Rotating Namco Exceleena Screen

Hey guys,

 

I am going to be attempting to rotate my Namco Exceleena screen from horizontal to vertical soon and I have a few questions. I can't find much info online for rotating the Exceleena 1, only the Exceleena 2. So if anyone has rotated one of these in the past, it would be great to hear your thoughts.

 

1) It says online that the screen rotates the 'opposite direction to most rotating screens'. What way to most screens rotate? Clockwise or counterclockwise? Anyone know for sure which way the Exceleena rotates?

 

2) It has a rotate mechanism in the cab, but apparently it is a bit of a bitch and recommends a 2 man operation. I am getting raysco to help me out. I believe all I need to do is to open the cab, remove the bezel, remove the four locking bolts on the corner of the tube housing and then use the big ass handles to lift and rotate the screen. Has anyone done this in an Exceleena before? Anything I should look out for? I am most worried about stretching/breaking/cutting cables as I turn the screen.

 

3) I expect that as I am going nowhere near the back of the tube, as all rotation is done from the front, I will not need to unplug and discharge the screen. These things are made to be rotated fairly easily, and I know with the Excleena 2, Egret etc. you do not need to unplug and discharge.

 

Thanks for your help and advice!

Put a vertical game into in then you'll know for sure which way to rotate without changing anything else

 

Check cabling is not going to stretch , do a partial rotate and check as you go

Well it's gonna be a MAME machine. I will hook up the PC and then run a vert game to see which way it faces then start the rotate.

 

The cables do worry me, hence why I am making it a two man operation. Four eyes and four arms will make it go more smoothly (I hope).

 

As everything is encased within a monitor frame, I am pretty damn sure that the cables will not stretch, as the chassis is located directly beneath the screen in the frame. I will of course unplug all JAMMA connections etc. before I rotate to ensure there is no cable stretch there.

 

Thanks for the input. Wish I could track down some info or videos of someone doing it. Not much out there on the Exceleena 1.

Ignoring that you're going to put MAME in it...

 

The exceleena frame has a sticker on it showing which way it rotates. It doesn't have a rotating mechanism, it has an annoying catch on the back that you have to slip the frame in and out of as you move/remove the monitor. It very much can be done by one person, i've done it a lot in the past. It rotates in one direction only, and that's the opposite to what most games support (the exception being Namco games, and games with a flip screen dipswitch). You can unplug the monitor from the service door, there is two cables coming from the tube and they both have connectors on them mid-cable which you need to disconnect.

Hey, at least it's gonne be GroovyMAME running at 15khz with a vert monitor to run CAVE shooters :)

 

I will search for the sticker on the frame, haven't seen one, but it is a complete cab, so I am hoping it will still be there. As for the catch, do I just pull the monitor out towards me, rotate, and then slide it back in? The one description I can find online makes it sound like that.

 

As for the connectors to the service door, do you mean the door on the front with the standard locking keys? To the left of the coinbox? Do I need to unplug those two cables from the tube? It seems to be somewhat of a bitch to even get to the tube, due to the fact that the back of the cabinet cannot be removed. So, to even get to the back of the tube, I would need to pull out the entire monitor frame.

 

Also, do I need to discharge to do this? Or have you done it without discharging?

 

Thanks for the help, this is the first bit of info I have found from someone who has actually done it before.

You shouldn't need to discharge, unless you need to disconnect the anode lead.

I can take a photo of mine if you don't see the label on yours, can't remember the rotation direction off the top of my head, but if you watch any rotation video on the net, it's the opposite direction on the Exceleena.

Shove your head in the service door and look up at the back of the monitor - there's a slot in the back of the cabinet and a arm of sorts that slides down into it on the chassis. You'll need to lift the back of the monitor up first before getting it out of the cabinet, you can do this by tilting the front of the monitor down as you lift. Opposite when you put it back - put the bottom part of the frame on the cabinet frame, and then tilt the top into position. There's two handles on the frame, I tend not to use these and instead grab the top via the gap in the top middle of the frame (you may want to use a glove or a cloth to protect your hand) and the bottom of the frame. When you rotate you'll have to see what works best for you.

 

The service door is the big door where the PCB goes in and you can access the PSU. There's two cables that hang down from the tube, they both have connectors and are really easy to unplug.

 

The only time you ever need to discharge is if you're going to start putting your hands in the chassis/want to remove the chassis. Holding the frame you should be fine.

 

Let me know if you have any other questions :)

Thanks very much for the comprehensive reply. I will remove the board in there this arvo and stick my head into the cab for a bit of recon.

 

I love this cab like a child, so I want to make sure this goes down properly :-)

Make sure you check each and every cable connected to your flyback!!

 

I hate to admit this but i turned one of my Egret's and thought i had checked every cable and missed one, and of course the one i missed was screwed to the side of the cab. When i turned the screen (very slowly mind you) i heard a slight crack then gas hissing, i realised straight away what had happened. I had just cracked the neck of my tube!! There was no resistance or any sign either. I thought i was careful and all it took was one cable i missed.

 

Figure my misfortune may as well be a warning for others. Why anyone would screw a cable from the flyback to the cabinet on a cab that has a rotate mech still baffles me!

Well, now I'm worried :) Egret's even have an easy rotate mechanism.

 

Exceleena's are apparently significantly harder to rotate. Cracking the neck of my tube is basically my greatest fear with rotating a screen.

Sorry mate, not trying to scare you just pre-warn you. :cool:

The tube is heavy

 

unplug the neck pcb

 

carefull not to snap the neck !

I just went and looked around in my cab to suss it all out. No cables at all running outside of the monitor frame. Found the two easy cables to unplug at the bottom, so that's no problem. Located the pin/turning mechanism, looks like a challenge. Seems that I will have to lift the entire monitor out to get the pin out of it's slot, then rotate and put the pin back into the slot and then let it gently down into the slot. I was trying to figure out if it's possible to turn the pin while it is in the slot, but I couldn't see enough detail to really work that out. I reckon by all the descriptions I have read online and been given by dave_wellington, it will not be possible to turn the pin in the slot. However, some sites seem to allude to the fact that it might be possible.

 

Anyway, shouldn't be too hard <touch wood> as I can't see any cables that are likely to cause any issues.

 

Hey Ando77, did you ever rotate this puppy before I bought it off you? Also, do you reckon it is worth unplugging the neckboard when the whole thing is protected inside the monitor frame? Seems like it would be pretty hard to damage the neckboard due to the frame.

The tube is heavy

 

unplug the neck pcb

 

carefull not to snap the neck !

 

The whole tube and chassis is protected by the frame, there's absolutely no need to do this.

 

I'm pretty sure it's impossible to turn while in the slot, I wouldn't bother trying.

I was thinking as much on both accounts. Thanks dave_wellington. Hopefully I should be attacking this on Wednesday night. Unless I chicken out and just leave it horizontal. However, it's always been my dream to have a Japanese candy cab setup as a vertical shmup cabinet :) A little bit of Tokyo in my garage.

 

Thanks for all the advice from everyone who contributed.

Screen rotated, no disasters. Don't know how the hell you managed to do one on your own Dave Wellington, you must be built like a tank. I had Raysco's help and even then it was bloody heavy to muscle that tube around.

Love a happy ending! Well done! :)