Arcade cabinet keys?

[Room 34]

Fortunately, the Asteroids cocktail table I got at auction yesterday works 100% and is set to free play, so I can use it. But unfortunately it did not come with the key to open the cabinet. Right now my main concerns pertaining to getting inside of it are:

 

1. Cleaning out 23 years of accumulated dust

2. Turning down the volume

 

I've heard that the locks on these machines are not really that unique and you can easily get a master key that will open just about any machine with a particular lock design. I'm just wondering if anyone can point me in the right direction to get something like this.

 

Thanks!

[Heavy Sixer]

I had the same problem on two of my machines. Both of Pengo's front doors were locked, and one of Xevious's was locked. No keys. I started digging around on the net and I discovered this:

 

http://www.lysator.liu.se/mit-guide/mit-guide.html

 

After about five minutes of reading and about 40 minutes of fiddling with a couple of straightened paperclips, I was able to pick the offending cam locks on my machines and remove them. In a way it was kind of fun, plus I didn't have to drill any holes and risk damage to the machines. However, considering the amount of time it took to open three stupid little game locks, I think it's safe to say that a career in burglary is entirely out of the question for me . Anyway, if you succeed in picking your locks, then you can either re-key them or else buy new cam locks at a hardware store. Good luck!

 

HEAVY***6***er

[Lemmi]

I used to have 5 cabinet keys, for popeye/donkey kong/donkey kong jr/ tempest/ and 2 others that didnt work in anything, some keys worked for multiple machines

 

I have no idea what i did with them tho

[Room 34]

Heavy Sixer:

 

Thanks for the tips (and the link). I promise if I manage to develop any skill at picking locks that I will only use my powers for good. Then again, I find my total lack of patience usually prevents me from developing many skills beyond an extremely rudimentary level (example: soldering).

 

Lemmi:

 

What you said reminded me of how I discovered back in high school that the key to my mom's 1983 Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme was able to open the heavily-worn lock on the stereo cabinet in the high school band room. I somehow managed to get my study hall period moved to the band room (I was the only student in the room for an hour of each day), and I would frequently open up the cabinet and blast King Crimson until a teacher would come and demand that I turn it off.

[ATARIPITBULL]

After you open your arcade machine and remove the old locks that you have no keys for, you can get new locks from www.wicothesource.com or from www.happcontrols.com, these places have just about everything you need to fix up your old machine.

 

[Room 34]

Pitbull:

 

Thanks for the tip. I also e-mailed Arcade Amusements and the guy there suggested that I drill out the old lock with a 3/8-inch bit, and then just get a new cam lock at a hardware store.

 

Anyway, I'm excited about all of this! Now with the Asteroids and my pinball machine, I've got a real "game room" of my own!