Need Help with a Super Pac-Man Restore/MAME

[sstralkowski]

I am trying to restore (or MAME, I haven't yet decided) a Super Pac-Man cab that's been in my family sicne I was a kid.  The monitor fades in and out, only ever reaching about 50% brightness.  After reading the monitor FAQ I'm pretty sure I need a cap kit, but I'm a complete rookie at this.  Doing som searches yielded me nothing.  So my questions are these. 

1) How would you guys go about figuring out which caps to order?

2) Who is Bob Roberts?

3) What kind of soldering gun/desoldering gun would you guys recommend?  I've built circuit boards before, but it was at a job where the equipment cost significantly more than I can afford. 

[opt2not]

1. You need to know what chassis is connected to your Monitor. Open up the back and look at the monitor and see if there are any labels on it. If it's an original cabinet, it may be 1 of 2 monitors according to the General Instructions. Also, here's a link to some of the other manuals for Super Pac-man.  -- which you should read --

That will determine which cap-kit (a kit of capacitors that have been put together as one package, so you don't need to order them separately) you need to order from someone like Bob Roberts.

2. Bob Roberts is an arcade parts god. He's an online part-supplier for a lot of different arcade related components, and has lists of them on his website. Don't be fooled by the crude website layout, there is a lot of gold in there when it comes to working on a cabinet.
I don't know his complete history, but the jist of it is he owned part businesses back in the day that supplied parts for all kinds of amusement machines. He sold those businesses, except for his video arcade stuff, planning to retire, but had too much inventory and a some influences suggesting he sell the parts himself off the internet as a service to the arcade community. He goes into a brief history on his site. Check out some of his pages, there are a lot of great restoration tips and information for you to read...I've spent hours on that site.

Get familiar with his wares, he's a wonderful resource for restoration.

3. Just get a simple soldering iron or gun, with a fine tip, as well as a base. Doesn't matter what brand, just as long as it's of decent quality.

I have a Weller, it's a pretty good soldering set-up, but if you're not planning on doing a lot of soldering you could probably get something cheaper.

You'll also need some solder, Isopropanol for cleaning the board up, a solder sucker or soldering wick/braid to get rid of some of the old solder.




All this stuff shouldn't cost you that much -- maybe around $30? If you have an electronics store near you, you can probably get this all at one time.

Also, watch this video (and the others of this series) for proper ways of discharging and re-capping a monitor. VERY IMPORTANT.

[sstralkowski]

I can't thank you enough, man.  Wish me luck on my first go at doing some real work on a cab.  I'm hoping for a restoration, but if it's already junk inside (the lock has no key) I may need to MAME it. 

Either way, I don't want any outward signs that it's not original in case anyone wants to restore it down the road.  I grew up with this game in my living room and love it.  It got passed around my extended family quite a bit.  Each family would keep it for a year and then pass it on.  Every couple years, we'd get it back and play it a renewed sense of awe. 

Here's to hoping I can do this gem justice. 

[opt2not]

I can't thank you enough, man.  Wish me luck on my first go at doing some real work on a cab.  I'm hoping for a restoration, but if it's already junk inside (the lock has no key) I may need to MAME it.  

Either way, I don't want any outward signs that it's not original in case anyone wants to restore it down the road.  I grew up with this game in my living room and love it.  It got passed around my extended family quite a bit.  Each family would keep it for a year and then pass it on.  Every couple years, we'd get it back and play it a renewed sense of awe.  

Here's to hoping I can do this gem justice.  

No problem.
I think it's great that your family has a cabinet that has been passed around. I think you have a even better reason to restore it! Do it for the family! Don't Mame it!


You could always start a thread in the restoration forum to draw some attention and ask questions on what you need to fix, etc. There are a lot of posts there of successful restorations that might give you lots of ideas. Throw some pictures up on there, I'd love to see what kinda of shape the cabinet is in.

Good luck!  

[sstralkowski]

My handyman skills stink, to be honest.  My budget is slim as well.  I don't think I could ever pull off or afford some of the amazing restorations I've seen there.  Still, I'm going to give it my best.  I want to at least get it back to original working order.  And even if I do add a bit of a MAME effect to it, I'm not drilling or cutting or anything.  I want to be able to put it back to a full resto at some point if we want.  Funny how an arcade game is an heirloom to me. 

We used to have a "Flash" pinball game as well.  That thing got tons of use until it broke and my parents didn't know how to fix it.  I guess it was around 1993 and they didn't even know who to call.  I think it got donated to an enthusiastic friend who thought he could try and fix it.  No idea what happened after that. 

[sstralkowski]

Ok so finally got around to opening up the Super PacMan Cab.  The key has been missing and I've been swamped at work and home.  Anyway, I found a bunch of schematics inside.  No clue what they're to specifically as I haven't had the time to look, but I did find the monitor type.  Rca 19vltp22.  Now I just need a cap kit and I'll get started. 

[sstralkowski]

Well I've finally gotten around to taking another look at this project.  I've decided not to MAME it.  I just can't bring myself to hack this beauty apart.  It's got far too much sentimental value.  I finished the cap kit installation and the screen looks beautiful again.  It's like it was brand new.  Now I just need to do a few cosmetic fixes and put it back in "service."  Thanks to those who helped me without the unnecessary snark and condescension.