Entex Crazy Climber - easy to open? Need to clean controls

Panic Button

I received one of these rare bad boys today off ebay, but the joysticks don't work. I was thinking of opening it up to clean the contacts on the joysticks to see if that would resolve the issue, but I've read on here that there are 2 screws under the top marquee which need unscrewing. According to Rik if you're careful you can peel off the marquee and replace it without damage. Would you say this is true and would it be worth it? Do you think cleaning the joystick contacts will get it responding again. The game displays fine and runs through the demo OK.... Would be great to get it playable again but don't want to ruin her looks. Thoughts?

Rik · Posted: Wed Jun 15, 2011 12:15 pm Post subject:

It's doable, you just have be very patient. Use a fingernail to start pealing back the sticker, and just apply a small amount of pressure and wait for the glue to give way. It'll take several minutes, you don't want to bend the sticker at all (well, a slight curve is okay, but anything more will cause a crease in it that you won't be able to get out).

The problem you may have though is that the reason the joysticks don't work is likely because the rubber pads that sit on the circuit board have deteriorated. The rubber becomes brittle and they basically disintegrate. You need to replace them. The only place to get an exact replacement is from a similar game (CC or Spiders, in this case). But, you can also take them from other games if they are close enough and get the joysticks working again... Depends on how many spare parts you have. Smile

Good luck with it...

bomberpunk · Posted: Wed Jun 15, 2011 7:34 pm Post subject:

i would like to add that you can use buttons from a generic universal remote control (cheapest one these days are $6 at wal-mart or target). just take the remote apart, take out the rubber sheet with all the buttons, and then cut one button off. shave to size and *poof* you have a brand new button contact!

this method also works for guitar pedals (especially the original DOD lineup).
_________________
cheers,
bp

blanka · Posted: Thu Jun 16, 2011 2:54 am Post subject:

In most situations where I found rubber buttons not working, it was the PCB that was dirty. Nothing wrong with the rubber. Just clean the bottom of the contact and the PCB first. It might be enough.

Rik · Posted: Thu Jun 16, 2011 6:48 pm Post subject:

Yeah, there's actually several things that could be wrong with it... Might even be a loose contact somewhere on the circuit boards... If it's dried rubber, that will be obvious. Sometimes the 'dirty contacts' is from the conductive material on the rubber coming off on the contacts. Over time (if played with a lot) this material will wear off completely and you will need to replace the rubber parts... For things like buttons (that don't have springs), you can usually tell if the rubber is good by pressing the button down and seeing it feels 'springy'. (you have to know if there's an actual spring inside it though.)

I like the idea of using a remote control though... Probably any cheap calculator with plastic buttons would do nicely too... Cool

blanka · Posted: Fri Jun 17, 2011 12:44 am Post subject:

How do the Coleco/Gakken joysticks hold? Is their system more solid over time? They use some sort of metal bridge on the PCB that hovers above a contact, and the stick pushes these metal sheets down.

Rik · Posted: Fri Jun 17, 2011 10:11 am Post subject:

Well, the nice thing about the Coleco ones is that they won't deteriorate by just sitting around like the rubber ones can (usually by being stored in attics or other non-climate controlled locations, causes the rubber to dry out). But, if the game is heavily played, the piece of metal can get stuck in the contact position, wear a hole through it, and in some cases break in half. It's much harder to find a replacement of that piece of metal once this happens. You usually have to try to rig up a hack to make it work again (or sacrifice the metal cover from another joystick or game).

So it's more durable, but more of a pain to replace when it does break...

mmackin · Posted: Wed Aug 15, 2018 12:00 pm Post subject:

I know this is an old post, but I recently acquired an Entex Spiders. The controls are very slow, so I want to open this machine and take a look at it. I've removed the marquee and the two screws, I've open the battery compartment and removed the two screws there. But I can't figure out where there are any more screws to remove to open this. how do you open one of these? Thanks for any help.

Rik · Posted: Mon Aug 20, 2018 7:26 pm Post subject:

The only tricky screws are under the marquee sticker...
I think there's at least 4 on the bottom of the game, but they are all clearly visible if you look in the holes. (I don't have one next to me to look at...)

It should just pull apart once the screws are out. Is it getting loose? Maybe it's just kind of stuck together...