Separation Anxiety

I finally got my old Tron back. (It had been in my Sister's care for a number of years.) This was the very first game I brought back from the dead--and when I say dead, EVERYTHING was dead on this machine--the power supply, boardset, monitor, fluorescent lights--the whole works. Anyway, it has been sitting for a while, and a number of the things I fixed need attention again.

One suprise I noticed when moving this thing was the fact that the back portion of the cab was separating. The cab has not seen water (nor does it have any water damage) so I was suprised to see this. I guess too much moving and wear and tear can have that sort of an affect on a cab. These Bally/Midway cabs are not built in the tank like fashion that Atari used. You can see some of the separation here:

That's the support that handles the orientation of the backdrop as well. The support holding the fluorescent tube (just above this and off frame) was also super loose.

One of the back panels had broken off as well..


(That's where the back board is supposed to connect.)

I considered a few routes, and upon consulting with Dave, he confirmed that going with big clamps and wood glue was my best option. I headed over to Sears Hardware, and they had a sale on monster clamps, in a color that would make the MCP proud. Here's a shot of the clamps pulling the back of the cab back together while the glue sets.

The cab is a heck of a lot sturdier now!

I started to go through the wiring, and found the wires for the switch (in the top of the cab) twisted together with no cap. I fixed this, then decided to fire up the monitor. The monitor showed some rastering, which was good. I then hooked up the boardset, and got some screen garbage (doh! these boards used to work..) and shortly thereafter, the monitor blew. There was a loud snap followed by some buzzing. I had capped this monitor, but heck, that was probably over 10 years ago! This monitor chassis had lots of random issues to begin with, so I ordered a replacement with new parts. I'll keep you posted on how it turns out.