Getting started with Bally S5500

[MaDeuce]

 I need some pointers in troubleshooting what I think is a a Bally ProSlot 5500 Double Jackpot machine.  I have never used a slot machine, but am competent with mechanical and electronic devices and am confident that, if I can find the correct reference material, I can get it operational again.  But I’m starting from square one with slot machines in general and Bally machines specifically.  I am hoping that one or more people in this forum can give me pointers on the reference material I’ll need to get the machine running again.

Here are the specifics of the situation...  The friend’s family has had the machine for years and it was working fine until they relocated it.  During the relocation, it was turned on its side while the hopper was full of quarters.  Of course, quarters are everywhere inside of the machine.  After relocation, they turned the machine on without removing all the quarters, said that they smelled the odor of something burning, and then turned the machine off.  I am unable to get a clear idea of what the displays showed or anything else for that matter.  I have not turned the machine on myself, but more about that in a moment.


1) Have I identified the machine correctly? 

The plate on the side says:
Serial: S950506072
Model S62M3CT10
Mfg Date: 5/95
7534/DM7-500

Photos are available at:  https://www.dropbox.com/sh/gv21id6z1icriln/AACEd3qpSMbSVHZ8u9mRy-43a?dl=0

2) I was able to locate one document for the 5500, namely ‘MK2-S5MOD-0001_SetUpandOperation.pdf’.  This appears to contain only what is titled ‘Module 2’.

I also found documentation for the 6000 series, which contained ‘Module 2’, as well as ‘3, 3A, 3B, and 4’.  This leads me to believe that there is additional similar Bally documentation for the 5500.  Schematics?  Can someone provide a pointer to where I can get the rest of the documentation?   I did attempt to look in the ‘NLG File System’ here, but apparently I don’t have access to that.  Are the manuals still available from Bally or elsewhere?

3) Generally speaking, are the displays on the system sufficient to debug problems?  I see that the vertical PCB in the back of the machine has DB9 and DB 25 connectors and that the processor board in the ‘drawer’ also has a DB25 connector.  I am wondering if these offer additional diagnostic information or if they serve other purposes.

4) At the moment, I think my next step will be to painstakingly ensure that there are no shorts anywhere due to hidden/lodged quarters before powering up the system.  It seems that this will require partial disassembly as there appear to be numerous nooks and crannies that quarters could be hiding in.  Once I’m sure there are no more shorts, then I’ll power up and proceed to diagnose using the manual.

Other suggestions welcome.

[CVslots]

Oh the damage can be done when a machine is layed down with coins in it! 


Sounds like you are on the right track though. More than likely you'll find the power supply or board was fried when the machine was powered on with quarters roaming around inside of it. I would not be surprised to hear you find the suspect quarter. Look for arc marks and/or burnt, brown areas. You sound more than competent. I am certain you will have no problems finding the issue.


Luckily, parts are available for these machines. And yes, the display will be your main "window" for diagnosis.


Oh, and just so you know, the NLG File System is restricted to Contributing Members. If you find the site helpful, feel free to help out with a small contribution. If not, I'm sure someone on here can help you out with whatever docs you are looking for. I will check and see if I have a manual to email to you. 


Good luck, and happy quarter hunting!

[MaDeuce]

@CVslots, thanks for the reply.  I feel a little dense in that I didn't connect becoming a contributing member with the ability to view manuals.  Contributing to the site is a no-brainer, and I'm happy to do it.  After contributing, I was also happy to see that the manual sections that I didn't have were there.  I won't see the machine again for a couple of weeks, but now I have  some great material to read in the meantime.


Thanks again!

[CVslots]

I'm happy to hear you understand the value of the info we have here. This is the #1 source of slot info and repair. I'm sure you will find your contribution more than pays for itself. 


Let us know if you get stuck and I'm sure someone can help you out!

[Sunrise Side]

You probably should start by removing the hopper and remove the control board on the hopper and get the coins out of it. Remove the power supply on the back wall behind hopper and do the same thing there. Remove the MPU tray which is under the reels and clear the coins from there. Remove the backplane board which the MPU plugs into and check for trapped coins behind it. Pull the reel assemblies out and check for coins in that area. Inside the front door where the coin mech is , look for stray coins lodge in the door assembly. Coin comparitor should have a coin in the holder for comparison.

[MaDeuce]

I finally got to spend some time with the machine last weekend.  I removed all the quarters and powered up (everything SunriseSide suggested).  The results were disappointing, but not unexpected.

To summarize, at power on:

• fluorescent lights come on
• both tower lights blink 4 times, pause, and repea
• leftmost button on the front under the reels (sorry, I forgot what the button says) flashes in sync with the tower lights
• the reels jiggle/shudder a bit, moving at most 1/16", then remain stationary
• message center is dark -- no activity
• nothing else it lit
• no noise at all from the speaker

The manual (ProSlot 5500 Module 2) doesn't seem to have anything that covers this situation (tower light flashing, but message center dead).  Can anyone offer some suggestions for next steps?

I checked the Bally Pocket Guide -- page 7 says a "Non-Volatile RAM (SafeRAM) Write/Read Failure" is indicated by a tower light flash rate of 4/second and an 8x code in the message center.   If I read that literally, both conditions -- flashing and code -- are required.  But the message center on this machine is dark, and I don't know what to make of that.

Here are additional details:

I have the wiring diagrams -- the voltages at the PS look OK.  Specifically:

1) Measurements on the backplane's J12 connector
   pin10 - pin 3 = +12.5v
   pin 11 - pin 3 = -12.5v
   pin 8 - pin 3 = +5.4v
   pin 9 - pin 3 = +5.4v

2) At the 12 pin plug where the transformer pugs in to the power supply
   pin 1 - pin 3 =  116.9 vac
   pin 2 - pin 3 =  9.8 vac  (this should be 110vac, see note below)
   pin 4 - pin 5 =  117 vac
   pin 6 - pin 7 =  18.8 vac
   pin 8 - pin 9 =  7.7 vac

The 9.8 vac reading between pins 2 and 3 caught my attention.  However, I saw that pin 2 on the receptacle in the PS is not connected to anything inside the PS. I therefore decided that the voltage on that pin didn't really matter because it was unused.

I next began to wonder if the main board (or whatever its called) was getting 5v.  However, when I push the reset button, the led to the right of the reset button will stay lit as long as the reset button is depressed.  So the board at least seems to have power.

I purchased a set of chips for the saferam reset, so I can certainly do that.  However, since the message center is completely dark/dead, I've been hesitant to try to do a reset as I'm sensing the that problem may be more fundamental.  I could easily be wrong.

Note: I modified this post to correct what I wrote about the message center.  Of course the message center is there on the front door.  I had become so fixated on the LED display and keypad that wasn't in the manual that I totally missed it.  Makes me feel worse than dumb.  I am still interested in knowing what the extra keypad/display is used for, but it's probably not key to me getting the machine running.

Here is a photo of the display / keypad:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/oclh7phnnk78blk/2014-10-19%2018.02.16.jpg

In the absence of any suggestions from people here, I imagine that I'll go ahead and try a saferam reset, but I'm really not expecting that to help.

Thanks for all the help/suggestions so far.

[MaDeuce]

In the absence of any suggestions from people here, I imagine that I'll go ahead and try a saferam reset, but I'm really not expecting that to help.

I took another crack at the machine.  I did all three types of SafeRAM resets.  The message center remained dark the whole time.  My guess is that there must be a problem on the main board.

I won't see the machine again for a few weeks.  In the meantime, I'll see if I can locate a functional 5500 within driving distance whose owner will let me try this main board in their system. That would at least allow me to localize the problem to the main board or elsewhere.

I'm in Austin, TX and know that there are slot dealers in San Antonio and Beaumont.  I have no idea what, if any, service capabilities they have.  I suppose it would not be unreasonable to offer to pay them a fee to try my board in one of their operating machines (assuming they have one)    

Other suggestions?

Thanks much.

[Sunrise Side]

If the displays are not lit, is the connection to the display OK?
[size=78%]No display could be either the MPU or the power supply. [/size]
[/size][size=78%]Power supply is a common problem on the S5500. [/size]

[Paul]

PM sent

[MaDeuce]

PM sent

I can now confirm that it is a very small world inhabited by some very nice folks...

[MaDeuce]

If the displays are not lit, is the connection to the display OK?
No display could be either the MPU or the power supply.
Power supply is a common problem on the S5500.

I did check all of the connectors that I could find, and they seemed to be firmly connected.

I did check outputs from the PS and, AFAIK, they were at the correct voltage levels.  However, it is certainly possible that I checked them before the fuses, so a bad fuse could be a factor.  I will go back and follow up on this!

I didn't check the schematic, but I would have assumed that the message center was powered directly from the MPU board.  I'll have to go back and check to see if the PS could be a factor in a dead message center.

Thanks for the suggestions!  I'll definitely track them all down and see what I find.