Started working on the Tron cabinet today. I needed to disassemble it so I could paint it. Taking this thing apart will also make it much easier to clean thoroughly. This cabinet is probably the most complicated cabinet I’ve ever worked on.
I took a few pictures along the way:
Here is the art that shows the MCP through the shroud over the monitor.
This is the view from behind the cabinet through the shroud window where the MCP art usually sits.
Here is a shot of the lights near the control panel, with the panel removed.
Front view without the shroud.
Front view fully disassembled
Back view fully disassembled
Volume and test control bracket – severely bent up
After disassembling the cabinet, I focused my efforts on cleaning up the bottom inside area. This is where the AC power components (mounted on a piece of plywood) and the main game PCB boards are installed. I was able to really cut back on the amount of AC power components there were in the cabinet since many of them were used to feed the old power supply board that I replaced with a switching power supply converter kit. This really cleaned up the area well, and even gave me a nice place to mount the switching power supply. I took apart the whole assembly to sweep off 25 years of dust and grime, and to organize it a bit better. Here are some more pictures of the progress.
AC Power assembly board without components replaced by Switcher kit
Components replaced by Switcher kit – not longer needed!
AC power assembly board all cleaned up and put back into the cabinet.
Here’s the “guts” of the game all cleaned up and ready to go!
Another shot of the inside bottom of the cabinet.
Closeup of the Switcher Converter kit mounted on the cabinet wall where the old Power Supply used to be.
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13 users responded in this post
I was kind of waiting for you explain to beginners how you keep all of the parts straight and organized when you completely gut a cabinet to repaint it. At this point in your collecting, you probably can remember and know how all the electronics work and go together easily and can re-assemble blindfolded, but someone who doesn’t know, should they label the parts, take specific photos?….
That’s a great question. I’ll have to take pics of what I did when I reassemble it. I basically took a ziplock bag for each “set” of parts, like the control panel brackets, marquee brackets, etc. to keep the screw and misc parts together. There are nice breakout drawings in the manual, but this is much easier. As for the AC power board I took apart to clean, I laid the screws out in the same arrangement I took them out from, so I could easily place them back in the same place. Oh, and take LOTS of digital pics for later reference. I did this for wire colors on speakers, etc.
Couple of interesting coincidences here. I just started my Tron restoration one day after you. Thanks so much for the detailed pictures. They’re actually very helpful in finding anything missing/different in mine. I did much of the same steps yesterday. Stripping the cab and getting ready to paint. Please keep the details coming!
And its okay for non-Jeff’s to post also.
I think there are more Jeff’s collecting than any other name…
I’ll keep them coming. I’m probably going to be doing the cabinet filling, sanding, and painting this week. Hopefully finishing it up by the weekend of the 4th.
Hello there. My Tron is up and running but I think the power supply is on its last leg. Where did you find that switcher conversion kit? Appreciate the help.
You can get the switcher kit from the parts page on http://www.arcadeshop.com. They have just about everything you’d need for arcade game restoration. You’re looking for the item called “MCR Power Supply Conversion Adapter”. You can also get a complete kit that includes a switching power supply if you don’t already have one.
Wow, so you were able to pretty much clear out all of the hardware on the floor of your TRON with that switcher kit? Along with the other benefits of doing so, I might do that just to appease the OCD part of my brain!
As others have said, thanks for the detailed restoration shots, they are helpful. Offhand, does your TRON have speaker grilles? Are they the generic rectangular midway style, or particular to the machine? Mine doesnt have any on it currently.
Chris, thanks for the response. I really like how I was able to remove so much from the power assembly. I really didn’t even know how much until I started putting it all back together. Eliminating the extra parts really made it easy to clean it up like I did. It was a really mess before. As far as speaker grills go, I didn’t have any either. The plastic monitor shroud served as the speaker grills. The “grills” were molded into the shroud at the top.
Jeff, Got my MCR kit in today and installed it. Looks a heck of a lot better in the cabinet and my game itself seems a little cleaner on the monitor. Thanks for the info and the photos! It made things go so much smoother on the install.
@Gilbert – Glad you found the part fine. Hope your game works great with it. You may want to look into making some slight adjustments to your monitor settings to really tune it in. Check the vertical and horizontal size, and the brightness and focus knobs on the Flyback.
If you are up to some soldering, installing a “Cap Kit” would do wonders for you! Check my links for a site that has “Cap Kit 101” instructions and also for a link to Bob Roberts to buy them.
Good Luck!
Jeff
Jeff, I just obtained a Tron upright, it had a Rom 02 error, fixed that, then the monitor seemed not to show an inch of the left side and bent on the right. Then the video started scrolling from left to right. I removed my monitor board and resoldered the joints and the video was brighter, but worse. Then I changed the original ribbons out with newer ones, and the video was the same. Then I test the power supply and found J2 Red/white stripe wire (+5v 4th down 1st row) was broken and out of its socket. The +12v Orange/Red that has 0v. I fixed the Red/White stripe and now the video is completely screwy. Would you have any ideas? Here are some videos from good to worse…1) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fryx4a8quZ4 2) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_6KnMgk5PkI
Thank You,
John
@John, I would do two things if I were in your shoes. First, I would install a cap kit for the monitor. It will solve the bends in the picture and improve the image quite a bit. Second, to actually get the game running I would pick up one of the MCR power supply kits like I have in mine. You can pick both parts up from arcadeshop.com. see my earlier comments in this comment thread. My machine worked great once I got the power supply kit!
Jeff, I am in the process of replacing the power supply with the adapter and switcher, but I am confused about what goes where. Can you take a close up of the wires that connect to the iso transformer.
Thanks
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