RESTORATION CHECKLIST

Diagnose before you buy parts

A cabinet restoration is not one problem. It can be CRT, board, power, wiring, controls, artwork, wood, coin door, or history. Start with symptoms and proof.

Safety first

CRT monitors can retain dangerous voltage. Do not open or discharge a monitor unless you are qualified.

Unknown wiring, swollen wood, hacked power, smoke smell, fuse trips, or water damage should be documented before power-cycling the cabinet repeatedly.

Symptom-to-specialist routing

No power

Power supply, fuse, switch, cord, interlock, wiring, or board load. Document before replacing parts.

Plays blind

Game may run while monitor is dead. Separate board/audio from CRT diagnosis.

Monitor collapse / color / geometry

CRT or chassis issue. Treat as specialist territory unless qualified.

Controls flaky

Could be switches, wiring, harness, ground, encoder, or hacked panel work.

No sound

Speaker, amp, board, power, wiring, or volume pot. Capture video and cabinet interior photos.

Water damage

Body swelling, delamination, mold, rust, swollen particleboard, and art loss change the economics.

Restore, preserve, convert, or sell as-is?

  • • Restore if the cabinet is desirable, structurally sound, and symptoms are diagnosable.
  • • Preserve if original art, cabinet history, or rare configuration matters more than cosmetic perfection.
  • • Convert only after documenting what is original and what would be lost.
  • • Sell as-is if water damage, transport cost, missing core parts, or unknown electrical work overwhelms the upside.

Photo/video packet for a repair shop

□ Full cabinet front, both sides, rear, top, and base damage.
□ Control panel close-up and under-panel wiring if accessible.
□ Monitor while powered on, including any collapse, color, burn-in, or blank screen.
□ Inside back door: board, power supply, wiring harness, monitor chassis, labels.
□ Coin door, keys, locks, serial/manufacturer tags, and any loose parts.
□ Short video of boot attempt, sound, controls, and any symptom repeated twice.

Do not do this first

  • • Do not shotgun random parts because a forum thread sounded similar.
  • • Do not repaint or sand original artwork before documenting it.
  • • Do not assume LCD conversion is automatically the right repair.
  • • Do not keep power-cycling a cabinet that smells hot, trips power, or has hacked wiring.

Turn symptoms into a repair scope

Use the Cabinet Command Center, choose Restore / repair, and build a brief a tech can actually triage.

BUILD REPAIR BRIEF