Arcade Technician Tools of the Trade

For a technician to successfully maintain a game room, they need resources.

This usually means manuals and wiring schematics, tools, parts, and the knowledge to use them all. 

This blog entry will focus on the tools most technicians will need to perform their jobs.

I like to divide tools into four categories.

• Safety Gear
• Essential Tools
• Basic Tools
• Advanced Tools

Safety Gear

The first category is Safety Gear. SAFETY, SAFETY, SAFETY! Your eyes, ears, and hands are what enable you and your employees to do their jobs. This means wearing safety glasses or goggles and hearing protection when using power tools. Wear gloves to protect your hands when moving heavy items or using cutting tools.  Kneepads are essential safety gear. Protecting your knees now will save you additional pain in the future. I have found a lot of lost screws by kneeling on them and jamming them right under my kneecap.

Essential Tools

The second category is what I consider essential tools. The most important tool in this group is a Digital Multimeter (DMM). You can’t see electricity. (Unless it is a large voltage discharge like a spark or lightning) So, the only way to test for the presence of electricity is to use a DMM. The DMM will allow you to test for AC voltage, DC voltage, resistance, and continuity. You can ensure that not only is voltage present, but it is at the proper level required by your application. An outlet tester must verify that an outlet is wired correctly. This is especially important if you have a new facility or have performed electrical work recently.

A ticket emulator mimicking a ticket dispenser's behavior is also fundamental to game room maintenance. This will help you isolate whether a problem resides within a card swiper unit or the arcade machine. Wire strippers and a ratcheting crimper will allow for the repair of breaks in wires and the installation of card swipe units into arcade equipment. A flashlight, screwdriver, and tamper-resistant torx drivers should also be part of your essential tools. If you attend a Betson Technical University (BTU), we provide these essential tools to get you started on the right path.

Basic Tools

The basic tool category consists of most of the tools you should already be familiar with: socket and adjustable wrenches, hex keys (Allen wrenches), hammers, drills, measuring tapes, levels, needle-nose pliers, channel locks, regular pliers, and vice grips.

 

Advanced Tools

The advanced tools are tools that I carry in my tool bag with me everywhere I go. I have a battery-powered Dremel tool that I use for cutting. This can be used to cut a bolt to the proper size or to cut a hole if I am mounting a card swiper unit. I also have drill bit taps that will rethread a hole. This is useful because oftentimes, a new game will have powder coating inside a hole, and the screws will not go in properly.  I also have a variety of tools used for removing stripped or damaged screws. My favorite tool for removing stripped screws is called Vampliers. These are pliers that have teeth in the nose, so you can grab screws by the head and turn them. My Vampliers have enabled me to remove damaged screws that I didn’t think I would be able to get out. Easy outs are another tool that I carry with me to extract broken screws. 

I carry spare CR2032 batteries to replace dead BIOS batteries in computers. I also carry a small wireless keyboard with a pad to simulate mouse input for configuring the BIOS of a computer when the battery has been replaced. On my keychain, I have a USB thumb drive with several utilities that allow me to clone hard drives, test memory sticks, scan for physical defects in a hard drive, and run a Windows desktop if needed. I carry heatsink paste to replace dried-out paste on computer processors. I have a power supply tester that specializes in testing computer power supplies. I have a miniature socket wrench for removing screws in small spaces. I must be very picky with what I take with me because my tool bag can’t weigh more than 50 lbs for airline travel. These are the tools that I use most often. 

You don’t need to run out and buy everything on this list. If you buy inexpensive generic tools, $350 can get you everything on this list. Depending on your budget, you may need to add to your collection slowly. If you are frustrated during a task, remember that you aren’t the first person to try and do this. There is probably a tool designed to make the job easier.

By Bryan Corbett - Technical Training and Support Manager - Betson Enterprises