of 4 to 20 volts.  This switcher circuitry would probably add $1 to the cost of the lightbar.  With a small trimpot you could even add a brightness adjustment by varying the switcher output and LED bias voltage.  Now that I think about it, they make controllers for this sort of thing that drop right onto the board, but they are more expensive and single source items.
Everybody, even Grandma, games. Meaning, checkers, cards, if not now, in the past.  Show me even a frickin' nun or hermit who hasn't done cards or checkers. -Mark Alpiger

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Re: Neil's Donkey Kong Restoration **FINISHED!! 12-28-07**
« Reply #224 on: December 29, 2007, 11:47:54 pm »
Hmm...makes perfect sense.  ;)  :dizzy:

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Re: Neil's Donkey Kong Restoration **FINISHED!! 12-28-07**
« Reply #225 on: December 30, 2007, 04:04:29 am »
The diode is actually good design practice and prevents someone from damaging the LED's by hooking them the LED light bar in reverse.  The diode just blocks the reverse connection.
Uuuhhhh, protecting a LED (Light Emitting DIODE) from reverse connection with another diode ? From what you've written you seem to have good electronics knowledge so you should be aware that if you would reverse voltage on a LED that it would simply go in blocking mode and nothing would happen at all to the LED or the rest of the circuit. If you would reverse the voltage on the terminals it even doesn't matter if they are in parallel or series.

That is why I said that it was a bit strange in this application....

So, that diode is missing it's point IF it is used as such....

Or am I missing something ?

A step-down would be nice but I doubt that it would be cost-efficient. It _would_ prevent wrong voltage connection. It would be much easier to add an extra terminal for +5V that uses lower value resistors compared to the existing 12V circuit but that adds the risk of wrong connection.

However, a switching power source would indeed be nice to be able to dim the LEDs. Could be sold as an option....

(Sorry to hog your thread Neil, this belongs in the Electronics section......O wait, there IS no electronics section on this forum ;) )
« Last Edit: December 30, 2007, 04:09:56 am by Level42 »

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Re: Neil's Donkey Kong Restoration **FINISHED!! 12-28-07**
« Reply #226 on: December 30, 2007, 11:06:51 am »
The diode is actually good design practice and prevents someone from damaging the LED's by hooking them the LED light bar in reverse.  The diode just blocks the reverse connection.
Uuuhhhh, protecting a LED (Light Emitting DIODE) from reverse connection with another diode ? From what you've written you seem to have good electronics knowledge so you should be aware that if you would reverse voltage on a LED that it would simply go in blocking mode...

That is why I said that it was a bit strange in this application....

So, that diode is missing it's point IF it is used as such....

Or am I missing something ?

Yes.  First of all, I'm college edumacated as an electronics engineer, been working in the industry for over 13 years now (my electronics knowledge goes back further though) and I'm probably one of the only engineers I know that actually works on and tinkers on designs at home.  That said, I never claim to always be right and a lot of times I'm wrong - but it's "the process" and it's how we learn.

LED's do have a reverse breakdown voltage, typically around 5V.  A string of 5 normal RED LED's that run typically 2V or so each could be powered by a 10 to 12V supply and have a reverse breakdown voltage of 25V, seemingly protected against hooking the 12V supply up backwards.

A string of 3 WHITE LED's typically run 4 to 5V each and could be powered by a 12 to 15V supply, but have a reverse breakdown voltage of 15V.  Hmm, now that's a little closer for comfort. Couple these design elements with the fact that people do "unusual" things like hooking up the wrong power supply all together, or accidently hook the negative to 12V and the positive to -12V.  Could it happen, h3ll yes!  Hook up a 12V wall wart that is designed to run at 1A in reverse to the LED light bar and you'll have 18V or more.

A 1N4001 diode in series with this whole circuit increases the reverse breakdown voltage by 50V!  So now you would need 65V in reverse to do any harm, and with a switcher on the front end you could even design it to allow 50V or higher to the input of the LED light bar hooked up normally.

A step-down would be nice but I doubt that it would be cost-efficient. It _would_ prevent wrong voltage connection. It would be much easier to add an extra terminal for +5V that uses lower value resistors compared to the existing 12V circuit but that adds the risk of wrong connection.

However, a switching power source would indeed be nice to be able to dim the LEDs. Could be sold as an option....

(Sorry to hog your thread Neil, this belongs in the Electronics section......O wait, there IS no electronics section on this forum ;) )

A step-down (buck) regulator would be pretty cheap actually, and you can set a current limit with those easily.  But it just allows you to hook up the LED's to a 6 to 12V source, it wouldn't really work at 5V because the LED's need at least 4 or more and you will have voltage drops in the step-down circuitry - AND you will definitely want to add the reverse blocking diode on the input of the whole thing.

A step-up(boost)/step-down(buck) regulator, don't call it a buck-boost (totally different), is basically a modified boost regulator that can also step down the voltage if necessary.  It would step up voltage from 4 to 5V to that required to drive a couple paralleled series strings of LED's and step down 12V to 50V or more to drive them as well.

Yes, sorry Neil - but I can't be Chumpatized(TM) by Level42.  LOL, much respect Level42 ;-)
Everybody, even Grandma, games. Meaning, checkers, cards, if not now, in the past.  Show me even a frickin' nun or hermit who hasn't done cards or checkers. -Mark Alpiger

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Re: Neil's Donkey Kong Restoration **FINISHED!! 12-28-07**
« Reply #227 on: February 26, 2008, 11:05:17 pm »
Neil, I have been lurking and reading and re-reading this thread over and over. It's the best thread I have ever found for a Donkey Kong restoration. Great work!

I just bought an already restored DK machine that has some little issues that bug me. One of them is the piece of wood above the CPO where the long and wide Instruction card sticker goes. On my cabinet the wood is very rough and pitted. The guy I bought it from painted the hell out of it but it's still not very smooth. After applying the ABS on your cabinet in this area and after having it for a month or so, do you think the ABS is a good idea in this spot? Do you see a top seam or layer when looking down on this spot from above? Should I do the ABS in this area?

If so, where did you get the ABS and what type did you get?

Thanks tons and thanks for posting all these images!

The DK cabinet I just bought is here:

http://www.zerocommit.com/dk



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Re: Neil's Donkey Kong Restoration **FINISHED!! 12-28-07**
« Reply #228 on: February 27, 2008, 12:04:13 am »
Nice machine. A couple things I noticed though. The guy put the dust washer on the wrong side of the CPO. It should be underneath the CPO. Second of course is the missing instruction sticker, also the coin return catches appear to be missing. You can see the screw holes where they mount in your coin door. He also got the buttons wrong. The 1,2 player buttons should be Dark (Navy) Blue and the the Jump button should be orange. It's frustrating when so called restorers opt for what they have on hand rather than getting it right.

It also appears that he used some sort of high gloss black on that piece of wood which makes those imperfections even more pronounced. I think your idea of using ABS is a good one.

But hey man, that's my favorite game right now....I'm addicted to it. DK rules!!!

Nice home arcade also. :cheers:
« Last Edit: February 27, 2008, 12:09:01 am by WunderCade »

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Re: Neil's Donkey Kong Restoration **FINISHED!! 12-28-07**
« Reply #229 on: February 27, 2008, 12:27:16 am »
Actually, the photos that are posted are of the machine before I got it. Those are not my machines in the photos, I wish!

I am aware of the coin issues with the missing pieces as well as the button problems. I have already ordered new buttons and new stainless coin inserts. Yes, the dust cover for the joystick is incorrect too. I ordered a clear one from Mike's arcade. The black one goes under the CPO.

So maybe the ABS is the best idea for me for the piece of wood above the CPO. I will look into it.

You know, this cabinet I bought is actually a sad story.

This is my first cabinet and I really wanted a MINT DK cab.

This is my story as I posted it in the newsgroups looking for help ( I am confident I can work through the issues with the seller):

I recently purchased a DK machine from a guy on Ebay. I paid $950 for
it and was promised a pretty mint and restored machine.
I paid $185 to have the machine shipped to the local airport. Seemed
reasonable enough.
I was sent photos of the machine before it left. It looked great.
Photos here: http://www.zerocommit.com/dk
When I picked up the machine it was wrapped amazingly. Tons of bubble
wrap, shrinkwrap, carboard etc. Strapped to a pallet. I had no desire
to inspect it and thought the wrap would help prevent scratching as I
got it into the house.
I very very very carefully drove it home avoiding potholes, etc. I was
nervous! I took extra special care getting it home. My buddy and I
gingerly carried the wrapped package into my home.
We slowly unwrapped it. It looked pretty good. The first thing I
noticed was the textured re-paint. It wasn't completely smooth. Is
that normal for a re-paint? I knew it was repainted. But, I thought it
would be totally smooth like a counter-top like the machines I
remember as a kid. Is this normal for a re-paint? To have some
texture?
Second, the side artwork had completely bubbled. It was a total mess.
The photos I reviewed prior to shipping showed completely flat
installed artwork. The machine I received had some massive and nasty
air bubbles on the artwork. I have tried many many times, I can not
remove the bubbles. I think I need to reinstall the artwork with new
side art. Have you heard of artwork going all bubbly during transit
(it came from Texas to Mass.)
Lastly, and the most hideous part, when I opened the back of the
cabinet....
The monitor was completely off the brackets. COMPLETELY OFF THE
BRACKETS!!! It was loose, it trashed the inside of the cabinet. All of
the nuts for the rear "L" brackets were sitting on the bottom of the
cabinet along with the "L" brackets. The sound board and other boards
on the monitor were completely destroyed. Snapped in half. Broken.
Trashed. THE PCB had been knocked out of its holder and was laying on
the bottom of the cabinet. I pulled maybe 10-15 nuts and screws from
the bottom of the cabinet. It was a nightmare.
Does it seem possible that all of these nuts could come loose in
transit?!?!?
The guy I bought it from was VERY cool and he is sending me a new
monitor and maybe a new PCB if needed. It is still unknown if the PCB
is bad. I am hoping only the monitor is bad.
Anyways... What do you guys think of this? Does this sound ok? Did I
get taken??



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Re: Neil's Donkey Kong Restoration **FINISHED!! 12-28-07**
« Reply #230 on: February 27, 2008, 01:30:49 am »
Ohh...sorry to hear about your situation. If he makes it right...new monitor, PCB, possibly even artwork...then I'd say that it was just a bad break. If he slowly starts to weasel out on you, then ya...you're dealing with a bad vendor.

As far as re-paint. It is very possible to achieve that same original smooth shiny finish but it is very time consuming and depends on how it's applied and sanded etc. It takes dedication and enough pride to offer quality workmanship, which seems to be lacking with this guy from all of the other issues you're having.

I'm sure you're not wanting to repaint it yourself so you may just have to chalk this all up to experience and do like Neil and a lot of the rest of us here do - buy cheap fixer-uppers and do your own restoration. We're here to help as needed during the process. That way you know the work is done to your own standards and liking.

And lastly, welcome to the forum and the addiction. You're in for a hell of fun time here. Game On. :cheers:
« Last Edit: February 27, 2008, 01:33:51 am by WunderCade »

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Re: Neil's Donkey Kong Restoration **FINISHED!! 12-28-07**
« Reply #231 on: February 27, 2008, 09:26:20 am »
Dang blkdog7 sorry to hear about all that man. That sucks. I purchased my ABS from partsexpress through amazon.com

http://www.amazon.com/ABS-Textured-Sheet-16-Thick/dp/B0002ZPPLW/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&s=industrial&qid=1204122117&sr=8-4

looks like it went up a buck from when I purchased it but still decent.

I think it was a good idea myself. It looks very good in my opinion.

It sucks you somewhat got taken by this guy.. Promising more than what was delivered at least he is cool enough to send ya a new monitor and PCB if yours is bad. Hope everything goes well man. If you want more pics of anything let me know man. I am always willing to help out if I can. So feel free to ask anything.

Neil

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Re: Neil's Donkey Kong Restoration **FINISHED!! 12-28-07**
« Reply #232 on: February 27, 2008, 12:01:31 pm »
Thanks for the link Neil. I'm gonna order that stuff and give it a try. I think the guy is trying to make everything right. It just bums me out cause I was SO EXCITED to be playing DK this week! Arrgh!

Here are some photos of the disaster that was inside the cabinet as I opened it for the first time:

http://zerocommit.com/dk/murder/

Neil is your paint a little textured? Or is it real smooth?

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Re: Neil's Donkey Kong Restoration **FINISHED!! 12-28-07**
« Reply #233 on: February 27, 2008, 04:27:03 pm »
its pretty smooth for the most part. i put on quite a few layers of primer and sanded/wooled' alot in between coats.


/edit..

damn man i just looked at your pics.. gave me that feeling in my stomach.. that sucks man especially after you paid for a DK that should have been in top working condition.. hope things go well with the seller man. let us know how it goes.
neil
« Last Edit: February 27, 2008, 04:32:14 pm by Neilyboy »

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Re: Neil's Donkey Kong Restoration **FINISHED!! 12-28-07**
« Reply #234 on: February 28, 2008, 12:19:06 pm »
its pretty smooth for the most part. i put on quite a few layers of primer and sanded/wooled' alot in between coats.


/edit..

damn man i just looked at your pics.. gave me that feeling in my stomach.. that sucks man especially after you paid for a DK that should have been in top working condition.. hope things go well with the seller man. let us know how it goes.
neil

Yeah, it totally sucks. I was beyond excited to be playing DK this week. It was a life long dream, my first arcade machine. So far it has been hell, let me tell you.

The seller has been reasonable and is crating up a new monitor this week. I hope to have the monitor next week. I have been keeping busy by fixing some of the details about the machine I didn't like. I corrected the buttons (got the right colors), got the instruction card sticker that goes on the board above the CPO, I ordered some new stainless coin slots, a new marquee, been replacing mismatched screws, ordered the correct monitor brackets, new microswitches for the buttons... I didn't like the click sound on the jump button he sent so I am gonna change that.

Anyways, I hope the monitor is an easy install. Is it only 4 bolts? Two on the back rear bar and two up front? After that I just make the connections by connecting the plugs and then turn it on, right? I sure the PCB is still good! I want to play this next week!


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Re: Neil's Donkey Kong Restoration **FINISHED!! 12-28-07**
« Reply #235 on: February 28, 2008, 01:28:34 pm »
yeah, as far as i remember ill look again tonight when i get home. yeah im pretty sure it was just two in back and two on the lower board mount.

Neil

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Re: Neil's Donkey Kong Restoration **FINISHED!! 12-28-07**
« Reply #236 on: February 28, 2008, 01:55:56 pm »
I think I threw up a little  :cry:
Happy Gaming!

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Re: Neil's Donkey Kong Restoration **FINISHED!! 12-28-07**
« Reply #237 on: February 28, 2008, 07:12:24 pm »
Neil, where did you get your instruction card sticker? (the long rectangular one that goes on the panel above the CPO).

I ordered that ABS you pointed me to and now I am gonna need a new sticker since I already stuck the one I ordered from Mike's Arcade on the wood. I'd like to pull it off and stick to the ABS you recommended.

Also, did you put the ABS on the short side too? Or, just on the long face side where the sticker goes?

I picked up some contact cement at Home Depot to apply the ABS. Is that what you used?

Thanks!

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Re: Neil's Donkey Kong Restoration **FINISHED!! 12-28-07**
« Reply #238 on: February 29, 2008, 05:00:28 pm »
yeah contact cement. i got my repro from mikes arcade originally. I didnt really like it. I wish I had ordered from thisoldgame.com (richard) his repro work is amazing!! I just applied the abs to the face of the length not the top.

Neil

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Re: Neil's Donkey Kong Restoration **FINISHED!! 12-28-07**
« Reply #239 on: February 29, 2008, 07:28:24 pm »
I didn't realize This Old Game sold the instruction card sticker, I didn't see it on his site.

I'll look again. (I only saw the coin sticker)