Arcade Projects
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.
Starting to test Ms. Pac-man Power Supply
Kenny and Lori were over tonight, and Kenny and I got to talking about electronics, and the games I have and me ended up making it downstairs. He started to do some testing on the different fuses in the power supply to see if that was the issue with the game. It has been established that there is some sort of power problem, but figuring out exactly what that is, is the problem.
Talking with Chris in Chicago about cone buttons
Back in September when we were in Chicago, I got another email from another collector who had machines that would be willing to meet me and show me around. Well, as we continued to email some, it turns out that he needed some web design services, and I told him I could help him out, that I could do a design for him. Well, that was sometime in November, right about the time I was leaving for Australia.
Photo of the Dig Dug control panel
I wasn’t going to hold my breath, but Tim is an upstanding guy. He sent me photos today of the Dig Dug control panel. It looks good. The control panel overlay has some chips in it, but I have seen a ton worse. However, it does seem to be missing the little buttons for player one and two.
Unsure even what these were called, I did a lot of research online tonight. Come to find out, these are called “cone” buttons, and are actually very hard to come by. A pair of them run $24 on ebay and other places, which is way too expensive for my blood. Might as well just buy a complete control panel. I haven’t given Tim and answer yet, only told him that I was going to try to find out some more about these buttons and I would let him know.
Found a Dig Dug control panel in Michigan
Took some time today to get out and meet some other arcade collectors in MI. The first guy I met, Tim in Vermontsville, has a ton of games. I told him about some of the things I was looking for, and he said that he has an almost complete Dig Dug control panel in one of his other storage spaces. He said I could have it if I wanted, but that we didn’t really have time to go look today. He said that he would send me photos in the next couple of days, at my request, so I could see condition and see if I wanted to pay to have it shipping to me.
Got to play my Mr. Do! in Allendale, MI
I got to see the game for the first time. I wasn’t impressed, but for what I got it for, it was a good deal for a working board and monitor. The cab was in worse shape than the photo showed, and the joystick was set so low that it was really hard to manuever and play.
I started to think what I was going to do with the game. I wasn’t going to have it in my basement looking like this, would I just keep it in the garage? I should try to make a decision before Justin comes down and brings it with him in February, so I thought on it a little bit.
Mr. Do! bought on ebay in Grand Rapids, MI
In late November, Justin turned me on to two auctions one seller was having, very close to Grand Rapids MI, for a Mr. Do and Mr. Do Castle. They were both going for pretty cheap, so I bid on both. But I didn’t want them that bad, they didn’t look that great or so I thought, and I was at the movie when the auctions were ending.
I ended up winning the Mr. Do machine, but not the Castle. That was a mistake. The Castle was in great condition with a great cab. The Mr. Do had issues. The cabinet was terrible looking, and the board would intermittantly stop working and would need an adjustment here and there to keep working.
Justin made arrangements and went and got the game later the following week. He worked on it when he could to test the voltages and try to fix some things. At one point I sent him a new Jamma connector for him to put in, and that seemed to help things. The fuse holder was partially broken, and in general, the game had seen a lot of use so it needed some TLC.
