Newbee Checking In With a IGT Double Cherry Qusetion

[markb]

  First I would like to introduce myself. My name is Mark and I am the proud owner of an IGT Double Cherry machine I purchased off Craigslist this week. It was made on 1993 and is a nickle machine. The family is having a lot of fun with it already. Very clean machine that came with original stand and seat that are in very good shape. This site looks to be a gold mine of information. I am already enjoying tinkering with the machine and finding my way around it.

  The question I have is about the lower light on the candle on top. It blinks very fast and I believe it should be off. The machine works perfectly regardless that the light is flashing. I read elsewhere that it sounds like a "drop door open" issue. The stand does not have a drop door sensor installed. Is this failure something that can be bypassed some way since I don't have that sensor?

  After reading some other post that were similar to this I wanted to give a few details of what I am seeing.

1) bottom candle light blinks quickly when the door is closed and game is playing correctly.

2) when I unlock and open the door the bottom candle light continues to blink at the same rate.

3) When I close and lock the door the bottom candle light stays on steady for a couple of seconds then goes out for a couple of seconds then returns to blinking quickly.

[rokgpsman]

Welcome to the site!

Are there any error messages displayed on the machine?

The flashing light could be due to something the machine has noticed that doesn't affect your game play. There are lots of security switches that the machine keeps track of, like the cash compartment and bill acceptor. Did you see a pair of wires in the bottom of the machine that might be for a door switch in the stand for a coin overflow setup (even though the stand does not have the switch)? 

When you bought it did the previous owner say anything about the light flashing when they demonstrated that the machine worked?

Others here with more experience with your machine can say for sure what is causing the candle to flash. Of course, if the flashing light is annoying it can easily be unplugged or just wrap a towel around it until you get it resolved. You can go into the upper part of the cabinet and find the small cable coming from the candle that runs inside the machine and unplug it. But it may turnout to be something causing it that you can easily correct and the light will then go out. Give the experts here a day or so to offer their suggestions.

If possible can you post a picture of your machine while it is powered up? And if there are wires inside the lower part of the machine that are not connected to anything post a picture of those. Thanks!

[markb]

There are NO failure codes. Unit plays perfectly. I attached a pic. Not sure it will show, New to this forum set up.

[rokgpsman]

Your picture got posted ok but it is too small to be very useful. Maybe someone can offer an idea based on your observations.

[markb]

Hope this helps.

[markb]

One More.

Double click on picture to enlarge.

[rokgpsman]

Much better pictures, good job. Nice looking machine.

Did you find any unconnected wires in bottom of cabinet? When I got my machine there was a pair of wires bundled up and not connected to anything, they were lying near a round hole in the front-right corner on the inside of the cabinet. Turned out they were for the coin overflow container that the casino stores inside the slot stand. The door on that stand in the casino has a lock and a switch to sense if the door is opened. When the machine was removed from the casino they kept the stand, disconnected the wires. 

Your machine may have a setting in the menu settings that allows the sensing of the Drop Door Switch to be disabled. It's possible that isn't the problem causing your lower candle light to flash but it is something to check. Here is something I found about the drop door sensor switch, I know you don't have one but it gives info on the drop door wiring in the machine so I thought it could be helpful. Also attached is an IGT general guide for slot owners, it is geared to the S+ model but a lot of it is likely helpful to a new slot machine owner.

From what I read a fast flashing lower candle light means either the main door or the coin drop door is open. If the main door is open the machine will error. If the coin drop door is open the machine will continue to play. (but that may vary between different models) Perhaps the person you bought it from didn't care if the light was flashing since the machine played just fine.

[markb]

Thanks for the response rokgpsman. The unit included the original IGT Manual. It has been helpful but does not cover disabling the drop door sensor from what I could find. Don't think it was written by a NASA engineer. Anyway, I did contact the seller. Hopefully he can shed some light on the subject. Not the worst thing.

I have been unplugging the unit when not in use. Did not want anyone but me opening it up to shut off the power. I don't suppose that would effect battery life, but I could be wrong. The previous owner installed a new battery before putting it up for sale. he said it was only the second one in 17 years. Not bad! Also, I paid $600 for the whole shibang. Did I get a good deal?

[rickhunter]

It depends on what part of the country you are as to how good the price is.  $600 nowadays will get you an S2000 with a stand easily in most parts of the country, if you have to freight it in, then you add-on that cost.  You have what appears to be an early model S+, no bill validator.  $600 sounds a bit steep for it, but again, depends where you are.

[rokgpsman]

Glad you got the specific owner's manual, it should be helpful as you get familiar with the machine and start digging deeper into how it works. I didn't know you got the manual, you probably won't need the one I sent. If you get a chance can you open the main door and take a picture or two of the insides? Interested in any wiring on the right side bottom area, looking for wires tied back in a bundle with the ends not connected to anything. Or you can look thru the owners manual and find how to go into the machine's settings, then see if the setup software lists a disable/enable setting for the coin drop switch sensing. If not then there may be another cause for the rapid flashing candle.

Many people plug the machine into a power strip/surge protector, leave the inside power switch turned on and use the power strip's switch to turn the machine on & off. Much easier and the surge protector gives your machine some protection. Plus you will feel comfortable with others being able to safely turn the machine on & off. I don't think it really affects battery life much or at all to unplug the machine or when it is turned off.

If your machine does not have a lock on the main door they can be added fairly easily. That way you can keep it locked and put the key away for just you to use.

Prices can vary depending on factors like the machine appearance, if it works properly or has a problem, plus how many other machines are available for sale in your area. In some places it is rare or a novelty to come across a good working machine so they get a better price. Other places it seems like there are several for sale almost all the time. If you bought it to keep for a while and then resell to make money then the price you paid is probably a little high. But if you bought it to keep & enjoy it is not as important if you paid more than the average price for that model. You can check the Classified Ads section here to see what other machines sell for to get an idea. Was the previous owner firm on his asking price or did he come down some when you talked about buying it?

Your seller may have an inflated idea of what a machine is worth since you can't just go down to Home Depot or WalMart and get one, especially the real thing that was used in a casino. And like Rick said, if you got it local you didn't have to pay shipping costs like a lot of people do when they find a machine they want. It is sort of like buying your first used car, not sure if the price they are asking is a good deal but you want it so you take the plunge & say ok. Now you have some experience and will know a little more if you buy another one.

[markb]

As for the $600 I paid it included the chair as well. They were asking $700. There are not that many for sale by me since it is a tad illegal to own. I drove 2 hours each way to get it. It is for our enjoyment, not a use and flip type of deal. I wanted an older machine that had the pull handle. Just something cool to me about it to me. I might or might not convert to quarters. Nickles seem a bit more innocent to me with the kids and all. Heck, I lost more money flipping baseball cards as a kid. Family coming to town for Thanksgiving. Should be a hit. Thanks again folks for your insight.

[rokgpsman]

As for the $600 I paid it included the chair as well. They were asking $700. There are not that many for sale by me since it is a tad illegal to own. I drove 2 hours each way to get it. It is for our enjoyment, not a use and flip type of deal. I wanted an older machine that had the pull handle. Just something cool to me about it to me. I might or might not convert to quarters. Nickles seem a bit more innocent to me with the kids and all. Heck, I lost more money flipping baseball cards as a kid. Family coming to town for Thanksgiving. Should be a hit. Thanks again folks for your insight.

Good slot chairs, even used ones, can sell for $100 or more. So your deal does sounds better with that in mind. The older slot machines are cool, kinda like an old juke box sitting in the room.

Conversion to quarters is not too hard. You'd need to change the coin head slot, the signage (5 cent placards or glass possibly, this isn't required but looks nicer), coin hopper parts and probably some other stuff I'm not thinking of right now. 
 
Sounds like you have the right way of thinking about the machine - enjoy (and keep the in-law's nickels)


PS> probably not a concern but I'm a worry-wart. Watch out for excited kids pulling hard or hanging from the handle enough to tip the machine forward. It probably weighs 225 pounds, don't want it falling onto one of them. 

[rickhunter]

Conversion to quarters:

New quarter shelf wheel for hopper.  A quarter hopper knife.  A coin optic encoder for quarters (these are the black plastic pieces between the coin-in optics).  A coin head for quarters.  Denom sticker for glass, and a LOT of quarters.  That should just about cover it.

[rokgpsman]

If doing a conversion like that do you think it would be more worthwhile to use quarter-sized tokens so you wouldn't have to dedicate so many real quarters to the game for play? The conversion would be the same except for the sample coin in the comparitor, right?

[markb]

According to the previous owner this was originally a quarter slot machine. All the seller, CJ's Slot Connection of Las Vegas, did to make it a nickle machine was change the coin in the comparator and changed the coin head base. The original seller said that was done to make the unit temporarily a token machine for legal shipping purposes.

[shortrackskater]

PS> probably not a concern but I'm a worry-wart. Watch out for excited kids pulling hard or hanging from the handle enough to tip the machine forward. It probably weighs 225 pounds, don't want it falling onto one of them.

Welcome to NLG! 
One thing I think is REALLY important is make sure the machine is bolted down to the stand. Some people just sit the machine on the stand and it can slide and fall, especially if you have kids, or drunk adults! There's four bolts that hold it down. Three work fine if you can't reach the hole for one of them. The bolts are easily available at any hardware store.
I live in California, a half mile from a faultline,  and I have to bolt mine down for obvious reasons.

[rokgpsman]

nice looking machine, now you will need to find another one to give yourself a choice at playtime!

[markb]

Shortrackskater,  you had me at "Drunk Adults!" Good points by you guys in securing the stand. Will have to work on that.

As for quarter sized token if I go that route, this is a casual game at home. I might put up a sign stating the max payout. Trust me, it wont be no $2500! Add to that the owner told me you can tell it is a real Vegas machine.......nobody hit the big Jack Pot.

Thanks again for the welcome folks!

[markb]

According to the previous owner this was originally a quarter slot machine. All the seller, CJ's Slot Connection of Las Vegas, did to make it a nickle machine was change the coin in the comparator and changed the coin head base. The original seller said that was done to make the unit temporarily a token machine for legal shipping purposes.

interesting - it also looks like they changed the signage or placard on the front to say 5 cents.

Owner did that after.

[markb]

I received an email back from the previous owner. The light did indeed blink when he owned it and it was determined to be due to the lack of a drop door sensor. Mystery solved. I hope those of you who tried to help me can sleep better now. I know I will! 

Thanks again and hopefully I wont have to pick your brains again for a long while.