Arcade Machine Restoration Cabinet

Arcade Machine Primer

I thought it would be good to have something for people new to the arcade hobby to read and help them get a jump on the learning curve that you face when starting out. One of the hardest things is understanding the terms used, and how each part relates to each other within an arcade machine. I remember before I got in to the hobby my imagination ran wild with what was on the inside of a cabinet, all sorts of wonderful things. To my surprise when I investigated with a bit more seriosity (my word, I patented it) inside the cabinet was just a bunch of wires and dusty old, electronic components that looked like they would electrify me at my first touch.

The reality of course is they are fairly simple machines that have a few components that work together to play those awesome games we love. So to hopefully help some people new to the hobby I put this together.

This primer is not going to cover every variation of a possible scenario but will provide the basics of how an average arcade machine works. There is some jargon that is thrown around and below are the most common words to be aware of.

• Cab - Arcade cabinet, not a taxi lol. Cocktail = Tabletop, Upright = Larger 6' in size, Lowboy = medium height around 4-5' in height.
• Control Panel - Just the section of the arcade machine that holds the joysticks, buttons or other controls.
• Arcade Screen (Monitor or Tube) - Just the TV tube in the cabinet. They come in several types and brands. Most arcade games work on 15khz monitors, some work on 24khz and others work on 32khz. But 15khz is by far the most common. Requires a Chassis to be of any use.
• Monitor Chassis - This is a PCB that is normally affixed to the side of the machine. Cables then run from this up to the monitor. This takes the video output from the game board, and allows it to be displayed on the Arcade Monitor.
• Switching Power Supply (PSU) - This is the power supply that provides +5v, -5V and +12+ to arcade PCB's.
• Step Down Transformer - Most arcade Chassis run on 110V. The power out of the wall in Australia is 240v. So the step down transformer takes this 240V and transforms it in to the 110v the arcade Chassis requires. Also called an Isolation Transformer.
• Arcade PCB's - Just the game boards that you plug in to an edge connector to allow the game to run in the cab.
• Arcade Harness - This is the collection of wires that run from the game board to the different components within the machine. Jamma is the most common harness used.
• Edge Connector - This is the physical interface between the game board and the jamma harness. The Game Board plugs in to this.
• Jamma - This refers to the pinout that a game board uses to connect to the rest of the arcade machine. A Jamma game board will have 28 gold looking pins on the top and bottom side of the game board. Each side has it's own pins and functionality and plugging the game board in upside down will likely do big damage to the game board. More on this below
• Ground - This is the earth for all the metal parts of the cabinet as well as allowing all of the switches to work correctly. On the PSU there is a ground connector labeled "FG", this ground wire runs back out of your cab and to the wall socket and is used to ensure all of your metal components are grounded. The coin door, control panel, power supply and step down transformer will all likely be connected to this ground circuit. There is also a Ground on the arcade harness and this connects to the power supply connector labeled "GND". This is the ground used by all of the switches and electonic components for your cabinet through the arcade harness.

These are the main basic terms to be aware of and cover the most common components of an arcade machine.

===== So, how does an arcade machine work? =====

1) Out of the wall socket comes the 240v power and this enters the machine and generally goes through a switch. It also generally goes through a fuse also. It is important to remember that any time you are working on a machine it should be switched off and unplugged, unless of course you are adjusting the monitor picture.

2) From here the power cables often run's to a distribution box that distributes the power to various parts of the cabinet. A common looking distribution box is below:

SPOTTERS GUIDE - What is that cab ? Cabinet Structure Mains Electrical - Safety Considerations - Earthing - Fusing - Harnesses DC and Game Harnesses Cabling types and capacities Connectors - manufacturers, series, suppliers, tooling

Feel free to edit PACMAN, MS PACMAN COCKTAIL CABINET PLANS, by dezbaz Dedicated cocktail machines and Kyle Linstrom's plans were great, but the monitor was attached to the hinging top, which was attached to one side. A new version was devised and added to [aussie arcade] in Metric format The plans have been released here pics are available with cut lists Woodgrain versions are also available so the grains all run the right way Hinged control panels are used to allow for switching to 8 way games easily, as the dedicated control panels were fixed down.

Tools needed to build a cabinet are 1. xx 2. xx 3. xx 4. xx 5. xx

a tutorial is available to make 8 x cabinet glass top clips