Bought a Cabinet! Getting started but need some advice.

[dethfactor]

Howdy All,
I purchased a 6' cabinet that was supposedly Xmen but also looks like it was Street Fighter 2 at one time. It has a 27" monitor in it that I was told doesn't work and seems to be cracked. It has the original wiring/power supply and the game board was removed. It has a hole and some other damage to it but it's in decent shape otherwise. I've purchased wood fill and strip and paint and am going to begin to convert it to a MAME cabinet but I do have few questions. I'm trying to consider what to do with the monitor. Should I attempt to find a replacement? Or should I tear it out and install something else? (I have a 19" LCD I can use) and if I do tear it, is there any danger in doing so? I bought new controls and thinking about buying an a new electric ice control set and wire them via an LED-Wiz.

[KDOG]

The 19 in will be swimming in that cab if it had a 27 " in there before.  If you have and tv that around 24", I would go that route. It really depends on how much you want to spend.New  27" monitor around 500-600 shipped.
As for the wiring if you get a replacement arcade monitor keep it and go with the jpac if not get keywiz or ipac.

It would also helped if you post a pic of the cab.

[dethfactor]

Hmm.. good point. I don't actually have any CRT's for anything..  So I guess my choices would be to track a good TV down or bite the big one and drop for a new 27". I actually already ordered a J-PAC and two Ultimarc Mag-Stick pluses. As for the cab pics, I did post some but in my stupidity moved them the other day without thinking on my server. I'll repost them, but they're not very good pictures. I'll post better ones when I take them.

[Ummon]

Have you measured the diagonal of that monitor? I'd guess that to be a 19" (as a 27" doesn't easily fit in older cabs, which originally had 19's in them) especially as it has a bezel. What maybe be best or/and easiest: a 21" PC CRT; or if you wanna go native but still have PC capabilities, a 19" multi-sync (will do EGA-XGA) from Billabs (though other companies may have one similar).

[JinxedSoul]

looks like its a 25" in that cab

[Turnarcades]

Yeah looks like a 25" at most. If you're on a budget and want a similar-sized replacement, try and get a decent second-hand TV with S-video input.

[dethfactor]

Sorry Ladies and Gents,
I removed the glass/bezel and back plate as well as measured it via tape measure. It is indeed a 27" monitor. It's a Zenith G-A63ADG25X - 04RC0105-007  Serial # OEM 045743. It has a manu/inspected sticker of April 17th 1991 on it. Also upon close inspection it looks like the screen itself isn't cracked but has a scratch/chip in the bottom left corner. According to the previous owner, it doesn't work but he didn't go much farther into it. Not sure if it needs to be pulled altogether or if it can be repaired. I tried powering it up today and the power supply boots but I'm not sure if the monitor is even connected. I need to study the wiring further to get a jist of how things are connected via the JAMMA harnesses in there. Does anyone have any advice/links about diagnosing the problem? I also bought a J-PAC from Ultimarc and should get that in soon so hopefully I can use that to help diagnose whether this thing works/can be salvaged. Here are some photos of the cab and I have a larger collection in a flickr pool. Including some of the monitor board. Feel free to check them out. http://www.flickr.com/dethfactor

Cheers 
-deth

[lowlifefalcon]

congrats on that purchase, i looked at the cabinet earlier in the summer. was too big for me to get it where i wanted it. did you at least chew him down in price at all?

the main reason im posting is when i looked at it, i saw the chunk taken out of the front. my word of advice is use bondo in it and not wood filler. you will be happier with the results when all is done. wood filler will shrink over time and is not good for large spots like that.

when i looked at it he told me about the monitor and that he was messing with it and went totally dead. is the crack all the way into the glass or is it a deep scratch? plus, did you try and power it up? because it could be a blown fuse or even a isolation transfer problem.

if you take it out discharge first before poking around it.

my .02   

[Ginsu Victim]

did you at least chew him down in price at all?

Chew?

 

[dethfactor]

congrats on that purchase, i looked at the cabinet earlier in the summer. was too big for me to get it where i wanted it. did you at least chew him down in price at all?

the main reason im posting is when i looked at it, i saw the chunk taken out of the front. my word of advice is use bondo in it and not wood filler. you will be happier with the results when all is done. wood filler will shrink over time and is not good for large spots like that.

when i looked at it he told me about the monitor and that he was messing with it and went totally dead. is the crack all the way into the glass or is it a deep scratch? plus, did you try and power it up? because it could be a blown fuse or even a isolation transfer problem.

if you take it out discharge first before poking around it

Heh, Unfortunately I'm an utter newcomer to the whole ordeal so I just gave him the $90 and was off with it. Thanks for the bondo tip, I wasn't aware that it would stick and I figured I was going to glue a small amount of wood in the hole before using the wood filler but I guess I'll give bondo a go.

As for the monitor, it's just a small chip out of the glass. I thought it was crack earlier but I hadn't had time to really take a look at it. I picked it up and then went on vacation.

I did power it up but I can't tell if the monitor is disconnected or not, I'm going to take a better look at tomorrow when I start stripping the crappy red tack off of it. I'll post again with my findings and new pics. I'll probably order a discharging kit so I can prevent shockage.

[Ummon]

Hmmmmm. Normally that kind of cab doesn't hold a 27, especially with that much space. A rare edition?  I dunno. Read through the wiki and monitor/video threads to get a better idea of how monitors work, how they're set up in cabs, and about game boards, etc.

[dethfactor]

Hmmmmm. Normally that kind of cab doesn't hold a 27, especially with that much space. A rare edition?  I dunno. Read through the wiki and monitor/video threads to get a better idea of how monitors work, how they're set up in cabs, and about game boards, etc.

Hmm.. could be.. I hadn't realized I had an oddball cab when I picked it up. I was in the area and was picking up an 8-liner for my mom and figured to give it a go. I've been checking the wiki's and posts here and there as I go along, thanks.

[november]

Looks like a nice pickup and that isn't a hole, hehe, that's just a minor blemish.

I have the same cab :-D just about to get done with it....I think.

Only a few steps left, but I'm getting lazy, cut PC case to mount to wood drawer, mount power strip inside and also put the monitor back in.

With mine I chose to go with red with black modling and it turned out pretty damn good.  I'll post pics soon

[DeLuSioNal29]

Either way, whatever you do, be very careful with the monitor.  You don't want to touch the wrong thing and get fried.  Really.

~ D

[dethfactor]

Looks like a nice pickup and that isn't a hole, hehe, that's just a minor blemish.

I have the same cab :-D just about to get done with it....I think.

Only a few steps left, but I'm getting lazy, cut PC case to mount to wood drawer, mount power strip inside and also put the monitor back in.

With mine I chose to go with red with black mlodling and it turned out pretty damn good.  I'll post pics soon

Heh, yeah it "was" a blemish.  Got it worked out with bondo and stripped the entire thing. Still working on the control panel, that tack they use is a B*TCH to get off. As for my finish, I think I'm going to go all black. I'd love to see yours so definitely pm me or link me to the images. Also, what kinda PC are you using?

Either way, whatever you do, be very careful with the monitor.  You don't want to touch the wrong thing and get fried.  Really.

Heh, Thanks for the concern but I've actually pulled the monitor already. I had some help and we didn't the chassis/yolk so we came out un-scathed.

Here is my new dilemma:
I decided to pull the monitor and pick up a Betson Imperial (Bensonville isn't too far from here so I can pick it up) and I have a few P4 evo's laying around with some empty 160- 250 gig hard drives and am teetering between rigging one of those up with an AGP ArcadeVGA and the Betson. Or possibly Frankensteining a new machine from some parts and geting a PCI-E ArcadeVGA and future-proofing my MAME box for a while.

Not sure what route I should take though, as I'm actually not sure if a P4 is more than enough or am I going to need something better as the Library keeps growing.

Any advice would be greatly appreciative as I'm looking to order the ArcadeVGA in the next day or so I can get it about the time I pick up my Imperial.

[DeLuSioNal29]

My advice:  Use the P4 and hold off on the arcade vga for now.  It will work without it.  A free program called "Soft-15 khz" (http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=66402.0)  will enable it to work "authentically" with your monitor.  Worst case, if you can't get soft-15 khz to work with your graphics card... It won't be authentic, but it will stretch the video using Direct X instead of Direct Draw for a nice picture on the Betson.

Then you can save up some money for a more powerful computer with PCIe for the Arcade VGA at a later date!

~ DeLuSioNaL

[M.Lanza]

Hmmmmm. Normally that kind of cab doesn't hold a 27, especially with that much space. A rare edition?  I dunno. Read through the wiki and monitor/video threads to get a better idea of how monitors work, how they're set up in cabs, and about game boards, etc.

Hmm.. could be.. I hadn't realized I had an oddball cab when I picked it up. I was in the area and was picking up an 8-liner for my mom and figured to give it a go. I've been checking the wiki's and posts here and there as I go along, thanks.

It's because you're not measuring the monitor correctly.

You don't measure the whole tube, just the viewable area where the picture is displayed.

[dethfactor]

It's because you're not measuring the monitor correctly.

You don't measure the whole tube, just the viewable area where the picture is displayed.

Hmm... I hadn't seen it that way. So judging from the black trim around the screen the viewable would be closer to 25" not 27". Now after looking at the betson site, the only measurements it lists for the 27" are:
    *  Weight: 83 lbs
    * Size: 27"
    * Height: 23"
    * Width: 235"
    * Length: 25"
    * Safety Approval: UL, CSA, CE, DHHS
    * Screen Size: 27"
    * Resolution: 800x600 pixels
    * Operating Power Max: 100W
    * Operating Voltage Min/Max: 100240V

So now I'm all kinds of confused. Does this mean I need to get a 25" monitor? or is betson just calling it a 27" because the physical screen is 27" but the viewable area is a little close to 25"?

[dethfactor]

So I contacted Betson to rectify the lack of sizing information for the Imperial I want to order. A super friendly sales person named Nicole had this to say about it, "My tech said it is measured diagonally to get the 27" measurement and that the viewable area may be just a tad smaller. "

So judging that my old monitor measured 27" diagonally this should be the perfect fit into my cab. If not I'll shoe horn it in there.

 

[Todd H]

That looks like a Dynamo 24" cut corner cab. Measure the width of the metal control panel to be sure. If it's 24" then it's the same cabinet I have. You're going to have to seriously modify the cabinet to squeeze a 27" monitor in there. A 25" would be a perfect fit.

[RayB]

Measure the distance from mounting bolt hole to mounting bolt hole and call Betson again compare it to the measurements of known monitor sizes (Happ usually has tech specs of all their monitors). Probable best way to be sure.

[Kevin Mullins]

It's a Zenith G-A63ADG25X - 04RC0105-007  Serial # OEM 045743.

That right there tells you its a 25".
The 63 is centimeters which when converted = 63 cm = 24.8 in

Measure and compare the mounting holes as recommended by RayB.