What's this stuff for ?

[codecrank]

Hi all,

 I just got an arkanoid2 cocktail cab, upon opening it I was confronted with confusing components.  Unlike I had seen in more recent JAMMA cabs. Possibly leftovers from a conversion ? Looks like a transformer and a large capacitor ...  used for ...

Please enlighten me. 

- Dan

[RayB]

That appears to be a Midway cocktail cabinet, though the stuff at the bottom doesn't match their usual engineering (they usually have the parts on a wood board that can be unscrewed and removed for servicing).

Anyways, the cap thingy is most likely an AC filter. The big transformer is a transformer. Most likely an isolation transformer. Why you have two in there, I don't know. The monitor needs one. Sometimes a second one was added for redundancy just at the point where the AC line in from the external socket comes in. (For example, in Ontario, in the 70's and 80's Ontario Hydro required them and supplied them, but yours doesn't look like an Ontario Hydro one).

If it works, leave it.

[codecrank]

Thanks for the reply , the origin of this cab is a mystery , since I cannot find any mentions of a arkanoid 2 cocktail bezel anywhere, this has to be a conversion from ... maybe a Midway cab.

If it works, leave it.

I'm too anal for that 

1) I gotta have neat wiring ( what else can you expect from a network engineer ?  ) 
2) I have to know how everything works.

will post something as I find out more.

again thanks for your input as I am fairly new at cab restorations ( this is my 2nd one )

[Ken Layton]

Could be a Domino Man cocktail originally. Or maybe a Burgertime?

[matsadona]

Why not just trace the wires and use a volt meter to figure it out?

Previous posts are probably correct. I.e. that the "unknown" thing is an AC filter.
Regarding the transformers one is most certainly an isolation transformer for the monitor.
The other one I suspect is an old step down transformer used to some previous PCB used before it was converted to Arkanoid.
Many old games used to have the voltage regulators etc on the PCB. Later on external power supplies was more common, mostly because of heating problems.
If so, it should be obsolete know since there is a new power supply feeding the new PCB. But then there would be loose wires in the cab?

[codecrank]

The plot thickens !  I took  the glass off , and I discovered a tron bezel 

Also after taking out the anti glare plastic, a burned in Game Over pattern became visible, maybe someone recognizes it. Is that from Tron ??  ( the crt may not be original )

[Q*Bert_OP]

The square in the center is part of the MCP Cone...the "game over" and other text looks like it could be from Arkanoid...

[Gray_Area]

The square in the center is part of the MCP Cone...the "game over" and other text looks like it could be from Arkanoid...

Those games run at wildly different resolutions.....

[Spyridon]

Those games run at wildly different resolutions.....

That is most definitely Tron burn on that monitor.

Arkanoid was a kit and didn't come in a dedicated cab.  Tron was a good conversion choice because it was already setup to use a spinner.

[codecrank]

yep, all the research I have done points to the origins of this cabinet as a Tron cab. Thanks guys.

In deed Arkanoid2 was a kit, it's all in the manual, which I may add has provided for some humorous reading  ... see for yourself