how easy is it to fix arcade machines? I have a machine I bought

Easy. Get in from the back and there's probably some pop-loose clamps that hold the control panel on. Flip it over and take a look at the mechanisms. Sticky buttons should easily just disassemble and clean. Loose joystick might be adjustable, might be a matter of replacing springs, might need a whole new stick but the parts are pretty cheap - even good ones.

>>4245074
thanks, what would be a good place to buy replacements? and is it just as easy to replace as a fight stick stick and buttons which usually just take a gentle pull on the wires and plug them back in or is it more difficult

>>4245080
A good arcade stick is usually made with literally real arcade parts so it should be exactly the same. Just shop on eBay. Weebs usually go for Siemetsu style but I'm a Happ man myself.

>>4245093
very surprised ebay was hoping there was a better a site but thats okay are all parts universal

>>4245349
Pretty much. Some really cheap buttons aren't long enough to reach through half inch board like arcade panels are often made of but yeah, the holes are always 1 1/8 inch... unless they're not - but they will be.

>>4245637
awesome anything I have to worry about deterioration wise, like the arcade machine I have is a kind of beat up TMNT arcade machine, with original parts so I want to know if anything might break down besides buttons and the stick

>>4245643
The monitor will be the thing that dies and is a thing. Work out a plan for when that happens. My local arcade uses CGA/EGA/YUV to VGA upscalers with used lcd vga monitors which makes me cringe but the normalfags seem to like it and I'm sure it makes the cabs easier to move around (and it's cheap) but I would use a PVM or consumer CRT with a component transcoder personally. Real arcade monitors are overpriced in my area.

>>4245662
ah whats a pvm? as CRTs are getting harder and harder to come by in decent quality

>>4245702
PVM is a line of fairly tellivision-like professional CRT monitors made by Sony. They're the meme "best crt" but they really are pretty nice and can still be found under $100 with some searching, which is about what you'll pay for an arcade monitor.

>>4245719
ah okay, since I am planning to buy another cabinet in the near future and I am having it in my house should I worry about having them on the same circuit or anything, I know there is not really a chance of them shorting out but you seem to know your stuff

>>4245739
Nah they don't draw a whole lot of power - about as much as an old pc and monitor. with amplified speakers and like a lamp (there's a light bulb in the marquee). It'd take like ten to pull as much as a smallish window air conditioner.

>>4245750
good I thought they were power hogs for some reason I assume the size. I guess the only thing to ask now is I know some capcom boards when the battery dies the game locks up or something like that what are the chances that a component on the pcb might need to be replaced. Thanks so much for the help by the way I went into buying my first one half cocked because of the decent price, the arcade was going out of business but this one will cost an arm and a leg so I am trying to avoid any idiot mistakes

>>4245016
My dude .. Order yourself 12 x obsf30, 2 x obsf 24, 2 x sanwa jlf tp 8y, replace. Thank me later.

>>4245093
Happ sucks and Sanwa is better than Seimitsu.

>>4245074
You can usually unlatch the control panel by opening the coin door and reaching around to the upper left and right. I wouldn't recommend going at it from the back tho, especially with everything else in the way.

Use buttons made by Industria-Lorenzo, they produced most arcade buttons used in US and Euro cabinets in the 90s. Happ shit does indeed suck, but IL stuff is quality.

You might wanna be picky about your button switches, the lower the actuation the easier they'll press down, and the comfier playing will be.

>>4246218
How do I turn off the coin requirement? My old machine came with it already off but this one warns it is on

File: ki2 control panel.jpg (186KB, 712x950px) Image search: [Google]

186KB, 712x950px

Reach up through the coin slot feel on each side of the control panel. There will be a latch there. Pop the latches open, then come back out of the machine. Grab the joysticks and pull up and towards you. The CP is on a piano hinge.

Now you can get to all of the buttons and the joysticks.

Before I bought new, I'd recommend taking your current buttons apart and cleaning both the plungers and the switches. The switches can be removed from the plunger, then you can take the plungers apart for cleaning. There's probably 25 years worth of dirt, grime, cigarette smoke, and just generally nastiness in there. Clean them up and they'll probably work just fine again.

As far as your CRT goes, so long as there's not a bunch of burn in, never get rid of it! If shit goes sideways and it starts to fail on you, a 9 times out of 10 a simple re-cap will solve all of your issues. Worst case scenario, you may have to replace the driver board or yoke board. Still though, these are not hard jobs at all. I highly recommend you subscribe to the Arcade Repair Tips YouTube and Facebook pages. Those guys are absolute geniuses. One of the guys has been working for Chuck-E-Cheeses for like 25 years as their lead regional tech. He's seen it all when it comes to failing arcade games.

Pic is of my Killer Instinct 2 reproduction CP that I made. Yours won't look exactly the same, but it'll be pretty similar.

By the way, I don't know what kind of monitor you have, but standard resolution is 320x240 for horizontal. If you run your games at their native resolution, the picture you straight blow you friggin' away. I run MAME at that resolution in my cab, and it's perfection.