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.