Cleaning Arcade boards..

[desiv]

I am getting ready to (finally) try to get my Pole Position II cab working again.

I know the ARII board is blown (I was there when the magic smoke left it... ), but not sure what else yet..

 

I was reading an an AR II repair webpage and they mentioned cleaning the contacts.

 

And I got to thinking (always bad..):

 

What's the best way to clean the contacts on the edge connectors? (Eraser and alcohol? or ???)

 

Do I (how?) clean the plug that plugs onto the edge connectors?

 

What's the best way to clean the whole board, while I'm at it???

(Please don't say "dishwasher," I always cringe when people recommend that..)

 

Other than soldering (replacing CAPs, etc), what else might I do...

 

Now, I ending up ordering a new to me (2 actually) AR II board, so I figure I need to prep the machine so it's all ready for the replacement board...

 

Just wondering if there are any good cleaning/restoration of Arcade PCB best practices??

 

I know it worked "mostly" when I got it. Sometimes it wouldn't on power-up, but eventually it would.

Then, because of my own incomplete research, I killed the AR II, so I'm hoping that will be all, but we'll see.

 

Thanx,

 

desiv

p.s. Yes, I mentioned on here before about possibly turning it into a multi-MAME driving CAB, but I changed my mind..

[VectorGamer]

Eraser and alcohol on edge connector is good.

 

Also, you could re-seat the ROM chips

 

Air-can the whole thing

[Melissa Melville]

Magic eraser/rubbing alcohol for the PCB edge. You could use a stiff bristle tooth brush and alcohol for the edge connector or you could just buy a new connector and re-wire. A toothbrush or air compressor will take a lot of dirt off of the board. I finish up with Qtips.

 

If your AR-II went you may want to check the volts on your power supply and make sure they are cranking out the correct amounts. You would want to check your +5 output to make sure it is not cranking out more or less. You don't want to fry another AR-II. Also if you are handy with a soldering iron rebuilding an AR is wicked easy. Slightly time consuming, but easy.

 

Pole Positions are notorious for being problematic. I had one and every time I moved it a foot I would go through and have t retest and reset everything. Feel free to PM me with any other questions you have.

[+save2600]

You can use those other boards, along with a DMM to compare vales on some of those components. Bet you blew a transistor at least and the three legged bastards are real easy to test. I know I have at least two of these boards, but need to get around to testing them someday.

 

If it turns out you blew the 2n3055 or TIP32, I know I have backstock of those, but since you have "new" ones coming, hopefully at least one of the will be good.

 

For a quick and dirty douching of an old crusted board such as these, you can spray them down with contact cleaner, rinse and let soak out in the sun for a few hours. Safer than the dishwasher, although I too have heard of people doing that. Yikes!

[desiv]

If your AR-II went you may want to check the volts on your power supply and make sure they are cranking out the correct amounts. You would want to check your +5 output to make sure it is not cranking out more or less. You don't want to fry another AR-II.

Yeah, I'll be checking the voltage, but it blew because of my not doing enough research.

I was having some probs, and someone said "just bypass the power supply and feed the board directly with a PC power supply."

I thought, I can do that, and did, and it popped.. ;-(

THEN I read up about the ARIIs and what they do when they don't sense the voltage.. So that was my impatience..

 

Also if you are handy with a soldering iron rebuilding an AR is wicked easy. Slightly time consuming, but easy.

 

I'm not great, but not bad. So I figure I can do that. But when I saw the others already working and not too expensive, I decided to go for it..

I'll still eventually try to fix the broken AR.

 

I also want to do the "sense fix" on them (if it's not already done) to keep it from happening in the future...

 

Pole Positions are notorious for being problematic. I had one and every time I moved it a foot I would go through and have t retest and reset everything. Feel free to PM me with any other questions you have.

 

Will do.. I love Pole Position (and II) and would love to have it working again. And the case is in decent shape..

I just hope it's in my ability and its not too bad..

I just read today about a battery.. :-( I have to go see and hope it didn't leak all over!!!

Whew!!! Just dug it out (I have looked at it for a few years) and the battery looks great. No leaking.

(Heavy sigh of relief)

I haven't removed the AR's to look yet, I had to move a lot of stuff in the garage to be able to slide out the boards, but I can't quite get to the ARs. This weekend I'll take a look.

 

Interesting, I read one site that talked about the damage it can do to the connector when it blows..

Well, my connectors (at first quick glance) look good, but one of them also looks to have been repaired before.

 

Thanx,

 

For a quick and dirty douching of an old crusted board such as these' date=' you can spray them down with contact cleaner, rinse and let soak out in the sun for a few hours.[/quote']

 

Will do.. I need to get some contact cleaner anyway...

Thanx too!

 

desiv

Edited August 12, 2011 by desiv

[Melissa Melville]

I have had about 10 Ataris in the arcade lineup. Some are more reliable than others. The AR's are the largest pains pains in the arse, with each version having a slightly different problem.

 

You definitely wants to check the molex connectors for discoloration and char. If the PS starts putting out too much juice it will fry the connectors and eventually the board. I had one go up in smoke, which was sad because it was the original Atari Breakout

 

As far as I know the Ataris need the AR's to run. You can bypass a lot of the junk in them, but certain things require the AR. Midway did the same damn thing with their MR-2 boards.

 

What kind of power supply are you running in there? Has it been converted to a switcher?

[desiv]

What kind of power supply are you running in there? Has it been converted to a switcher?

I have to move some stuff in the garage to be able to get to it and see in there..

(I have to be creative just to get the board out last night. )

 

If I was a betting man, I'd say it's probably an original PSU...

 

Hopefully, I can get access to that this weekend..

 

desiv

Edited August 12, 2011 by desiv

[desiv]

Hey, back to some cleaning after all..

I just got my 2 "pulled from working PP II" ARII boards...

Hmmm..

The large caps at the edge on each one (C9 - 3300uf 35v) both have "orangish stuff" underneath them, and one of them is actually dented pretty bad..

 

Hmmm.. Not sure I want to test these guys as is...

 

Any tricks for cleaning out the "orangish stuff" beneath those caps?

 

I assume I should replace them.. (I think that's withing my soldering ability, looks to be plenty of room)..

 

And they don't yet have the sense mod fix (I didn't think they would, but was just wondering how widespread that fix is...) so I'll do that on them as well...

 

So, I won't have PP II working this weekend (family coming to visit, tonight was my plug it in and test it night if they looked good. .

 

desiv

[+save2600]

Any tricks for cleaning out the "orangish stuff" beneath those caps?

 

I assume I should replace them.. (I think that's withing my soldering ability, looks to be plenty of room)

Yep, observe their values and replace them straight away!

 

Don't bugger trying to "clean" them. You'll only be wasting your time.

 

After desoldering the caps, you may want to stabilize the surrounding area with a vinegar and baking soda solution. Dip a toothbrush into it (preferably hers) and scrub away until clean. Rinse with water and let dry a day.

[desiv]

Don't bugger trying to "clean" them. You'll only be wasting your time.

 

I meant cleaning the PCB below the capacitor where the orange stuff is, not the caps themselves..

 

In a quick check, it looks like they cost about $2.50 each (didn't check how much shipping was) from a company called parts express.

 

Think I'll check my local electronics shop first, but they seem to not have the parts I want the last few times I've gone there..

(Other than their junk corner in the back, which is the real reason I go there.. Got my A-Max from that pile! :-)

 

desiv

[Cassidy Nolen]

If you have ANY 30 year old batteries that haven't given up the ghost, get RID of them. Seriously, cut them off the boards or desolder them. I can't tell you how badly those tear up game PCBs. If you are lucky enough to have a clean board, consider it a tempt of fate to keep it on there....

 

My .25

 

BTW, I once bought a warehouse deal on PP and PPII machines. I think I had like 16 machines at once. Just kept swapping parts around until I got one working then sold it, then the next, etc. until I had a box of extra boards. Sold the parts on RGVAC pretty cheap. If you find you have a dead PCB, don't be afraid to buy another dead board set and swap parts around. There are some fairly tricky parts on a Pole board. They had a few custom IC's, if I recall, that are pretty pricey. May be able to salvage one off a dead boardset assuming you have a different problem.

 

Geesh, it feels so weird to talk about arcades again. I haven't been inside a Pole machine in at least 5 years...

 

CN

[desiv]

If you have ANY 30 year old batteries that haven't given up the ghost, get RID of them. Seriously, cut them off the boards or desolder them. I can't tell you how badly those tear up game PCBs. If you are lucky enough to have a clean board, consider it a tempt of fate to keep it on there....

Point taken...

 

Can I just remove the battery or do I have to replace it?

I don't mind if it doesn't save hi scores.

 

I know I can solder to replace those huge caps with all that space, but replacing a soldered battery gives me pause..

 

Interesting, the ARII boards look to be in decent shape, except for those caps...

But I was looking at the auction again, and the pic isn't my 2 boards.

There's some cap leakage in the pics, but it's on the other side of the other of the large caps...

Both sets look to be in about the same shape...

I would have bought them even with the dented cap on the one I have, so it doesn't matter too much..

 

I guess they were selling more than one set and used the same pictures for both..

 

Does make me wonder if this set was actually the one pulled from a working PPII cab..

 

Well, we'll see...

 

desiv

[Cassidy Nolen]

No replacement needed, just leave it open. I suggest a pair of wire cutters and just snip the tabs at either end. Then make that special trip to the trash a celebration you just preserved another Atari game

 

Side note, in all of the games I have owned (over 400) the ONLY one that still had a functional battery after all those years was a Satan's Hollow. Still had scores and kept credits after 25 years. Toyota hybrids should be so lucky!

 

CN

[desiv]

OK, rookie mistakes listed here...

 

I got my 2 ARII boards from e-bait...

 

Mistake 1:

I thought there was cap leakage on the big caps, but it turns out what I thought was leakage was just cap glue.

(I didn't know they glued caps?

Oh well, shouldn't hurt to replace them anyway...

 

So I do that, and it looks OK...

I also do the "sense mod," as I can solder jumpers OK..

 

I hook everything up, and nothing..

No voltage getting to the PPII board. No LEDs..

 

Hmm..

So I pull them out and check.. Now that I look at it, one of the R29 resistors looks burned.

Did it look like that before???

 

Mistake #2..

I didn't check R29 on the replacement boards first. :-(

As this is the most common problem, I should have..

 

I pull both boards.. The other one looks OK to me, but I test it.. Nope...

I'm not an expert with a multimeter, but R20 looks to be the same (10 ohms?) and it measures 10.8 and 10.7 on my 2 boards.

But R29 measures 0 on both.

 

So, I missed it and they were already blown...

 

or

 

They were OK and blew when I turned it on, even tho I've done the "sense mod"....

(It was my understanding that the "sense mod" would prevent that... Hmm..)

 

So, I suppose I need to replace them with 2 new ones that test good. Hook it up, and if it still doesn't work, see if they blew again...

 

Hmmm.. I suppose if I ever get it working, the "thrill" of success will make this all worth it..

 

desiv

p.s. My other 2 ARIIs (that I pulled out look good except for R29, so I might as well replace those too, so I can try it with those again if it doesn't work with the new (to me) ARIIs.

 

p.p.s. Hey, I was reading that r29 AND r30 and problematic, but I just checked R30 on both of the new ones (r30 looks nice on both)... Nope, they also measure 0....

 

More to replace...

Edited August 28, 2011 by desiv

[desiv]

OK, strike 3 (or is it 4 or 5 now?)...

 

Can't get any lights on either of the 2 main boards no matter which ARII set I use, so I'm thinking now the power supply is having issues.

 

I'll have to see what I need to test where to make sure it's putting any volts INTO the ARIIs.

I know the lights, monitor (OK, I think monitor.. Can't remember for sure as I type this tho...) and fan kick in when I power up.

 

Fuses tested good, unless I missed one when I was testing...

But I haven't checked for volts coming out of the PSU yet...

 

desiv

[+save2600]

Have your replaced Big Blue yet?

 

http://arcadecontrols.com/BBBB/bigblue.html

[desiv]

Have your replaced Big Blue yet?

 

Not yet.. That's a scary looking CAP..

 

But I need to make sure it's putting out voltage at least..

When hooked up, the ARIIs aren't putting out any voltage, so I need to make sure voltage is going to them...

 

I'm hoping to take a look at it some more this weekend...

 

Thanx for that link!!

 

desiv

[keilbaca]

If you have ANY 30 year old batteries that haven't given up the ghost, get RID of them. Seriously, cut them off the boards or desolder them. I can't tell you how badly those tear up game PCBs. If you are lucky enough to have a clean board, consider it a tempt of fate to keep it on there....

 

My .25

 

BTW, I once bought a warehouse deal on PP and PPII machines. I think I had like 16 machines at once. Just kept swapping parts around until I got one working then sold it, then the next, etc. until I had a box of extra boards. Sold the parts on RGVAC pretty cheap. If you find you have a dead PCB, don't be afraid to buy another dead board set and swap parts around. There are some fairly tricky parts on a Pole board. They had a few custom IC's, if I recall, that are pretty pricey. May be able to salvage one off a dead boardset assuming you have a different problem.

 

Geesh, it feels so weird to talk about arcades again. I haven't been inside a Pole machine in at least 5 years...

 

CN

 

Certain games require a battery to be there... Qix I know is one of them. In this case, take a cordless phone battery that you can buy in any store, and make sure its the same voltage, and the same, or less amperage.

 

Cut the end off of the plug that plugs into the phone on the battery.

 

Solder wire extensions to those two wires.

 

Locate the battery far away from any board that exists in the cabinet, then solder the two leads to the positive/negative spots on the motherboard.

 

Now you can save games, without the fear of battery acid eating the boards.