Jump to content

Coleco Mini-Arcade Maintenance

From RetroTechCollection
A Coleco Galaxian taken apart, with the joysticks, springs and FIRE buttons beside the board. The other VFD Mini-Arcades are built the same way.

Care, opening and reassembly of Coleco's battery-powered Mini-Arcade tabletop games with a vacuum fluorescent display (VFD): Pac-Man, Galaxian, Frogger, Donkey Kong and Ms. Pac-Man. The Handheld Museum's teardown of a Pac-Man is the main reference; its author notes that the other four are almost identical inside, the main difference being the controls.[1] Zaxxon has two displays and a mirror, and Donkey Kong Jr. is a Nintendo-built LCD game; neither is covered here.[2][3]

Coleco's instruction guides give no service information. Each says that the game contains no serviceable parts and should not be opened.[4][5][6] Fault-finding is on Coleco Mini-Arcade Troubleshooting and work on the display on Coleco Mini-Arcade VFD Repair.

Batteries and power

[edit | edit source]

Each game runs from four C alkaline cells or from Coleco's #2298 Perma Power battery eliminator.[5][7] Coleco's guides say that the game will not work properly on weak cells and that an erratic display or erratic play can be the only symptom. They also tell the owner to switch off after use to save the cells.[4]

  • Take the cells out when the game is put away. The Mini-Arcade site's repair page warns that on VFD tabletops running from C or D cells, corrosion can build up on the terminals within weeks.[8] Clean and neutralise leakage as described on Battery Explosion, Capacitor or Corrosion Damage. A 3D-printable replacement for a lost battery cover has been published for Frogger, Pac-Man, Ms. Pac-Man, Galaxian and Donkey Kong.[9]
  • The battery box connects to the board by two leads, red to B+ and blue to B−. A broken lead leaves the game dead.[10][1]
  • The Perma Power is an AC adapter with five plug tips and four dummy C cells, one of which takes a lead with a 9 V battery-style snap. The dummy cells go in the battery box, and many Coleco battery covers have a hole for the lead.[11] The label quoted by a seller in a KLOV forum thread reads 117 V AC input and 9 V DC 100 mA output.[12]
  • Owners in the same thread have run a Pac-Man from a 5 V 550 mA phone charger and a 5.2 V 320 mA Game Boy Advance SP adapter. If you fit a DC socket, use one that disconnects the battery box when a plug is in, so that the adapter can never charge alkaline cells left inside.[12]
  • Check the polarity of any adapter before connecting it. The Handheld Museum's guide gives power applied the wrong way round as the usual cause of a blown transistor in these games.[13]

Opening the case

[edit | edit source]
One of the two hood screws, under the upper corner of the control-panel sticker (Pac-Man).
  1. Take the cells out.
  2. Do not try to unclip the hood at the clips on the back. Two screws hold it, under the upper left and upper right corners of the control-panel sticker. The sticker is heavy plastic and peels back without damage.[1]
  3. Lift off the hood. Remove the five screws in the base, lift the inside of the game out from the top, turn it over carefully so that no wire pulls loose, and lay the screen and control assembly face down.[1]
  4. To reach the component side, remove the three screws holding the main board and lift the board off. Keep the control panel facing down while you do this, or the joysticks and buttons fall out.[10]
  5. The plastic lens over the display comes out after two screws are removed.[10]
A Pac-Man taken apart: the front case with the display window and joystick mountings, and the main board with the display under its coloured filter.

Inside the base

[edit | edit source]
The speaker cone lifted off the piezo buzzer (Pac-Man).

The board has four wires: two from the battery box and two to the speaker, both of the speaker pads being marked PZ. The speaker wires can go either way round.[10]

The speaker is a white plastic cone sitting on a small piezo buzzer in the base. Unscrew the black ring that holds the cone; on some games it has been glued or taped. The buzzer is usually loose underneath. Without the cone the game is much quieter, and a buzzer left hanging on its wires can sound as though the sound has failed.[1]

While the board is out, look for spilt liquid residue, battery corrosion and insect debris.[10]

Joysticks and buttons

[edit | edit source]
One joystick: stick and base, spring, screw, egg-shaped knob and the brown X-shaped guides.

Each joystick is a stick, a knob held on by a screw through its centre, a spring and a brown X-shaped guide that limits the stick's travel. The guides sometimes have been glued to the board. Without a guide the game is harder to play.[10] The knob is egg-shaped and often goes missing.[14]

Each direction is a rectangular metal leaf switch on the board. On a heavily played game a leaf can wear through or break, or stay pressed down so that the player keeps moving one way. The cure is a new leaf. On a two-joystick game played alone, one can be taken from the second joystick.[10]

The four leaf switches around one joystick position (Pac-Man).

Clean the leaves and the board pads with isopropyl alcohol. Do all of them while the controls are apart: the Mini-Arcade site's experience is that once one contact becomes unreliable, the others follow.[8]

Stickers

[edit | edit source]

The five arcade-shaped games have stickers on the top, front and both sides, a plastic sticker on the control panel, and an instruction sticker underneath on the battery cover. One or more is often damaged or missing.[14][15] HotHardware's 2004 article found the glue on old decals had seeped through and mottled them, which it called common on these games.[16] Reproduction decal sets are sold.[17]

The corners of the control-panel sticker lift after the game has been opened. If they do not settle, use a little contact cement or spray adhesive, nothing stronger, so that the game can be opened again.[18]

Reassembly

[edit | edit source]
  1. Refit every button, spring and switch before closing up.[18]
  2. Route the wires so that nothing is pinched between case parts, where a wire can be cut through. Test the game part way through reassembly.[18]
  3. The screws go into plastic columns. Each should run in almost by itself along its old thread; tighten it only just past the point where it stops. Overtightening strips the hole or splits the column. Check the length of each screw, because a long one in the wrong hole can come through the front of the case.[18]

Model notes

[edit | edit source]
Controls and boards
Game Model Controls Board marking Made in
Galaxian 2380 Two control sticks, two FIRE buttons, OFF/1 PLAYER/2 PLAYER switch Coleco Rev A 75718 Taiwan
Frogger 2393 One control stick, RESET button, SKILL 1/OFF/SKILL 2 switch Coleco Frogger Code No. 01-81543, KS-003282 Japan Japan
Donkey Kong 2391 One control stick, START GAME/JUMP button, OFF/ON switch Coleco Rev C 75790 DK Taiwan
Pac-Man 2390 Two control sticks (player 1 on the left), SKILL 1/OFF/SKILL 2 switch Coleco 75690; later 75721 Rev. E[19] Taiwan[20][21]
Ms. Pac-Man 2395 Two control sticks (player 1 on the right), SKILL 1/OFF/SKILL 2 switch Coleco 911171 Taiwan[22][21]

Sources: model numbers and controls from Coleco's guides and catalogue;[4][5][6][7] board markings and country of manufacture from the MAME drivers.[23][24]

Galaxian

[edit | edit source]

Galaxian's guide asks for four C cells and does not mention the Perma Power,[6] but Coleco's 1983 catalogue lists the Perma Power for Galaxian as for the other two.[7] With two joysticks, a worn leaf on the player 1 stick can be replaced from the player 2 stick.[10]

Frogger

[edit | edit source]

Frogger's board was made in Japan; the other games in this table were made in Taiwan.[24][23] Do not expect its layout to match the Pac-Man photographs. The Handheld Museum records a green top sticker as well as the usual black one.[15]

Donkey Kong

[edit | edit source]

Donkey Kong has one joystick, so there is no spare leaf switch on the board.[4]

Pac-Man

[edit | edit source]

The Handheld Museum teardown photographed above is of a Pac-Man. The left stick is player 1 and selects the game; the right stick is used only in Head to Head Pac-Man, so its leaf switches can stand in for worn ones under the left stick on a game played alone.[20][10] A later board, 75721 Rev. E, has a round black transformer in place of the small rectangular one.[19] Board identification and the parts of the 75690 power section are on Coleco Pac-Man Mini-Arcade Maintenance.

Ms. Pac-Man

[edit | edit source]

The Ms. Pac-Man reverses the Pac-Man's stick layout: the right stick is player 1 and selects the game, and the left stick is player 2.[22] Its board is marked Coleco 911171.[21] See Coleco Ms. Pac-Man Mini-Arcade Maintenance.

[edit | edit source]

References

[edit | edit source]
  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 Handheld Museum, "Coleco Game Repair (Pac Man, Ms. Pac Man, Donkey Kong, Frogger & Galaxian)", page 1 (retrieved 2026-10-06). Community teardown of a Pac-Man: opening the case, the base, the speaker cone and the battery leads.
  2. ↑ Handheld Museum, "Guts" (retrieved 2026-10-06): Galaxian board photograph with the note that Donkey Kong, Frogger, Pac-Man and Ms. Pac-Man are similar, and the Zaxxon board with two VFDs separated by a mirror.
  3. ↑ Handheld Museum, "Coleco Donkey Kong Jr." (retrieved 2026-10-06): model 2398, 1983, LCD, two C cells; the Nintendo Game & Watch tabletop design recoloured for Coleco.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 Coleco Industries, Donkey Kong Instructions and Game Rules, Guide No. 78247, 1982: p. 3 (four C alkaline cells or Perma Power; weak batteries cause erratic display or play), p. 6 (special information and care). Hosted here as File:Coleco Donkey Kong Tabletop Instructions Guide 78247.pdf.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Coleco Industries, Frogger Instructions and Game Rules, model 2393, Guide No. 78256C, 1982: p. 1 and p. 3 (four C alkaline cells or the #2298 Perma Power battery eliminator/AC adaptor), p. 6 (special information and care). Hosted here as File:Coleco Frogger Tabletop Instructions Guide 78256C.pdf.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 Coleco Industries, Galaxian Instructions and Game Rules, model 2380, Guide No. 76881, 1981: p. 1 (four C alkaline cells), p. 2 (controls and the three games), p. 3 (batteries; weak batteries cause erratic display or play), p. 4 (demo mode at switch-on), p. 10 (special information and care). Hosted here as File:Coleco Galaxian Tabletop Instructions Guide 76881.pdf.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 Coleco Industries, 1983 Toy Fair catalogue, pp. 22–24 (Galaxian 2380, Frogger 2393, Donkey Kong 2391; each "Requires 4 'C' cell alkaline batteries or #2298 Perma Power Battery Eliminator/AC Adapter"). Pages reproduced by the Handheld Museum, Coleco 1983 Toy Fair catalog (retrieved 2026-10-06).
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 Mini-Arcade, "How to fix a handheld game" (retrieved 2026-10-06), repairs 1 (cleaning contacts), 4 (speaker wires, with the note that the Coleco tabletops keep the speaker in a baffle), 5 (power) and 9 (battery corrosion). Generic advice for handheld games.
  9. ↑ Jarrad Lewis, "Coleco Tabletop Arcade Battery Cover", Thingiverse 4405062 (2020), archived on the Internet Archive (retrieved 2026-10-06): 3D-printable battery cover made to fit Frogger, Pac-Man, Ms. Pac-Man, Galaxian and Donkey Kong. CC BY 4.0.
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 10.3 10.4 10.5 10.6 10.7 10.8 Handheld Museum, "Coleco Game Repair", page 2 (retrieved 2026-10-06): the four wires to the board (B+, B−, and two marked PZ for the piezo buzzer), the joystick parts, the leaf switches under the joysticks, and the two screws holding the display lens.
  11. ↑ Handheld Museum, "Coleco Perma Power" (retrieved 2026-10-06): model 2298, 1982; adapter with five tips and four C-cell simulators; centre-positive plug.
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 KLOV forums, "Advice on moding Coleco Tabletop arcade games..." (retrieved 2026-10-06). Community thread: Perma Power label quoted as 117 V AC in, 9 V DC 100 mA out; a Pac-Man run from 5 V 550 mA and 5.2 V 320 mA adapters; advice to fit a jack that disconnects the batteries.
  13. ↑ Handheld Museum, "Coleco Game Repair", page 3 (retrieved 2026-10-06): no power (wires, switch, transistors, reverse polarity), no display with sound (display damage, the high-voltage transformer, display joints), partial display (cold joints, corroded traces), filaments and grids of the display, and the trace repair on a Pac-Man's G4 grid line.
  14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 Handheld Museum, "Coleco Donkey Kong" (retrieved 2026-10-06): 1982, VFD, four C cells, model 2391; the stickers on the five arcade-shaped games; the egg-shaped joystick knob held by a screw; original price $54.95; the joystick-up start found by Luca Antignano.
  15. ↑ 15.0 15.1 Handheld Museum, "Coleco Frogger" (retrieved 2026-10-06): 1981, VFD, four C cells, model 2393; sticker set, black-top and green-top sticker variants, and a reported game-play variation.
  16. ↑ "Retro-Gaming with Coleco", HotHardware, 30 September 2004, page 2 (retrieved 2026-10-06): power from four C cells or the Perma Power, the board and speaker of a dismantled unit, decal glue mottling.
  17. ↑ KLOV forums, "Coleco handheld arcade games - anyone fix those or have intel on them?" (retrieved 2026-10-06). Community thread: a Frogger with missing display lines fixed by reflowing the display's solder joints; a Ms. Pac-Man with a missing row; reproduction decals.
  18. ↑ 18.0 18.1 18.2 18.3 Handheld Museum, "Coleco Game Repair", page 4 (retrieved 2026-10-06): reassembly, wire routing, screw care, and re-sticking the control-panel sticker.
  19. ↑ 19.0 19.1 Handheld Museum, "Coleco Game Repair", board-variation page (retrieved 2026-10-06): a later Pac-Man board marked 75721 Rev. E, with a round black transformer.
  20. ↑ 20.0 20.1 Coleco Industries, Pac-Man Instructions and Game Rules, model 2390, Guide No. 76879A, 1981: p. 2 (controls: left and right control sticks, Skill 1/Off/Skill 2 switch), p. 3 (four C alkaline cells or the #2298 Perma Power). Hosted here as File:Coleco Pac-Man Mini-Arcade Instructions 76879A.pdf.
  21. ↑ 21.0 21.1 21.2 MAME source, hh_hmcs40.cpp (retrieved 2026-10-06), driver notes for Coleco Pac-Man (PCB "Coleco 75690", Hitachi HD38820A28/A29, Futaba DM-34Z 2A) and Coleco Ms. Pac-Man (PCB "Coleco 911171", Hitachi HD38820A61, Futaba DM-60Z 3I), both made in Taiwan; 11 grid and 26 plate lines each.
  22. ↑ 22.0 22.1 Coleco Industries, The Official Ms. Pac-Man Instructions and Game Rules, model 2395, Guide No. 91758, 1983: p. 2 (controls: player 1 control stick on the right, player 2 on the left, Skill 1/Off/Skill 2 switch), p. 3 (four C alkaline cells or the #2298 Perma Power). Hosted here as File:Coleco Ms. Pac-Man Mini-Arcade Instructions 91758.pdf.
  23. ↑ 23.0 23.1 MAME source, hh_hmcs40.cpp (retrieved 2026-10-06), driver notes for Coleco Donkey Kong (PCB "Coleco Rev C 75790 DK", Hitachi HD38820A45 in a QFP, Futaba DM-47ZK 2K VFD, 11 grid and 28 plate lines, 1-bit sound with an RC volume decay) and Coleco Galaxian (PCB "Coleco Rev A 75718", Hitachi HD38800A70, Futaba DM-36Z 2H VFD, 12 grid and 15 plate lines, the two-player switch driving the corner segments directly, discrete sound for the attack whine). Both made in Taiwan. Emulator documentation written from real boards.
  24. ↑ 24.0 24.1 MAME source, hh_melps4.cpp (retrieved 2026-10-06), driver notes for Coleco Frogger: made in Japan, PCB "Coleco Frogger Code No. 01-81543, KS-003282 Japan", Mitsubishi M58846-701P with a 600 kHz crystal, Itron CP5090GLR R1B VFD, 12 grid and 16 plate lines; and the Gakken/Konami Frogger with an M58846-700P.


Retrieved from "https://wiki.retrotechcollection.com/index.php?title=Coleco_Mini-Arcade_Maintenance&oldid=24862"