S2000 one reel back lights not working

[newkid3]

Hello all, I have a S2000 Triple Lucky 7 that the number two reel back lights do not work. They have never worked on reel two since I had the machine. Number one and three reel backlights work. It is a backlit real just like the other two. I would not think all of the bulbs would be burnt out but I am not sure. I took a screen shot of a video of it. You can see reel two does not lite up at all. Looks like three needs some bulbs. If I can get two working I will probably put all new bulbs in all three of them. Any ideas what all could cause the back lights on one reel not to work. Maybe the best way to trouble shoot this issue. Thanks

[lookes]

Swap reels 1 and 2 temporarily and see if the problem follows the reel or the problem stays with the reel 2 position.

[newkid3]

 I swapped the 1st and 2nd reel. The non working lights moved with the reel. So reel 1 does not work now and reel 2 does. Thanks

[lookes]

Check the connector pins and wiring on the bad reel and make sure the pins look OK. Other that that it sounds like bad bulbs.

[newkid3]

 I will check the wiring and plug. What is the best bulb to use for replacement?  Thanks

[Stayouttadabunker]

Have you looked in the FAQ's? ...>>>

https://newlifegames.com/nlg/index.php?topic=4776.0

[newkid3]

  Stayouttadabunker, Yeah I found that and actually took a bulb out of reel 2. The factory bulbs are
JKL XE 359. A bunch of ,the replacement 359 bulbs are 12 volts. I have read that the factory bulbs are 14 volts. Hince my question what is the best replacement bulbs. I have read that most people do not like LED bulbs there because it does not look good.
So I checked continuity on the bulb I removed and it tested good. So I switched a known good bulb from reel 1 into reel 2. After that now both 1 and 2 reel lights do not work. So I switched those bulbs back between the two and they both still dont work. Is there any wiring diagrams out there to be able to bench test the reel lights?  I have looked at the plugs and I did not see anything that looks bad. I might have to get a magnifying glass out there to look at them better. Any advice on the best way for me to figure out what is going on with these lights? Another question should these bulbs light up putting 9 volts to them from a battery? I know they wont be as bright but I did not know if these bulbs are made where they have to have the proper voltage to light up.     Thanks

[Stayouttadabunker]

I hope you didn't have the power on when you swapped stuff....that's a good way to burn out stuff.

I like the incandescent lamps...that's what these were designed to use.
Also, the lamps are supposed to be in a "dim" state, then they brighten up on hits/winning combos.
However, there ARE two different types of driver boards...one board is for the incandescent lamps, while the other is specifically made for the LED bulbs.
Show us a photo of your driver board...it's located behind the reel shelf on the back wall...more to the right.
We have people that can tell you if you have the right stuff in there for what you're using.

[sixcardmark]

LED bulbs need regular controller.  LED panels need LED controller. I have LED bulbs in all my S2000s and they look great!

[newkid3]

 I always shut the machine off before I remove or swap anything. I think this is the board you are talking about. So do all 6 bulbs on each reel stay on dim all of the time and then get brighter and flicker when you have a pay symbol on that reel?  Also the bulbs that stay on dim all of the time do they stay on dim when you open the door? So I could open the door and see if I can tell if they are on dim? Thanks

[Stayouttadabunker]

Good job on the photo! 
That's the right driver board you've pictured. 
It's the regular incandescent one (I believe the LED driver board has a black Micro-fit header.) and yeah...the lamps will stay dim until you get a winning hit/combo.
This is pretty why a lot of S2000 reel strips got all washed out to the ugly blue-ish/purple/brown colors. 
There was just too much light on the strips in the casino environment with machines being ON 24/7.
You're lucky if your strips are nice and colorful.
Anyways, guys have found a nice wider angled LED bulb to use that doesn't look like a small spotlight on the strips.
I'm pretty sure sixcardmark knows which numbered LED to get. 

[newkid3]

Will the bulbs stay on dim even when the door is open?  I am wondering this for testing purposes. So I can try to tell if the lights come on at all.   That bulb that I tested and got continuity on would not light up at all when I put 9 volts DC to it. It is the bulb I swapped into real 1 and then after that reel 1 will not work. Thanks

[lookes]

I hope by 'continuity' you don't mean a shorted bulb. It should light with a 9v battery.

[newkid3]

That's what I am wondering. I am going to do some more testing on them today. When I hooked jumper wires to each side of bulb my meter would beep solid. Then when I hooked the 9 volt battery to the jumper wires the bulb would not light up at all. I wonder if that bulb was shorted out and I moved it over to the first reel if it could have taken out all the bulbs on it? Thanks Ken

[newkid3]

Ok I took out every bulb in each reel and tested them. I was able to remove the  black plastic sockets pretty easy on all three reels. My 9 volt battery I was trying to use read 9.03 volts but would not lite the bulbs. So I used an old 12v power supply for a home CB radio station. Reel 1 had two bad bulbs. Reel 2 had two bad bulbs and reel 3 had one bad bulb. None of the bad bulbs were shorted out. All of the connectors on the reels look good. I dont see any problem with any wires on the reels. Besides taking a closer look at the cabinet pins for the reels what else do I need to look at? Is there any testing procedures that I can use to try and figure out why the back lights are not working on reels 1 and 2 now? Like what pins are the 12v feed to the back lights ect? Thanks

[Stayouttadabunker]

When going into troubleshooting, you have to think about everything involved.
If not, you have to take each reel out, and test all the wires that go to every socket<<<>>>from the pins on the back of the reel connector, for continuity.
That's painstaking, time-consuming work.

Under [Operating and Attendent Menus], there's some reel light tests that you can do.
I'm not sure which page it's on...dig around in the Menus.
All the tests do is make the driver board behind the reel shelf, light up each lamp.
It really doesn't do more than that but it allows you to see which lamps are burned out.
If you have a spare reel driver board, I'd swap that at least.
The reason why I suggest to swap out the driver board is that, there could be some IC component on it that is failed, thereby not sending any power to those sockets.
Does that make sense?

[newkid3]

I have the reel backlights working on all three reels now. I really dont know what I did to get them working. I had taken all the bulbs out and tested them and left the bad open bulbs and sockets out. I then used a meter to find the ground wire (red dot) and the 14v wire (yellow dot) on the reels in pic. I then hooked a 12v power supply to each reels ground and 12v wire and only the bottom 2 bulbs would light up on each reel. I then put the reels back in the machine and all of the bulbs that are in them lit up dim. (Pic of each reel).  I then played until I hit 3 sevens and all three reels lit up bright and flickered like it should. So I really dont know what I did that made them work. Is there any wiring diagram/schematic or pinout for these reels out there somewhere? I found a supplement from IGT that has a diagram in it of the wires up to the cabinet connectors for the reels. Even though I don't think it is completely accurate for my machine. But it has nothing on the actual reels. Thanks everyone for your replies so far.

[Stayouttadabunker]

I'm glad your messing around with them got it working again! Good job!

If you notice, those lamps have really small wires that are "looped" back into the glass base of the lamp.
It's possible that just the plain action of removing them, re-inserting them back into their sockets, made contact to allow power to get to the lamps.

I had a partner slot tech that use to pull out and push back in Molex connectors to get machines working again.
Oxidization is usually the culprit behind poor electrical contact.
So taking connections apart and shoving them back together kinda helps rub some of the oxidization off and you get better electricl contact.

Quite often, at some point in their lifetimes, these almost 40 year old machines were stored in damp conditions, with PERFECT environmental conditions to deteriorate/rot them to hell.
There was a time also, when the market was flooded with machines that were ....well...came from flooded conditions like Hurricane Katrina.
Casinos were storing machines in underground/basement parking garages behind plywood....I actually saw photographs of this!