I think I'll give it a shot (carefully).  I can always go back to 5V if I think it's going to cause damage.

Or you could stick some resistors into the circuit and drop the voltage to something in between...

December 3

I started working on repairing the groove for the t-molding.  For some reason, the groove on the horizontal areas of the cabinet is about twice as wide as it should be, making t-molding not want to stay secured.  It seems at some point, the wood cracked through the groove down into the cabinet.  

Other spots look worn (especially the area to the left of the control panel), like someone moved the t-molding in the channel over and over again, so that some of the wood holding it was worn away.

My solution:  carpenter's glue, then clamp the channel with a spacer (pen cap) inserted to keep the correct width.







Still to do this week:  get rid of the IDC (Insulation Displacement Connectors) on the Widget board in favour of molex connectors with trifuricon connectors.  We remapped the player controls last week, as they're a little different than the original Robotron wiring scheme, but the new setup looks like a dog's breakfast, and likely won't last long.

A word about connectors:

IDCs have little channels with v-shaped knives at the bottom that strips the insulation off the wire, making a connection.  The problem is that the surface area of the connection point is very small, and sometimes causes intermittant connections.  

If you're running voltage through it, IDCs can cause heat build-up and thus cause burnt connectors.  (This is a little off topic, but this is more of a pinball problem, as I found out with my Apollo 13 GI (General Illumination) string.  I fixed it this weekend, using the same method - swapping the IDC for the trifuricon connector.  The IDC that came off was horribly burnt.  It's amazing it didn't start a fire!)

On a positive note, the new repro joystick handles arrived today from Arcadeshop ($29US for the pair of a Yellow stick and a Turquoise stick).  We'll get those installed tomorrow.  Also a repro CPO was in the same order ($40US), so we'll get started on the control panel for the other Joust cabinet.

I am referring to this as Joust #1, as it was the first one we worked on, and the first one working.







The cabinet came from MonkeyBug, and we moved everything from the "Ozzy Is God" cabinet to this one when it became available.

The control panel came from Steph.  It took a long time to remove the "goop" from the CPO.  We then had to replace all the T-Nuts on it, because someone had put screws that were far too long, and the wrong thread count into them, and the screws sheared off when trying to remove them.  The screws were so long, they actually warped the metal plate the CPO sits on.

With the new T-Nuts in place, a little wood filler, sanding, a set of joystick bottoms/Control Panel Wiring Harness from AncientGames, and a new repro set of buttons and joystick handles, a repro CPO from Arcadeshop, it all came together.  It both looks and plays fantastic!

This project is done, except for the price card that fits into the little window on the bezel, which I've downloaded, and will print out soon.

Thanks to everyone who helped make this a reality.

Very nice !

When can I get it delivered to my brother-in-law's ?




Cheers,
Steph

Very Nice.