Arcade DDR Pad Modding : Tutorials, tips, ideas, etc

I thought it would be a good idea to share ideas when it comes to maintaining Arcade DDR pads. Most of what I've learned over many years have been combinations of my ideas with other peoples' ideas. So I am hoping to further my knowledge and hopefully spread some of mine.

I started a 3 part mini series on how to clean, repair, and modify DDR pads. I'll post them on the first post of this thread.

Also, if you have a video or write out some ideas to share, I'll post them in the first post as well with your name.

Dr.D's Pad Maintenance [Part 1: How to Clean Your DDR Pads]


Dr.D's Pad Maintenance [Part 2: How to Repair Your DDR Pads]


Dr.D's Pad Maintenance [Part 3: How to Modify Your DDR Pads]


Kon's DDR restoration (monitor and mads)

Other

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Whoa. That is actually very nice. i could show this video to my local arcade.

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Excellent job. Please keep these coming.

ADDENDUM: For extremely neglected pads like the ones I had to clean last week, I recommend removing the neon arrays and cleaning under them as well (they come out with four screws and by unhooking the link to the PCB). Give them a good wiping down while you're at it.

I'm sure this has been asked elsewhere, but can anyone point to information about different sensor bar set ups and how they work? For example, this video shows a sensor bar and then an L-bracket wrapping around it, with the panel resting on top of that, while at the local X2 (NA), the sensor bar rests on some thin plasticky buffer strips, while beside it are some thick plasticky buffers that the panel sits on. (My interpretation might be wrong, I just look at the techs open up the pads once in a while.)

I figured I would drop this here for comparison. PIU pads are pretty much the same as DDR and ITG pads in terms of modding.

This is what people around my area tend to do to dance games. I've modded both ITG and DDR pads with foam and it's been great. Foam modding requires a bit of a break-in time (usually a few rounds) before the sensitivity is right, but it's also very easy to make adjustments if necessary. Above all, it raises the panels, which alone is a huge benefit. I believe mad matt uses tape on his pads, as it requires less maintenance.

It's nice not tripping all over the place on recessed panels.
I've played on Ryan's pump cab and it is by far the best dance pad I've ever played on.

Disclaimer: They discuss bracketing in the video. What they mean are sections of 3+ arrows at a time, not just BSing everything. 3 arrow hits are common in both pump and ITG customs. Let's not turn this into a debate <3

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it's a good video. I'll add it.

I watched that a while back and it does have quite a bit of useful tips.

My part 2 will be uploaded tomorrow.

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I have a question concerning this. I have a DDR cab and I want to raise the panels. Is there any good video on how to do it? (just in case, I have itg sensors on it)

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I'm not 100% sure if you ment this, but Kon did a nice mod to his,

skip to 5:18

Woah... the monitor section got my attention as well. I'm planning on buying a tri-synch for my ddr cab but the LCD seems like a reasonable investment. Thanks a lot for the video, man.

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Kon's video Added.

Here's my 2nd part.




First post updated with this one.

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Nice videos D'

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Bump

Finally made another video.

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Extremely helpful. I'll be doing this in the near future. Thanks for the upload.

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Glad I can help. I hope more people are now able to adopt this in their homes and arcades.

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