If an arcade cabinet has been submerged underwater will it still work???

I'm concerned as I don't know the fate of my arcade cabinet and was wondering if it will still work after it has been underwater?

 

my experience is:
most electronic stuff usualy work after takeing a bath if they haven't been connected to any form of electricity when takeing the bath... and if you make sure that everything is dry when connecting it..
but I don't know if this is true in all cases or just in my cases ^^

 

I don't suppose you are from New Orleans, or somewhere near that area?

 

My cab is, but I'm in Saint Paul. I got the cab from someone on another message board. And my mom is in New Orleans so I arranged for her to get it. The bright side is the dude just gave it for free so I really don't lose money on it. But from what I hear the flooding is in the East of New Orleans and the place where my cab is at isn't in the East which is the part that did not get the worst brunt of the storm so I'm still in the dark about the fate of it.

 

Ah, I see. Hope things go well with you and your family, as well as the cabinet.

 

What game was/is it?

 

Thanks. My stepdad's a doctor so he and my mom went to the hospital where he works before the hurricane came to ride out the storm there. So I'm sure they're OK. It's just my cabinet whose fate I'm not sure of.

 

Well, here are my thoughts on the subject.

If it got flooded, I imagine it got hit with silty water which is a bitch to get clean...ever...

My dad had a jukebox that had been through a flood. He did restore it, but it took months to get that silt out.

That said, whether it is salvagable depends on whats in the cabinet. If it's fully decked out with a board, power supply and monitor...i'be probably be throwing most of it out. I'd try to save the board...ie: carefully spending a bunch of time cleaning it. I'd chuck the power supply as I wouldn't trust it...I don't know what would happen to a monitor...

This is just my opinion though...so...

I suppose the best way to find out whether or not it is salvagable is to go and look at it!

 

Whatever you do, make sure that absolutely everything is dry before you "fire it up", or you may end up doing just that...

 

The electronics should be good provided it was just water; if you get leaves and crap like Blur mentioned, you'll have to make sure everything gets a REAL good cleaning, but even then you should be alright. Your problems will arise if any parts of the board, monitor, or whatnot were carrying an electric charge - a save battery on a circuit, for instance, or a capacitor. If those have a stored charge when the water hit... well, I wouldn't hold my breath.

The other thing I'd be worried about was the cabinet itself, namely any water damage in the form of swelling or rotting because it got wet and never properly dried out.

I guess just make sure everything's COMPLETELY dry and clean before you plug it in, and hope for the best. And remember to double, triple, and quadruple check the monitor above all else before sending power to it: a PCB may smoke and make scary popping noises, but you do NOT want to send juice through a vacuum tube that has a short in it.

 

That water will have all sorts of crap in it - mud, sewage, you name it. It would probably stain any surface. If it is chipboard as normal, then it will have had it. Artwork will most likely be ruined, as will the wood. Too much would need replacing probably - unfortunately. As for the electronics, well depends how long it stays there - it won't do them much good, though - especially the monitor. That think has tens of thousands of kilovolts going through it... would you want to risk firing it up? If the controls got damp, then the springs would probably rust and the buttons would get crap in them and not press well. All in all, the outlook is fairly bleak, I'm afraid!! Standing in water is not good for a cabinet!

I hope that your family are in a better condition than the machine! It is a real tragedy, and I know how you must feel - I have a friend who lives in New Orleans, I was very worried about her. Fortunately, she evacuated in time, although I haven't heard from her since... she said she's a refugee.

 

Meh drycleaning etc.? If it's been in that yucky excuse for water I see no point in being gentle with it. Take the PROMs out of the PCB and let it go through the dish washer once (or chicken out and just clean in the sink). As for the cabinet? Strip it, take it out and hose it down. After that you can start being "gentle" again.

 

I just found out that the water where it was at was 2 and a half feet. It's an MVS cab. So do you guys still think it's broken?

 

If it's a wooden cabinet the cabinet itself might be beyond repair but the electronics should be ok after a through cleaning.

 

I would take off the casing to the mvs board/cartslot and then clean and dry it out well, if it only was 2 1/2 feet of water the monitor should be OK but I would fire it up outside just to be safe. Its really the board and monitor that are the expensive parts so if the wood is messed up but the monitor and board are in good shape buy an empty cab to put them in. Oh and yeah I would get a new psu just to be safe.

 

Id throw it in the dish washing machine (the board i mean) on low power no soap, etc. Let it dry before using it again, but it should help. All depends on what you have