Arcade Otaku - アーケード オタク

(Pics to be added later)
So I picked up the Neo 19 redstallone was selling, and it arrived yesterday morning (extremely well packed, all the plastics survived shipping!).
Sold with the following description:
"Monitor no burn.
Power-supply is a little bit "noisy", but works fine.
Cab needs a clean.
No gameboard included."

Little bit of thomj syndrome (missing screws) but nothing untoward I wouldn't be cleaning up or replacing anyway.

All good. Get it unwrapped, check for loose cables and PCBs inside and power it up. Works! However the monitor is flickering like mad, the focus is terrible, and I can hear it arcing. Power off, discharge, remove it, clean the anode cap and anode and apply some silicone grease around the edge of the cap - power it up outside the cab and it's clean, no flicker, no arcing. Reinstall back into the cab and the picture focus is spot on, just needs some brightness and geometry corrections.
Power supply is noisy - it's emitting a good few dB of white noise, not sure what this is yet. Flo tube is a bit flickery but it seems to be working correctly, and all the wiring looks to be intact.

I'm not going to be too anal with cleaning - it's only a little bit grubby inside, not worth my time stripping the whole thing down. The outside needs a good scrub and a lot of polishing - to get it mint would need a respray and new side arts, but it's only the sides that have scratched paint, the front is perfectly okay so I'm just going to clean it up as best I can.

Tasks to do:

• Sort the PSU noise out/Recap motherboard audioFigure out why PSU is noisy with motherboard connected
• New foam sealing strip inside the hood
• New hood bolts and washers
• New carriage bolts for the coin mech Sourced with another mech in Japan
• New flo tube (& starter?)
• Clean and polish hood
• Clean and polish marquee windows
• Polish start button art
• Clean and polish screen cover
• New PCB board (does anyone have dimensions for the original?)
• Clean black base (maybe respray)
• Get repro stickers for the hood (230mm diameter)
• Clean and polish remaining metalwork

Awesome stuff, glad to hear it arrived safe and sound. Looking forward to seeing some pics.

Cab guts aren't too interesting? I currently have bits of a Cute taking over one room, and bits of a Neo 19 taking over another. House is a total mess.

The mounting board size would be a good start.

Ah but a mess in a good way

Looking forward to seeing this.

Why didn't you chuck this in the Gallery?

And need pics man!

Because I'm asking tech questions and don't feel the need to take a macro shot of each and every polished button as it happens?

tetsujin wrote:Why didn't you chuck this in the Gallery?

And need pics man!

This for sure, i had the male chicken out ready to go, but no pics

cools wrote:Because I'm asking tech questions and don't feel the need to take a macro shot of each and every polished button as it happens?

* Kernow mode *

It's a cab. I don't mind it not looking as minty as the flyer, but I do want it reliable with a good screen

I'm sure she looks great. Cant wait to see it



* please get me some macro shots of the buttons though...

kernow wrote:

tetsujin wrote:

cools wrote:Because I'm asking tech questions and don't feel the need to take a macro shot of each and every polished button as it happens?

* Kernow mode *

Oh no, its him!

Got the base reattached last night (fun stuff, needs half the cab taking apart to be able to get the screws in), and the last task of the day was to take the PSU apart to check out the noise. Quick look inside, nothing loose or obviously fubar. Reattach cables one at a time - all fine, until I attach the motherboard. Gets noisy again. Check voltage, it's a touch high so drop it down and the noise reduces a tiny amount.

Will test more later, but anyone have any idea what in a PSU would cause loud white noise? It's not squealling, just a constant sssssssssssssssssssssssssshhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh noise.

Hmm, I'll bash them about with a wooden spoon later. I've read about ceramic caps causing noise but not necessarily old electrolytics.

Electrolytics can definitely make noise when they've burst, dunno about when they're just dried up or whatever. I would have thought it wouldn't be working at all if that was the case. Give the switching transformers a prod while you have the spoon out.

Capacitors/resistors/general components are one of the biggest pains in the backside ordering online. No local Maplin in walking distance either. Gah.

Swapped the flo tube out with one I think came out of the last Pony 25 I got. No more flicker! And I've isolated the noisy PSU to what I'm guessing is the main DC transformer. Suggestions for silencing it? I've tried removing it - no dice, it's glued in very solidly, I'm worried about damaging something else trying to remove the glue. Tried tying a cable tie around the coil but it made no difference whatsoever.

Wrap a cable tie (or 2 if necessary) lengthways around the ferrite so that it goes under the TF, tighten it as hard as you can.

See my pic above, probably gonna have to pick off that blob of glue, it might be old and brittle by now anyway.

Aha, vertical rather than horizontal.

Already tried removing the glue. It's still flexible and adhesive!