Pac-Man

Another project I am working on is a Pac-Man Upright Cabinet.

I received the Pac-Man game through my church 4 to 5 years ago.  The church purchased it around 2001 for a game room that included a foosball table, air hockey table, etc., but through the years the arcade suffered wear and damage and eventually stopped working.  I heard that they were going to send it to the dump, so I offered to take it off their hands.  I was going to college at the time, so the arcade would have to be stored at my parents' house.  My mom was not very thrilled about the idea, but she let me have it.  Years went by and I hardly gave the cabinet a thought.  After graduating college, I decided that I was going to check it out and see if it could be fixed.  My brother helped me move it from the shed to the front porch and I started to work.  I opened it up and found dirt and many dead bugs, which was expected.  I used an air compressor the clean out the crap.  The paint was in bad condition and some of it flaked off while cleaning.  The cabinet needed a paint job, but first I had to find out if it would work.  I plugged it in and viola! it worked....

Well not completely.  I could hear the old CRT monitor power on, but there was no picture.  The marquee lights didn't light up and there was no sound.  But at least it had potential!  So I cleaned it up real nice and brought it inside the house.  Once again my mom was displeased.  I plugged the machine in again to show my mother that it worked and ... nothing happened.  No noise, no anything.  A few days passed and I got enough time (and willpower) to tinker around with the wiring.  I moved the cabinet away from the wall, plugged it in, and to my surprise it turned on again!  I then determined that there was a short in the power cord.  Easy fix!  Replace the existing power cord with an extension cord and now it turns on every time.

That was just the beginning.  There is a lot more to come.