Finally found a cab to convert!

[drpcken]

So I have planned on building a cabinet for a year or so now but my lack of free time has kept me from starting.  Last week a buddy of mine calls me and says he found a cabinet in a convenient store for 30 bucks, the only thing wrong with it is the screen doesn't work.  For 30 bucks I thought it must be in horrible shape so he snapped a pic and sent it to me.  Once I saw it I knew I had to have it. 



I'm guessing its in great shape for 30 bucks.  I haven't gotten my hands on it yet but I'm going tonight to pick it up.

I want to replace the bad screen with an LCD, strip the old art, repaint, put custom art on it and build a custom control panel with at least 2players (8way joystick, 7 buttons) and a trackball.  I'm looking at the I-Pac control interface, and a couple Ultra 360 joysticks.  I'm not sure which buttons are the best though.  I'm looking to get everything from Ultimarc.  Is this a good idea?  How does the U360 compare to say the Mag stick?

My favorite arcade game of all time is Killer Instinct.  So if I can get similar control feeling to that I would be very happy.

I've never done this before.  I understand how the control panel will work, but I'm not sure about quality of parts.  Any personal experience advice would be great.

I'm stoked

[whynotpizza]

Nice score.

It is always a good idea to start with a decent "shell" of a cabinet and build onto from there.

Good luck with the project....

  David

[garnerb350]

Awesome!....I didnt do so well...had a guy Tues post a listing on craiglist for the following wednesday...saying he had a Raiden and Side Arms cabs he needed to get rid of...and he was selling them $25 a piece...( both working) I didnt see it untill when i came in to work that day....

best of luck!

[mwong168]

That's an awesome score for $30.  I had to send this link to my good buddy because we always rip on this P.O.W. game and if you play it you will understand    Good luck on your restore and post up pics or start a build thread in the projects section.

[drpcken]

Thanks!  I'm going to document and photograph the entire restoration and put a blog up about it.  I'm so excited!!

[severdhed]

those dynamo cabinets are great candidates for a mame cabinet....i love how the control panel is attached to a pull out shelf for mounting the boards.

good find, keep us posted

[mwong168]

Just to further illustrate how good of a deal you got, I paid $40 for the exact same coin door on your cabinet    I totally agree with the Dynamo cabinet design because my friend has one and very easy to work with and well designed.

[mvsfan]

So I have planned on building a cabinet for a year or so now but my lack of free time has kept me from starting.  Last week a buddy of mine calls me and says he found a cabinet in a convenient store for 30 bucks, the only thing wrong with it is the screen doesn't work.  For 30 bucks I thought it must be in horrible shape so he snapped a pic and sent it to me.  Once I saw it I knew I had to have it. 



I'm guessing its in great shape for 30 bucks.  I haven't gotten my hands on it yet but I'm going tonight to pick it up.


you stole this thing. Thats the same cabinet ive got for my vertical games. its in about as good of shape as mine from the pics, and i paid 300 for mine.

And yes, it does have the very cool pull out control panel with a nice shelf to mount everything to.

make sure you leave a nice big loop for whatever you wire up though so the shelf will pull out as intended.

the only thing i dont like about this cabinet wich is soon to be fixed, im gonna put a door on the back. that thing is that their isnt any access to the bottom part except through the

coin door. I want to drop a ups in there soon.


also, if its the same as mine it should have a WGU2000 monitor in it.

why dont you fix that one? theirs places you can send the chassis to and they will fix it. i know one guy who charges a flat fee of $100 and doesnt charge you for parts or by the hour.

thats a good deal, believe me.

I want to replace the bad screen with an LCD, strip the old art, repaint, put custom art on it and build a custom control panel with at least 2players (8way joystick, 7 buttons) and a trackball.  I'm looking at the I-Pac control interface, and a couple Ultra 360 joysticks.  I'm not sure which buttons are the best though.  I'm looking to get everything from Ultimarc.  Is this a good idea?  How does the U360 compare to say the Mag stick?

My favorite arcade game of all time is Killer Instinct.  So if I can get similar control feeling to that I would be very happy.

I've never done this before.  I understand how the control panel will work, but I'm not sure about quality of parts.  Any personal experience advice would be great.

I'm stoked

[Beretta]

congrats it looks like it's in pretty good shape too.

[mvsfan]

oh and if you do send off the chassis, dont play around with 30,000 volts.

i see a lot of suggestions to use a screwdriver with a wire attached.

best bet is to look for some electronic surplus on ebay and get a lovingly used 40,000 volt probe.

my favorite thing about a probe is that it sucks all the juice out of the tube and chassis without the scary cracks and pops of a screwdriver that ive heard about.

ive never used the screwdriver cause many years ago i had to buy a probe for electronics class.

connect the ground clamp to the mental frame of the monitor and make sure its a good connection, plug the banana into your multimeter, set it to 20v dc

and stick that probe under the anode cap making sure you touch the prong, your meter should read 1, 2, etc for a second or two. dont be fooled. 1,2,3, etc is ten thousand not 1 volt. wait 5 minutes, do it again, wait 5, do it again.

as a last precaution, put on a rubber glove before you pull the anode. rock it back and forth till it pops out, and then touch the anode to the metal frame of the monitor just to be sure.

okay, your there. disassemble the boards very carefully, make sure you are ultra careful when you pull the neck board. do not pull it at an angle of any sort. Its extremely easy to break a pin, or worse, crack the glass on the neck. if it happens you might as well throw the whole thing in the trash.

anyways, this is if you decide to repair the monitor thats there.
you never want to send a whole monitor out for repair. that tube is damn fragile, and heavy. they will charge you a fortune for shipping, and theirs no guarantee at all that it will arrive unbroken. shipping is just like any other business. even if you stick fragile all over the box,

if your package happens to arrive at a terminal 10 minutes before that worker goes home and the boss says youve got to process 5 more packages, all of them will get tossed around as fast as possible so the guy can go home, trust me.

[Nipedley]

Looks like you got a nice deal there though I'm not sure the word 'restore' is appropriate if you're intending to convert it? For the record my cabinet came converted with a P.O.W pcb and I didn't like the game very much at all so maybe it's not such a bad thing

As for the above post.. monitor discharging is a well covered topic in the monitor section of the forum I urge you to read and read about it until you fully understand everything that's going on, dangerous stuff. Several guides wouldnt go amiss it helped me out first time around.

Look forward to seeing your progress with it

[Turnarcades]

That's an awesome score for $30.  I had to send this link to my good buddy because we always rip on this P.O.W. game and if you play it you will understand    Good luck on your restore and post up pics or start a build thread in the projects section.

Sorry gotta jump to it's defence here; I'm a massive co-op brawler fan. Turtles, Simpsons, Vendetta, Final Fight, Golden Axe, Alien Storm, POW, love 'em all. 

[mvsfan]

as far as the above post i just told you everything ive experienced first hand with a WG U2000 monitor.

bottom line is, make sure you discharge it completely before ever grabbing ahold of that anode wire.

my dad remembers very fondly when his dad was messing around inside of a tv back in the early 60s.

his dad got sent into the twilight zone and its one of my dads fondest memories cause his dad was an abusive sonofabitch.

[mvsfan]

you know, the truth of it is that whoever says that today kids are out of control cause they call hrs on their parents, and yes, today they do do that,

never went through anything like my dad did.

In those days the parents were always right no matter how drunk or high they were, and as long as they donated something to the local police force.

anyway, im finished with that subject.

[drpcken]

Well I got the cab late last night.  We turned it on before loading it into my truck and everything seems to work but the screen.  Classic and nostalgic arcade game sounds bellowed from the beast  .  Too bad we couldn't see anything.  The screen has some pretty heavy burn-in.  I'm just going to replace it with an LCD since I'm not looking for a totally authentic experience.

I put a quarter in to see if the coin slot indeed worked, the quarter dropped into the catch bucket as expected but we didn't get any type of audible feedback so I'm not sure if it works or not.  If not, it will still look good on the cabinet.  The PCB is in really good shape.  I'd be willing to part with it if anyone wants to pay to ship it.  After removing the back (I even got all of the keys to the cab) I realized I had never really seen the inside of a (semi) working arcade before and was really intrigued. 

The artwork looks like a sticker or laminate, I'm not sure how to get it off easily (any tips?).  I plan to sand, prime, and repaint the whole thing black.  I also want to remove the black t-molding and put on blue t-molding.  I'm going for a blue and black theme, similar to the popular mame artwork on mamemarquees website.  I have a couple of theme ideas I'm romancing that will probably require me to create it myself in illustrator and have it professionally printed.

I was a bit surprised by the control panel.  For some reason I was expecting a wooden-type panel, but it is made out of a thin sheet of painted metal that was rounded at the top to meet the bezel.  There is no drawer (that I've seen yet) like mentioned in the earlier posts.  My plans are to build a custom control panel but I have to get the metal off and decide how to mount it (at the moment I have no idea how to approach it).  The Player 1 buttons are extremely worn out and you can feel a difference between them and player 2.  Not a problem though as I'm going to order all new buttons and some U360s. 

Once I get it in my garage and make some work space I'll take tons of pictures for you guys.   

[bkenobi]

Man, that artwork looks pretty good to me.  I'd personally have a tough time removing it if it were truly that nice.  However, if it's actually faded or torn anywhere, that's a different story.  I know a lot of people like creating their own theme for their cab and they usually look great (based on the pics here).  But, I personally find complete art (even when the art happens to be for a sucky game) alluring.  Ehhh, maybe it's just me, but I wouldn't do anything to the outside other than touching up any nicks in the paint.   

[wweumina]

Well I would recommend preserving as much of the artwork as possible.  You never know, P.O.W could be someones favourite game and they are just missing that last piece...  This comes from a Champion Wrestler fan who has spent years collecting whatever original pieces as are available...

[SirPeale]

That's a dedicated POW cab.  It's probably got a K7000 in it.  Easy to repair, usually.

Don't go with the IPAC, that cab already has a JAMMA harness; use a JPAC instead.

[drpcken]

That's a dedicated POW cab.  It's probably got a K7000 in it.  Easy to repair, usually.

Don't go with the IPAC, that cab already has a JAMMA harness; use a JPAC instead.

Ok now you've thrown me for a loop   I have no experience with JAMMA.  Is that a controller? Will it work with the u360's? 
Let me get inside it and I'll post more about it.

Thanks!

[drpcken]

Ok I just read up on JAMMA and JPAC.  I don't think it's what I'm looking for though.  I'm looking to convert the cab into a custom MAME machine with a new control panel.  From what I've read JPAC is for connecting the current control panel and monitor to a PC right?

I think I'm confusing everyone with my subject by using the word RESTORE instead of CONVERT 

[Malenko]

JPAC takes the place of the game PCB. it has VGA in but you'll still need to feed it a 15KHz to display on the monitor. it also lets the existing wiring work and has connectors for more buttons

all an IPAC does is let you run wires to sticks and buttons for input.


read up some more

[Nemss316]

Depending on if you go JPAC vs. IPAC is going to depend on what you want to do with the monitor. If you use the exising monitor, the JPAC will be necessary. It has the VGA input, and also blocks any signals that can damage your monitor. Use Soft15Khz with your existing video card, or purchase an ArcadeVGA, and you're set! If you decide on using an LCD, or PC monitor, you can still use the JPAC and JAMMA harness, which is what I did, or you can rewire the buttons and use an IPAC. With the JPAC, three of the buttons are wired anyway to the JAMMA harness, and you'll use the JPAC for the extra buttons you add on.

I would recommend laying out your CP designs first.. You are just digging in, and you have a long ways to go, but you are definetely going in the right direction. Take your time, read the WIKI, and plan, plan, plan!

Agreed on the monitor suggestions also. Since the cabinet has the brackets for the monitor anyway, have you thought about using a 19" TV or PC monitor? Just an FYI, I replaced my monitor w/ my old flat panel as well, no complaints here. Plus, you dont have to deal with Soft15K, or an ArcadeVGA, though they are easy to install and use.

Great find on the cabinet! I looked long and hard for a dynamo, they seem to be the easiest to use, as far as conversions are concerned. Keep us posted!

[Beretta]

1. dont toss those old buttons, unless they're cracked you probably revive them.
if the spring feels worn out you can take the button apart and stretch it to make it stiffer.
new buttons are pretty cheap 1.20 with switch over at GGG, seems like a decent deal but those old buttons on the machine are probably still usable.

2. i agree dont destroy the side art, also keep the bezel art.. and i personally liked pow, and it was a pretty good money maker around here, usually there was someone else to play with on it, dunno where all the pow hate comes from.

3. dont use a jpac if you're going with a mame setup.. jpac is only good if you wanna drop a pc into a cabinet and reuse it's jamma wiring.. if you're going for a mame conversion there is very little point in using a jpac, the jpac will also hold you back on number of inputs.. go with a keywiz, an ipac, or if money is a issue and you dont mind some hacking get some cheap usb game pads to hack, i just went this route and they was easy as sin to hack: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=370227266989
i think these are similar if not same as the ones on GGG, if you dont mind some soldering work these have got to be one of the cheapest ways of doing it. i just bought 2 a week or so ago and worked quite nicely.

[bkenobi]

No hate for POW here.  I was just saying generically that if the artwork is cool, then I would keep it even for a sucktacular game.  I haven't played POW in a while so I don't know if it's fun or not.   

[drpcken]

I hate to disappoint everyone but I'm not really interested in keeping the art.  I really want a customized cabinet.  Is there any way to keep the art on the side?  I don't see how it could be done without damaging it.   The bezel and marquee won't be a problem to salvage though.

I have some questions in regards to stripping the current wood and sanding, but I'll save that for the woodworking forums unless everyone wants me to keep it here in one thread.

I'll be posting photos of the artwork in a few hours.  I got it in my garage this afternoon and cleaned up but my wife has the good camera in her purse and will be home in a bit.  

[drpcken]

I snapped some pics to share:





Part of bezel is a little warped, not worried about it though:


Side artwork.  I didn't get the other side, it has some scratches and noticeable damage


More coming!

[drpcken]

Coin door needs some work, but the actual mechanism is very clean and works


PCB with JAMMA


Marquee

[drpcken]

Could this be why my crt isn't working?  Notice the green wire not connected?  I know nothing of CRT's except not to touch the anode

[jtslade]

The artwork looks amazing! It would be a shame to lose it.

Wouldn't preserving it be good. Just an opinion but if you walk up to a original arcade game and at first look its playing POW from SNK. then you hit the player one start button and the 1st button on the player one controls and it escapes into the front end, say Hyperspin.
Walk up to the machine, and it looks impresive (guests that come over say, wow you have a real arcade game!)



So from:   

to the Front End:

Use a same diagonal size TV tube with Svideo input, I did it and believe it or not it was not as hard as I thought to do. De cased and discharged.

I started with this:


Now I have this:



Very glad I decided to preserve the look and save all the artwork.

Another pic of my Control Panel: Btw the Mag Sticks are great (shown in picture), downside to the U360's is that it can be tough to get them to work with all front ends if they don't have joystick support.

Started as this:


Cleaned and polished to this:


Then ended up like this:

[smalltownguy]

I completely agree. If you've got a cabinet in halfway decent shape, in my opinion it's better to try and complete the conversion while trying to preserve the integrity of the cab. Ultimately it's your choice, your project, but that's a nice looking piece -- I'd try to incorporate a 'mixed bag' approach like jtslade suggests.

I have a Rolling Thunder cab that was gutted when I got it, but the Marquee is in great shape, and my repro control panel will be in the same color scheme as the original cabinet.

I'll be taking the same approach -- boot to Rolling Thunder, with the option to exit to my Front End.

[drpcken]

jt thats incredible what you did with the CP.  How did you polish it?  And what did you use to stick the graphics on?

[Beretta]

once again i cry, save the artwork, it may have a few scratches but it has no major rips i seen and looks great.

as for the monitor never mind that green wire, fllow it to see where it goes.. looks like it goes north towards the marquee and speakers..

but more importantly look at that black wire coming from the monitor.. it's been snipped..

find out where it leads to

you should be safe touching the frame as long as you dont fondle the anode cap or lick the circuit board should be ok, should try it when the power is off, if you're scared then leave the thing off for 24 hours before looking.. it may still hold a charge but at least if you do get zapped by mistake it should'nt be serious.

[drpcken]

I found the green wire, it was a ground to the chassis.  I just noticed the black wire as well.  I'll see if I can find where it goes.

The monitor is getting no power at all, no humming or nothing.  THe game works.  I put a quarter in, and hit player one, and I get audible feed back from the controls so the PCB and CP is fine.   Figures it would be the monitor   I know very little about monitors

[drpcken]

You were right, the black wire had been cut.  It goes from the neckboard to the the largest part of the monitor, around the actual screen (sorry I can't be more specific).   If you look at the picture, there are two black wires coming from the neckboard, the one that WASN'T cut was grounded to the chassis, the one you see cut is the one I'm referring to that goes to the front of the monitor.


I stripped it and reconnected it, but still it doesn't seem to be getting juice.  Here's some more photos, maybe it will help:

[SirPeale]

3. dont use a jpac if you're going with a mame setup.. jpac is only good if you wanna drop a pc into a cabinet and reuse it's jamma wiring.. if you're going for a mame conversion there is very little point in using a jpac, the jpac will also hold you back on number of inputs.. go with a keywiz, an ipac, or if money is a issue and you dont mind some hacking get some cheap usb game pads to hack, i just went this route and they was easy as sin to hack: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=370227266989
i think these are similar if not same as the ones on GGG, if you dont mind some soldering work these have got to be one of the cheapest ways of doing it. i just bought 2 a week or so ago and worked quite nicely.

The wiring is already there and set up, it might as well get used.  IPAC and JPAC either have the same number of inputs, or the JPAC has a couple more, I forget.  If you're talking about the lack of buttons 5,6, 7, 8 the JPAC supports them, but like a Kick Harness would have to be wired separately anyway.

[Beretta]

hmm did you check the fuse? should be near where the power cable attaches to the board..

do a visual check of the fuse usually you can tell when they've blown.. if it looks ok then you'll have to check it with a multimeter.. you'll have to remove it though for a clear reading.

you might wanna post in the monitor section.. im afraid my experience with monitors is rather limited so i can't advise you on specifics.

about the jpac i was'nt aware, but you're right, i dunno how many inputs it supports but i see now the screws your'e talking about for more then regular jamma.. i thought it only supported 3 buttons and 2 players.

[drpcken]

Thanks for the advice.  I already gutted it anyway and removed the monitor.   Fuses tested fine, and that's about as far as my knowledge with CRT's go   

I didn't discharge the monitor though, so I think I need to take it somewhere where it can be recycled or properly disposed of.

 

[Beretta]

dont toss the whole thing, my guess is someone will buy the chasis (circuit board) and  maybe the frame..

the tube is probably the only thing you can't sell because of shipping cost.

you either 1. make a few bucks, or 2. at the very least offer it to someone for cost of shipping and make someone happy.

[SirPeale]

Heck yes; post your location, someone will haul it away. 

Of course, in a perfect world you'd fix it and use it. 

[drpcken]

Yea I had a feeling someone might want it.  I'm in Jackson TN, about an hour east of Memphis.

I could post in the BST thread huh?