Donkey Kong Restoration

[vwalbridge]

So if you want a horizontal bezel you just turn the hole for the monitor 90 degrees I guess?

Good question. Chance, you're up!

[ChanceKJ]

No the hole for the display is off centre on that one.

[DeLuSioNal29]

So what are the measurements for horizontal then? I would help but my bezel was missing.

[vwalbridge]

I think Chance was planning on uploading the dimensions for the horizontal CRT version. I believe his bezel and mullet were intact on his Mario Bros arcade he just picked up.

[ChanceKJ]

I think Chance was planning on uploading the dimensions for the horizontal CRT version. I believe his bezel and mullet were intact on his Mario Bros arcade he just picked up.

This is correct.

I'll try and have it done later today, if not over the weekend. I'm gonna pull out my drafting tools and measure the radius of the corners too

[DeLuSioNal29]

Now we just need someone with a widebody cab to measure.  :-)

[vwalbridge]

Now we just need someone with a widebody cab to measure.  :-)

Agreed!

On a related note...Jakobud's site has been down for some time now. I was trying to lookup some MB widebody plans and I stumbled on a Google Sketchup Version. I wonder if anyone out there can verify it's accuracy?

Maybe my Google-fu is weak but I am having a hard time finding widebody plans.

[ChanceKJ]

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[vwalbridge]

Chomping quarters has the pre order up for the t-moulding now.

http://www.chompingquarters.com/store.php/products/true-offset-nintendo-t-molding

Oh hell yes!  Thanks for the heads up Chance! I'm all over it.

[vwalbridge]

It's time to solder new capacitors on my monitor. Full disclosure: I've never done this before. 

But I've made it this far so no turning back. The chassis has been removed from the frame. However, while removing it, I noticed that one of the corners of the board was not resting inside the metal slot. Makes me wonder if this board was previously removed or a mistake from factory. Either way, the board was under a little stress being bent in the corner. (See red arrow)


Empty frame:


Board is on the bench:


I bought the soldering iron that looks like a Fisher price toy Hakko Digital FX888D just for this job. Got it for $70.


I'm using Ian Kellogg's cap kit.


And I'm using as a guide.


So any last minute advice for me before I re-cap this beyotch?

[yotsuya]

It's time to solder new capacitors on my monitor. Full disclosure: I've never done this before. 

You always remember your first one.

I bought the soldering iron that looks like a Fisher price toy Hakko Digital FX888D just for this job. Got it for $70.

Remind me to slap you and Slippyblade the next time I see you guys.

[Slippyblade]

Remind me to slap you and Slippyblade the next time I see you guys.

How come?  We make a poor decision?  I thought you had a good soldering kit already?

[vwalbridge]

Remind me to slap you and Slippyblade the next time I see you guys.

I'm fair game at Zapcon. Just let me have a drink or two first.

[yotsuya]

Remind me to slap you and Slippyblade the next time I see you guys.

How come?  We make a poor decision?  I thought you had a good soldering kit already?

I love you, homes, but you and VolksWagon have got to get over the Fisher-Price thing.

Oh, there's a repair party coming up January 9, if you're free. Starting the run up to ZapCon '16 already.

[vwalbridge]

I love you, homes, but you and VolksWagon have got to get over the Fisher-Price thing.

I'll redact the FP joke if it performs as well as everyone says it does. In fact, you are the reason I got it Yotsuya! 

What temp should I run it at for this job?

Oh, there's a repair party coming up January 9, if you're free. Starting the run up to ZapCon '16 already.

Me: Honey!!!!
Mrs. vwalbridge: Yea?
Me: We're moving to Arizona...pack your bags.
Mrs. vwalbridge: OK with me...It's colder that a witch's teat here anyway.

[DeLuSioNal29]

I own the same Hakko soldering station too.  It works great.

[yotsuya]

I love you, homes, but you and VolksWagon have got to get over the Fisher-Price thing.

I'll redact the FP joke if it performs as well as everyone says it does. In fact, you are the reason I got it Yotsuya! 

What temp should I run it at for this job?

Oh, there's a repair party coming up January 9, if you're free. Starting the run up to ZapCon '16 already.

Me: Honey!!!!
Mrs. vwalbridge: Yea?
Me: We're moving to Arizona...pack your bags.
Mrs. vwalbridge: OK with me...It's colder that a witch's teat here anyway.

I run mine at 750. Never had an issue with that temp.

[vwalbridge]

Thanks Yots. Appreciate it!

[vwalbridge]

So I have a good news/bad news situation with my DK restore right now.

The good news: After re-capping my monitor, the picture is beautiful. BTW...the HAKKO is awesome Yotsuya!

The bad news: I don't have any sound. (I did have some sounds mixed with background buzzing/alarm sound...but now I don't have any sound. More on that later)

While I was re-capping the monitor I confirmed this monitor had definitely been capped before. In fact, I noticed that about 25% of the caps had voltages lower than the proper value.  Oh well, all the caps are correct now.

I used this nifty flux pen. Wow, should have used one of these a long time ago. Works so much better than the gooey stuff.


It really helps you precisely apply the flux. This really helps when the solder kept trying to crawl up the legs of the cap.


The worst cap was the B+ filter cap. As you can see it was totally rotted underneath. (funny how the new cap is so much smaller than the original)


It was rotted so bad I even had to clean the pcb surface.

Before:


After:


All the caps installed. Double checked the polarity and location on each one. Now just trimming the legs:


Ian's cap kit is so well organized. Makes this job so much easier. I even re-capped the sound amplifier. Just move down the list and checked them off as I went along. I really got in a groove about 1/2 way through.


The original power cord on my fugly DK didn't even have the ground prong so I had to replace the entire cord before testing this monitor. Luckily Chance just did this on his Mario Bros restore so I just copied his work. Thanks Chance!

Got a 9ft. 14 gauge power cord from Home Depot. (with pre-stripped ends):


I also got the molex connections that Chance recommended from Molex.com. (PRO TIP: Molex.com offers free samples, so I actually got these totally free...yes, they even shipped it for free)




Connected them to the ends of the cord. I don't have a proper molex crimper but I made it work:


For now I just have the power cord running outside its normal hole because I still have to bondo and paint the cab later. Don't worry, I tested to make sure the molex fits through the hole after the fact.


I also noticed the fantastic job the previous owner did soldering the speaker. I have since fixed that.


So I fired up the machine, made a TON of adjustments to every single POT and now I have a very good picture:



BUT....

In my efforts to figure out my constant hum and "wah-wah" alarm sound, I un-plugged the PCB and plugged it back in. Now no more sounds at all. I think something is broken on the PCB itself. I have a logic probe arriving tonight to help me narrow it down. (Full disclosure: I've never used a logic probe before) Yikes.

So I'm stumbling through this restoration. Learning a ton as I go and trying not to crowbar anything else. Please feel free to point and laugh at me about how to unplugged/re-plugged a PCB while an arcade is powered on. Learned that the hard way. 

[Malenko]

that is some grade A recap work on that monitor. The GIF of the old video is laughably terrible, and the new looks amazing. Very happy to see you plugging away at this still

[vwalbridge]

that is some grade A recap work on that monitor. The GIF of the old video is laughably terrible, and the new looks amazing. Very happy to see you plugging away at this still

Thanks Malenko! I'd never capped a monitor before so it was very satisfying to see it fire up and look so much better. This CRT has very minimal burn in so the picture looks almost brand new.

I'm also chipping away at this audio problem and hope to have that isolated to the DAC-08 chip or the audio amp soon.

[harveybirdman]

dammit dude...

*goes to phone to look at pics...


Very nice job on the cap kit, on the one I did for Bullet Reign I lifted a solder pad.... So you got the skillz, good luck with your probing.

[vwalbridge]

dammit dude...

*goes to phone to look at pics...

Awww man, I'm sorry. I really need to knock it off.

I PROMISE my posts from here on out will not link to photobucket. 

[vwalbridge]

Very nice job on the cap kit, on the one I did for Bullet Reign I lifted a solder pad.... So you got the skillz,

Oh I hear ya!  You don't know how close I came to doing that!

good luck with your probing.

Thanks dude!  And probably the only time a man is happy to be wished luck with a "probing". 

[vwalbridge]

I had to remove and disassemble my PCB to replace some transistors on it so I figured that I would clean it while I had it out. It was not that dirty to begin with but I figured I might as well do it it.

From a distance the board didn't seem dirty but up close it had a decent layer of dust.


I asked around to try and figure out the best way to clean a PCB and got a different answer each time. So I decided to combine the techniques of all the suggestions I got. I started by removing all the socketed chips. No sense in having those put in harms way during the cleaning process.


I then removed the main board. Using needle nose pliers to release the plastic clips.


Main board removed


Also removed the 2nd PCB and what's left is the metal bracket plate thing


Here is a dust bunny


The top edge of the meta bracket was obviously rusting


I decided to use Simple Green, a toothbrush and a paint brush


Took the parts outside and sprayed all the parts with Simple Green




Then used the paint brush to work out all the grime. I found the paint brush to be much more effective than wasting time with the toothbrush.


I let the agitated bubbles sit on the boards for a minute


Then softly hosed it off


I also did the back side as well.


The weather was nice that day so I stopped to admire how the sun looks shining through a PCB


That metal plate thing needed some attention. So I scrubbed it down with CLR and some steel wool.


The rust eventually gave in


Then I let them dry for a few minutes in the Sun. Don't worry, remember I removed the eproms and left them inside so the UV rays would not damage them.


Took them back inside and let them dry for 3 days.


Here is the before and after on that metal plate thing.

[harveybirdman]

Sweet.

[johnrt]

Man, this is a kick ass restore! 

[vwalbridge]

Thanks harverybirdman and johnrt.

I'm really stumbling through this restoration. I VASTLY underestimated the work it was going to take to "do it right"

Every time you post pictures of your DK johnrt, I cry a little. It's so clean.

[DeLuSioNal29]

Nice work. Simple green does wonders!  I love using it to clean PCBs. 

[vwalbridge]

I started to refurbish my joystick last weekend. I took the entire stick apart down to every screw. I determined that I was missing a spring plate and the 4-way restrictor plate was totally worn out. The spring seemed a bid soft too. So I purchased a new one of each from Mike’s Arcade.



Here is the ball top. Not too bad actually just dulled out mostly and a few minor pits here and there.



Here is the old restrictor plate next to the reproduction restrictor plate from Mike’s Arcade. You can see how badly the interior edges have worn.



The shaft was pretty nasty. Had some grime pretty worn into it with a splash of rust on top.



I put some electrical tape on the threads to protect them.



Then secured the shaft into the end of my drill and used some steel wool to remove the loose grime.



Then used some 800 grit sandpaper to get the bulk of it off.



Finished it off with some 1000 grit paper for a nice smooth finish.



For the ball top, I did pretty much the same thing. Put some electrical tape on the shaft to protect it. Then mounted it in my drill. I spun it for a few moments on some 1000 grit wet sandpaper



Pulled off some surface grime





Then to get the ball top nice and smooth I used these three products. I finished with the PlastX



Just put some in a rag and spun it around for a while



To reproduce the plastic collar that goes under the joystick I used some vinyl tubing from my local hardware store. (Credit to Chance on this tip)





Soaked all the tiny parts in some CLR and simple green



Sprayed brake cleaner in the ball-joint to blow out the grime. A toothbrush helped.



Then soaked the main assembly in some CLR. I did it in a bag as to reduce the amount of CLR I had to use. When it was done, I buffed it with some steel wool



Used some white lithium grease for lube.



Sprayed it down inside the ball joint



Placed all the parts out on the table for assembly



Joystick feels much better now. Smooth action and easy to find corners.

[ChanceKJ]

.

[vwalbridge]

Very well done. I have another 7 or 8 of these left to do, haha.

Thanks! (And thanks for the vinyl tubing tip too) I see you are hoarding Nintendo Joysticks....smart man you are. 

[ChanceKJ]

.

[harveybirdman]

Glad to see you taking the meticulous path on restoring this machine.  When it's done it might actually be worth some of the prices I see on Craigslist for beater Nintendo cabs!

Keep up the good work and documentation.  Your pics are awesome (an now on the site for posterity  )

[vwalbridge]

Glad to see you taking the meticulous path on restoring this machine.  When it's done it might actually be worth some of the prices I see on Craigslist for beater Nintendo cabs!

Thanks harveybirdman. Yea, aren't those prices for Nintendo Cabs on Craigslist insane!? There has been some kind of surge in Nintendo cabs recently. Some guys want way too much and they sit on CL forever.

Keep up the good work and documentation.  Your pics are awesome (an now on the site for posterity  )

I love build threads that have lots of good pictures so I like to do the same. Pictures with a brief description of what was done is perfect for me. Thanks for keeping me in check and making me host the pictures here. 

[tomstewdevine]

Great restore so far.  Really cool to see you get every detail.

[Wyo]

Holy crap, subbed.  I just found this restore! looking forward to watching it progress....that cab will be quite a bit of work! Can't wait to see it looking original again.

Your level of meticulousness is on par with Chance, dig it!! 

[yotsuya]

Holy crap, subbed.  I just found this restore! looking forward to watching it progress....that cab will be quite a bit of work! Can't wait to see it looking original again.

Your level of meticulousness is on par with Chance, dig it!! 

Dude, does Chance pay you a fee or something every time you mention him? You brought him up in my thread, too.

[vwalbridge]

I needed something to take my mind off of this ongoing siren and buzz sound issue I've been working on, so I rebuilt my control panel this weekend.

I laid out all the parts and pieces for assembly. I bought a repo control panel from Hailrazer on KLOV a couple months back. My original CP was fairly chewed up. I also bought new buttons and CPO from mike's arcade. His CPOs are absolutly stunning. The buttons are "meh". Good enough for now but the colors are not really that close and they are barley long enough to catch the nut on the other side. My old buttons were missing springs and were just too far gone to use.


OLD:


NEW:

[Malenko]

night and day, looks fantastic.