CENTIPEDE cabaret Restoration - works again

[RayB]

Got it for $50 at an auction.
Presumed non-working.
But don't have it in my posession yet.

[ArtMAME]

Pics please when you get a chance, thanks.

Also measurements if you can, I am interested in making a replica or a cabaret-style cab using an Atari cabaret as a model.  Thank you.

[Sinner]

Got it for $50 at an auction.
Presumed non-working.
But don't have it in my posession yet.

Is that the one from the Starburst auction this past weekend??
I wanted to pick up that and the Asteroids that was there...someone I know saw them on the Friday and told me both were working...
Anyway, nice grab...are you going to restore it?

[CheffoJeffo]

Is that the one from the Starburst auction this past weekend??
I wanted to pick up that and the Asteroids that was there...someone I know saw them on the Friday and told me both were working...
Anyway, nice grab...are you going to restore it?

If that Asteroids was working then somebody (Grauwulf?) got a huge deal (went for $25), but my bet was that neither worked as both were labelled as hardware and would have been front and center in building 2 to keep the price up. I guess RayB would know. I didn't plug either in as the cords for most machines in the truck were hidden/missing.

Sinner -- we've never met, but were you talking to "Mike" (he's an op ... I forget his last name) by Building 1 during the first part of the auction ?

Cheers.

[RayB]

Yes it's from Starburst. I just got it home, but it's still in the back of my wagon.

It's in fairly acceptable condition, save for a big chunk of the side by the control panel. The power cord looks really frayed where it comes out the back/bottom.

It was marked "hardware" which usually means it's missing parts. Then again, it's locked up tight with no keys, so for all I know, I might be in for the lucky deal of a lifetime!

[CheffoJeffo]

It was marked "hardware" which usually means it's missing parts. Then again, it's locked up tight with no keys, so for all I know, I might be in for the lucky deal of a lifetime!

Last piece of "hardware" I brought home from Starburst worked fine (although it was JAMMA countertop, not a classic cabaret) ... I hope you have the same luck.

Cheers

[Stingray]

Very cool Ray! Pop that sucker open and find out what's in there!

-S

[RayB]

OK, so I brought it into the house... twisted the back door lock off (because it was installed with a T-nut on the OUTSIDE of the door  ).

Everything's there, intact, connected and in great condition (save for dust). Manual and schematics were in a bag sitting at the bottom! Unfortunately, they are for the full-size upright. Very odd considering I KNOW there is a Cabaret specific version of the manual.

The AR-II board looks mint and R30 isn't burnt up. (A sticker shows it's been serviced at least once). The game board looks good too and surprisingly has no burn marks on the edge traces.

But the thing won't power on. Why? The power cord HAS NO PLUG! There's also one popped fuse. Luckily I have a brand new Atari power cord just laying around.

The trackball is toast. Completely thrashed. Will need new ball, bearings and probably rollers as well.

Control panel overlay is ok, but torn off around the trackball. Lit cone start buttons are still there (miracle!) but one has cig burns. No prob as I have spares.

Monitor glass art has a few spots where the paint flaked off. It appears to be a design flaw, as those spots are coincidentally where the cardboard bezel is stapled.

Marquee looks good. There's a hole behind it, as if to let it be illuminated, but there is NO light fixture in there, nor even evidence that there ever was. (??)
Anyone know if these had marquee lights or not? I don't see a light fixture in there.

Pic is attached.

[ArtMAME]

  NICE!!! NICE!!! NICE!!!

I definitely want to make a replica now...

Measurements and more pics please if it is not too much trouble...

Good luck getting it running...Super Sweet catch!!! 

[CheffoJeffo]

Everything's there, intact, connected and in great condition (save for dust). Manual and schematics were in a bag sitting at the bottom! Unfortunately, they are for the full-size upright. Very odd considering I KNOW there is a Cabaret specific version of the manual.

ArcArc has it (TM-189), but doesn't seem to have the cabaret-specific drawing package (DP-189):

http://arcarc.xmission.com/PDF%20Arcade%20Manuals%20and%20Schematics/

Cheers.

[Sinner]

Is that the one from the Starburst auction this past weekend??
I wanted to pick up that and the Asteroids that was there...someone I know saw them on the Friday and told me both were working...
Anyway, nice grab...are you going to restore it?

If that Asteroids was working then somebody (Grauwulf?) got a huge deal (went for $25), but my bet was that neither worked as both were labelled as hardware and would have been front and center in building 2 to keep the price up. I guess RayB would know. I didn't plug either in as the cords for most machines in the truck were hidden/missing.

Sinner -- we've never met, but were you talking to "Mike" (he's an op ... I forget his last name) by Building 1 during the first part of the auction ?

Cheers.

Yeah, could be... was he talking to a big dude??? and I don't mean tall...if so, it was probably me...

[RayB]

ArcArc has it (TM-189), but doesn't seem to have the cabaret-specific drawing package (DP-189):

Awesome. Thanks Cheffo!

[RayB]

Pics please when you get a chance, thanks.

Also measurements if you can, I am interested in making a replica or a cabaret-style cab using an Atari cabaret as a model.  Thank you.

If you want small, I'd recommend the Midway style with 13" instead. This thing, though narrower and shorter is still 220 lbs and as deep as a full upright.

[ArtMAME]

You know, I want to make a Ms.Pacman cabaret also... 

I do love the Centipede cabaret though, I am not really concerened with getting it small.  I just want some dimensions so I can style my cabinet just like it.  I would put a 19" or 21" PC monitor in it so I would probably need it to be that deep still.

I was gonna just get a bunch of pics off the web and create my own dimensions.  But if I at least have some accurate dimensions, I can create the proper proportions for it.

I was gonna also build an upright Centipede replica, until I scored an upright Centipede cab at the SuperAuctions 2 weekends ago.      

[RayB]

Update: Plays blind. No glow in monitor neck tube.

[SirPeale]

Pull the chassis.  Touch up any and all solder joints.  Also do caps at this time.

[CheffoJeffo]

Update: Plays blind. No glow in monitor neck tube.

I am now officially ticked at myself for not staying ... nice deal, Ray!

Cheers.

[eccs19]

Update: Plays blind. No glow in monitor neck tube.

I am now officially ticked at myself for not staying ... nice deal, Ray!

Cheers.

Ya, from the list I saw, it was one of the better auctions they've had there in a while.

[RayB]

I am now officially ticked at myself for not staying ... nice deal, Ray!

Yeah, but if everyone who was interested in it had stayed, it would have sold for over $300. Then you'd be ticked cuz the monitor doesn't work.
 

[RayB]

Tested all fuses *just in case*. All are good.

Tested one fuse on the chassis and I THINK it's dead (visually it looks good). It was really hard to reach with the probes and then later I noticed one of my probes has ripped off the wire. So there's a chance the probe was already faulty by the time I measured that fuse).

Removed the control panel overlay.

Got my G07 cap kit in today. Too bad I'm going away for a Paintball weekend.

[RayB]

Cap kit done.
Much tweaking was required with Screen, Focus, and the 5 color pots.

Only problem left is the video signal pins on the monitor must be loose or corroded because when I move the wires, the monitor either loses horizontal sync or loses the color red (or both!).

[shardian]

Congratulations!

That ended up being a GREAT deal! I sure wish I could go to one of those auctions...

[SirPeale]

Only problem left is the video signal pins on the monitor must be loose or corroded because when I move the wires, the monitor either loses horizontal sync or loses the color red (or both!).

Broken solder joints are possible too.  Check them and resolder.  Heck, resolder them anyway, even if they don't look bad.

[RayB]

The problem with that is... I don't know where to look. Where among all the soldered components are "solder joints"?

When I did the cap kit it had occurred to me already to "reflow cold solder joints" but I looked at all the solder points on that circuit board and A. Couldn't figure out which would be considered "cold"  and B. Don't know which points are most important or most likely to fail.  They all looked the same to me.

Pic below shows how it looks when the sync is goes out:

[Stingray]

The problem with that is... I don't know where to look. Where among all the soldered components are "solder joints"?

When I did the cap kit it had occurred to me already to "reflow cold solder joints" but I looked at all the solder points on that circuit board and A. Couldn't figure out which would be considered "cold"  and B. Don't know which points are most important or most likely to fail.  They all looked the same to me.

Last cap kit I did didn't help the monitor at all, then I reflowed the solder around the flyback and suddenly I was golden. Worth a try considering it only takes a few minutes.

-S

[SirPeale]

The problem with that is... I don't know where to look. Where among all the soldered components are "solder joints"?

When I did the cap kit it had occurred to me already to "reflow cold solder joints" but I looked at all the solder points on that circuit board and A. Couldn't figure out which would be considered "cold"  and B. Don't know which points are most important or most likely to fail.  They all looked the same to me.

All the solder points are solder joints.  Resolder the joints on the video connector pins.

[RayB]

All the solder points are solder joints.  Resolder the joints on the video connector pins.

heh, that's what I was planning on doing. I thought you meant other spots. I'll get to it Saturday!

[RayB]

Redid the solder on both sets of signal pins.
I'm done! No more problems! Everything remaining is cosmetic!

[Grauwulf]

Glad to see you got it up and running right. Now I'm sad I didn't bid against you.

[RayB]

RESTORATION PROGRESS SO FAR:

- Removed faulty back-door lock, replaced with new one

- Straightened out lower coin door damage (crowbar?)

- Sanded rusty / flaking coin doors down to metal - repainted with Tremclad semi-gloss

- Reassembled painted coin door frame and parts, added brand new tube locks (Thanks Grau!); Coin door assembly looks almost new now.

- New coat of paint on top bracket.

- Touched up 4 spots where back glass art had flaked away (due to staples that hold the cardboard bezel in). Matched colors as close as possible using Testors model paint. It's not 100% perfect, but fairly unnoticable to someone who doesn't know to look for the flaws.

- Bought cabaret version of manual and schematics of Ebay

Ordered button, ball, rollers, and overlay from ArcadeShop, so I expect to have this thing completely finished before Xmas!

[RayB]

Some more "before" pics:

[mmmPeanutButter]

I've got a Centipede upright that suffers from the "flakey glass" also.  What are you going to do with it?

[RayB]

It's fixed already (haven't taken the photo). The art in general is still in excellent condition. It's just where the bezel staples were that the art rubbed off. (So those staples are now GONE. They aren't even necessary since the glass holds the bezel in place)

I went to a hobby store and bought those little Testors model paints. I got green, yellow, blue, red, white and black. I then mixed a small amount of colors to get matches to the original colors. It took alot of testing, tweaking... I would test on the back of a "blank" area of the glass.

When I was satisfied I wasn't going to get it any closer, I carefully painted in the missing spots, let it dry, then sealed with a clear coat.

[RayB]

Fixed Glass art:
(can you find the flaws?)

[CheffoJeffo]

Looking great, Ray!
Cheers

[RayB]

Order received from ArcadeShop. Also bought some Goof Off.

Trackball now has new rollers, bearings, and ball.

New button added (it's WHITE! No longer "smoker's white")

Coin box enclosure repainted and rust cleaned off of coin counter.

[fa001]

You posted this picture of the fastener for the marquee. Did you figure out how to remove these fasterners?  They appear to be rivits?
I have one of these cabs and would like to change the marquee.

[RayB]

You posted this picture of the fastener for the marquee. Did you figure out how to remove these fasterners?  They appear to be rivits?
I have one of these cabs and would like to change the marquee.

No! Thanks for reminding me! I took that picture to ask that very same question. I'd like to remove the marquee and speaker grill. But I have no idea how those fasteners come off.

Anyone?!

[arcadefever]

hello ray,

i dont know if this will work, but i bought it last year, it's a kit to unscrew wired shape screw  i use it for my after burner, and help me a lot to dissemble the gun on my operation wolf ...

this may help not sure ?



got it at ace hardware store ...

[Grauwulf]

I'm betting if you can see the back of it, that it is a carriage bolt of some variety.

[johnvv]

Yes, those are rivets.  Common on Atari games for mounting the speaker grill and other pieces onto the cab.  I don't have a Centipede, but there should be another way to remove the marquee.  Check the manual for the game (hosted at klov.com).

[RayB]

They aren't bolts, and they aren't secruity bolts/screws either. They are "rivets" I guess... It's like a donut shape...  I remember when I was a kid my dad had a tool for using those. It would take little metal cylinders and then it would squish them down to retain parts together.

[arcadefever]

They aren't bolts, and they aren't secruity bolts/screws either. They are "rivets" I guess... It's like a donut shape...  I remember when I was a kid my dad had a tool for using those. It would take little metal cylinders and then it would squish them down to retain parts together.

i see ... so to take them out, you have to break them ...and add new ones after ?

[johnvv]

i see ... so to take them out, you have to break them ...and add new ones after ?

Removing rivets from a wood cabinet cab be tough.  You are likely to damage the wood trying to remove them.  Finding the same size black rivets to replace them is even harder.  Check the woodworking forum to see if any of the wood gurus there have any tips. 

Based on my experience, I'd recommend leaving them alone.  If you want to re-paint them, just do it with an artist's brush.  Again, there should be another way to remove the marquee without having to mess with the rivets.

[RayB]

Doesn't seem to be.
It's a shame really, as I'd like to touch up some parts of the marquee, and the wood behind it. Same goes for the speaker grill. I need to clean it and un-bend it.

I assume drilling these out won't work?

[ArcadeMaze]

X

[spriggy]

When removing rivets, use gentle even pressure on the drill, just so you pop'off the head of the rivet.... and not drill for oil!  Then use a small sharp object to ease it out (easier said then done on some old machines, but can be done when careful). 

Also, make sure you use a drill bit with a diameter smaller than the head of the rivet (and also smaller than the head of the REPLACEMENT rivet).  That way, if you do touch wood, the head of the replacement rivet will cover the touch.

Good luck

[RayB]

I'll be posting pics tomorrow. It's all restored except for t-molding.

However, after re-assembling everything, the damn thing plays blind. Monitor has no neck glow (AGAIN!)

[fredster]

Is it the Xray Protection Cap loose? 

[RayB]

Ignoring the monitor problem for the moment (no time) here are some restoration pics. It's not 100% yet, but almost there. I just need to finish the rebuilt "front side" with paint or some sort of stick-on laminate that matches the wood grain. (So far, haven't found any that matches).

I painted worn edges and scratches on the sides using a mix of Testors model paints. (I got a reddish brown, a beige and black and mixed them as needed to match the woood grain. At a glance you can no longer see the scratches and gouges).

The front black area I opted to use stick-on textured black laminate (from PartsExpress). I like that kind of smooth finish much more than the results of hand-painting would give.

[RayB]

Lastly, before and after of the control panel:

[arcadefever]

  that control panel look GREAT !!!!
The trackball is brand new ?  so whyte 
great job !!!! but your MAME panel is still my favorite 

[RayB]

Yes new ball. I regret not getting a "snow white" one though. Those ones are as white as the fire button you see there. (But cost $18!!)

I forgot this pic of the front with laminate applied, and the repainted coin box:

[spriggy]

Ahhh... another classic soon to be saved... nice work RayB!!   

[Grauwulf]

I'm glad you got it instead of me, I probably wouldn't have put 1/2 the work in to it that you are.

[FrizzleFried]

If the speaker grills are the same as my Atari cocktail,  they appear to be rivets...bloody rivets! 

[RayB]

Rivets are all gone. Now using black carriage bolts instead.

[Level42]

Hey Ray, great job !!!! Any "finished" pictures ??

Why didn't I find this thread earlier ? I envy you, you always seem to have (working) PCB's on the same cabs we have (Remember Domino's)

I also wondered about the marquee retainers on my Centipede....what a stupid idea to use rivets !

I had the same thought as Arcadefever, I have exactly the same bit set here (kinda forgot to give it back to my former employer....sorry  ) and I thought one of those would make it possible to remove them...good I read this !

 I must say in general that Atari has the wost "service-friendly" cabs from what I have here so far.....I mean, you need to remove the staples of the carton bezel to get the monitor out !
(well you know what really happems, the bezel just tears and the staples stay in....not a big problem though, it's out of sight and indeed they're not needed.)

Than the power supply......a whole range of weird voltages are required...They are all fine on mine....but the PCB doesn't work....   (Check out http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=63654.0)

Wanna trade your Centipede PCB for all the Dominos parts you want

For now, I won't do much on the Centipede...Gotta get the last things done on the Galaxian, and I just won a PCB set for my Mario Bros. It's untested so please, let me be lucky for once so that it's working......

[RayB]

Hey. All is not that good though. Didn't you read that my monitor, that I repaired, stopped working? 

I doubt rivets were used for your marquee retainers. Are you sure they aren't security bits? That's what Atari always uses for regular marquees. Mine just isn't supposed to be removed. There's no "service" reason to. Same for the speaker grill. If the speaker needs servicing, it can be accessed via the inside.

[Level42]

Hey. All is not that good though. Didn't you read that my monitor, that I repaired, stopped working? 

I doubt rivets were used for your marquee retainers. Are you sure they aren't security bits? That's what Atari always uses for regular marquees. Mine just isn't supposed to be removed. There's no "service" reason to. Same for the speaker grill. If the speaker needs servicing, it can be accessed via the inside.

You're right, I just checked the Service manual, these are bolts....duh !

Gotta also say that the Atari service docs are probably the best I've seen so far .....

Yeah, I read about your monitor...did you check F901 ? Mine is blown and I measure a short on X01....you could also power it on and GENTLY tap on the PCB's and see if anything happens (use a mirror). If so, bad solder joints...

And did you check out the video wiring you mentioned earlier ?

[RayB]

Yeah, I read about your monitor...did you check F901 ? Mine is blown and I measure a short on X01....you could also power it on and GENTLY tap on the PCB's and see if anything happens (use a mirror). If so, bad solder joints...

And did you check out the video wiring you mentioned earlier ?

Yes, that was all in regards to the first stage. After bringing the machine home. I got it repaired and working 100%. It's after re-assembly after restoring parts that it once again had no neck glow (but getting 120v). Fuses look good.  Anyways, Ill be looking it proper soon...

[RayB]

Took out chassis. Saw no visible problems. Reflowed some solder joints just for the hell of it. Re-connected chassis. Power on. Works. Just needs some H width adjustment.

[Level42]

Good to hear it's ok now

[RayB]

The almost "finished" pic:
(No tmolding on left side -- Posting this now because it could be months before I fix up the final cosmetic issue)

[RayB]

This is my cat playing Centipede. Yes, he figured out how to make the ball spin!

"I SHOOTZ UR SPIDERZ"

I have still not finished up that left side.
... and the monitor stopped working again.

[RayB]

After a trip to the basement, the monitor decided to work again. I don't know enough about monitors to figure out what could be affecting power to it before and after being moved. Quite strange.

Replaced the off-white ball with a nice snow-white one. What a difference that makes!

Next up, attempting to converge the colors! (Should I do it??)

[SirPeale]

If it works after a move, something is loose: cold solder joint, card not plugged in tightly, connector askew, etc. 

[Kevin Mullins]

One thing that gets overlooked a lot is the monitors AC connector pins. I've seen many a flaky on/off monitors because the pins don't have enough tension when connected.
Turn the machine on, if the monitor does not come on....push and pull on that connector a bit and see if the monitor fires up. (or vice versa, it dies)

[Level42]

OK.....so what's the cat's high score?

[spriggy]

  Wow... been a few years since I was regular on the forum.  Revitalised my dead arcade batteries after about 3 years.. and back headlong into my old projects with juvenile vigor 

So... what a nice way to return to the forums, to see this old lady looking so lovely (that sounded a bit poofy )

Looks gr8 RayB.. well done.