Arcade Cocktail Tables Restoration

Optimus Prime

Cocktail Leg Nightmare haha!

Ok so here is how the legs of table looked originally.



I tried the "Coke and Tin foil" method to clean the rust off, no joy.

So... I tried the "Sand Paper Scrub" method next. Now this isnt recomended but the legs where in such a bad way it was a last resort.

It worked to an extent, getting some of the rust off, but its in the chrome at this stage i think. After Sand Paper Pics.. Looks good from a distance in this photo..



But... up close..



I scrubbed this thing with sandpaper for hours and its not getting any better than that. So.. I bought a can of chrome spray paint from B&Q the weekend and put the first coat on tonight, it will need another coat.. but it looks grand i think.

It doesnt have the shine of real chrome of course, but i think when you weigh up the loss of shine against living with rust.. i think this wins.



Up close, needs another coat.. but so far so good.

Optimus Prime

Finally getting around to spraying the base of this the weekend, then the rebuild begins. I got two 14" arcade screens off mitch so i need to test them out and see if they work.

Also bought a 60in1 board which I will disable all games except space invaders on. two new sticks with red ball tops, a surge protected 4 way thing with a 10 metre cable, a jamma harness and earth ribbon and a box of mixed connecters that always come in handy. Ive cleaned the faceplates and plastic holders off the original, just need to clean up the coin mech and black bezel off that.

Im going to start putting it together next week then i will have to look at ordering some glass for it. I have the original glass off it still but its scratched up, ill bring it down with me when im getting the new one and get them to make one up the exact same dimensions etc.

Los Lobos

I'd say a brillo pad would do a better job than sandpaper, that's what we used to use on our bike rims as kids to get rust off!

Optimus Prime

Id used metal scour things or whatever they are called, basically brillo pads without the stuff that foams up. they where too bad to be honest.

Optimus Prime

Starting putting some of this back together today. after scrubbing the 1 and 2 player control panel pieces multiple times, bleaching the white buttons that seem to be impossible to get anymore, they are a different shape then all buttons i could find.. i finally started putting it back together. Player 1 CPO first.

New Joystick and fire button (red) two whites are original. I used as much of the original parts i could, including screws i could recycle. I had to do a fair bit of McGuyvering to get the joystick to fit on properly.



Here is the back now. bit blury here..



Here is quick one of the original, to see how filth it was! The white buttons where yellowed from smoke. I managed to get most of it off them.

unky chop chop

Nice one...I have to get started on the one you gave me, I've stripped it and tried the tinfoil/coke job on the chrome but no joy, it ain't budging.


I've also been reading that Oxalic Acid is the winner for removing rust from chrome chrome, its's used for wood staining but kind of hazardous and only products here contain small amounts of it..but you seem to be able to buy it on the interweb in purer form
Where did you get the repro panel and sticks from Keith.Are they JLW's ?

Optimus Prime

I gave up on restoring the chrome myself to be honest, i dont think its possible. best bet is sand down and spray i think. hope you have better results than i did.

Bought the repro cpo off andys-arcade.net but to be honest i wouldnt bother with repros, the hole for the joystick is too small for modern ones, so if you are getting new sticks they barely fit through the hole, they dont spring back to the middle its so small.

So i didnt even use the repro 2 player one i had.. just cleaned up the one that was on it. heres a pic of the player 2 side. I went with new Joysticks because the old ones where rusted.

o1s1n

That's some cleanup job you did on that cab, fair play man.

On a side note, any cocktail I've played over the years has had the joystick sticking up vertically like a standard cab.

Always wondered how in god's name you play a game properly with a horizontal joystick

Optimus Prime

Probably end up with a sore wrist after a while. Also looks like you are fiddling with yourself under the table

Optimus Prime

Quick update, started wiring it up, most of it anyways. still havent tested the monitors, been using a dell lcd just to make sure its wired up right. was working away and then the power supply i bought to power the board blew. it was one of those external hard drive ones, so have to buy another one. I sprayed a couple of bits inside chrome, the ones that hold the control panels in place, after scrubbing the rust off them. cleaned the coin mech up too. it was playable, until the power supply blew!

Have it up high on the legs at the minute so i can work on it so it might look weird. and ive yet to sand and spray the bottom part so you can see right through the end as its off.

unky chop chop

Jebus that looks nice and clean ,great job so far Keith.

Are you not gonna just go with a normal Jamma PSU or was the other just for test purposes.
Few questions as obviously i Have one which i bought of you and have to get cracking on.

So how did you get the bottom black panel off. I removed L shaped brackets on the inside but it seems to be glued with wood, Was that the case with yours?

Are you gonna keep your joysticks and CP two-way.
I've cleaned all my panels up and they look good but I would kinda like a four way CP.

The only Taito/ Nichibutsu four way one I can see that fits with out ruining restoration is the one for Moon Cresta.
I've had no luck it finding one of those on the interweb


Ohhh did you have as much fun as i did removing those control panel bolts, took me 2 hours for each control panel..rusted to be jaysus

Optimus Prime

unky chop chop wrote:

Jebus that looks nice and clean ,great job so far Keith.

Are you not gonna just go with a normal Jamma PSU or was the other just for test purposes.
Few questions as obviously i Have one which i bought of you and have to get cracking on.

Figured its easier just to use the psu of an external hard drive than wiring up a jamma psu, ill never be sticking other games in it anyways.

unky chop chop wrote:

So how did you get the bottom black panel off. I removed L shaped brackets on the inside but it seems to be glued with wood, Was that the case with yours?

This one was just held on with about 10-15 bolts. I had to dremel half them off to get it off. dont think it was glued on.

unky chop chop wrote:

Are you gonna keep your joysticks and CP two-way.
I've cleaned all my panels up and they look good but I would kinda like a four way CP.

The only Taito/ Nichibutsu four way one I can see that fits with out ruining restoration is the one for Moon Cresta.
I've had no luck it finding one of those on the interweb

Ive disabled all games on a 60in1 except Space Invaders so only need to go left to right. Im just gonna leave it that way, i can play other games on the other cabs if i need to.

Keep your eye on this site, i bought repros off him but i didnt use them in the end because the shaft on new sticks where too big for the channel in them and they where getting stuck.

http://andysarcade.net/store/index.php?act=viewCat&catId=100

unky chop chop wrote:

Ohhh did you have as much fun as i did removing those control panel bolts, took me 2 hours for each control panel..rusted to be jaysus

Dont talk to me about it. It took me a few days to take it apart, i had to dremel off a lot of them because they where rusted to bits.

The holders on the inside of the cpos where rusted too, i had to scrub them down big time then i resprayed them chrome. same with the legs. its looks grand now though.

The Last Bandit

You not finished yet ? :D

Optimus Prime

managed to finally get the Coin mech working.. I bought one off an amusement website earlier, then i get home from work and im walking in from the back garden and what do i see, two coin mechs exactly the same as the one in the cocktail in the remaining taito mini i have, doh!!

anyways while removing one of the two from the taito mini, i realised something looking at it. the microswitch on these are wired different than joysticks or buttons! they have the earth connected as usual but instead of having the jamma coin wire on the normally open connection like everything else, i notice its on the normally closed one! so after all my messing around, buying another coin mech.. turns out i just had the coin wire on the wrong connection!!

unky chop chop

I never realized it matters what connection you have ground or 5v on on buttons/joystick.
I'm fairly sure i've randomly wired then to either connector with no problems...I could be wrong!!!
In the end does it not just create a closed/open circuit anyway...that's weird man.
So if you put them on the wrong ones, an unpressed button would just result in the button being pressed all the time in the game.
me+ electronics = fire

Optimus Prime

I think it does make a difference, if you put it on the wrong one it would be like constantly pressing the button. the earth is always the one on its own then you usually use the nearest one to that, but this coin switch only works when you use the other one.

Optimus Prime

Havent had a chance to do anything with this in a few months, but i was off today and it was sunny out so manage to get all the sanding and painting of parts done! Sanded down the metal base, coin box and a few other bits and sprayed then black, sprayed the wood lid that sits under the glass top too. Put another coat of chrome on the legs as well as the monitor brackets and two metal bits that go on the side. sprayed some bolts black too.

I picked up a colour 13" monitor off mitch a few weeks back, so when the paint is dry tomorrow i might try sticking it all together and see if it blows up! Will only need to get a new glass top cut then. have the original still but i think ill get a new piece.

Optimus Prime

I was flying along with these but ran into a small snag that held me up. I put most of the newly sanded and sprayed pieces back together, had to then use a dremel to cut down the bolts on the inside as they where too long and preventing me from adding all the inards back in.

When i got to adding the monitor in, i took the brackets off the old one that was in the cocktail, took the brackets off the newer monitor i got off mitch, and when i went to put the old brackets on the newer monitor the holes didnt line up. so i needed to drill new holes in the old brackets. Only problem is i didnt have a drill bit that would go through the metal bracket. so had to give up. I bought a pack of drillbits yesterday that should do the job. hoping to get to it tomorrow. here is a pick of it as it stands now. coin drawer is full of old 10p coins!

Looking Sexy!

CiDeRmAn

Wow, consider my gob truly smacked, that looks amazing.
Can't wait to see the monitor in and the game running.

Optimus Prime

CiDeRmAn wrote: »

Wow, consider my gob truly smacked, that looks amazing.
Can't wait to see the monitor in and the game running.

Thanks guys , hoping to get a bit more done on it today.

CathalDublin

Looks amazing, gotta get me one of these someday, they are lovely neat machines

Optimus Prime

Need some Help!! Ok guys who have messed around with monitors before.. I cant get power to the monitor, its definatly not reaching the monitor, i know this for two reasons.

1. The psu in it, the new one i put in, the light is not going green on it. it wasnt powering on with the old one in it either.
2. The fan i have hooked up temporarily isnt "fanning"

Here are some pics..

1. The monitor installed, need to line up the brackets etc but its in.



2. I stuck a plug on this wire G. It was blue\brown\green(earth) on the top G stickered side, so assumed thats where the plug goes, plus i think mitch said it goes there too.



3. Wired up the RGBVHsync to the 60 in 1 board\jamma harness RGBVHsync



4. No light on the psu.



5. No Fanning on the fan.



I think the big block thing isnt transfering power through it? only thing i can think of. what you monitor experts think?

unky chop chop

Hey Keith, it's near enough the same setup as the one you gave me.
If that monitor is 220v which I'd say it is( ask Mitch or look for sticker on the chassis) you shouldn't need that big old school transformer or any of that old wiring. Just go back to basics...hook the ground live and neutral straight to the psu from the stripped down wires coming from your main plug chord. The light will come on it if it's not a duff.
Then jump the grd, live and neutral wires coming from the monitor lead straight to the same 3 input wires.
That should fire up the monitor.

**** man Ment to reply to you!
Have you a meter?
As chop said that might be a step down traffo.
Altho your jamma psu should work on 110v afaik.
First tho I'd check your incoming power.
Follow the cable in and check if you have juice at the first terminal. If now juice there check your 13a fuse at the socket.

Optimus Prime

unky chop chop wrote: »

Hey Keith, it's near enough the same setup as the one you gave me.
If that monitor is 220v which I'd say it is( ask Mitch or look for sticker on the chassis) you shouldn't need that big old school transformer or any of that old wiring. Just go back to basics...hook the ground live and neutral straight to the psu from the stripped down wires coming from your main plug chord. The light will come on it if it's not a duff.
Then jump the grd, live and neutral wires coming from the monitor lead straight to the same 3 input wires.
That should fire up the monitor.

I think Mitch said this one is 110v, ive never really wired up a monitor before from scratch like this so im kinda lost to be honest!

urbanledge wrote: »

**** man Ment to reply to you!
Have you a meter?
As chop said that might be a step down traffo.
Altho your jamma psu should work on 110v afaik.
First tho I'd check your incoming power.
Follow the cable in and check if you have juice at the first terminal. If now juice there check your 13a fuse at the socket.

Ill have to get the meter out and see whats going on, hopefully have a look at it the weekend at some stage. when you say 13a fuse you talking about the one in the plug? It was a new plug i put on it straight out of the packet, but ill check it anyways in case.

unky chop chop

Ohhh I see, I didn't know it was 110v.but then are you sure that the transformer in that is even a step down transformer or just an ISO one. If it's a step down it may show you The output voltages on one side.
I wouldn't connect jack to it until you know.
Either way I can see you have a power switch and line filter in the mix as well.

I'd cut them from the equation...
It should really be only 2 steps if that's a step down transformer(also if it ain't you can buy one online easily)

1.First connect ac in from power chord .directly to psu to make sure it's alive.

2.Next forget about the power switch and line filter.(for the moment)..you just need to find out if that's a step down transformer. If so jump the ground, live and neutral from the ac in on the psu connections straight to input on the transformer.
Then connect monitor live and neutral to output side of the transformer.

I'm only going from my very very small amount of knowledge gained from the cocktail ya gave me.
Good luck

Optimus Prime

need to get myself some proper wire to do this right. I cant figure it out as is. Not getting anything on ac off the iso thing, i checked the plug the fuse is grand. cant figure out why im not getting any power.

Optimus Prime

unky chop chop wrote: »

Ohhh I see, I didn't know it was 110v.but then are you sure that the transformer in that is even a step down transformer or just an ISO one. If it's a step down it may show you The output voltages on one side.
I wouldn't connect jack to it until you know.
Either way I can see you have a power switch and line filter in the mix as well.

I'd cut them from the equation...
It should really be only 2 steps if that's a step down transformer(also if it ain't you can buy one online easily)

1.First connect ac in from power chord .directly to psu to make sure it's alive.

2.Next forget about the power switch and line filter.(for the moment)..you just need to find out if that's a step down transformer. If so jump the ground, live and neutral from the ac in on the psu connections straight to input on the transformer.
Then connect monitor live and neutral to output side of the transformer.

I'm only going from my very very small amount of knowledge gained from the cocktail ya gave me.
Good luck

Looking at this today I finally got my head around what you are saying haha. I understand what you mean now and I'll try this next.

Optimus Prime

Had another crack at this today. Disconnected all wires going to the monitor before doing this. Had a fan hooked up to the power.

Cut an extension cable and connected the wires like the below image.
I kept the two other wires that where connected to the switch in as well. you can see them in the image, from what i can see they go to the bottom of of the 110 side of the iso block thing.



Powered it up, the fan starting spinning it started making noise. but something isnt right, i know this because of two things.

1) The sizzling
2) The smoke!

Both coming from the 230 side of that iso block..

So i switched it off.



Any ideas? Unky chop chop? Mitch? Bueller?