“Citrus Cleaner” for arcade control panels
Stopped by Home Depot tonight after dinner and picked up some of Zep’s Cleaner and Degreaser, I called Richard to make sure it is the right stuff. Supposedly this work loosen up and ground in grime, and also give a control panel a great shine, not to mention make it smell nice:)
Here is a photo of what that looks like here on the right. He also recommended Mr. Clean’s magic eraser, so if this doesn’t work that is what I am going to try next.
Working on Dig Dug control panel, sanding carriage bolts
Worked today a little more on the control panel. I kept using the Simple Green and scrubbing away at the base of the control panel and the black spray paint. I feel like I got a little more of it off, but not very much. Plus, the area around it is turning a shade of black from the dirt and grime in general, so I may need to find out something else to clean this off.
When I spoke with Richard Ford today, he recommended that I get one of the Orange cleaners, a Citrus type cleaner, and let it set on the panel. He said not only should that citrus work in and loosen that up, it should also clean off the rest of the control panel and give it a great shine.
I also took the time to track down and prep some bolts that go in the control panel to hold on the joystick. I had a couple kicking around, they are those short carriage bolts that are so hard to come by. The heads on a couple of them were rusted so I sanded them down before I put them in the game to give it that small extra touch of making it look new.
Dig Dug Project Restoration & Repair
Welcome to my restoration / repair notes for my Atari Dig Dug machines. Over the course of my ownership I had a lot of problems with these two classic arcade machines. One Dig Dug started as a Land Sea and Air Squad, painted solid black. I restored that Dig Dug completely from the ground up, tracking down parts on ebay and through other arcade collectors over two years. The second Dig Dug was a nicer cabinet that I bought with the intention of trading. Both Dig Dugs gave me PCB and power supply problems right before I sold them to collectors in Indianapolis and Kentucky.
So, I hope these repair and restoration notes help you with your Dig Dug. I love comments, so leave me one even though I no longer have these games. You might be able to help someone else, especially those of us who hate those dang Atari power supply boards.
