Hello

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woodsmic

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Hi,

Im Mike, and I recently bought a seaside arcade that had been going for 50+ years, was only sold due to the owner passing away..

My background is in IT, and im a keen electronics hobbyist.. Ive also owned fruit machines for over 25 years, and used to play them a lot in the wild. But I realised there is only ever one winner and stopped playing probably 15 years ago. Probably why I invested in my own arcade when the local one to me went up for sale..

I know next to nothing about video games, but I have recently found a lot of old arcade boards, parts, marquess etc in the loft of the arcade.

I found this site via facebook, where I have already posted a lot of photos of the arcade boards I have inherited.. Including a Bubble system, with metal cage, Marquee and origional box!

My main reason for joining though, it to try and get some help on 4 pacman ball pushers that I have. Of the 4 machines, only 1 worked, and now that is dead too. They use Namco system 10 boards. I'll make a new post in the relevant forum about that!

Thanks, Mike.
 
qjuk

qjuk

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Welcome to the Vac!

Sadly, PacMan Ball is at an age now where a lot of the machines are developing problems and parts are hard to come by as I believe Namco no longer support the machine. Hopefully, you might get a couple of them going using parts between the 4 machines.
 
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Bods

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sounds like someone needs to make a replacement board for Pac Man Ball or an emulated one

Sounds like a fun business venture buying an old arcade :)

Welcomes
 
69er

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Welcome …I too have seen your fb posts and noticed the “sell it me” vultures wishing to buy now ? Some may be genuine collectors/fair deal folk , but you are better trying to find out yourself what the games are

As a few are labelled like Amidar etc you can acquire the pin outs for edge connectors from sites like MikesArcade.com USA he has numerous pin out and dip switch info listed just navigate his site to pin out info ( easy to remember his website too aptly similar to yourself) make up a basic adaptor to test pcbs.

Also look up the game boards on ‘klov’ arcade museum . com as the pin outs may also be displayed and reference to rarity (not always gospel) but pcbs on those pages are often priced to sell at bottom of the page as a possible indication? Eg an amidar shown on there at present working is priced at $395 so could be excess of £250 here in the uk and the label on yours says working .. you could get lots of offers of around £50 to ‘take it off your hands’ ? You yourself admit knowing next to nothing about video games …. Best learn quickly!

I don’t repair Pac-Man ball (well retired) but have had a few issues I cured on our own and neighbouring arcades in north wales where salty cold winter sea air affects several metal cased games during winter closure.

Sometimes the games don’t reset due to mechanical faults and doesn’t always shout please call attendant .. eg following coin entry chute jams it’s possible the opto sensors wires get swapped over accidentally,,, I used to remove our boards in winter and shelf them in our bedroom at home as the majority of reset issues happened in March when we all opened for the season.

I once just washed a neighbours damp dusty cash kong pcb in kettle hot water and dried it in front of the fire for a couple of days and it miraculously worked fine for over two years not necessarily a cure on all boards but it does clear battery green corrosion deposits where it’s not too intense!

Good luck with the arcade ,,,, video games have lost popularity except the more desired ones like time crisis and some sit down twin drivers tho other shooters and well known games will attract customers if you can give them space as odd days they won’t get a single play but same can apply to novelty games fruits or cranes ,, it’s what appeals to your patrons works best for you.

Families like a pool table or air hockey and kids love coin pushers with prizes easy to win at 2p and coin payouts… one problem with Pac-Man ball is they don’t suit prize payouts … the number of gold chains and key rings I have un-jammed from rear hoppers is unbelievable but people soon realised when I highlighted the issue and charged them £25/hour minimum call out to clear them … also the early new small 10p had a more rounded edge and often tried to pass each other in the elevator runs where they joint heading up to the play shelf ..this became more common when the later steel based coins emerged in 2012 as they increased in width from 1.7mm to1.9mm same diameter but differ to maintain weight ( if you stack 10 older lion pre 2012 copper based coins along side a stack of 10 newer magnetic ones , it’s possible to slide the top coin of the new ones across to the stack of thinner ones giving 11 in one stack and 9 in the other).

Best to perhaps find a good replacement novelty cabinet as chase repairs long term? Especially if the tv isn’t displaying as the self test switch us then a bit hit and miss as you can’t see the test menu list.
Also the side lamps are 100v , hard to find, so you may end up fitting led under counter style ones wired down to the mains transformer in the base?
 
Last edited:
W

woodsmic

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Credits
22CR
69er said:
Welcome …I too have seen your fb posts and noticed the “sell it me” vultures wishing to buy now ? Some may be genuine collectors/fair deal folk , but you are better trying to find out yourself what the games are

As a few are labelled like Amidar etc you can acquire the pin outs for edge connectors from sites like MikesArcade.com USA he has numerous pin out and dip switch info listed just navigate his site to pin out info ( easy to remember his website too aptly similar to yourself) make up a basic adaptor to test pcbs.

Also look up the game boards on ‘klov’ arcade museum . com as the pin outs may also be displayed and reference to rarity (not always gospel) but pcbs on those pages are often priced to sell at bottom of the page as a possible indication? Eg an amidar shown on there at present working is priced at $395 so could be excess of £250 here in the uk and the label on yours says working .. you could get lots of offers of around £50 to ‘take it off your hands’ ? You yourself admit knowing next to nothing about video games …. Best learn quickly!

I don’t repair Pac-Man ball (well retired) but have had a few issues I cured on our own and neighbouring arcades in north wales where salty cold winter sea air affects several metal cased games during winter closure.

Sometimes the games don’t reset due to mechanical faults and doesn’t always shout please call attendant .. eg following coin entry chute jams it’s possible the opto sensors wires get swapped over accidentally,,, I used to remove our boards in winter and shelf them in our bedroom at home as the majority of reset issues happened in March when we all opened for the season.

I once just washed a neighbours damp dusty cash kong pcb in kettle hot water and dried it in front of the fire for a couple of days and it miraculously worked fine for over two years not necessarily a cure on all boards but it does clear battery green corrosion deposits where it’s not too intense!

Good luck with the arcade ,,,, video games have lost popularity except the more desired ones like time crisis and some sit down twin drivers tho other shooters and well known games will attract customers if you can give them space as odd days they won’t get a single play but same can apply to novelty games fruits or cranes ,, it’s what appeals to your patrons works best for you.

Families like a pool table or air hockey and kids love coin pushers with prizes easy to win at 2p and coin payouts… one problem with Pac-Man ball is they don’t suit prize payouts … the number of gold chains and key rings I have un-jammed from rear hoppers is unbelievable but people soon realised when I highlighted the issue and charged them £25/hour minimum call out to clear them … also the early new small 10p had a more rounded edge and often tried to pass each other in the elevator runs where they joint heading up to the play shelf ..this became more common when the later steel based coins emerged in 2012 as they increased in width from 1.7mm to1.9mm same diameter but differ to maintain weight ( if you stack 10 older lion pre 2012 copper based coins along side a stack of 10 newer magnetic ones , it’s possible to slide the top coin of the new ones across to the stack of thinner ones giving 11 in one stack and 9 in the other).

Best to perhaps find a good replacement novelty cabinet as chase repairs long term? Especially if the tv isn’t displaying as the self test switch us then a bit hit and miss as you can’t see the test menu list.
Also the side lamps are 100v , hard to find, so you may end up fitting led under counter style ones wired down to the mains transformer in the base?
Click to expand...
Thanks for all of the tips, you have been very helpful!

The PCB trays on the pacman's are very rusty, though the boards don't look bad apart from a bit of dust and some dodgy looking capacitors.. I might clean them in a bit of isopropol alcohol, and test the caps. We are right on the sea front so lots of moisture and salt to contend with. If I ever get them going, I think taking them home over the winter months is a very good idea!

I would like to get a few classic games in the future - perhaps something like space invaders, bubble bobble and pacman. These are the type of things I used to play as a kid. We do have a Puzzle Bobble, that is set to 50p a game and has made under a fiver since August! Probably best to get rid of that one lol.
 
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