Hello all. I'm also going to post this on Klov (whose servers seem to be down). But: thought the Pinside community might have some good advice. I'm the proud new owner of potentially one of the last NIB Robotron cocktails from the "Time Travel" warehouse find in Canada several years ago - where it's been sitting since 1983.

Realize it would be worth (much) more if I left it minty fresh, but: Robotron is my all-time favorite arcade. This is going to sit in my office for another 37 years before it sees another owner (hopefully one of my kids...).

Here are some things I'm thinking about as I look to give it its maiden voyage; would love any thoughts on do's, don'ts, things to check, etc.
-Goal is to preserve the box. Complication will be: it's a heavy SOB. Luring a few friends "in our quarantine bubble" over this weekend to lift it out. Thinking one person under each control panel, and at least one person lifting under as soon as there is clearance. NO lifting from the cocktail top/glass.
-Paperwork is still sealed in its original envelope. As I'm not planning to resell, thinking to just cleanly open (instead of hassling with trying to steam it open...and maybe damaging the inserts/manual/etc.)
-Put in fresh batteries (I hope! Supposedly the "Time Travel" people checked and removed when they first arrived at their warehouse)
-Check seating of the boards and wiring on the control panels

What am I missing? I'm mostly a pin collector (plus Ice Cold Beer and Golden Tee); have never owned early 80's Williams of any variety (upright or cocktail).

Thanks all. Really appreciate any insight. All the best...
b

ps: I'm planning on taking pics/videos of the unboxing for anyone interested. Will likely post on Klov under the original "for sale" thread, but: will post a link here.

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1000%. It's going to be played, not displayed.

Thanks for the congrats. I'm beyond excited. It's a like a relic from a time machine. Have been looking for one in good condition for years. Couldn't pass up the chance to own a piece of history.

For the record, this is how I imagine where it's been for the last few decades.

b

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Original arrangement was trade for my TNA (I’m in the mid 300’s for Rick & Morty; hated to part with TNA, but eventually will need an open spot). Bidding got heated and switched to cash and local pickup. I won with offer of what I believe a beautiful TNA is worth + shipping; $6k. As several posters pointed out, I knew these were selling for $2500 from the original warehouse/distributor. But that was 10 years ago. And: not sure if any more of these exist. I’m sure some people will think I got fleeced, and some will think it was a steal. I slept on it and decided I would regret letting this go for a long time.

Bonus: Total Nuclear Annihilation is still in pole position in the game room. Eventually will have to open up a slot, but: unless Spooky finds turbo boost on production, think I have until December/early 2021 to figure something out.

Well - unfortunately the batteries didn’t get pulled. Battery holder corroded off. I don’t have experience with damaged arcade boards, but assuming this is in pretty rough shape.

Thoughts?

Not going to lie: would’ve been sweet to reseat connectors, insert new AA’s, and fire her up today. But: I’m not scared of bringing her back to life. This is a relic; will be fun to work on it.

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Seller has been awesome and has a spare CPU; sending it via FedEx and helping arrange to get the original board repaired. Inspected everything else; looks like the coin door is the only other casualty. Guessing the detached batteries either were touching the coin box, or alkaline found it’s way over through the bottom of the cabinet. Will find out re: monitor and power capacitors once the new board is in place. But they look good to the eye.

In the meantime (and on a more positive note), here are a few bits of awesomeness:
-In the coin box was the original signed manufacturer check list (and spare fuses! Nice touch)
-Serial numbers physically embossed in the wood in several spots. With matching stickers on board set. Probably common knowledge, but pretty sweet
-Smell inside the cabinet was like an old book. In a good way.

Appreciate all of the well wishes, suggestions, and condolences.

Will post the unboxing and cabinet opening videos (complete with my naive voiceover saying that it looks pretty good, and then the sinking realization that the CPU was anything but).

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Was waiting to post an update until I had complete victory to declare. Unfortunately I’m not quite there. Replaced the CPU board with the original from the seller. Game fires right up; super crisp picture and sound. The only issue: it was not holding the vertical synch. After doing all of the easy things (trying to stabilize will wl the vertical hold pot, cleaning and reseating connectors, checking continuity from PCB to monitor board, etc) I asked for help on Klov. Rightly, all opinions pointed to needing to recap the monitor.

So: after a week of practicing my soldering and resoldering skills (latter made sooooo much easier wl a Hakko 301; life saver), I finally tackled the job tonight. Biggest bear was physically getting the monitor board out of the cocktail. Once it was on the workbench, replaced all of the caps, reflowed solder on PCB and monitor board connector pins, reflowed solder on the vertical hold pot, and turned the pot several times to both extremes to “clean” them.

The good news: game fired right up and the picture is as sharp/crisp as it was (in other words, patient survived the surgery and was no worse off than before).

The bad news: it’s still not holding vertical synch.

I’m using the replacement CPU board the original seller sent me in place of leaked-battery-fried original. There were issues with battery terminal and CMOS on the replacement board; at this point should I get another board and see if it’s a problem with the signal from the PCB? I don’t have a scope; have not validated that a good signal is coming across.

Any other ideas?

thanks all...
b

Ps: here’s a picture of her caught “just right” between scrolls

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Thanks all. I’ve been fixing up my pins for 20 years, but was always too scared to do board work. Adding this Robotron forced me to get some better gear, take the plunge, and just practice. In a weird way, really glad there were issues so I could bring her back to life (and up my repair game). Plus: fun to learn about 80’s CRT’s.

It’s a Wells Gardner K4901. Checked the flow chart. Ordered new IC301, Q301, and a new vertical hold pot for good measure.

Just curious: what would it look like (when) if the vertical synch is working? Stable pic from power up? Or would it just stay put once I fine tuned the vertical hold pot? I was fooled after the recap; screen stayed in place for long enough to get to wave 12 or so in a game. Then started its scrolling ways again.

ps: my original plan was to keep the goodie bag intact. But as I‘ve been dealing with the various issues, carefully opened her up. The various schematics and assorted manuals have been beyond helpful. Also included a nice note from Williams re: difficulty setting to maximize earnings, with a target average game time of 1:30. Made me smile, as back in the day I’d drop 1M+ marathon games at my arcade all the time. My 10 year old self was definitely not helping Pfenny’s arcade’s bottom line

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All: happy to report that the NIB Robotron cocktail has been fully brought back to life!

This past week I finally got a monitor test pattern generator and confirmed that I got a clean lock on the K4901. Pointed towards the spare board I got from the seller to replace the battery-damaged CPU.

Removed, cleaned, and resoldered the 7402 positive sync chip, reflowed all of the connector pins again, checked continuity of vsync back to the CPU. Did the old TV repair trick of leaving it on for hours and seeing if any of the chips were warm to the touch. Nothing out of the ordinary (RAM and the 8-bit shift registers serving them; not "hot", just warm). No luck.

Finally ordered a known-working spare CPU board from Andre at Arcade Shop. Arrived today, dropped it in, and: voila! Immediate lock. Resized the screen and have an absolutely perfect machine! I'm sending the faulty board to Andre for him to fix; tactically to have a backup, but: also: because the engineer in me really wants to know root cause.

Realized I never posted the videos of the unboxing; here they are in all of their glory if anyone is interested:
Original unboxing: https://vimeo.com/441652390
Opening the table top for the first time: https://vimeo.com/441652390
Initial inspection of boards/monitor/etc (including the dawning realization that the CPU was hosed): https://vimeo.com/442105933
Continued initial exploration of the guts: https://vimeo.com/442106084

Thanks all for the advice and encouragement; love that not only is a museum-quality Robotron back to its full glory, but: also the crash-course in arcade repair that the three weeks of triage and attempted fixes has given me. @omegamanxxx from Klov (the original seller) was phenomenal throughout the way, even paying for the replacement board to get her back up and running. LOVE when this community comes together; truly incredible stuff.

All the best...
b

ps: for anyone who finds this thread: the answer to my question of "what does it look like if you have lock?" is: a screen that is immediately centered and stable at boot. With my faulty vertical synch, I'd have to wrestle with vertical hold pot trying to get it to stay in one place. Only to have it slowly start rolling...sometimes immediately, sometimes in the middle of a test game. Functioning vertical synch isn't a gradual process of "coming into focus" or "moving into place"...if it's working, it's there (at least from my experience).