Sanwa/Seimitsu Arcade Part Storage

[Timoe]

I have boxes and boxes (flat rate USPS boxes) on my desk with various arcade parts.

They will all get used but some will be stored there for up to a month.

Does anyone have any suggestions for button and joystick storage?  Maybe a tackle box or something?

My main concern, mainly with sanwa parts, is scratching a ball top or having the terminals from one button scratch the face of another button.

[DaOld Man]

I think I would wrap the delicate parts in bubble wrap, or cloth towels, or at least paper towels.

[Timoe]

Currently the parts are wrapped in bubble wrap piled in boxes and when I need something I have to shuffle through the bubble piles and dump the boxes out on the desk.  Sometimes I have to open the bubble wrap and then look for tape to close em back up.

[DaOld Man]

Why not just store all like parts in one box and mark what they are on the box with a sharpee?
Or are you looking at long term storage?
You could buy or build a parts storage bin, which you can use to segregate the parts.

[heffe2001]

And get a sharpie to write what's in the bubblewrap .

[patrickl]

Maybe you could use that tape they use for putting on freezer bags to write what's in it (stick that on the bubble wrap if you cannot write on it directly).

To be honest I have all my sticks (etc) just sitting in a big box too. They are all with their prickly bottoms down and the balltops up though.

The NOS Wico sticks are individually packaged in a box (although that's only for the ones that are not put together yet).

[ChadTower]

Parts are really tough.  They're made to stand abuse on location... sitting in a box isn't going to hurt them.

PCBs should be stored with more care but even then as long as the climate is controlled you should be fine.  It's not like ops store their stuff with bubble wrap and kittens.

[Timoe]

Sanwa and Seimitsu parts are a little more delicate than the happ so I changed the thread title to reflect this.  I was more interested in small part storage ideas.

Here's what I ended up going with.  A tackle box with low tack tape for the buttons.

It holds pretty much all of the stock I will have on hand at a given time.

[Timoe]

... like ops store their stuff with bubble wrap and kittens.

Chad,

no kittens on hand but here's what happens with puppies around.

[bfauska]

That's a nice solution. Even if the parts don't need the extra protection it is always handy to be organized and know where to find each component as you need it.


<off topic with potential post hell risk>

That dog is the scruffiest pit bull I've ever seen

</post hell risk>

[Kaytrim]

Real nice way to keep the buttons organized.  I use the plastic egg style cartons that the buttons come in from LizardLick.  Then I put everything for a given build into a cardboard box with a label.  I am also working on a punch list to help keep each order organized.

TTFN
Kaytrim

[SavannahLion]

PCBs should be stored with more care but even then as long as the climate is controlled you should be fine.  It's not like ops store their stuff with bubble wrap and kittens.

They store with them goats and chickens. And no, don't ask me to exlain what happened to the Pac-Man cabinet. It breaks my heart just thinking about it. 

I'm still trying to figure out the best way to clean off chicken and goat ---steaming pile of meadow muffin--- out of a monitor I picked up.

[ChadTower]

He says that like piles of poo isn't a common thing to find in an old cab.   

[SavannahLion]

He says that like piles of poo isn't a common thing to find in an old cab.   

No, I just don't understand out how the goat got in.