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-   -   Hello out there... (http://www.videokarma.org/showthread.php?t=245956)

JBL GUY 09-15-2009 12:32 PM

Hello out there...
 
Hello Group....

As a former pinball...juke box...pool table...video game shop manager and lead technician and since no other posts in this forum...Just stopping by to see if there are any others out there.

And this forum just plain looked sad with the "Never" in the postings box.

So I decided to be the first to post in this forum just kinda a "Seed" post.


It has been years since I was involved in this...My last stint was as a contract service provider for a local game shop operator. It was just a part time gig but the money was good...He had a lot of older games that no one wanted to work on...So I named my price and he bit...The conditions were kinda crummy...But like I said the money was great...

RDusel 09-17-2009 12:40 PM

JBL guy,
You must have enjoyed what you did. I've often dreamed of doing pinball/video game repairs as a professional but around my area (NYC suburb) it pays almost nothing..

JBL GUY 09-17-2009 01:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RDusel (Post 2954620)
JBL guy,
You must have enjoyed what you did. I've often dreamed of doing pinball/video game repairs as a professional but around my area (NYC suburb) it pays almost nothing..

Thanks for the reply...Yep it is that way around here also if you work full time for them not much money in it.

But this was just a part time gig and I told him that the only way I would do it was on a per unit basis and he had to supply the parts...

IIRC and it has been a long time...I charged him $50.00 a piece and I could usually knock out 8 or 10 on a Saturday afternoon...Most of them just had simple common problems...But he had not been able to find anyone with any experience...Bad for him good for me.:thmbsp:

Thanks again for the reply.

grumpy 09-17-2009 02:02 PM

Welcome to VK. I would have never gotten any work done in an arcade :)

RDusel 09-17-2009 02:16 PM

Grumpy,
Doesn't part of you want to play the game and part of you want to open it up and see how it works?
Seeing the clever implementations of basically standard equipment is always fun for me..
Rob

JBL GUY 09-17-2009 03:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by grumpy (Post 2954628)
Welcome to VK. I would have never gotten any work done in an arcade :)

Grumpy thanks for the welcome.

The "New" does wear off after awhile. And although I enjoyed working on them I have never been much of a gamer.

My ex was a big gamer and I used to spend time with her...but it was not my favorite way to spend time playing video games.

Quote:

Originally Posted by RDusel (Post 2954629)
Grumpy,
Doesn't part of you want to play the game and part of you want to open it up and see how it works?
Seeing the clever implementations of basically standard equipment is always fun for me..
Rob

My fist gig doing this was a long long time ago and some of the games like...

"Tankers" were actually made up of all TTL logic chips...Before any CPU games. And it was kinda cool to open the game and see a big old card cage with IIRC 4 or 5 18" by 18" cards all fully populated with SN74xx series chips. (Not to mention huge 5 volt supplies...this was in the days before widespread use of switching supplies).

Actually that was one of the common problems on those old games...

The cards plugged into edge connectors and the connectors could not handle the current.

Of course those games were used in places where back in the day smoking was allowed..And the residue would do a number on the card contacts and joy stick contacts.

Ah...The memories....:yikes::yikes::):)

Kamakiri 09-17-2009 11:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RDusel (Post 2954620)
JBL guy,
You must have enjoyed what you did. I've often dreamed of doing pinball/video game repairs as a professional but around my area (NYC suburb) it pays almost nothing..

My friend Levi Nayman does pretty well at it, around NYC :)

http://www.crazylevipinball.com/

My old Firepower is in his personal collection.....

AUdubon5425 09-18-2009 05:51 AM

Hey there -

I'm working as a service technician for a local amusement company, working in the field on a few arcade games, CD & internet jukeboxes and (mostly) video poker machines. I took the job to learn more about modern electronics and am enjoying it so far.

ChrisW6ATV 10-25-2009 06:36 PM

Hi, JBL Guy and others.

I repaired Electrohome monitors for the game manufacturers in the early 1980's, and I have done repairs on pinball machines (mine) and jukeboxes. At home is a Rowe AMI MM5 jukebox awaiting further restoration when I have the time.

timofred 10-31-2009 07:52 AM

Once lived above a general store and in the laundry out back was a tabletop Pacman.
Raced that thing upstairs and pryed open the door (does that count as tech ?),to get free games. Enjoyed that for over a year.
Put it back in the laundry when I left, as much as I would have loved to take it with me, I just couldn't do it.

mbates14 11-07-2009 08:14 PM

I am not that great with video game repair, but i know a little bit about it. I got a casino video poker V2336 i think it is. none of the lights work. lol. the tower light is dead, and the button lights are dead. everything else works. the bulbs are powered from a 6.3v AC supply and each bulb gets pulled down to ground via TRIACs on the control board. 6.3VAC is at all the lamps, and i changed the triacs. no bad fuses. i guess the actual logic ICs on the main board is bad. heck i dunno.

RDusel 11-07-2009 10:10 PM

A few years ago I found a Tron upright video game next to a dumpster for a restaurant that was being remodeled, it had been rained on for days.
Dried it out, replaced the lower 12" of the case (which had been ruined by the rain) with black melamine board and the game came on and worked perfect. It's living in my friend's game room. Amazing how hardy the early circuits were.
Mbates,
I once repaired an early digital pinball game with a lot of failed lights. Turns out that a lot of the triacs were toast. When I changed them I found that there was also a driver transistor between the logic circuits and the triacs that were blown (from long term excessive heat). After changing the driver transistors I got all the lights to work.
Perhaps you have the same situation?
Rob

mbates14 11-07-2009 11:24 PM

yea i looked for that. if i remember correctly, i believe the triacs were interfaced directly to a 74HC chip. there was 8 of these chips total. i think they were 8 bit tri-state buffers.

MarkingTime 04-28-2010 04:01 PM

Is there a listing anywhere of favored mechanics/techs for various regions? I found a solid one --CWA up in Waupaca, Wisconsin [http://www.cwass.com/ ], but was shocked when they said they serve the Chicago market alot (~4 hours away). In the orig. home of Williams pinball, and I think Midway, it's sad to see knowledgeable fixers are so few and far between.

julianburke 12-26-2010 01:33 PM

I'm in Knoxville, Tn. Although I hate working on many brands of monitors, I am very good on the Electrohome G07 series. I have plenty of parts for them as well as many parts chassis. If anyone needs a little help on these let me know. They rarely need a CRT and can be made to work excellent in a Pac Man or Galaga!


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