My Coleco tabletops have a terminal illness...

[ArugulaZ]

...a battery terminal illness, that is. The terminals from the Donkey Kong tabletop were coated with rust, and the terminals from the Ms. Pac-Man tabletop... well, they ARE rust. I've been looking all over the web for suitable replacements but have yet to find any. What would you guys suggest? Would small squares of strip metal with springs soldered to them be enough to get the job done, or should I look for a less jury-rigged solution?

[Rik]

You might try going to a Radio Shack or other electronics store and buying a C-Cell battery carrier and take it apart (just a plastic thing that holds 2 or 4 batteries that you can wire up to something). That will give you nice springs ready to go... It might take a little creative work to get them in the game (since I think they will be revited into the battery carrier), but I've used them to replace battery terminals before without too much difficulty.

You might also try finding a really common game that takes C-cell batteries and just take the terminals out of those...

Collecting tip: NEVER throw any games away! If you do, at least take all the battery terminals first. You never know when you might need a spare!

Rik