Caltrops - Xenophobe





	[quote name="Ice Cream Jonsey"]Have you ever tried to do any work on the arcade games you've owned over the years? My Crystal Castles cocktail game is no longer powering up and the advice I initially received was to get a "Big Blue Capacitor" from the Real Bob Roberts. I was able to do that. The Buying Shit Over the Internet portion of arcade maintenance I have no problem with. But Christ, it's difficult to get the existing one out of there. For those people who are not intimately familiar with arcade capacitors, it's like a can of Pringles, only a third the size. It's held on by three screws, two of which I removed but the third one I can't get to because the monitor is in the way. I've heard about all the horror stories regarding monitors on these things throwing out more electricity than the last ten minutes of "The Hulk" when you try to monkey around with them. Can you just remove the monitor and worry about discharging it later? It can't be as dangerous as the Internet indicates, can it? I played CC fairly regularly in the six years I've had it, but with it now not working I'm starting to loathe its existence. I asked for some help on this already. Things are in motion!: [quote]<b>Fussbett</b>: "I've only ever fixed the controls of my games. I've never ventured into the guts, beyond just swapping compatible JAMMA boards. So good luck! I say you try it, because at worst you break the monitor of a game that doesn't work anyway. How hard can it be? You unplug the monitor from the board, unscrew it and take it out. Sounds easy. But, are you sure you can't unscrew the entire PCB instead, and remove it to work on it? I've never had a cocktail table, so what I just said might be crazy. Standup cabinets are CAVERNOUS."[/quote] The PCB is positioned on the side of the cab, neatly tucked away. When I initially opened it up there was a spider's web hanging out, which is pretty embarrassing and, I guess, indicative of how often I go poking around in there. All it lacked was the sound of a Daggerfall door opening when I pulled the glass table up. The monitor does have a little burn-in, so shit, if I broke it I can probably afford to get a new 14" replacement. In the normal CRT world your choice of 14" monitors is only limited by your desire to dumpster dive. A Wells-Gardner monitor of that size is what, 50 bucks? 60? I'll pay it. I'm going forward. (But for God's sake if I'm probably going to kill myself by removing it, someone please step in.) the dark and gritty...Ice Cream Jonsey![/quote]