How I spent my summer.... and about $75.

[[d2f]Iggy*SJB]

I haven't been around these parts much, as I've moved a few bits away from the classic console scene. My gaming interest has gotten into something a bit....... larger. For those not on KLOV, here's a short back-story:

 

In 1980, there was a pool hall/arcade across the street from my house. I found out that a kid from my school's parents owned it. We became friends, and I started hanging out there. In 1984 it burned down. I was pretty tight with the family by then, and when they decided not to re-open, asked for my help in moving stuff out of there. For my efforts, I was given a Lunar Lander and a Paddle Battle(Pong clone). 32 years later, I'd moved a lot closer to the home of this family, and gotten into assembling my own home arcade. I'd picked up Super Pac-Man, and a Dig Dug cocktail. Both required some work, but were made functional fairly cheaply.

 

I was making my way to our local Dollar store late one morning, and the folks who'd owned the pool hall happened to be outside. So I hobbled on down to talk to them. It had been some time since I'd seen them, as I never know when they are home. We talked a bit, and I mentioned I had just gotten and fixed up a Dig Dug. I was asked if I wanted a Poker machine, and I explained that I'd already had one. But, because I'd helped move all of their other machines down there, if they had Poker machines, they just might have the old games still. So, I asked. They were on their way out of town, but they told me they thought they still had a few of them. I arranged a deal with them for when they would return in April. Sadly, there was only 1 left from those days. And it was in rough shape. VERY rough shape. But it was mine, if I could haul it away. No money changed hands, they simply gave it to me.

 

 

 

There were some who said that even a machine they'd played BitD, in that condition, they'd want to be paid to take it. That's not my way. I wanted this cabinet, because of the memories it gave me. I'd wished they had more of them(there were 15 in total), but alas, the others had been junked over the years. Only memories remain.

 

My work was cut out for me. There was the remains of a mouse nest in the bottom, along with lots of debris from trees, or whatever it may have traveled under. The top was straight up missing, the back door had been pried open at some point because a key had been broken off in the lock, it was water damaged, T-molding coming off, chunks missing, etc.

 

Like I said.... rough shape. I'd known I was in for a challenge, because of the probability of PCB damage from the battery. In that, I got lucky. It cleaned up nicely, and the board stack worked. In fact, the machine worked.

 

For all of 5 minutes.

 

*POP*...... screen went to no signal. Well, that was better than expected, I suppose.

 

I went around back, and turned it off. I did a little investigating, and found some components on one of the AR-II boards had blown(that was the popping sound). I proceeded to finish the clean-up job, since it was too late to go out and buy parts. I had already bought new "Big Blue" capacitors for the power supply, so I replaced them just for GPs.

 

The next day, I got a fresh start on it. I pulled the AR-II board, went online and matched components. Rode out to the parts store and got replacements. Once they were in place, fired it up again....

 

 

Well, that's an improvement.

 

I pulled the boards again, this time I installed the "test point mod", to ensure good power flow to the PCBs, re-seated all the socketed chips, and that brought me to this point:

 

 

The "red" in the monitor kept going in and out, and it had a nasty curl at the top. It was playable at this point, but a bit annoying. I was advised to re-cap the monitor, and see what that did. Given it's age, and that I know it hadn't been worked on for 30 years, it was a good idea. So I ordered the kit, got it, and got to work. 3 hours later(it was my first time), here we are:

 

 

Looking good, Billy Ray! Feeling good, Lewis!

 

Awww, shit. The "red" was still intermittent. I did a little poking around, and found the problem. The harness connector from the PCBs to the monitor was damaged. Fortunately, I'd gotten a complete power supply/harness replacement, just in case. I went to the spare harness, cut the same part off, removed the old one, put the new one in, and BOYAH!! Been fine every since.

 

Now comes the "fun" part........ that poor cabinet. That poor, water damaged, dilapidated cabinet. I'd cleaned it pretty damned well, but it still has some discolourations from the fire. Nothing for that. I'd gone out and gotten a bottle of wood hardener, and used pretty much the whole thing on it. It worked pretty well, to be honest. I then glued the T-molding back in place, I used some Gorilla glue and a tie down strap to glue the back bottom back together. Not "good as new", but definitely better than "this thing's headed for the scrap heap".

 

In all, I spent several months and about $75 rebuilding this thing. I would say it went well, considering it was a serious learning experience. It now stands next to the Lunar Lander that once gave up it's spot for it. That's right.... when they bought the Pole Position cabinet, that was when Lunar Lander made it's way to the back room for storage. I remember that day.... I helped re-arrange the line-up that day. For that, I got to play-test it a few times. =D

 

It's also a hit with my friend's kids:

 

 

Moral of the story? Sure..... there's one. If you want something, go for it. It may take some work, and others may scoff at you for it.... but you can do it.

[Flojomojo]

That's awesome. The kids look happy, too!

[Silverfleet]

Awesomeness! I love stories like this. Also, this reminds me that I have a Galaga in a Galaxian cocktail cab in my basement that needs some serious love. If your Pole Position could be brought back, then there might be hope for mine!

[[d2f]Iggy*SJB]

Awesomeness! I love stories like this. Also, this reminds me that I have a Galaga in a Galaxian cocktail cab in my basement that needs some serious love. If your Pole Position could be brought back, then there might be hope for mine!

 

The difference between "these days", and years ago, is that we have all of the information on these beasts at our finger tips. Between the two Arcade forums I'm on, I've found all of the info I needed to bring these back to life. Parts, generally speaking, aren't expensive.... and in most cases, can be gotten. I never would have thought I'd be able to disassemble a monitor and repair it to nearly new(with just a little burn in).... but I did it. Sure, it's discoloured, but that's part of it's story. The difference between when I got it, and now, are night and day. I also really enjoyed doing it. I learned a lot on that cabinet. And if I could do it, so can you. Cocktails can be a pain to work on, depending on what needs work. I would really hate to work on the monitor, but the PCB area is relatively easy.

[+GoldLeader]

Nice!

 

Quite glad I read this!

 

Cheers!