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| Tech advice and help.... |
| If you don't have a working knowledge of electronics, collecting arcade games can be a bit hard on your wallet and your mental health. Most of these "classics" are getting to be almost 20 years old.. ever had a 20 year old car? They tend to need a wee bit more TLC and time to keep em running. Arcade games are the same way. Even though these machines were designed for industral use (or abuse), the original manufactures could have never predicted some machines would still be wanted (let alone expect to still work) 15-20 years later. So were do you start? A trip to your local Radio Shack to pick up a book called "Basic Electronics" and another "Basic Digital Electronics" are my suggestion. The internet is also full of helpful tech releated sites, and user/news groups also have fellow collectors willing to help out. A bit of a warning however.... 1) These are electronic devices, and can hurt or even kill you if you start poking around and don't really know what your doing. 2) If you have no clue how to fix something ..make sure you do a bit of "homework" before diving head first into it. What could have been solved by a $12 cap kit could turn into needing a new $250 montior in the wrong hands. 3) Some parts are becoming harder and harder to find.. and will only become more so 4) Don't expect to take a DOA game and have it up and running that same afternoon..take your time, find out the right info..and the right parts. I find one of the biggest joys of this hobby is rebuilding the machine.. and doing it right. Kind of equipment you'll need for basic repair - a GOOD multimeter - a nice soder station - degaussing tool - a strong back - some kind of clean workspace - time on your hands - a good set of general tools Tech releated links.. Gamearchive.com Wire Tap Arcade Collectors Archive - Huge amount of Tech related goodies |