Dig Dug on Wheels!

Like the Venture post before it, most of this was originally published as part of the bavacade repair log from February 9, 2023.  But in service of searchability and documenting these cabinet overhauls more individually, I’m breaking this out into its own post.

Broekn Corner in Dig Dug Cabinet

Broken corner in Dig Dug cabinet

There was a big gouge in the bottom rear corner of the Dig Dug cabinet that was bothering me to no end. The cabinet was otherwise quite solid, and I have to say the seller ensured everything in it was original, which is always nice. One thing that struck me when taking this apart was how well designed the Atari cabinets are. This was the first one I disassembled, and it was the easiest yet by far. I love the way the light and speaker are combined onto one piece of plywood for easy removal.

Dig Dug Light and speaker mount

Light and speaker mounted unit for Dig Dug cabinet

The coin door setup is also super easy to remove with a genius design that allows you to attach and detach the coin box easily and tighten the door with all bolts seated using attached, movable nuts. When you disassemble enough of these machines you begin to appreciate good design choices.

Dig Dug Coin Door Unit

Bolt system for coin doors for the Atari Dig Dug cabinet

The cabinet work for this game was a bit more straightforward. Epoxy for the gouged lower corner and for the various imperfections along the trim. I have new t-molding on order, so this game should be mint very soon.

Taping Dig Dug for Paint

Some taping of Dig Dug for touch-up paint

There were a few places the cracks in the sides meant I needed to do some touch-up paint work, and the base color of his cabinet is closer to off-white than pure white, so I found myself adding yellow to pure white paint to get a better match, and that was fun. It’s not perfect, but you would need to know what you are looking for in just a few spots to see the difference. It’s approaching perfection for me, so more than passable for most I hope. Also, none of the original artwork was touched, so this was already a pretty impressive cabinet, that just got awesomer!

Matching Off-white paint of Dig Dug

Dig Dug After touch-up paint and before light sanding

There are a couple of things I still needed to attend to, and I got around to them after returning from travel. The first task was fixing the marquee light that blows every florescent tube I’ve put in there. I believe it’s the ballast on the light fixture, but I decided to go the easy route for the time being and just attach a 12V switching power supply to convert 120V power line to 12V in order to attach a 12V LED light strip.

Image of 12 volt switching power supply in Dig Dug cabinet to enable LED marquee to work

12 volt switching power supply in Dig Dug cabinet to enable LED marquee to work

That worked well, although the light is a bit bright, so I am looking to find some opaque tinted tape to dial down the lumens. Right now I have masking tape as a work-around, but that might not be the best idea 🙂

Image of LED strip in Dig Dug marquee masked to dim light was some masking tape

LED strip in Dig Dug marquee masked to dim light was some masking tape

That said, the marquee is now working quite well, and it is an original glass, not pasltic, marquee, which is extra special:

Image of Dig Dug marquee lit up

Dig Dug marquee lit up

Next up, the power brick was pretty noisy, so I thought it might be a big blue cap that needed to be replaced. It’s an easy job, so I brought a couple back from America and swapped out the existing one. Unfortunately the noise persisted, so in the interim I switched the power prick from Millipede, which is dead quiet, with the one from Dig Dug. I did this not only because Dig Dug is in the foyer and the noise can get annoying, but also because Millipede is next game up for a quick refurbish and wheels. While Alberto is working on Millipede, I’ll see if I can figure out what is making the loud humming noise on the Dig Dug brick.

Image of wiring for a Big Blue cap on an Atari power brick for Dig Dug

Wiring for a Big Blue cap on an Atari power brick for Dig Dug

Finally, the smooth, black t-molding is on order, and should arrive soon. But apart from that, this is another mint cabinet that sits alongside Donkey Kong Jr, Galaxian, and Pac-man in the bavamanse foyer!

Dig Dug Re-assembled

Dig Dug is re-assembled and looking groovy

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3 Responses to Dig Dug on Wheels!

  1. Eric Likness says:

    Not to be to nostalgic or ironic, I think a jukebox and billiard table are in order. Along with an appropriate playlist, something like say,… I dunno, VH-Runnin’ with the Devil!

  2. Pingback: Bello Yellow Pac-man | bavatuesdays

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