I convert my old Ion iCade into a Bartop Raspberry Pi Powered Arcade Machine! 'How to' guide inside. IT'S FINISHED!

jawafour wrote:
Ad7 wrote:UPDATE 21/7/16...BANG AND FIZZLE. FUUUUUUUCK ...

Oh, man, that sucks, Ad. I take it the setup isn't ruined... you can return to the previous kit?

I have no idea what is broken and what isn't now. The electronics guy I'd have gone to in the first place doesn't work at our place any more so I just did what I thought was right and strawberry floated up.

I don't know much (anything) about electronics... is it a case of connecting up the old bits again and testing it step-by-step?

I hope you get it working again because it looks so neat.

Unfortunately not, it all plugs in to itself so it's all or nothing. The bit that made it pop was the split power lead for the screen being plugged into the inverter (I tried it without that bit plugged in and it all sat there happily, just the screen wouldn't come on due to no power).

Edit: Comparing my photos to the ones floating around on the net, it looks like the split cable that plugs into the inverter bit is crossed wired. I've ordered another of that bit and I'll get on of the engineers here to check the previous wired bit. If that's the case then it would explain that part going but the rest not (so it's not psu).

So it's not totally ruined?

u ok hun xx

Saint of Killers wrote:So it's not totally ruined?

Hopefully not, I'll find out in a few weeks I guess.

Worst case is I'm down about £70 for the screen and boards and have to buy again.

Is the screen completely dead? No backlight? Lines? Colours?

did you fit the components on to the board yourself? Check for any pins for questionable soldering. Sometimes it can run across more than one pin and creates a short

Check any fuses on the board. If you have a multimeter, check by putting that across each component. If it's blown you can find out and then replace that fuse

The most common fault in electronics and something that fixes most things are the caps, although I've never known them to go unless they get old. Still it's easy to check these so worth doing. You can do this visually, if they have rounded tops, they've blown and will need replacing

You can kind of see they're domed topped. They need to be flat topped

It would be interesting if it really was just bad caps. The explosive nature of shorts is usually caps literally blowing up. If that's what happened, you could try replacing them for a few pennies. Just take note of the polarity (+ and - which is marked on the caps themselves - that's the only real way of knowing which way the they are supposed to go unless it's also printed on the PCB).

Then maybe replace them with Japanese caps like Panasonic if they go bad.

Btw, I really doubt Ad soldered that - it's mostly surface mount components. Even my friend with an electronic engineering degree would struggle with that. It also appears double sided which is just a ridiculous amount of work.

Depending on where you go, QA isn't really a thing in China, so it's probably just bad assembly that killed it. Which sucks, as warranty isn't really a thing either. Why not contact the seller, was it eBay or something?

this is the bit that failed, i've bought a replacement which is on it's way:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/LED-Inverter-bo ... 0965459260?

I checked the caps, they're flat, although as they fizzed and popped, that board is useless. It's the part that plugs in to the LED bit on the right which we think could be cross wired. When the new one arrives we'll probe the main board to see where the current is going.

Inspired by this thread, I'm thinking of building a bartop Raspberry Pi arcade machine as a Christmas present for the kids. I've seen a kit for around £180 but I've already got a Pi so I'm thinking I can probably do it cheaper. Any suggestions on suppliers would be useful.

Rex

I know you can buy the picade kit without those bits if you wanted that particular one. I stumbled on some guy who put full plans for a two player unit up, I'll see if I can find the link over the weekend. You'd be surprised but £180 might not be enough, it seems to get expensive fast with all the little bits and bobs.

Still waiting for that replacement board :roll:

2 player with an old 19" monitor I've got kicking about would be sweet. Time to start planning....

It'll be a piece of piss if you already have a monitor then. The only thing holding mine up is getting the screen right, you can plug the stick part onto the pi and play it on the TV already. That part could be done in a day, the rest is up to you on how swish you want to make it.

Hmm. I built myself an arcade stick years ago with Sanaa parts. Maybe I should add a Pi in there for a all-in-one retro mame machine.

Do it! Funnily enough I got a TE2 fight sick the other day, and opening it up I realised you could easily fit a pi, or even a mini pc inside it and have an all in one machine.

So I found a link about building a 2 player bartop (http://www.instructables.com/id/2-Playe ... red-by-Pi/) and did a quick inventory check over the weekend.

At this point I've got a Rasberry Pi B V 1.2 and a 19" monitor. I've ordered up one of the USB controller things that Ad7 linked to on Ebay and also a set of buttons and stick from Arcadeworld (just a cheap set). The idea being I can knock up a cheap controller set on a bit of scrap wood (must pick up a 28mm drill bit) and get that working first.

After that I need to decide on whether to build the cabinet myself or just pick up a flat pack one off Ebay. They're usually around £60 so the question is whether I can do if myself for less. My woodworking skills are generally awful, I have a complete inability to cut straight so it might be cheaper in the long run to just buy the kit. But I guess it wouldn't be as satisfying.

It's a tough one. I'm a perfectionist with things like this and while I'd like the satisfaction of making my own cabinet from scratch, I also appreciate the perfect lines I've got from using a pre cut unit. Depends on how nice you want it to be really.

STILL no replacement board *taps watch*

If I knew someone with a band saw then I might feel more confident, otherwise it'll have to be done with a jigsaw and there is no way on earth those lines will be straight. Also, I'd need access to a router so I could channel the edges for the strips and I don't have one of those either.

Let me know if you need any custom decals, vinyl covering/fascias etc. It can work very well as a laminate.

Green Gecko wrote:Let me know if you need any custom decals, vinyl covering/fascias etc. It can work very well as a laminate.

I totally forgot you did that sort of thing. I'll definitely be needing that to finish it off, will be vinyl for each side and a strip for the marquee on the front.

I convert my old Ion iCade into a Bartop Raspberry Pi Powered Arcade Machine! 'How to' guide inside. IT'S FINISHED!

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