Galaxian Restore

[csa3d]

I got BOARD 2 to boot!  I converted it to DC and it booted right up.  Dirty power is a nasty thing.  It has graphics glitches, but I'm sure I can sort that.

Woohoo!  I'm rooting for board 2!   

[SirPeale]

They say that the electrolyte solution doesn't wear out.  Well, my last few pieces have taken ages to do anything, so I dumped it last night.  Man, it was nasty.  It was probably the power supply, it died and I need to repair it.  The solution needed replacing anyway.

I picked up washing soda at the grocery market a couple days ago.  Cheap stuff, less than three bucks for a decent sized box.  Compare that to the lye I bought, which was a tiny bottle for four bucks.

Dumped the old solution, scrubbed out the container and made new solution.  One tablespoon of washing soda per gallon of water.  Made sure the sacrificial piece was clean.  Hooked up the electrodes to the coin door and plugged it in.

Within seconds, thousands of tiny bubbles.  Within an hour the coating was all bubbled off.  I'll wire wheel it later today and repaint.

[SirPeale]

Coin door cleaning/painting today.  Stopped trying to use my bench grinder and started using a 3" wire wheel attached to my drill. 

Then lots of detail work on the corners where I couldn't get the wire wheel with steel wool.

While I was outside working, one of my neighbors noted what I was doing and told me he does sandblasting and powder coating in his basement.  Three doors down from me this is going on, and I had no idea. 

I told him about you guys and said I'd see if anyone would be interested in mail-order powder coating.  I don't know about his rates yet, that's something to discuss.

edit: oh yeah, repainted the speaker grill today too. 

[SirPeale]

Any update is a good update, right?

I've had little time as any time spent with the cab also has to factor in unpacking it from the shed it's in along with the stuff around it, and repacking it back in when I'm done.

The other day I replaced the newly painted speaker grill and polished/sealed grill bolts.  I'd fully planned on spending a couple hours working on it, but then it began to sprinkle.  Since I knew it would take me a while to get it back in the shed it's being stored in, I started picking up immediately.  Put everything away.  It stopped sprinkling, and didn't actually rain until later that night.   

But at least the speaker is back in place.

[SirPeale]

Filled in pits on the control panel today.

http://www.pealefamily.net/tech/arcade/?p=371

[SirPeale]

Spidron gave me the idea to paint the return buttons.  Since they were really rusty I took a sanding disk attached to my rotary tool to it. 

The first one went without a hitch.  The second one...at first I thought there was some kind of gunk on the return button, so I went after it a little harder.  Then I realized that it was made out of PLASTIC.    Luckily I didn't do too much damage to it.   The other was definitely metal.

[SirPeale]

I've also been thinking whether or  not to tackle touching up the sideart.  Truth is I will probably not be able to successfully color match, and that will look awful.  I might do black, but that's it.

[SirPeale]

I haven't updated this thread in a while, so I thought I'd bump it up.

I gave the boards to a guy in MA for repair, but he's not going to be able to do it.  So I need to get them back and tackle them again myself.

The control panel is a HUGE PITA.  Since most of the panel shows and is not being covered by an overlay I want it to look nice, you know?  But the damn paint keeps scratching so easily!  So there's always scuffs in it.  Any hints to combat this?  Yes, I'm using a good paint - Rust-Oleum Satin black.

Finally got Magic Erasers, and yes it did clean up the white areas on the side art nicely.  Still needs more work.

That's it really - I haven't worked on it because it's just too damn cold in the workshop to do any temperature related work (eg: painting, etc).

[ChadTower]

Did you prime it?  I find I never regret priming but often regret skipping it...

Just skimmed this since I had forgotten where you are on this.  You can take the older of the two scopes I have if you want - it has been sitting there for maybe 3 years now unused.  Cannot guarantee it works but it's in great shape.

[SirPeale]

Thanks Chad - I appreciate it.  Don't know when I'll get down that way though.  There are a few other collectors in 413 that have Fluke pods that I think can help with getting these diagnosed.

And yes, I primed.  Not that it would help with scuffing though.  I may just have to bite the bullet and get it powder coated.

[ChadTower]

Is it scraping through the paint or the paint and the primer?  The primer should prevent easy scraping.  If it isn't then maybe it's just not the right pairing.

[SirPeale]

It's not scraping thru @ all, it's scuffing.  And its scuffing easily. 

[ChadTower]

How soon after spraying it on?

[SirPeale]

How soon after spraying it on?

Days, usually.  I let it sit for a while.