I FINALLY Own an Arcade Cabinet

[Silntdoogood]

After years of hunting for a maching that the price is right for it's condition, AND is close enough to not cost a ton to move it (as much as I like my car, there is no way my poor little Hyundai is moving a cab) I found one. I paid someone $10 to move it for me, and that's it. I was happy, they were happy they didn't have to pay to get rid of it. The machine is in SAD shape. It's been stored in a carriage house for years, and took on some water damage. The plus side to the water damage, the back was easy to pry off, found just shy of $30 in quarters! The cab gods want this machine to live!

It's currently an off-brand billiards game. There's stickers all over it from small cab maintenance & sale companies. It's changed hands several times, and I think rebuilt each time. After studying it for a few days, I've come to the conclusion it started life as an Atari Berzerk Cabinet.

Since It's been gutted so many times, I think I'm just going to go all-out on a MAME cabinet I don't see ANY potential collectors' value.

After a inspecting wiring (and disconnecting the original transformer which was still getting power for some reason, just not outputting to anything) I gave her some juice! The light came on, but nothing else. I double checked a few failsafe switches, and fed it come currency hoping I could get a noise, and prove the screen dead, but nothing nothing.

It think it's the new power supply. However, I don't have a comparable replacement available. I'm really torn right now. I want to fix it, just for the experience. I'm really uncomfortable working around the CRT, and would rather just gut it, and sell the boards. (Or trade/gift the boards since I can't verify condition)

Thoughts/opinions?


I'll add pictures when I can.
If anyone has any useful links ot MAME threads, that'd be appreciated too!

[bennybingo]

God…I would LOVE a dedicated and original Berzerk cab. That's one that I have never seen pop up on the market in my area. Too bad it was gutted and turned into something else. I would probably try to convert it back myself but, then again, I tend to be a masochist like that!

 

Best of luck with whatever you decide to do with it!

[Silntdoogood]

God…I would LOVE a dedicated and original Berzerk cab. That's one that I have never seen pop up on the market in my area. Too bad it was gutted and turned into something else. I would probably try to convert it back myself but, then again, I tend to be a masochist like that!

 

Best of luck with whatever you decide to do with it!

That can always happen down the road. Where ever the current game board winds up, I'll send the glass too, and just slowly hunt the rest of the pieces. If I ever find the glass to the screen, maybe I'll restore it. I found a listing for the original cab on ebay, and there's no doubt in my mind who it was. The coin mech is the same, the odd tray to the left that looks like the board slid out on it...but in here, the new one is mounted to the other side, and the screen looks original...which makes me more conflicted to rebuilt the cab. I wanted to just dump a CRT monitor in it to run a small PC.

 

An original marquee glass is listed right now, but I think the price is a little steep.

[racerx]

Berzerk is a Stern cab, not Atari. Congrats on the pickup!

[Silntdoogood]

Haha thanks!
I noticed when inspecting the Ebay links, I was hoping no one would notice my mistake if I didn't draw attention to it.

Berzerk is a Stern cab, not Atari. Congrats on the pickup!

[DaytonaUSA]

Please post some pictures . I'd love to see a Berserk cab, even if it's.... not one any more.

 

I know it might not be worth the money, but are you seriously considering turning it back into one? Frankly, it would be a shame to see this become just another MAME cabinet. Rebuilding it to its former glory wouldn't be easy, I'm sure, but it would be one hell of a pay off if you could get it back like it was back in the day .

 

Seriously exited to see what you do, either way you take it. Please post pics when you get a chance, and if you need any help feel free to ask away!

[Silntdoogood]

Photos:
Front The brick, the cab sits lopsided, the frame has some serious damage.
Side Artwork on the side is all gone. I don't see an outline of a decale under the paint, it looks like they sanded it before painting
Day one This is water dripping out of the power switch, the cab looked dry before this and I was about to power it up, I let it sit a while.
Back A little screwdriver work and the back just crubled off....
Day two Coin mech needs a lot of TCL. The main reason I bought the cab was the mech, I figured if it was totally trashed, I could do something with it. This part is in the worst shape and the farthest from functional. Once in the back, I unbolted the latch and will be rekeying soon.
Playing field in one of the restoprations they put an oversized speaker grill on it not sure what to do about that...it's gonig to leave lots of holes to patch, but it's an eyesore right now.
Day three LIFE!

After a few days I got it running! Still no sound, and I don't know why, but I'm working on it. I ditched the original transformer, and am working JUST with the aftermarket PSU. It looks like power originally ran in the transformer then to the supply, but the original trans is dead. Very dead. Jumped it, and put AC right in to the new PSU and life. Right now It's on three independent circuits, one plug for the screen, one for the lights, and one for the system. Eventually I'll unify these circuits. Any advice for sound would be appreciated. Billiards is a pretty boring sport to play virtually, and the midi track would help a bit. I'm assuming it had sound, otherwise...why waste so much effort on the speaker?...which I did test and it works.

The wiring in this is...just....unreal. The original transformer fuses are soldered shut...which may have helped in it's death. The PSU MIGHT have a breaker in it, but I still see no failsafes. The main cable stretch is like a tree. You can count it's age by layers of zipties! Every time it was rebuilt, they ran more wire along side the original, ziptied everything together, then disconnected the original. There's a trunk of almost 30 wires, in three or four layers, and eleven go somewhere, five go to the transformer I disconnected.

Future of the cab:
I'm not going to straight at a restoration. Not until I get the pieces, at least. I contacted the ebay vendor above for the dimensions of the marquee, and might buy that. If I come across the pieces to bring the outside back, then I may restore it. I have decided however, to leave the original screen! Originally I wanted to drop it for a PC monitor, to get some better resolution and use the cab as a PC when not gaming, but I love the look of the low res screen TOO MUCH to part with it. After running it, I also fear it less. The current situation looks like getting the current game 100% running to test & sell, and use these funds on a restoration, however, I'm not jumping to that step. I REALLY want to play Kung-Fu in a cab again, and this will be a MAME for a short block of it's life. I'm planning to slowly piece the cab back together as I find parts.

Community question, is $50 a fair price for the marque plastic? I really don't know the cost on parts, and it's hard to judge considering I bought the cab for $10. These prices can be all over the place, I'd expect a cost like this on a pacman one, or something more famous.

Also, suggestions for troubleshooting sound?

[bennybingo]

 

Community question, is $50 a fair price for the marque plastic? I really don't know the cost on parts, and it's hard to judge considering I bought the cab for $10. These prices can be all over the place, I'd expect a cost like this on a pacman one, or something more famous.

It really depends on the game...

 

Some original marquees are hard to find in good shape. Others are sought after by folks who just want to put it on their wall as a collectible, which makes them more expensive as well. Berzerk, I would have guessed it would be between $35 and $45. It sounds like you are a bit on the high side, but within reason.

 

Personally, the marquee and all cosmetic pieces would be the last thing I would worry about. Get the boards, monitor and control panel working...then prioritize your cosmetic restoration items...that's just my opinion though.

[Silntdoogood]

Personally, the marquee and all cosmetic pieces would be the last thing I would worry about. Get the boards, monitor and control panel working...then prioritize your cosmetic restoration items...that's just my opinion though.

I understand. Like I said, I'm not going to feverishly work at tracking down restoration parts, but since this one is sitting right here right now, I can't imagine I'll come across pieces with too much frequency.

 

I found a JAMMA pinout for it, and was about to go tearing in to the wiring, until I decided to just start adjusting some random rheostats and see what happens...turns out the volume was off. *facepalm* That was a fun four hours. Who turns the volume OFF?

 

Edit: grammar

Edited May 20, 2014 by Silntdoogood

[Silntdoogood]

(Can anyone help identify the monitor connection)

[DaytonaUSA]

Can't help on the monitor connection, but I just wanted to say I like where you're going with this. If the monitor is nice, and you can figure out how to connect it to a PC, it would be great to do a MAME cab that way. Heck, you could make the outside look like whatever cab you like, and it could play that game.

 

My only question is what condition is the wood in? If the back crumbled that easily, wouldn't the rest be like that?

 

Don't worry about the coin slot mechanism. If you're using it for MAME, the coin slot is really just for show, no? I don't know what lights it takes, but I have extra coin slot lights (over 30 in fact lol). If you need a couple to get those lit up, I wouldn't mind shipping you a pair to help you out.

 

Repaint, some silkscreen decals, new controls, hook ups on the monitor, and the MAME PC. Lots of work, but perfectly doable.

[Silntdoogood]

Can't help on the monitor connection, but I just wanted to say I like where you're going with this. If the monitor is nice, and you can figure out how to connect it to a PC, it would be great to do a MAME cab that way. Heck, you could make the outside look like whatever cab you like, and it could play that game.

 

My only question is what condition is the wood in? If the back crumbled that easily, wouldn't the rest be like that?

 

Don't worry about the coin slot mechanism. If you're using it for MAME, the coin slot is really just for show, no? I don't know what lights it takes, but I have extra coin slot lights (over 30 in fact lol). If you need a couple to get those lit up, I wouldn't mind shipping you a pair to help you out.

 

Repaint, some silkscreen decals, new controls, hook ups on the monitor, and the MAME PC. Lots of work, but perfectly doable.

Thanks for the support!! From what I'm reading, the side decals to the original cab were just stenciled and airbrushed. A tiny chunk of red I thought was paint scraped form something else, I now think is actually original to the cab, and I'm going to carefully chip it off to have the original color matched! I want to stencil the design back on.

 

Most of the wood is rather sound, but what isn't, is bad, and I don't know how I'm going to fix it yet. It was made with two different woods. The back that crumbled off was particle board, which basically absorbed/held moisture like a sponge and self destructed. The rest of the cab is plywood and held up much better on almost the entire cab except the bottom, where so much has eroded away, it doesn't sit even. The floor of the cab is not breached. I think I'm going to flip it over, try to cut off that wood along the green line, and glue on new...almost, "treads", of wood? Just something an inch or two high, the thickness of the original board to run the length of the machine, then sand&paint it to match. (If that description makes sense) The red line is where the bottom of the board should be. The other side in on the ground, this side needs a brick in the back, and a brick and a half to get close to sitting even.

 

I appreciate the light offer, I may need that, I'm missing one bulb, the other I've yet to test, still no power to the sockets.

 

I think I'm also going to set the control panel aside, and start one from scratch. Something I can add extra buttons, maybe a player2 joystick, without tearing apart the wiring and re-drilling the original, if I ever get the chance for a restoration.

 

Also, does anyone know where to get this plastic edging, or a name for it? It's really beat up. (Also, shows how much wood is gone, this edging reaches past the brick and wood,still drags on the floor)

 

Edit: as for the connection, I think I'm just going to assume its RGB and order parts...see what happens. I don't know anything about EGA YUV RGB CGA to know the difference, but a talk with a local electronic repair man (who was rather rude about the whole conversation) has me a little more comfortable in the decision. I think as long as I step the screen down to the proper level and don't distort the aspect ratio TOO much, I think it'll be good. I just can't run a passive VGA connection (easily).

Edited May 21, 2014 by Silntdoogood

[racerx]

Also, does anyone know where to get this plastic edging, or a name for it? It's really beat up. (Also, shows how much wood is gone, this edging reaches past the brick and wood,still drags on the floor)

 

T-molding...available from any number of places.

 

http://www.t-molding.com/store/home.php

 

Not sure how well it'll work with that much water damage, though.

[Silntdoogood]

 

T-molding...available from any number of places.

 

http://www.t-molding.com/store/home.php

 

Not sure how well it'll work with that much water damage, though.

Some careful glue work should make up for that. It's still gripped pretty well, there's just huge gashes in it. I really like this selection, and don't know if I should go back to the textured black, or metallic, or green. Thanks, this site is bookmarked and will see some traffic from me!

 

I ended up ordering the ArcadeVGA card, rather than trying to find a signal converter. From what I read, this should fly with the current monitor, so determining EGA YUV RGB CGA is less of a concern.(...unless this doesn't work when it comes in.)

[Silntdoogood]

GOOD NEWS EVERYONE!

I had a friend over to collaborate thoughts on restoration. Wiring, woodworking, and so on. I tried to pull a paint chip off to match, so I can repaint. I had a little blue and red showing. While picking at it, the wrong paint came off, so we picked some more off, and finally...


Just about the time I think this thing is out of surprises, I find something new! There is a gloss finish that the new paint didn't properly bond. The black splotches above aren't missing paint, it's just black not yet removed. Retrieving the original sides looks possible! If anyone has suggestions, I'm open. There are are few points I did some damage to the original, but I don't thing it's all that avoidable. Right now I'm just using a credit card on the easy parts. The warm parts of the cab have bonded the paint better, and are much harder to separate, I was using a nickle there.

[DaytonaUSA]

Nice man, hopefully that nickle isn't the damaging the Berserk paint. I'm not sure how you'd get that all off, honestly. Although I hope you can. That's an awesome surprise though .

[Silntdoogood]

I hope no one minds an update on an old post. I received some friendly advice from an art restoration company on proper uses of acetone and some other methods to help strip the outside paint off. I've got one side roughly done. I'm probably going to use the exposed paint as a template to repaint the original work back.

I purchased the original game board on ebay, but it needs a little TLC. Some diodes are smashed/ removed, a row of DIP switches needs replaced, but I have the original board! A marquee cycled up on ebay, but I missed it, and I'm watching a bezel, but the seller has a hold on it no one can seem to reasonably bid above...it just keeps getting resisted.

I ended up frying the screen chassis (sad times) and spent months gathering information and trying to fix it. I know it failed because of a faulty isolation transformer. I tested all fuses, diodes & resistors - Good. The way the screen was collapsing, I originally thought it was a HOT problem, it wasn't. Checked the other transistors – Good. Put it back together to try to take some readings and realized there's no neck glow like I thought there was.... SO, retested all diodes, resistors & fuses, found one bad resistor which traces in to the high-voltage parts of the board. I talked with some people who said my problem sounded like a high-voltage unit failure, and wouldn't be worth it to fix. I gave up. I'm keeping the board for parts (maybe a restoration) and ordered a new chassis PLUS new isolation transformer.

My question for anyone with experience, do I put the isolation transformer between power and the screen, or between power and EVERYTHING? I am not risking this same failure a second time. I can't afford it. If anyone can link to some reputable wiring advice, I'd appreciate it too!