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Great news, I got a call from STI, they are finally delivering my Aero city tomorrow! I didn't even know if it was in transit or not. First time dealing with KC. Had no knowledge of who or if I was going to be called and if there was a way to track it so I was very worried. Now I have an idea what to expect.

A lot of great info has already been posted here but I don't want to muck up your thread with my own stuff. I think maybe I'll have to start my own thread even tho they are the same batch of cabs...

I look forward to this journey together brother!
 
Thanks rewrite.

If the +5 is high and the 12 and -5 are low does that mean a recap would help or am I overthinking it?

I used a current detector pen to to make sure power was reaching the psu from the back panel and the cord and it was.

I swapped the fuse from the cherry master into this one and.....



YESSS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 
There is no volume attenuation on the Aero City. You must adjust it on your board.

To change the 5V level, just turn down the adjustment on the power supply. I don't know exactly where it is on the PSU, but it's got one.
 
Yeah man, start with the simple stuff. Check fuses, replace caps. Clean out that PSU. It may work but caps are cheap. $10 or so for a batch of Nichicons and you have a like new PSU with less stress. Did my peter chou power supply on my dynamo. Just get the digital caliper out and measure those caps, write down the values. Hell they might already be online. That's what I plan to do. Simple Green that puppy so I don't get Anthrax poisoning.
 
Honestly, I think you should put down any electronics, and focus first on cleaning the cabinets and getting to know them inside and out. I used to get cabinets, and if the wiring seemed to work, I didn't even really look at it or consider it. In the last year or two, I changed that process to instead begin with fully stripping the cabinet down, making it squeaky clean (even in the parts you can't see), and putting it all back together bit by bit. it takes about 2-4 hours to do a complete cab this way (better with a friend to help) and by the end you'll have really high confidence of what's in the cabinet and how it's supposed to fit together.

Plus, it's really nice to do anything to the cab in the future, and not feel like you need to take a deep soak bath afterwards from having old cabinet crud on your hands!

tl;dr take it all the way apart and do a deep clean.

Also, Aero pro-tip: by now the rubber grommets for the front glass have surely become a goopy mess and are gone, so it would be good to find something new there. You don't want the screws going on the bare glass, for it will scratch it.
 
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Truth.

Depending on the cabinet if it's not disgusting I wouldn't completely disassemble it, but definitely thoroughly clean the internals at a minimum.
 
I respect your work order @Hatsune Mike

I'm afraid if I dismantle the innards at my skill level before testing, I would screw something up and miss the opportunity to test as is.

I hooked up the Kun and got a test screen.

A lot of purple on the sides and horizontal lines on top of the screen.



I barely touched the sega adapter and the image got brighter, then darker, and the buzzing sound happened.

The plastic casing on the Sega base is unibody and I don't know how to repair.

I got the Aero keys so maybe Ill stop testing and see if I can find some yen loot in the coin boxes and then start cleaning more.
 
That monitor needs to be degaussed, which is a manual press of a button, and then it at least needs a cap and resistor checked in the vertical section to fix that foldover.

The harness connector likely needs contacts cleaned, and that is why it is so sensitive.

If your plan is to scrub around the inside by hand while it's assembled, pushing around wires, etc. I strongly recommend re thinking it and just taking everything out of the cab. What are you getting out of this testing? You have already established that the monitor, power supply, and basic harness are functional, albeit with some maintenance needed.
 
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I tried the 5380 key but it only worked a couple of the 8 locked locks.

The key Im trying to find has a flat notch and this one has a triangular notch.

One of the Aero has neither of these and it didn't look like a blast style either.

How should I open these?

I need to change out the locks for the warehouse anyways. Is this something a locksmith could open for me?
 
The 5380s that work, you should hang on to. The rest are likely not standard Sega locks, nor other common ones, and you can either pick them or drill them out.
 
If your plan is to scrub around the inside by hand while it's assembled, pushing around wires, etc. I strongly recommend re thinking it and just taking everything out of the cab. What are you getting out of this testing? You have already established that the monitor, power supply, and basic harness are functional, albeit with some maintenance needed.
I see your point. We don't have hot water here at the warehouse either so I'm gonna bring the shell home to the garage to clean it

I kept the screws and small parts in a plastic baggie as I went along and took lots of pictures of the screw types and positions JIC. Warning. The coin counter is a finger cutter taking it out.

I still have to remove the yen shoot, yen cover, coin door, coin mechanism, and control body.

Here's the guts and frame afterward.




 
Just a heads up, that control panel surround is an aftermarket one. If you buy reproduction Aero art, it's not going to fit it.
 
Just a heads up, that control panel surround is an aftermarket one. If you buy reproduction Aero art, it's not going to fit it.
What do you notice that makes its aftermarket?

it looks the same as my other 3 Panels as well. The only difference is on this one their are only graphics above the cp and not surrounding it like the other 3.
 
Aero City control panels are not centered on the panel surround. The one pictured above is centered.

Went back and looked at your pictures. Your other three cabinets have real surrounds. They're all off center.

*Edit* The sticker on the third party surround was supplied with it from a company called river service. You could get the surround powder coated or brushed stainless. They actually still sell the panels, but they're trash.
 
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Aero City control panels are not centered on the panel surround. The one pictured above is centered.

Went back and looked at your pictures. Your other three cabinets have real surrounds. They're all off center.

*Edit* The sticker on the third party surround was supplied with it from a company called river service. You could get the surround powder coated or brushed stainless. They actually still sell the panels, but they're trash.
I'm not fond of the brushed steel look.

Do they still sell the sticker? A new powered coat and sticker would look nice.

I gutted most of the "previously dead" cab. I wanted to note that the Sega base had its mounting plate and was extremely touchy as well as the others. Even when there was no strain on it or the jamma harness.

I would love to know the best way of cleaning this connector.



Mostly gutted. Ready for my warmer garage.





I was going to gut all 4 Aeros today but the locksmith couldn't pick the locks on the other 2 and did not have proper drilling supplies. He said he will be back. It turns out he is a pinball machine collector and had a lot to say about my project. Im gonna take these 2 and the wires and bring them home.
 
Simple Green those wires / contacts. Followed by DeOxit spray. Distilled water and blow air onto it until completely dry if you want.
I don't have that mounting bracket on my Aero for the Sega pinout. :(
 
Before cleaning it, make sure you remove the monitor bezel frame, and the control panel. Otherwise, there are nooks and crannies that you will have trouble cleaning, or simply not discover.

With the front panel, bezel, and marquee topper off, the cabinet looks a lot more naked.

This is one of the KC aeros after some basic cleaning:

3l3rlSS.jpg
 
Thanks @Hatsune Mike . That looks great. Are you restoring some too? Right on.


I loaded up the shells and drove them home to my garage.



I took out the x2 Control panels and steel foot rest trim and kept cleaning..

The rubber foot rest had a lot of dirt under the steel brackets. The lighting was dim in my garage so a final cleaning will happen on Saturday.




A little cleaner.

 
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