testing the display

[havasugameman]

ok need some more help. so I found a jackpot party machine, just about every wire in the lower half has been chewed to shit by a big rat(judging by the size of the turds) in hopes of the display working I have removed the power supply and dot box.I have a good power supply giving 5volts to display and 12v to control board. both leds on dot controller light up..with all that being said, should I see anything on the display at this point?

[rokgpsman]

ok need some more help. so I found a jackpot party machine, just about every wire in the lower half has been chewed to shit by a big rat(judging by the size of the turds) in hopes of the display working I have removed the power supply and dot box.I have a good power supply giving 5volts to display and 12v to control board. both leds on dot controller light up..with all that being said, should I see anything on the display at this point?

Why are you using 5vdc for the dot matrix screen?

As far as I know there isn't any 5 volts power in the dotmation box. The power supply board in there gets 115vac input and only has a 12vdc output. That 12vdc goes to both the dot controller board and the DM screen. If you follow the red wires back from the cable that plugs into the DM display power connector you'll see that it goes back to the power supply board 12vdc output, same as the red wire from the dot controller board. They do go to different pins on the power supply board but those pins are connected together on the power supply board so are the same voltage.

It looks like in your picture you are connecting the power cable from a computer power supply to the power connector on the back of the DM screen. That power cable has 5 volts on the red wire and 12 volts on the yellow wire. So you are sending both 5vdc and 12vdc to the DM screen board. Be careful, there is only supposed to be 12vdc on one of the pins of the DM screen power connector and gnd on the other. You can look at the original power cable that goes to the back of the DM screen, the red wire in that cable is 12vdc and that is where you should be connecting your power supply 12 volts.

I don't know what happens on the DM screen when it is powered up without being connected to a working cpu board in the card cage in the lower part of the machine. The DM screen might light up and go thru selftest under the control of the dot controller board, never tried it though. That is an interesting thought, please post your findings when you do this.

Below is a schematic drawing for the dotmation power supply. It isn't a quality print but maybe you can view it. You can see that it only has a 12vdc output. They do run the 12vdc on separate red wires from the power supply to the dot controller and the DM screen.

I've also attached a handy picture of the inside of the dot matrix box that shows helpful info.

[havasugameman]

this machine does not have the original PS .so for sure it needs 12v?  this is what I have connected. 12v to p1 on control board and only 5volts and ground to the display.12v was not connected. so I should disconnect 5vdc and connect the 12v?

[havasugameman]

ok looks like the guy I got this from went by color of wire ,trying to replace old power supply with new computer type supply. I will switch it over to 12v and see what happens. thanks for the info  I will post with results

[rokgpsman]

I wonder why they did it that way?

Below is a picture of the dot matrix screen power connector. The red wire should have 12vdc, the black wires are ground.

[havasugameman]

because it was already connected that way.person I got it from took out original power supply and put in an atx .he just matched colors I guess. and I did not know better.

[havasugameman]

thanks that was it.

[rokgpsman]

thanks that was it.

That looks good, glad you got it going. Tell your friend that different devices and different companies use different colors for different voltages. Assuming something like this can lead someone to damage equipment. On a computer power supply the color yellow=12vdc, the color red=5vdc and the color black=ground connection. But in this Williams slot machine the dot matrix box uses red wire for 12vdc. And if you work on another slot machine it could be different, you have to check further.

PS> what you just worked on the black wires are for a ground connection. But in your house wiring the black wires have 115vac on them. Big difference that could burn part of your fingerprints off.

[havasugameman]

not a friend, just some guy that had this sitting in a shed every wire in the machine has been chewed up. I will be parting out everything but this display. just waiting to be able to post to classified. I made a donation today so i can do so.thanks again James

[rokgpsman]

not a friend, just some guy that had this sitting in a shed every wire in the machine has been chewed up. I will be parting out everything but this display. just waiting to be able to post to classified. I made a donation today so i can do so.thanks again James

The site thanks you for your donation. Good luck with the project, is it parts complete, just has wires damaged and all else is ok? Since someone removed the dot matrix power supply board I guess that was bad, which does happen. What about parts in the lower cabinet card cage and the glass. Can you post a picture of the machine so we can see what it looks like and what the rat did to it? This stuff is interesting to us on boring winter days. 


PS> I'm not your Mom, but if it is anywhere as nasty as you indicate don't forget to wash you hands after working on it, especially before eating anything. Rats & mice can carry some serious health risks in their droppings. Check out the Hantavirus link, over a third of anyone getting the virus dies, it has a strong lethal risk. And several of the cases happened in your part of the USA.

http://www.cdc.gov/hantavirus/

[havasugameman]

yes all parts are here.looks good from the outside. yes always wash your hands,I even wear a mask when using my shop vac.here's a picture of the damage.

[havasugameman]

here is the outside

[rokgpsman]

Whoa!  that is a mess in there, you've got a dirty one!


I sent you a PM, check the top of your screen, click on "My Messages". Let me know if you don't receive it.

[havasugameman]

pm sent

[rokgpsman]

got it, thanks!

[Mk1Mod0]

PM sent to havasugameman.