Help: What did I get myself into?

[Jim]

I sent you a pm on the board and coin comp. 

to determine the problem with the coin comp.  run the 10-11-12 test for the coin in optics,  especially test 10,
when first called up, the display should read 10_1, remove the coin comp, now run a Popsicle stick or equivalent  through the black part of the optics, the 1 should change to a 0, if it doesn't then you need to modify your optic board. this could be  the problem with the cc-16.

read the S+ flip cards, second "how to Guide" in the S+ section, these explain every test and setting for your machine, you can also test every switch and operation of the machine.

as for the hopper,  you can remove it from the machine, make a cheater cord out of a cheap lamp cord type extension cord, cut of the extension end and put on two push on connectors that mimic the one on the hopper, now, hook this cheater cord to a power strip with an on/off switch, now hook up the two to the hopper, when you apply power the motor should turn, if not, something jammed, or the motor is frozen, may have to remove the motor and try to break up the gunk binding it.

once the motor is turning, its best to clean the escalator,  you have to remove it to do this, I fashioned a jigsaw blade to fit in the opening and run it up and down both sides, this cleans out all the dirt and built up gunk, you should be able to turn it upside down, put a coin in it and it should travel straight through with ease.  if it does this then you should not encounter any coin dispensing problems.

Hope this helps.

JIm   

[Amechanic]

I guess you could temporary try to bend that bar outward on back of comparitor just enough so that it can't reject coins and see if machine will accept coins.

Don’t bent it. Put a folded piece of paper under the rake to hold it open to test.

[sixcardmark]

Don’t bent it. Put a folded piece of paper under the rake to hold it open to test.

Good idea!

[hornetgod13]

I tried the folded paper trick on the arm on the back of the comparitor. The coins now drop into the hopper however, only 1 in every 5 to 10 coins dropped registers as credit (ding). Seems to be an optics problem. Is there a fix for this? How do you clean, adjust or replace the coin optics?
The machine will play now (reels spin with sound) hit a payout results in an instant 3200 and 3100.
I have not tried the optics test (10-12) that Jim suggested. Would those help further troubleshoot the issue?

[Shaggy]

Have you pulled the hopper out to try to fix the hopper jam? You'll continue to get that error if the hopper is stuck.

Dave

[hornetgod13]

No, I haven't attacked the hopper issues yet. Focused on the coin in issue. Would removing Q2 or Q4 transistor on the optic board fix this or do I need to clean or replace the optic sensor. If I need to replace it, are they available and at what cost?

[sixcardmark]

Yes, try cleaning the optics next with damp Q-tip NO alcohol .  Jim should have the coin-in optics if needed.

[hornetgod13]

I removed and cleaned the optics as described. Not really dirty. Reassembled and no improvement. Only one in every 5 to 25 coins dropped into the hopper registers as a credit (ding). So I performed the 10,11, and 12 tests. (10 was no change from 1 to 0) (11 did change from 1 to 0) (12 did change from 1 to 0). So 10 tested bad and 11 and 12 were good. I'm guessing the optics board needs modified. I'm guessing Q2 needs removed. I'm not the best with a soldering iron. You need a doctors hands to do this. See attached pictures.

[Amechanic]

If you have a razor knife you can cut the single solder joint. Then just lift up to break the others. Just be careful with the knife. The solder is soft and doesn’t take much to cut thru it.

[hornetgod13]

I carefully used the recommended razor blade technique and was able to remove the Q2 surface mounted transistor with no board damage. Once back together, I was pleasantly surprised to see it accepted every quarter and gave me a credit (ding) on each quarter dropped into the hopper. Once that was working smoothly, I pulled the folded paper shim from the back of the comparitor and put it back together. I had about a 50% success/reject rate and than I hit a payout and now I have the 3200 error back again. I really need to fix the hopper issue or change the hopper settings to prevent payouts. I also realized the pot screw on the comparitor was in the middle and not all the way counterclockwise. That should (hopefully) fix the 50% coin rejects. Might try a different example quarter too. The 3200 error has the machine locked up right not. I can't get it to clear. Any tips? It won't go into test. Opening and closing the door clears the error and instantly activates the hopper and the error code comes right back.

[jay]

You slot basically applies power to the hopper and then it stops once the requisite number of coins have passed through.
If your hopper brake is not working correctly an extra coin passes through and you will get an error.

When the hopper runs there is a solenoid that gets pushed out, and when power is taken away there is a small spring that pulls the brake back into position and stops the hopper movement.

These little springs break from time to time. I replaced mine by taking apart a 5c bic pen, and cutting the spring in 1/2.

The other issue is sometimes the hopper knife. It is made of a composite material and it gets worn and bent. It sits at the top of the hopper and guides coins out.

Have you dumped out your hopper. Taken it out and dumped it upside down. When I first got my slot there was all sorts of paper and other foreign material that was under the hopper wheel etc. Rather disgusting actually.

[hornetgod13]

I pulled the hopper and removed the coin tub. The knife is metal and appears to be in good condition. Not sure how to disengage the brake. I did pull back the red dog and attempted to hand turn the hopper but, I got no movement. Can I wrap a rubber band or zip tie around the motor assembly to disengage the brake and add wall power directly to the motor? I'm not sure what voltage the motor actually is. Check my pictures out and see if there is anything you see that might be an issue.

[hornetgod13]

How do I disengage the brake? Does adding power to the motor automatically disengage the brake?

[therockinelvis]

Since you have found the brake, press and hold it while spinning the motor by hand. If it won't move in one direction try the other. Quite often a smaller coin gets in with pocket change. Also have seen a screw or nut get jammed before. If it still won't turn remove the three screws holding the shelf wheel on, then try.

[hornetgod13]

I've held the brake in and tried to hand spin it both directions. No joy. Frozen solid. Might need torn down further and/or a little mechanical persuasion.

[Amechanic]

Do you have a heat gun for removing paint? I have had the gear box on the hoppers frozen because the grease inside has hardened. You can try heating it to see if it will free up. You can also drill a small hole in the top of the gear box and add a couples of oil inside. Then heat it up a bit with the heat gun. After that it might free up and turn. You might want to remove the coin wheel first to make sure nobsmall object like a screw, nut or small coin like a dime or a penny isn’t jammed inside. Make sure that the motor mounting screw are tight.

[hornetgod13]

The hopper motor is bad. I broke it all down. I didn't find anything jammed or out of place. I removed the motor and gearbox from the hopper. I opened up the gearbox and verified everything in the gear box was turning smoothly, cleaned and greased all the gears. Closed it back up and fashioned a suicide power cable to the motor and gearbox assembly (with the brake off) and when its energized, all it does it hum with no movement at all. I reversed the wires too with the same results. Is it common for a hopper motor to go bad? I've owned 6 IGT slots and never had a hopper issue prior to this one.

[Jim]

I have seen the motor go bad, the thermal kick off burned  open, etc. 

I have spare motors if you need one.

Jim

[hornetgod13]

Looks like Jim has everything I need to make this slant top 100% functional and his prices are very reasonable. I'll be driving down to see him Saturday.

[hornetgod13]

It's alive!


Jim was a lifesaver. As I had stated before, the hopper motor was bad. Luckily, Jim had a spare on the self. I made the two hour drive down and he swapped the motor for me. He tested both the repaired hopper and coin comparitor. Both tested great. He sold me a replacement MPU board (with chips), replacement reel strips, a couple push buttons, and some coin inserts. Jim's prices were very reasonable and he has a large inventory of hard to find parts.


Once home, It took less than 3 minutes to put it back together. Once I cleared the 61/61-1 errors, it spun right up. Plays perfectly. Both the coin in and hopper pay outs work fantastic. Its set up to take quarters right now and it rejects tokens. Next hurdle will be to see if the set chip will get the bill validator working and to replace the reel strips.


Thanks to everyone that assisted in me in my time of need especially Jim, your my hero!