Dedicated arcade repair tutorial

[tophatne1]

I'm thinking about going to the next level and restoring dedicated machines. The problem is I don't have any experience with boards or any of the inner workings of dedicated games. I've only done MAME cabs.

Is there a site somewhere when I can learn the basics and start from scratch, like a tutorial of some sorts?

Thanks.

[CheffoJeffo]

You might want to start with the Restoration Page in the wiki and go from there.

[shardian]

It costs money, but you could look into Randy Fromm's instructional stuff:
http://randyfromm.com/shopping/

Basically, you need to beef up your basic electrical knowledge before touching anything. When diggin around on electrical components, the general rule you should obey is if you don't know what you are looking at, don't touch it until you do.

Also, you can read thru Bob Robert's website. He has tons of neat info from his many years of coin-op maintenance.
http://homearcade.org/BBBB/helppage.html

Good luck!

[tophatne1]

Thanks for the info.

I've seen Randy Fromm's instructional dvd's but they are a little pricey. I'll look at the other links first and go from there.

I definitely won't be touching any electrical parts until I study up. My friends father is a is an old school TV repair guy and he said the same thing. He's got a lot of good near death horror stories involving electricity and TV repair.

[ChadTower]

The Fromm videos aren't cheap but are by far the fastest way to get from zero to repairing games.  If your time is worth money to you buy the videos.

[grantspain]

just remember there is no real difference in a mame cab and dedicated cab,they all do exactly the same thing and run the same way
the only real thing that you can't get is the experience of one particular game,i.e i have wave runner deluxe cabs and they all get the same problems so i know exactly what is causing the particular fault
it's just a case of getting the correct mind set and not being afraid of new things and always look at things logically
always start with the basic,simple causes
or come and work with me for a month

[shardian]

just remember there is no real difference in a mame cab and dedicated cab,they all do exactly the same thing and run the same way
the only real thing that you can't get is the experience of one particular game,i.e i have wave runner deluxe cabs and they all get the same problems so i know exactly what is causing the particular fault
it's just a case of getting the correct mind set and not being afraid of new things and always look at things logically
always start with the basic,simple causes
or come and work with me for a month

There is a fairly big difference between setting up a mame cabinet and troubleshooting/repairing dedicated arcade equipment. A mame cabinet is just a pc and a pc monitor sitting on an arcade shaped desk.

[ChadTower]

Plugging and playing with working components is very different from trying to debug a nonworking 20+ year old game... there isn't a whole lot of physical trouble shooting, especially within PCBs, building a MAME cab.

[grantspain]

just remember there is no real difference in a mame cab and dedicated cab,they all do exactly the same thing and run the same way
the only real thing that you can't get is the experience of one particular game,i.e i have wave runner deluxe cabs and they all get the same problems so i know exactly what is causing the particular fault
it's just a case of getting the correct mind set and not being afraid of new things and always look at things logically
always start with the basic,simple causes
or come and work with me for a month

There is a fairly big difference between setting up a mame cabinet and troubleshooting/repairing dedicated arcade equipment. A mame cabinet is just a pc and a pc monitor sitting on an arcade shaped desk.

same thing guv,you just thinks its different but there again what do i know i have only been doing this 20 years

[ChadTower]

Okay, let's put it this way... clearly if this guy has built a cab he doesn't understand what he did or how the parts work.  We know this since he has said so.  Parts are so plug and play now and there are so many howtos out there that people are building cabs with no real idea of what is going on in there.

[shardian]

I have had pc's for years, and I've repaired many of them. I tell you what, 95% of repairs are SOFTWARE based. Whenever it is hardware based, the repair is simply unscrewing two or three screws, and popping in the new part.

Not many people say "uh oh the computer stopped working. Let me go get my multimeter and soldering iron."

[CheffoJeffo]

I've seen Randy Fromm's instructional dvd's but they are a little pricey. I'll look at the other links first and go from there.

I looked for a long time trying to find a cheap copy of Randy's tapes/DVDs, without success.

Last year, I susbcribed to his Technical Department, which is also full of good things, including podcasts of lessons. It's $40 for the first year and $30 annually thereafter. Once I figured out the time I was saving, it really was an easy decision to make (and his Big Blue Book, which is included, is a good source of info).

http://randyfromm.com/amusements/techdept/

Good stuff can also be found in Atari's Big Book, which is not directly linked from the wiki, but I'm pretty sure is on one of the linked sites.

 

[ChadTower]

I looked for a long time trying to find a cheap copy of Randy's tapes/DVDs, without success.

I've seen them on Ebay in the past... I picked up a used set cheaply... I know others here have as well.  It's definitely one of those hurry up and wait things, though.

[Level42]

The Book: http://arcarc.xmission.com/PDF_Arcade_Atari_Kee/Atari_TM-129_The_Book.pdf

This should be read by EVERYONE here..........and then ask questions


I think I've seen some clips of Randy Fromm's stuff and I thought it was uuhhhmmm... strange.
And what's that white coat ? Does he want to look like a doctor or something ? If I would put on a coat like that before working on electronics, they would bring me to the mental hospital here !
OK, let's say it's part of the show (trying to look more pro then you are, same reason why some people think they are only taken seriously when they're in a suit & tie...aaaaaah, driftin waaaaayyy of here...sorry

But I'm looking at it with the wrong I eyes I guess....

[Gehrig]

How relevant is that Atari book when comparing to games made in the mid 90's?  Not being sarcastic.. I really don't know.

[Spyridon]

Level42, thanks for that link.  I plan on restoring only 80's classics so this will be informative stuff.

I'm new to this as well.  I ordered the Randy Fromm DVD set last week (hopefully it arrives soon).  Once I get through it, I'll post a review from a newbie perspective.  I can build a PC myself, but I'm completely lost when staring at an arcade PCB so I would agree that we are dealing with two completely different animals here.

[Level42]

I kinda expected that one

Amazingly (or not) most of that book is still current.

Measuring voltages, currents, resistors.....still the same.
Soldering.....still the same.
Tools....still the same (OK we got DVM's now....)
Pots, switches, opto boards......still the same...

[Level42]

Haha, I'm so glad I grew up in the golden age of video games, and especially the home computers of that time. I can compare, I've seen younger colleagues who only knew from Windows 3.11 and up, and they don't have a clue what's going on in a computer (which is hard to blame, because nobody still really knows what a Windows machine is doing without you knowing about it )

An arcade game PCB _IS_ a computer. (But about a 1000 times more stable than any Windoze machine )

I'd say repairing a PCB is pretty hard if you don' t know basic (digital) electronics. However, there are still things you can try to fix. Most problems are pretty easy and simple. But not all of them.
I just fixed my first PCB (Centipede) and am damn proud of it Even though I know enough about electronics to trouble shoot, I'm not a "design" expert, and I don't do repairs on component level on a daily basis.

Also you have to "unlearn" things. There's no videochip on early game PCB's. There's no audio chip on the really old one's either. Heck, there are even games without CPU's !

They made a lot "themselves" by hooking up standard IC's together to get what they wanted.

If you seriously want to do PCB repair you need some good tools as well:
- DVM
- logic probe and/or oscilloscope (I use this: Oszifox (http://business.search.ebay.com/_Business-Industrial_W0QQsacatZ12576QQsassZgreentekusa) My they are cheap these days !!!!
They're a bit clumsy to use because of a lot of wires, but they work great, especially with a PC/laptop. They are very suitable for the earlier games (let's say, until early 90's), as speed is not so high on those PCBs.
- good soldering equipment (see The Book)

But, you can still restore original games withoug doing the PCB repair yourself. There are people that either fix your board or offer exchange of a non-working PCB with a working, for some money of course, but it can save a lot of time and hassle.

I personally like the challenge of getting a PCB working again, but sometimes it can drive you up the wall. Then I throw it aside for some time, and then go work on it again when I really want to win from that sucker ! Nothing beats the feeling of getting something working again