New Life Games LLC
General NLG Chat => General Chat, Slot Shop **Tech Talk** Welcome wagon and other stuff. (Off-Topic Post Welcome) => Topic started by: havasugameman on December 09, 2014, 06:42:42 AM
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just wondering if you leave your machines on all the time? pros and cons. I prefer to shut them off when not in use.
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They are computers with peripherals. Think about it in that light and make your decision accordingly. For what it's worth, I only turn mine on when I use them.
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If I turn mine on to use them I leave them on for the day and shut them off till next time. Might be a couple weeks between uses and leaving on would be a waste
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One of my friends had his 4 machines on for 24/7 . He had a problem and then turned them all off for 3 months and his elec bill dropped $150 PER month, so he says. He has a S+, PE+ , E1000, and a Mega Touch.
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I could see that if he lives in CA! Our electricity costs are crazy high...But they say an extra fridge runs about $20/month. If that's true, then I could maybe see an added $80-100 for machines (depending on location).
Someone figured it out on the old site. I thought the conclusion was a machine pulls approximately the same as a 75w light bulb? Does that sound about right?
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This is a worthwhile endeavor just for the sake of documentation. I'm going to run my P3 Meter on each machine to see the average consumption for about 1 hour with use. I will note down the electrical draw on each machine I own and post the results here. I will try and do it this weekend when I get a chance. I figure the dual Lcd machines will take the most current draw.
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If the machine is off more than it is on doesn't that shorten the life of the battery?
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This is a worthwhile endeavor just for the sake of documentation. I'm going to run my P3 Meter on each machine to see the average consumption for about 1 hour with use. I will note down the electrical draw on each machine I own and post the results here. I will try and do it this weekend when I get a chance. I figure the dual Lcd machines will take the most current draw.
:agreepost: THANKS, GOOD IDEA.
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Sure does, but batteries are a lot cheaper than electricity and worn out equipment
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Hey Ford,
Rickhunter is going to spend his weekend seeing how much electricity his slot machines use ??????? :Scratch-Head: We really need to find him a woman !!!!!! :drool04: :24:
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From what I understand doesn't the battery only hold the memory for the credits? So if your not going to turn it on for some time wouldn't clearing the credits make the battery last longer? :Scratch-Head: Not that it would matter much cause batteries are cheep compared to electricity.
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And batteries are cheap compared to replacing light bulbs, and that glass that fades over time with the light shining through, especially the belly glass. I am a believer of leaving them off.
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From what I understand doesn't the battery only hold the memory for the credits? So if your not going to turn it on for some time wouldn't clearing the credits make the battery last longer? :Scratch-Head: Not that it would matter much cause batteries are cheep compared to electricity.
I can't see how clearing credits would save battery draw for RAM. Zero is still a number.
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Hey Ford,
Rickhunter is going to spend his weekend seeing how much electricity his slot machines use ??????? :Scratch-Head: We really need to find him a woman !!!!!! :drool04: :24:
Married with child already. I am not actually going to sit there and wait an hour. My meter logs time and kwh used. I will just let the thing sit there and record the logs. But thanks for the offer, 20 years ago, I would have jumped into the offer. :arrowthruhead: :arrowthruhead: :arrowthruhead:
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Guess I can stop looking. I was looking on Craigslist for a chick for you.
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Try backpage.com, the money he saves on electricity will go to good use :rotfl:
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Ok, I measured some of my machines last night. I posted the results on the link below.
http://newlifegames.com/nlg/index.php?topic=4499.0 (http://newlifegames.com/nlg/index.php?topic=4499.0)
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Here is a tip I use on Cherry Red or newer Alpha mechanical titles where the back lights are always on.... I mainly do this to save the LED lights...
On a NON WINNING SPIN or when the lights are not flashing:
In the GAME DIAGNOSTIC menu click on DEVICES...
Click on PROJECTOR LIGHTS and click TEST.
Exit the menu and return to the game..
This will turn off all the back lights to the reels and leave them off until the game uses the lights in a winning combination or bonus hit, ect.
If you spin a few times without a win and the lights don't come back on... don't panic. A win or a bonus symbol land will turn them all back on.
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Would a 1989 Williams 550 machine have a battery? When I unplug my mine I loose all the credits.
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All Slots have batteries. Your machine should not loose credits during power off or unplugging. The credits and accounting information is kept in a non-volatile memory. Do you get errors when you power up? Depending on what type of mpu board you have on your 550 (it could be a legacy 1.5, 1.5+, or a cpunxt board) will determine what kind of battery you need.
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Thanks again. Would it just be a cell battery on the board then?
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Leave them off. You 1. save money on your electric bill, 2. save on wear and tear on the circuit boards.
About that battery: My old machine charges a battery, so I put in a 1 farad memory capacitor. Of course, it needs to be charged, but I can have it charged within 10 minutes of on time. As for the others, i.e. non-charging circuit, use a lithium battery. You can check the battery voltage every month to see if you need to replace it. If you know how to convert to a charging circuit, use a memory capacitor instead and test its longevity. Some memory chips may drain more than others if the memory capacitor doesn't hold a charge for more than a week or so. You will need patience and time to ensure it'll work for a long time for your machine. Stay away from alkalines--they leak!
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I bought a fancy weekly timer for my upcoming machine, with a plan to keep it 8hrs on the game days, with a few break days per week. Over-ride is a push of a button. With a little luck that'll keep capacitors happy for years longer than full time running...and the electric thing.
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Does turning the machine effect the RNG at all? Has anyone who frequently boots up the machine noticed it is unusually hot/cold/skewed shortly after boot-up?
I imagine IGT et al are experienced enough to have overcome a potential glitch in this space.
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I live and work in the Las Vegas valley. Almost all of my company's locations leave there video poker games on 24/7. Games will have there normal issues when left on. Lamps burn out, fans go bad, power supply over heats, exc..... I really hate to shut them off because that's when a lot of problems pop up. I guess this on and off thing could go either way. We are a 24/7 town on gaming so all of our locations leave there games on.
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cost of battery for slot machine $5-$10 dollars, cost of hydro 24/7 $30-$40 a month, ill replace battery every 3 ys, and buy another machine with the savings,thx
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Good discussion, good to hear both sides.
I have a non-LCD/CRT machine (E2000 series). Wouldn't the power draw be essentially just the lights when not in action? Can the fluorescent lights be upgraded to LED equivalents without problems? Would love to leave it on 24/7 if the electricity bill isn't too much. Has anyone P3'd one of these machines?
In my experience with computerized machines in general (CNC machine shop, new and old) is that machines have less problems if always left on. I only turn off ones with heavy power consumption when not in use.
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Has anyone installed non volatile memory on a slot board?
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I have all 3 of my slot machines plugged into one surge protector that sits under the slot machine in the center of the group. Is it ok to turn the power off at the surge protector or do I need to open each slot machine door each night and shut them off individually from inside. I have one machine that has a light that stays on in it even if I turn the power off. So I've been shutting them down at the surge protector. I hope this isn't bad on them.
Many thanks.
Lumberjack93
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You can turn them all off at one time with the surge protector power switch, it won't hurt anything. Some machines do have things that are still powered with the machine internal power switch turned off. Usually comm circuits and convenience lights/outlets.
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You can turn them all off at one time with the surge protector power switch, it won't hurt anything. Some machines do have things that are still powered with the machine internal power switch turned off. Usually comm circuits and convenience lights/outlets.
Tilt, thanks for the reply. I've always wondered about this.
LJ93
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Interesting conversation. As a slot tech in a casino, of course we leave the machines on 24/7. However, when an event happens (power outage, lightning strike, faulty power strip, covid) we cringe. Chances of all the machines coming back up are 50/50. Take for instance the covid shut down. 2 weeks before re-opening we fired up the slots, most of which had been put to sleep instead of shutting off. Out of 1200 machines, about 25% had issues, blown monitors, power supplys, etc. I dont even want to think what would have happened if all were shut down. What I find interesting is that although this is common for casino's, it is not for the home slots. I've met several people with a slot machine or 2 in their house and they all shut them off daily without any issue. Any idea's why this is? does it have anything to do with the amount of voltage going thru the systems on re-start? :Scratch-Head:
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Interesting conversation. As a slot tech in a casino, of course we leave the machines on 24/7. However, when an event happens (power outage, lightning strike, faulty power strip, covid) we cringe. Chances of all the machines coming back up are 50/50. Take for instance the covid shut down. 2 weeks before re-opening we fired up the slots, most of which had been put to sleep instead of shutting off. Out of 1200 machines, about 25% had issues, blown monitors, power supplys, etc. I dont even want to think what would have happened if all were shut down. What I find interesting is that although this is common for casino's, it is not for the home slots. I've met several people with a slot machine or 2 in their house and they all shut them off daily without any issue. Any idea's why this is? does it have anything to do with the amount of voltage going thru the systems on re-start? :Scratch-Head:
I used to do electronics repair for a living and I would get customers come in all the time “I leave my tv on 24/7 because i need the sound to sleep. I turned it of once and it broke so turning it off must have killed itâ€. No in ever one of these cases the tv had bad capacitors in the power supply. Im not an expert on capacitors but my thought was being on 24/7 made the capacitors break down faster causing them to become out of speck. As long as it was on it was fine because the capacitors stayed charged. as soon as it was shut off and they drained they could not re change to there full capacity. Again im not an expert this is just an observation of what i and the owner of that company saw on a frequent bases.