Photos of inside of Continental top box?

[Simple Sam]

I'm new to EM slots and don't understand why the various continentals have huge top boxes; can somebody post a picture of what they look like inside with the glass removed?  I know they have the step up units in there but there are other multi coin games that have much smaller top boxes.  Is the huge top box just a marketing gimmick/necessary for the pay tables but not needed for mechanical reasons?

[wolftalk]

somewhat depends on the model.  Machines with a replay register like the 929 pictured below have a motor-driven camshaft used for payout.  The stepper units for the odds and some control relays fill up the space quite a bit.


the huge paytable also needs to live someplace, but other games split that between the top, reel and/or belly glasses.


other tall cabinet models have jackpot reels filling up the top.

[Simple Sam]

That looks complicated and heavy!  They must be very top heavy if you are moving them with the reels and coin hopper removed (not that a casino would do that).


Am I misinformed about how the smaller models are laid out?  Do the standard height, five coin games have as many mechanical items in their top box, just packaged differently?

[wolftalk]

the top insert board probably weighs around 30 pounds on the 929.


what game is standard height? :-)


the parts manuals show what's in the top of some of the games.  Check out the 2200 for an example (http://bingo.cdyn.com/slots/bally_manuals)


a lot of the machines that had a top compartment didn't have a replay register, so you can get away with 1/2 the size of the continentals that had credits.


below are some flyers I scrounged years ago that show some different sizes.

[Simple Sam]

That website with the manuals is great and I have bookmarked it for later.  Thanks!


When I mentioned standard height, I was thinking of an 809 which is apparently simpler.  I had never heard of a replay register; that allows wins to accumulate as credits rather than paying out immediately?  I can see how a casino would like that feature in general, but particularly on a coin operated game.


I had never realized there was such a variety of EM machines.  I played them back in the late 80's when they were already obsolete but the casinos would have a few rows for nostalgic players.  I wasn't much of a gambler then and never gamble now but I am fascinated by the machines.

[wolftalk]

I had never heard of a replay register; that allows wins to accumulate as credits rather than paying out immediately? 

yup.  You play the credits by pushing the white button near the cabinet handle.  One push = one coin in. 


some of the games supported both coin and credit play.  The operator used a key to put the machine in either mode.  When on credit play, you had to call an attendant to either hand-pay or flip another key switch to turn on the hopper and run off the credits by ejecting coins.