Repair & Modify DDR Arcade Pads

Here I want to discuss about repairing & modifying DDR arcade pads (the old conventional pads, not the new western dedicab that has different construction) to be more Sensitive & playable. I think this topic is very interesting to discuss.

For me, the original pads from Konami are not very pleasing even from New condition.
They're not as sensitive as I want and from time to time they got lower and less sensitive than before.
In some case the brackets are dislodged, but I always got them installed back.

I've been searching the tutorials about raising up pads and found some, but I got no clue what material they used.
For example the foam tapes that someone used on Youtube, It's very hard to find similiar tapes in my area.

In my experience, there are some arcades that using "raise-up" method on DDR pads.
One of them are inserting slim acrylic material between the Sensor & Letter L Bracket.
They're just fine until someday the pads are become too sensitive and start sticking when you stomp on them.

On the other side, I used folded HVS paper instead of that acrylic.
They worked quite well, but I'm afraid they will destroy the sensors (wood fibres vs rubber).

Any suggestion and real tutorials with pictures to help me with this? I need some material info.

And for ddr_ray & Dr.D, could you guys inform me what modification used on Singapore & Taiwan pads?
Any Japanese player or players in Japan can inform me too about the pads in Japan.

Any help would be appreciated.

Thank you very much.


(Btw, this is some pictures of me & my friends fixing the pads)

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To raise the panels, use paper on top of the brackets. Double sided tape or duct tape to hold it together and to the bracket. Or foam with a sticky back on it. To make the sensors more sensitive, either do what you're doing (I used building packers on my local machine and they're working alright for the time being, since I rarely get permission to work on it) or put folded bits of paper under the sensor. Pull it out, and slide little strips folded in half or whatever. There's a video of this on youtube, I believe Suko put it there regarding his machine.

oh and also aaron in japan and r21 freak are good places to discuss this too. Not too many zenius players own their own machines.

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Wow. The 4th photo, the thing is too huge i guess.... In Singapore, not many arcade will allow us to mod the pads.
For TimeZone, thankfully they allowed. We used a namecard material, cut it to match the length of the L plate & paste it in between the sensor & the L bracket. They're just fine until someday the pads are become too sensitive and start sticking when you hold the freeze arrow for too long.
But when this happen, try searching for the sticky sensors, & then you remove away your mod, it will become a "quite sensitive" sensor. I do not know how to explain this, but it happens this way.

For Zone X, they don't allowed. But at least they will do their own mod by anyhow wrap the sensors with black tape a few rounds... (which is not a good idea as it forces the sensors to become too slim from time to time, i guess)

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If you want to make the panels more sensitive I'd suggest putting plastic strips (box strapping) in the rubber seats, UNDER each sensor (as well as foam over each bracket to raise the panel up). Foam that sits on top of the sensor/bracket is all well and good until the sensor itself wears to the point where it's too far down into its seat and you're just pressing on the seat sides instead of the sensor.

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Might work in that you push it down using stuff on top then push it back using stuff underneath. Hah. If it gets that compressed though, I would guess it would get stuck on anyway.

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I know of a few of us that do.

My machine pad modding was thus:
* I removed the L-shaped brackets, sensors and the plastic sensor holders from the pad.
* I cleaned every sensor in soapy water (to remove the dirt and bits of gravel that had stuck in the grooves)
* I re-glued the plastic sensor holders onto the pad (after removing the gunky residue of the old glue from the pad).
* I removed the plastic cover on the L-shaped brackets (which had worn away, and in some cases slipped a bit from it's original position on the bracket), and instead glued rectangles of 2mm art foam above and below the L-shaped bracket.
* I replaced all the screws on the L-shaped brackets (to make sure every bracket had the required three screws) - THIS BIT IS THE MOST IMPORTANT.

(I also de-rusted and re-painted everything, but wouldn't advise that to others - far too much effort for too little gain)

It needed breaking in until the foam had compressed down a bit (sticky pads for the first week or two), but I've been using it for 2 years and 4 months and not replaced it once (it won't last as long in an active arcade, though).

This is on a 3rdMIX Asian cabinet that had probably been operated in a swamp. All sensors are still the factory originals, and all are working fine.

Before:


After:

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Nice work there dude, very sharp.

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Box stripping underneath sensors, adjust to desired sensitivity + 4mm foam.

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box stripping?

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He means "strapping" (I think, from past conversations):
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strapping

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oh right that nylon stuff. Not a bad idea.

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I'll contribute to this thread when I find the time.

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That in itself is a significant contribution, good sir. Well done.

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Hey I got a question about the X pads. I'm in a hurry to fix them if possible. My arcade has dead sensors and a broken step panel(arrow). Is there any way to franken-fix it using old pads/sensors? Or even if a way to fix it all together using random triggers and such?

Please and Thank you.

The most important sensor position is the one which is nearest from the center metal plate,

and if it's dead, maybe you could switch it with the farthest one from the center metal plate.

for pad replacement with old pads, I think it's very possible (I've seen one X dedicab in US with old conventional pads)

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Thanks exotic man. Hrm okay I don't got access to an old pad... But I can ask around some other arcades. Hopefully the wiring isn't hellish. Low level techs here. Hopefully switching the sensors (and possibly cleaning them). Forgot one panel had sticky sensors. Yeah Bestson or whoever gets us the parts screwed us pretty hard. 4+ weeks waiting on parts.

Side question is there a way to unscrew some shaved screws? I was thinking epoxy fill in and unscrew. Is there another way? Damn Hex screws got shaved after like taking it apart a few times.

Chi had some very good advice and I can't think of much to add to that but stress the bit is the most important part. It's good to have those screws on tight so the bracket wont fall off but at the same time make sure the screw isn't pressing on the "L" shaped bracket or it will cause it to stick.

As for sensitivity I recommend putting somewhat thick tape on top of the "L" shaped bracket EVENLY. I stress evenly cause there's nothing worse than clanking sound of uneven panels not to mention if its not even it wont help your sensitivy. In the end you want the panels to be raised as high as possible but no higher, as in to the point some sensors are sticking down.

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That will probably work quite well, just be careful not to get the epoxy anywhere else

If they are pan-headed, then lots of WD40 and a good, sturdy pair of pliers. That's how I ultimately removed all the rusted and stripped-headed screws from my pad.

You can also drill out the body of the screw, and/or try screw removal drill attachments, but they are tricky to use for small screws.

I've also used a hammer to force a strong-tipped screwdriver into a stripped screw, but you need a tough screwdriver and it to be a weak screw.

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Thanks Dr.D and Chi. K I'll recommend that to the techies. Yeah trying to figure out how to not strip the screws heads while in play. Also forgot that some of heads of the screws got stripped off too. Hopefully the tape will pull the panel off of the switch. Yeah half the metal panel is like teetering on like a handful of screws.

Cracked arrow panel: could it get replaced with something else? or an old pexi-glass panel?
Oh and USB is it a memory problem? We can only get it to work the first time and then it gives us the "USB error cannot recognize device" (in Japanese).

OK I hope that was everything.