Response from Jonathan: James,

Well, welcome back to the fast paced world of arcade games. Let’s take a look at your questions…

> 1.) What gauge wire should we be using for doing wire repairs, etc?

We like to use 18 gauge for voltage wires (AC and DC) and 20-22 gauge for everything else (button wires, coin switch wires, etc.). You can get spools of wires from most of the parts suppliers we recommend under the Arcade Parts Suppliers & Distributors heading on our resources page.

> 2.) Where is the best place to buy generic parts in bulk (example molex connectors, etc)

We order most of our parts from either from Bob Roberts or Twisted Quarter. Just a note: Bob Roberts is our favorite parts supplier but his ordering system is kind of antiquated (i.e. you send him an email with what you want, he sends you back a total, you send him a check, he sends you the parts). Once he gets to know you, he will cross ship your purchases (i.e. ship them before he receives your check). Also, he’s very good at responding to questions if you’re not sure exactly what you need to order.

> 3.) When trying to figure out the correct pins to put back into the connectors is there a guide for it?

It really depends on the game. Every game has different connectors depending on the manufacturer, the system it uses, how old it is, etc. The manual for most games should tell you the pin locations for the connectors used in the game. Sometimes doing a web search for a particular game with the word pinouts after it will also yield the information you are looking for. Of course, you can always contact us if there is a particular game that you need help with and we’ll try to help you out.

> Thanks for taking the time to read this mail

Not a problem. We even responded to it which is better than usual. 😉

> P.S. When I clicked your email link, it errored out. I noticed you had a typo in the markup. You have mail:questions@arcaderepairtips.com it should be mailto:questions@arcaderepairtips.com. Just thought I should share that just in case it may stop someone from being able to email you.

Hmmm, where were you when you clicked the link (i.e. was it on our web site, our YouTube page, our iTunes page, etc.)? Just wondering so we can find it and fix it.

Well, hope that helps. Thank you for your questions and good luck with your repairs.