myPinballs
Active member
Another quick question for Nintendo arcade experts. The screws which hold the top marquee bracket on, are they supposed to be zinc plated or black japanned? Mine are all getting replaced as are rusted to death.
Nintendo Space FireBird Upright Restoration
- Thread starter myPinballs
- Start date
myPinballs
Active member
Quick update on some progress. I started the stripdown and work on some electronics today (my favourite parts) - The old monitor chassis boards.
I had a quick check of the boards earlier when working out what kind of tube replacement i was going to need and the 3 boards all looked in good condition although very dirty and caked with dust/dirt.
I also worked out today that the earlier nintendo monitors 'in the box' are labelled as 20-DZC and there is a schematic avialable for them via the radarscope schematics. However the scans aren't very good and so the image you get is pretty blury and hard to read. Anyone with some better scans of the schematics or a way to find some originals would be much appreciated.
Here are some pics. I made myself a discharge tool using an old screwdriver as suggested by Johns arcade and had no trouble dismantling the chassis, neck and audio amp boards. It was all fairly straight forward as the 'box' has lots of space and room to move about. Not so cramped like (by the looks of it) on the later 20-EZC ones.
Before cleaning
After cleaning
Next i went through one by one and create a file of all the electrolytic caps on each of the 3 boards. I will be changing all these, starting tomorrow with what i have in stock then will order the ones i don't have. I can also publish the file for anyone else that may want to use it in future or check against other records. I think its always good to record what is actually on a board for reference, especially as its all looked factory.
I've also noted down the flyback model as F5022TIH and the HOT as D870 (2SD870). These are both slightly different form the Sanyo 20-EZC. I was going to change both of these as well just for future proofing even though the current flyback all looks in good condition , but was wondering if the new F5024 flybacks for the EZC available would still work? I can get the D870 i think.
More tomorrow hopefully.
myPinballs2015-11-28 22:40:22
I had a quick check of the boards earlier when working out what kind of tube replacement i was going to need and the 3 boards all looked in good condition although very dirty and caked with dust/dirt.
I also worked out today that the earlier nintendo monitors 'in the box' are labelled as 20-DZC and there is a schematic avialable for them via the radarscope schematics. However the scans aren't very good and so the image you get is pretty blury and hard to read. Anyone with some better scans of the schematics or a way to find some originals would be much appreciated.
Here are some pics. I made myself a discharge tool using an old screwdriver as suggested by Johns arcade and had no trouble dismantling the chassis, neck and audio amp boards. It was all fairly straight forward as the 'box' has lots of space and room to move about. Not so cramped like (by the looks of it) on the later 20-EZC ones.
Before cleaning
After cleaning
Next i went through one by one and create a file of all the electrolytic caps on each of the 3 boards. I will be changing all these, starting tomorrow with what i have in stock then will order the ones i don't have. I can also publish the file for anyone else that may want to use it in future or check against other records. I think its always good to record what is actually on a board for reference, especially as its all looked factory.
I've also noted down the flyback model as F5022TIH and the HOT as D870 (2SD870). These are both slightly different form the Sanyo 20-EZC. I was going to change both of these as well just for future proofing even though the current flyback all looks in good condition , but was wondering if the new F5024 flybacks for the EZC available would still work? I can get the D870 i think.
More tomorrow hopefully.
myPinballs2015-11-28 22:40:22
Ronnie Dent
Active member
The chassis looks the same as the later 20-EZC did you follow up that offer for a tube on your wanted post from Paul Cowan?
Ronnie
Ronnie
myPinballs
Active member
Ronnie Dent said:
Yes, i'm in the process of trying to organise this. In terms of the chassis rebuilds, i was wondering if the slight differences in HOT and flyback models would make a difference? The flyback is a slightly different design i think, from the pics i've seen, as the top of it has a metal bracket secured via a u-shaped metal wire with nuts on the top.
Ronnie Dent
Active member
It looks like the tube I have would not fit your neck board socket so I would imagine the one Paul Cowan has is the same as mine but he may still have the chassis with it? or if not I have a spare one that I took the loft from but the board is cracked
Ronnie
Ronnie
myPinballs
Active member
Ronnie Dent said:
Yes, thanks for the pics. That's why i wanted to double check things. I'm going to keep looking for a tube of the correct type as the chassis, neck and amp boards i have are all in good condition, no burns or cracks. I am looking forward to servicing these. I want to try and keep everything as original as possible for my restoration, not the easiest route i know, but more satisfing (for me anyway)
Its a real shame that the exact tube i am after was sold on here just over a month ago!! Timing, damn! More chassis servicing/rebuild pics coming later today hopefully
Ronnie Dent
Active member
Yes it could take some finding, I sourced a tube for a friend either on vaps or klov forums he had been looking for years, this guy was very up on crt stuff but was in Italy and he got the exact tube needed from an old TV it was a videocolor tube, the guy was happy to pay the shipping from Italy plus the cost of the tube and arrived safely in the UK, so you might need to spread your search wider to other forums such as Dragons lair KLOV and VAPS
Ronnie
Ronnie
myPinballs
Active member
Some pics of the first part reassembled. Got some proper flat T moulding ordered and should be coming soon to. The other stuff was wrong. Doh!
myPinballs
Active member
Some updates on the monitor situation. I managed to source an old monitor via my pinball contacts (for free ) and got a used but good condition 19" ex RFM monitor. Its the ducksan model though not the wells gardner one, but the samsung tube is unburnt, it works and i can rebuild the chassis boards caps to solve the other issues it has.
Here's the monitor as i received it:
Here's how the tube looked after disassembly and a clean up
And here's a pic of the tube installed in my 'wooden box' monitor case. The old tube removed and the inner parts of the black plastic surround cleaned to
I don't think you can tell from the front that anything is different so that's good. The new monitor tube fitted exactly in place with no dramas. The repaired chassis board will mount into the case rear ok as there's lots of space and i can get a video invertor board/amp board to fill in the other missing piece.
I will keep the original 20-dzc recapped chassis boards in case another monitor of this type ever comes up.
I'm feeling good that a full working 'monitor in a box' is not too far away now
myPinballs2015-12-05 20:05:38
) and got a used but good condition 19" ex RFM monitor. Its the ducksan model though not the wells gardner one, but the samsung tube is unburnt, it works and i can rebuild the chassis boards caps to solve the other issues it has.Here's the monitor as i received it:
Here's how the tube looked after disassembly and a clean up
And here's a pic of the tube installed in my 'wooden box' monitor case. The old tube removed and the inner parts of the black plastic surround cleaned to
I don't think you can tell from the front that anything is different so that's good. The new monitor tube fitted exactly in place with no dramas. The repaired chassis board will mount into the case rear ok as there's lots of space and i can get a video invertor board/amp board to fill in the other missing piece.
I will keep the original 20-dzc recapped chassis boards in case another monitor of this type ever comes up.
I'm feeling good that a full working 'monitor in a box' is not too far away now
myPinballs2015-12-05 20:05:38
Fantastic news buddy
That looks in great shape also
I can't wait to see this fired up
That looks in great shape also
I can't wait to see this fired up
myPinballs
Active member
Chuckie egg said:
Thanks mate
I'm struggling a little working out what to do about the missing psu stuff though. I want to have an original power board with wooden block and outlet connectors etc eventually, but i might need to use a switched mode one with a connector adapter on temporarily if i can't find one in the short term. Any ideas on where to look for an original one?Really enjoying the journey so far though
myPinballs2015-12-05 20:23:43
Ronnie Dent
Active member
Jim the rfm screen the image is inverted to project on to the glass so you might need to rewrire the yoke in some way? I have a spare analogue psu and the screen brick from a table firebird but the psu was a replacement not standard but it looks nothing like what you should have, or I'm sure Duncan can sort you out with a power board in the meantime from an upright game.
Ronnie
Ronnie
myPinballs
Active member
Monitor back together and new chassis board mounted inside the wooden box after a full capacitor change and all working again. Nice crisp, bright and colourful picture. Also, plenty of adjustment for horizontal and vertical sizing/posn now to. A few hairy moments when testing as i was using an old rfm computer box to test the screen which decided at that moment to give up sending a video signal. Surfice to say that i thought it was a problem with the monitor reassembly at first. Unbelievable!
Some pics of the new hardware in the old monitor box. Ignore the mirrored images. These are generated by the pin2k computer system and prism card for use in a pin2k cabinet. The monitor is stock.
Now i know the monitor is working nicely i can install the box back into the main cab and move focus to the pcb testing and sorting out a power supply.
On the cab front, I have taken a load of metal parts to the powder coaters including some of the monitor box mounting brackets, so will update with pics once those are back. Still waiting for the flat t-moulding. I have begun work on rewiring the mains cabling, switch and fuse assembly. Waiting for a new original spec fuse holder to arrive,t hen can post some pics of this part
Some pics of the new hardware in the old monitor box. Ignore the mirrored images. These are generated by the pin2k computer system and prism card for use in a pin2k cabinet. The monitor is stock.
Now i know the monitor is working nicely i can install the box back into the main cab and move focus to the pcb testing and sorting out a power supply.
On the cab front, I have taken a load of metal parts to the powder coaters including some of the monitor box mounting brackets, so will update with pics once those are back. Still waiting for the flat t-moulding. I have begun work on rewiring the mains cabling, switch and fuse assembly. Waiting for a new original spec fuse holder to arrive,t hen can post some pics of this part
Very nice job on the monitor mate.
Cracking on buddy
Monitor is looking sharp
I've had mine re capped today it's looking amazing
I can't wait to get it finished
Monitor is looking sharp
I've had mine re capped today it's looking amazing
I can't wait to get it finished
myPinballs
Active member
Some updates to post. Been making steady progress with the electronics side and have found a temporary arcade psu to use from an old university project. Also gone through all the schematics i could find and painstakinly repaired the power looms that were cut in half for the 4 board pcb stack.
Connected up the pcb and checked all power inputs are correct
Created a new video cable loom to run form the 4 board stack to the ducksan monitor
Installed everything temporarily into the main cabinet and powered on to see what happens!
Now i know this isn't great, but from where i've started i'm pretty chuffed to get a picture of something viewable on the screen. I know the monitor is now working ok, the power supply works, the looms work, the video lead works and the pcbs output something. Now to work out what's up with the pcbs. But first its time for some ales
myPinballs2015-12-12 20:38:01
Connected up the pcb and checked all power inputs are correct
Created a new video cable loom to run form the 4 board stack to the ducksan monitor
Installed everything temporarily into the main cabinet and powered on to see what happens!
Now i know this isn't great, but from where i've started i'm pretty chuffed to get a picture of something viewable on the screen. I know the monitor is now working ok, the power supply works, the looms work, the video lead works and the pcbs output something. Now to work out what's up with the pcbs.
But first its time for some ales myPinballs2015-12-12 20:38:01
Good work so far at least the board is producing videoHurray Banana2015-12-12 22:08:48
myPinballs
Active member
Another quick update. Had a closer inspection of the 4 stack pcbs boards today. Took them all off the metal carrier and cleaned all dust and dirt off. Reseated all eproms and programmed myself a new set of video roms (just the 2 2716's) as one had a corroded leg.
Plugged back in and after a little adjustment with the monitor brightness i got this
Pretty damn happy to see this i can tell you So now i'm after a video inverter board from a vs system if anyone has one. The AV-01 pcb. I could make my own inverter board and amp and may still do that as another project, but would like something to use in the mean time. The image is a little bright currently!
Plugged back in and after a little adjustment with the monitor brightness i got this
Pretty damn happy to see this i can tell you
So now i'm after a video inverter board from a vs system if anyone has one. The AV-01 pcb. I could make my own inverter board and amp and may still do that as another project, but would like something to use in the mean time. The image is a little bright currently!
Great progress
I'll have a look for a inverter I am sure I've got one somewhere.
I'll have a look for a inverter I am sure I've got one somewhere.