Crumbling connectors.

[simbalion]

Well, it appears that I have a major issue going on with the Basketball cab I just got. I got the controllers to work, then after adjusting the switches on the board to free play, the left start button quit working and the right track ball quit detecting left and right motion. I blamed this on the main controller connector as it seemed a bit crappy looking inside. Turns out this might not be the real issue. Upon unplugging the board again, I was surprised to have small pieces of the plug connectors come raining out into my hand. About 4 or 5 of the connectors in the board plug had disintegrated! Now, how can I go about repairing this short of replacing the whole harness? I assume I can get these connectors out of the plug if I know how and possibly replace them. Should I do that, or try to find a better harness, if one is even available? Either way, I'm shutting down the project for a while until I get some bills paid. What started out being a simple cleaning and controller rebuild is starting to snowball.

[SEgamer]

Do you have any pics? I'm not exactly sure how bad the connectors are, but it sounds like they might need to be redone.

 

Like most other things, it comes down to time repairing vs. money for a replacement. It isn't hard to repair a harness if you're decent at soldering and is a lot cheaper than buying a replacement, but it is really time consuming if there's a lot of connectors. My pinball machine needed half of the connectors replaced because they were pretty corroded/rusted together and it took way more time than I originally thought.

 

Are the other ends of the connector soldered straight to the switches on the controls or can you take them off without much effort? If so, you can probably see if someone has a similar harness from another arcade game.

[simbalion]

I'll have to try and get pictures tomorrow after work. These are the connectors in the main board plug. The little spring leaf bits are just falling out. Biggest thing is how on earth do those snap into the main plastic connector and how to get them back out to replace the crumbling ends. I have an EM machine being worked on that has the big jones plugs and those had similar issues, but those are also alot bigger! Must be either the climate or just the metal quality that causes this over time. I have to admit this is the first video arcade I have gotten with this problem. The sad thing is, it was basically working before I pulled the plug to check the board contacts.

[simbalion]

Ok, I got the best pictures I could. The first if of the connector and the other is of two of the spring contacts that fell out. I appear to have five damaged contacts that are critical. A sixth one seems to serve no purpose as it is one of three contacts that appear to have never had wires to it. Maybe those served as some sort of tensioners?

 

[SEgamer]

They more than likely just bought those connectors pre-assembled and in bulk which would explain unused pins.

 

You can order replacement pins from digi-key here: http://www.digikey.c...ontacts/1442691 (make sure to pay attention to the minimum quantity you can order)

 

If you want to try to repair it, you could practice taking out an unused pin to figure the best way to get the broken ones out without damaging the plastic. My guess would be to use needle nose pliers and pull them from the front (where the wires aren't soldered).

Edited May 27, 2012 by SEgamer

[simbalion]

They more than likely just bought those connectors pre-assembled and in bulk which would explain unused pins.

 

You can order replacement pins from digi-key here: http://www.digikey.c...ontacts/1442691 (make sure to pay attention to the minimum quantity you can order)

 

If you want to try to repair it, you could practice taking out an unused pin to figure the best way to get the broken ones out without damaging the plastic. My guess would be to use needle nose pliers and pull them from the front (where the wires aren't soldered).

 

Thanks for the link. These wires appear to be crimped into the connectors, so I at least don't have to worry about soldering. Got a pinball/game shop to check out nearby that I know to see if they have the connectors and possibly even to tool to remove them. My dad works on big trucks and of course the new stuff has connectors not overly different from these. Right now it's just too hot. The little AC where the games are at is taxed enough without me adding to the heat.

[Blinddog]

I’m always happy to hear about another black and white game being fixed up. You have most likely already figured it out but basically you need a crimper that does non insulated connectors, the extractor (you can make one yourself you just need a thin flat piece of metal to push the clip down) and the connectors themselves like the ones in the picture. I usually go to www.therealbobroberts.net for my parts. You can find stuff a little cheaper elsewhere and he only accepts checks or mony orders but I’ve been using him for years now and he's a good guy.

 

 

[simbalion]

Thank you! Now that I can see what type of tool is used, that should make things alot easier! I will check out that link as well. I am hoping the pinball and game repair place not too far from me might have those contacts as well. Maybe even one of the tools I can borrow. With the way my work hours are going, bills coming in, and my truck springing a leak in the fual tank, I needed this good news!