Arcade Resources
Tempest Arcade Cabinet
This Tempest cabinet is one of four I got today in my Frenzy trade.
Ever since I first met Tim Hill last December, we have been emailing about this Tempest cabinet. He said it was mine if I came and got it, but the cost of getting there with a borrowed truck or other transportation always outweighs the worth. It was empty, and just sitting around taking up space for him. So, we finally worked out this deal where I would trade him a non working but complete Stern Frenzy for Tetris, Tempest, Food Fight and Xevious cabinets. Hopefully it was a good deal for both of us but I think for me it is yet to be seen. However, he has been so helpful since I met him, and I got him a game he really wanted, so that makes me happy.
Here are some photos of the Tempest cab.
I decided on the way home today that I think I am going to sell it. The weight of having 7 cabs in my garage currently, and then the idea of tracking down all the parts for a game that I don’t feel strongly about got to me. Plus, it is the one cab that I hope can make back some of my travel costs.
Ms. Pac-man Separations Update
I had some downtime where I couldn’t use the internet last night so I spent about 25 minutes or so working on the separations for the stencils. I got through a good portion of Ms. Pac-man herself.
I am trying to decide how to make a rule for how much the pink should bleed underneath the black, or if every piece should bleed according to what is around it. If I can make the pink larger underneath a surrounding black part, like on her gloves and such, I think I am just going to go ahead and make it as big as possible. This will give me more coverage in some areas in case the registration is off.
I did find out that the stencils are a one time use though. So, even if I finish the separations for the Ms. Pac-man sideart, there is no guarantee I may get some because of the cost. I don’t have any of the tools, the mask, the airbrush, or the paints, so above the cost for the three colors of stencils I will have to invest in the other supplies. I will have to make some sort of decision of whether or not I will use that equipment again or not.
G07 Blowing a F902 Fuse
I got this monitor last year in October. I bought a bowling game that worked completely for $150 and this monitor was thrown into the deal. I immediately sold the bowling cab and everything in it for $50, keeping the monitor that worked and the one that was bad.
The one that was “bad”, worked fine the original owner said, until he did something early one morning maybe before it had warmed up, or just without thinking.
There was a blown fuse that needed to be replaced, so that is what I did. I powered the monitor up and it blew the fuse again. So the monitor sat.
Now, with the possibility that I might need it for the Xevious game, or another game, the timing was perfect when I read a thread on KLOV about what to look for to repair a G07 that is blowing the F902 Fuse. The post said that a bad Flyback and HOT (Horizontal Output Transistor – Had to have someone help me with that acronym) can cause this to happen. Usually when the flyback goes bad it takes the HOT with it. Bob Roberts has a kit that includes caps for the chassis for all of this stuff for most monitors for around $40.
I emailed him and asked him if this sounded correct. What he told me sounded more accurate. Remember the previous owner made a mistake when working with the monitor, maybe he plugged it in without a isolation transformer. Here is Bob’s email
When F902 blows it is 95% due to a shorted diode D901 thru 904 commonly
shorted by someone plugging them in without an isolation, but they can short from a simple voltage surge, as well.
When F901 blows it is 95% of the time due to a shorted flyback with the remaining 5% delegated to the HOT or other HV compent shorting.
I wish I would have emailed him about this a long time ago, or posted on the KLOV forums. Sounds like something I can test easy, figure out where those diodes are, do a continuity test and go from there. But it may be a cheap fix to just replace the diodes, and I thought $40 to repair and get a working monitor wasn’t too bad if it was a sure fix.
If it really is F901 that is blowing, then a flyback, HOT & fuses would be $30.50 making buying the kit more economical. There are no holders made to fit the mis-aligned G07 chassis… the reason that pigtail fuses are needed.
Frenzy – Going to trade it this weekend
The plan is right now that I am going to trade the Frenzy this weekend to another good friend collector for a handful of other cabs and projects.
I knew Tim really wanted a Frenzy, and this one was in good condition minus the ZPU-1001 board. He was close enough and he has been so helpful in the past that although I could have tested the market to see what it would have sold not working, I decided this was the better route to take. I don’t like the game enough to go out and buy a Berzerk Frenzy combo board, so I wasn’t going to keep it.
19K4635 Wells Gardner Monitor – Difficult to do a cap kit
It was cool outside last night, and I was feeling motivated, so I started the cap kit on the Wells Gardner 19K4600 model monitor.
Let me tell you, I thought doing a cap kit on this monitor was for an advanced user, not for the faint of heart.
I had the hardest time figuring out how to get at the bottom of the chassis board. I finally figured out that you need to unscrew the cross beams from both sides of the frame. Then, pull the sides apart and get the chassis out. There are a number of different connectors that you need to unplug, one or two from the neckboard, and a couple from the 19K4635 chassis. But even unplugging them all doesn’t matter.
Underneath the chassis board is a metal plate, held on by four screws. You have to take those screws off and then you have the plate hanging off the chassis board. There is some sort of discharge? copper spool that is soldered from the plate to the chassis board that unless you want to solder it all, you can’t take it off.
So, it was on big balancing act. Most of the caps are on the cards that plug into the chassis. One large cap, a 1000 u 35V? on the one card, and a ton of caps on the other card.
I found that on this monitor, most of the time, the size of the caps were downgraded significantly. I don’t know if this indicates how long it has been since a cap kit has been done or not, but there was a ton of dust on the chassis so I don’t think it has been for awhile.
I had found my cap kit list for this 19K4635 Wells Gardner monitor at Ionpool, and chose the Zanen Kit #201A. I don’t know why I chose this one over the WICO, I don’t know the difference. But I am glad I did, the Zanen version had more caps.
But I did find that I needed three other caps that I will have to go back for. Those three are;
- 1000u 35V
- 4.7u 25V
- 22u 16V
Spanish Eyes, Bronco Pinball Machines in Greenwood IN
Today was the first of two busy days for auctions coming up.
I wasn’t sure how much a Williams Spanish Eyes or a Gottleib Bronco (1977) were worth. I started to do some research, because they were close and there could be a limited audience of really educated buyers. I knew they were both old enough to be EM’s, so the demand on them would probably be sketchy.
My research from past pinball posts on the Google groups said that Spanish Eyes was a more fun and challenging pinball of the two than the Bronco. If I was lucky I might get $400 for the Spanish Eyes, and the Bronco for $350 depending on condition of course.
But I emailed a guy in my network, who I think must also have access to the Mr. Pinball price guide, and gave me a different story. The Bronco could go for as much as $675 and the Spanish Eyes for $500.
Now, seeing that I would flip them, and I am interested in having a ton of money tied up in the machines, the likely hood that I am going to get them is low. I watch a lot of people checking the games out. Both of them turned on, but had a relay problem? Both had a clicking sound constantly happening, like a new game and ball should come out but didn’t. They were in some model homes for a builder here locally, I don’t know what happened to them.
So, in the end, the Bronco auctioned for $400, and the Spanish Eyes went for $235. The Spanish Eyes could probably have made me some money, but the body had some scratches and some wear around the buttons. The Bronco was in great condition.
I let them go. I need a great deal to mess with them. There is that excitement when it comes time to bid, that was enough to start to think about owning them and learning a little more.
Many arcades this week at Grand Rapids
Pretty exciting. I popped out on Monday like I normally do to see if there was anything.
Well, there are a ton of games, all starting around $25.
They have a Ms. Pac, Jr. Pac (conversion), Galaga, Qbert, Mr. Do! (Pac-man cab), Arkanoid, Centipede Cabaret and Lethal Enforcers. I have a feeling I might seriously bid on the Galaga depending on condition. Supposedly it works. The Ms. Pac looks like it has great color in the sideart too, and Qbert is just a cool game.
We’ll see how this develops, I have until Thursday to decide.
