New owner questions

[rickyg]

So the SS chip is the reel chip, which makes the game a wild cherry and gives the payout percentage. And the SP chip is the game chip, which sets the test mode and allows me to make some options. Is that correct?

It also came with a clear chip and a set 15 chip. What would these be used for?

I've been looking for the how to write-up for the SP731 but haven't found it yet. I will continue to search but if anyone comes across it can they send it.

It sounds like that would tell me how to set the hopper payout amount to around 300 coins and make anything above that a jackpot where I can reset the credits with the jackpot key. Is that correct?

Thanks
 

[rokgpsman]

That's pretty much how I understand what the REEL and GAME chips do, although there is technically probably more to it.

Sometimes your machine will give an error and all you have to do to get rid of the error is open the door and then close it again, maybe turn the Reset key on the side of the machine. But now and then a persistent error can happen that you can't get rid of using the normal methods. That's when you use the CLEAR chip. You don't want to CLEAR the machine unless it really needs it because you will have to set up a lot of settings that will be lost and that can be a major pain for someone not familiar with the process.

The only reason for the SET chip is to enable the bill validator on the machine if it has one. That is the paper money acceptor, it is disabled by default because back when the S+ machines first came out they just used coins primarily and bill acceptors hadn't become common usage. If you don't have a bill acceptor then I don't think you will be using the SET chip. And if you do have a bill validator and it is already enabled you won't need the SET chip unless you CLEAR the machine. There are different versions of the SET chip, the Set 15 is a popular one.

It is good that you have the SET and CLEAR chips in case you ever need them.

I think you have the general idea on how the SP731 works. By pressing the white TEST button inside the machine you bring up the settings menu, it consists of several numbered steps and substeps. As you step thru the menu when you get to a numbered step that you want to change you press another button or turn the reset switch to make changes, I'm not that familiar with the S+ to give exact details. Then when you are done making all the changes desired you save the changes. As a guess, I think the SP1271 has the same menu choices that your SP731 does, plus several additional ones since it is a later version SP chip. So the information you read about any of the SP1271 menu choices that are numbered the same as the SP731 menu choices would apply to the SP731. That means the menu choices for something universal like hopper settings are probably the same. But this is just a guess on my part, someone here will say how it works so stay tuned. Another thing to think about is that you can probably remove your old SP731 chip and upgrade to the SP1271 chip, that would likely give you more choices and settings. But doing that may change how the machine communicates with the bill validator (comm protocol) so you'd want to make sure about everything before changing out your SP731 chip.

Is your machine working properly, more or less? Does it have a bill validator and will it take in paper money? Is it setup for quarter coins or something  else?

Here is a spreadsheet with different tabs at the bottom for different SP chips and the settings they have, the SP731 is one of them:

http://newlifegames.com/nlg/index.php?topic=586.0

[rickhunter]

Interesting that the run date on that psr is 2008.  I think the bible predates that.  I made the bible out of IGT information they had on their really old site.  That chip might have been made at a later date for jurisdictional compliance of some sort.  I verified that paytable 120A is for a 2 Coin 3 Reel wild cherry, so that chip is correct and it is NOT on the bible.

[rokgpsman]

That is odd but with the hundreds of software sets IGT released I guess it wouldn't be too hard for one to get overlooked somehow. I found it listed on the old NLG website in a posting by Joey back in Sept 2008 so it was in whatever source he had then. Will it be possible to get the bible updated to include this SS3408?

Did you have to go thru every PSR/PAR one at a time to create the bible? However it was done sounds like a lot of time and effort, thanks!, I know that many people have benefited from using it over the years.

[rickyg]

I printed out the spreadsheet with the SP731. I think I can set the max hopper payout to 400 just using the dipswitch without going into the self test mode? If this is true payouts over 400 I could clear with jackpot key?

The machine is working good so far.  It has a bill validator but takes only older bills. Maybe something I can update at a later time if possible? It also accepts quarters.

Thanks again
 

[rokgpsman]

I printed out the spreadsheet with the SP731. I think I can set the max hopper payout to 400 just using the dipswitch without going into the self test mode? If this is true payouts over 400 I could clear with jackpot key?

The machine is working good so far.  It has a bill validator but takes only older bills. Maybe something I can update at a later time if possible? It also accepts quarters.

Thanks again
 

Sometimes the software inside the bill validator can be updated, depends on what model bill validator and what software it currently has. If the bill validator is an older one it may already have the last software release. Can you post a photo of your bill validator, showing any stickers on it if possible? That will help id it. What bills are you able to get it to accept?

Sorry, I don't know the SP731 chip or the S+ machine well enough to answer your question about max hopper payout. But I'm pretty sure someone here will.

[jay]

The 731 is an older chip that you need to use the dip switches to set the hopper settings.
I would not be afraid of the self test button. There is a PSR sheet (Program Summary Report) that explains all the different options and how to change them.
In our download area R273 created an easy to follow version for all of the common chips (731 included) in Excel format.


The 731 is a good chip for most people. On some themes you can change the win sound to play 1 of about 7 different tunes.
It doesn't work on all games just those themes that support it.


The 1271 chip basically stripped away this song feature to make room for more accounting options.
It also supports separate hopper and bill validator limits (on 731 - hopper max = credit max).
If you happen to use a linked progressive there are also options for this that were not in the 731, and it allows you to have an internal machine specific progressive at the second level while still having a linked progressive at the top.  Most of this is not of interest to home users (ok I have both kinds of progressives but most people don't).


Regarding your bill validator - yes this can be upgraded depending on what model you have.
The older machines had a DBV145 which is EOL and cannot be upgraded to any of the new bills.
A DBV200 is a direct swap for the 145 - you also need a new power supply as the one with the 145 doesn't have enough amps to support the DBV200.
The DBV200 can be upgraded to take all new bills except for the new 5 and new 100.
There are newer validators still such as the WBA 11/12/13 models which can be flashed to accept most any currency, not just USD.
DBV=dollar bill validator, WBA = world bill validator.
The problem however is that the code writer basically didn't write the new $5/$100 into the software for the S+ - so while these validators work with the S+ just fine you don't get any advantage from your upgrade. The same bill head (change of dipswitches) will work in a S2000 model and accept all bills including those not accepted by the S+


Many of the vendors on our home page can flash your validator for you. Certain models of the DBV200 did have a socket that can have its chip changed rather than sending it out for flashing.