IGT Double diamond S Plus, RESTORATION

[Stayouttadabunker]

...I thought this rogue wire may be the problem, it's located under the play button...

There's 2 more questions you need to answer.
See Reply #218

[David Walz]

...I thought this rogue wire may be the problem, it's located under the play button...

There's 2 more questions you need to answer.
See Reply #218

Your video need to be put in the library!

https://youtu.be/PiR_xcFUN7Y

[David Walz]

Ok, this is what I have learned. Hopefully this will help others working on this S+ machine. For days I have been  trying to figure out this crazy machine. I have been eliminating each problem, the outside buttons, the wiring into the motherboard, the door optics, It's been difficult, especially if you are a novice.

Here is the door optics working properly.

https://youtu.be/hs6Cm9boKz8

[David Walz]

I found this document, photo on the forum (I don't know who it belongs to, apologies). It helped me understand the motherboard, where the plugs go, just in case some fool moved them around before I started working on them.

I have all of the S+ downloads, everything, and the wiring schematics, which are very difficult to figure out.

[jay]

I am no expert on self tests..... but Are they working properly
- it seems to sit at 0... more than 1 .... I think it should be alternating between the two evenly....

Kevin / Mark ... perhaps chime in here.

[David Walz]

I am no expert on self tests..... but Are they working properly
- it seems to sit at 0... more than 1 .... I think it should be alternating between the two evenly....

Kevin / Mark ... perhaps chime in here.

I can video just it sitting at 13 0 without opening the door.

[David Walz]

Here is the light flashing, note the speed of the flash slow or fast.

https://youtube.com/shorts/TihXbyyNdxM?feature=share

[jay]

0 would indicate door open.... no optical connect.
There is supposed to be a constant pulse.

The intent of the pulse was to thwart cheaters.... people would pick the locks and open the door.
This would usually set off an alarm (silent) if the proper code had not been entered into the player tracking system by the security dude changing out the cash box or hopper contents.
The hack would be to simply use an IR light pen to blind the optics that the door had been opened. This kept the candle light off, kept the back room computer at bay, and the thief could swiftly empty the cash box.... coin would not be an easy or lucrative theft as you need a ton of it to be worth something.

To thwart this, IGT did two things.
1. Put a lock on the cash box door.
2. Moved to a specific pulse modulation of the door optics.

The first was to slow the thief down. If the door closed without the cash box the candle light would flash for service and picking a second lock would take time.

Once again I am no expert on the self tests so I am not sure if this is the correct behavior or not.

[David Walz]

Here is the door optic test.
Set on PUBLIC

https://youtu.be/-9cMth6UX-M

[jay]

Says video is private.

[David Walz]

This is why I am interested in the flashing candle, the different flashes.

[David Walz]

After removing a lot of what it could be I am back to the same question, when the door is closed, latched why is the pull handle unlocked and the lower candle light flashing. The game does play and function, except for the handle being unlocked, light flashing.
Brief synopsis of what's eliminated.

I checked for any burnt connections.
The buttons on the front, I checked all of them, and I unplugged the buttons just to see if anything could be the issue.
The door optics have been checked out, with the self test.
I removed the hopper.
I gone through the plugs at the computer.

What am I missing. 

[knagl]

I am no expert on self tests..... but Are they working properly
- it seems to sit at 0... more than 1 .... I think it should be alternating between the two evenly.... Kevin / Mark ... perhaps chime in here.

Tough to tell with the LED flicker from the video. I'd say if the machine is operating normally when just the play credit/spin reels buttons are used, we can presume that the optics are generally working well. He's only having the issue when the handle is pulled, as far as I know.

After removing a lot of what it could be I am back to the same question, when the door is closed, latched why is the pull handle unlocked and the lower candle light flashing. The game does play and function, except for the handle being unlocked, light flashing.

The pull handle unlocks when the game is idle and there are credits on the machine or if a coin has been inserted, to allow the player to pull the handle. It would normally be locked if there are no credits on the machine and if no coins have been inserted. I presume the handle would also lock when the door has been opened, as you can't spin a paid game when the door is open. Basically, the handle should be unlocked when the Spin Reels button lamp is lit.

As far as the flashing lights, you can do some of your own investigative work to learn what some of the candle light flashes mean on your machine with the GAME (SP) chip you have in use. While the printed sheet you have is a good general reference, the SP chip is what handles that and the lights can vary slightly depending on the SP chip in use (ie. the printed sheet of paper may not always be 100% accurate as behavior can vary by chip).

For the following, use only your Spin Reels button (and not the pull handle since you're having intermittent trouble with it): I would suggest completing a paid game, and then observe the machine. There should be no lights lit on the candle. Open the door and observe what the candle shows (I suspect the lower lamp in the candle will flash rapidly indicating that the door is open). You can check the handle too and I believe it will be locked. Now, close and latch the door and observe what happens. The LED display on the front of the machine should go blank for a second or so, the reels may re-spin back to the result of the last paid game, and the lower candle lamp either will turn off, or it will remain flashing rapidly until the next paid game is completed. If that candle light is still flashing, go ahead and spin a paid game. You should now see the candle lamp turn off. Does that help to understand at least partially what the candle lights are telling you?


From your earlier video, the issue still appears to be that sometimes when you're pulling the handle, the machine believes for a second that the door has been opened and then closed. The first hypothesis was that it was due to a vibration from the physical movement and stop of the handle causing the optics to vibrate out of alignment momentarily. It seems though, based on your testing, that such a vibration may not be the case? If so, I would suggest looking for possible pinched wires, or anything that could be shorting together or shorting to ground when you pull the handle. Are there any wires getting pinched or moved around near the handle mechanism inside the machine when you pull the handle?

[Stayouttadabunker]

haha...you found my youtube channel 
The pictures of the power Molex to the motherboard in Reply #223, is also a photo I took - to try to help somebody.

I listened to you playing with the door latch in your video...I can tell from the sounds when you opened or closed the door latch.
The sounds correspond with what the display is showing [13-0] or [13-1].
From that, I would definitely say that your door optics are functioning fine.
What we really don't know is whether or not you able to introduce door optic malfunctions on purpose by jiggling the pull handle - as Knagl and Jay have pointed out.
Knagl's suggestions of checking for pinched wiring, is what I'd be checking.

I'd watch the [13-0] display as I move around wiring harnesses.
I kind of hate doing that because you know the fragility of the optic anode and cathode connections but really, there's nothing else you can do to check if they're partially broken or not because of the vinyl wire covering hiding things.
They also put small black shrink-wrap over the connections too but that's not where I think they're broken....I believe if anything is partially broken, it would be where the anode and cathodes enter the body of the T0-46 cans of the optics.
Those metal cans were very fragile.... that's why I recommend the newer plastic emitter & receivers.
The anodes and cathodes of the newer plastic optics are molded into the plastic.... they're much stronger?

Oh...the other day, I almost made another video for you of the door handle being unlocked when in "Service Credit" mode, with the door in an opened state.
I forgot and now I do not remember offhand, if there needed to be Service credits on the machine or not, for the handle solenoid to unlock the handle.
You can verify this yourself pretty easily...I, on the other hand, am nowhere near a slot machine until Monday....lol

[David Walz]

haha...you found my youtube channel 
The pictures of the power Molex to the motherboard in Reply #223, is also a photo I took - to try to help somebody.

I listened to you playing with the door latch in your video...I can tell from the sounds when you opened or closed the door latch.
The sounds correspond with what the display is showing [13-0] or [13-1].
From that, I would definitely say that your door optics are functioning fine.
What we really don't know is whether or not you able to introduce door optic malfunctions on purpose by jiggling the pull handle - as Knagl and Jay have pointed out.
Knagl's suggestions of checking for pinched wiring, is what I'd be checking.

I'd watch the [13-0] display as I move around wiring harnesses.
I kind of hate doing that because you know the fragility of the optic anode and cathode connections but really, there's nothing else you can do to check if they're partially broken or not because of the vinyl wire covering hiding things.
They also put small black shrink-wrap over the connections too but that's not where I think they're broken....I believe if anything is partially broken, it would be where the anode and cathodes enter the body of the T0-46 cans of the optics.
Those metal cans were very fragile.... that's why I recommend the newer plastic emitter & receivers.
The anodes and cathodes of the newer plastic optics are molded into the plastic.... they're much stronger?

Oh...the other day, I almost made another video for you of the door handle being unlocked when in "Service Credit" mode, with the door in an opened state.
I forgot and now I do not remember offhand, if there needed to be Service credits on the machine or not, for the handle solenoid to unlock the handle.
You can verify this yourself pretty easily...I, on the other hand, am nowhere near a slot machine until Monday....lol

Thank you for this, I printed it off, just like the other ones you have written.
I have a pair of optics coming to me that have been tested.
I also can set up a test for the wiring, wiggle them gently while the game is running.
I have several books that will help me look at your theory.

David

[David Walz]

I am no expert on self tests..... but Are they working properly
- it seems to sit at 0... more than 1 .... I think it should be alternating between the two evenly.... Kevin / Mark ... perhaps chime in here.

Tough to tell with the LED flicker from the video. I'd say if the machine is operating normally when just the play credit/spin reels buttons are used, we can presume that the optics are generally working well. He's only having the issue when the handle is pulled, as far as I know.

After removing a lot of what it could be I am back to the same question, when the door is closed, latched why is the pull handle unlocked and the lower candle light flashing. The game does play and function, except for the handle being unlocked, light flashing.

The pull handle unlocks when the game is idle and there are credits on the machine or if a coin has been inserted, to allow the player to pull the handle. It would normally be locked if there are no credits on the machine and if no coins have been inserted. I presume the handle would also lock when the door has been opened, as you can't spin a paid game when the door is open. Basically, the handle should be unlocked when the Spin Reels button lamp is lit.

As far as the flashing lights, you can do some of your own investigative work to learn what some of the candle light flashes mean on your machine with the GAME (SP) chip you have in use. While the printed sheet you have is a good general reference, the SP chip is what handles that and the lights can vary slightly depending on the SP chip in use (ie. the printed sheet of paper may not always be 100% accurate as behavior can vary by chip).

For the following, use only your Spin Reels button (and not the pull handle since you're having intermittent trouble with it): I would suggest completing a paid game, and then observe the machine. There should be no lights lit on the candle. Open the door and observe what the candle shows (I suspect the lower lamp in the candle will flash rapidly indicating that the door is open). You can check the handle too and I believe it will be locked. Now, close and latch the door and observe what happens. The LED display on the front of the machine should go blank for a second or so, the reels may re-spin back to the result of the last paid game, and the lower candle lamp either will turn off, or it will remain flashing rapidly until the next paid game is completed. If that candle light is still flashing, go ahead and spin a paid game. You should now see the candle lamp turn off. Does that help to understand at least partially what the candle lights are telling you?


From your earlier video, the issue still appears to be that sometimes when you're pulling the handle, the machine believes for a second that the door has been opened and then closed. The first hypothesis was that it was due to a vibration from the physical movement and stop of the handle causing the optics to vibrate out of alignment momentarily. It seems though, based on your testing, that such a vibration may not be the case? If so, I would suggest looking for possible pinched wires, or anything that could be shorting together or shorting to ground when you pull the handle. Are there any wires getting pinched or moved around near the handle mechanism inside the machine when you pull the handle?

Just like stayoutofthebunker, I have printed this out and will go through it.
I will process this information, and get you some answers.
Thanks for everything, I am getting a better understanding of the IGT slot machine.
I can access all of the programming, which is really important.

David

[jay]

I would be interested in to see if the behaviour changed with a 1271 game chip.

It would also be good to swap in a known good MPU (containing any game) just to see if the problem follows the chassis.  Is there anyone that can lend David a spare for test purposes.
I would send him one of mine but as I am in Canada that 49th parallel is expensive to cross in both directions (I call it the $49 dollar parallel). I was hoping there was someone in his area that could pop by.

[David Walz]

I would be interested in to see if the behaviour changed with a 1271 game chip.

It would also be good to swap in a known good MPU (containing any game) just to see if the problem follows the chassis.  Is there anyone that can lend Save a spare for test purposes.

I'd be willing to purchase a 1271 game chip for s*its and giggles if one is available. 👍

[Straycat]

1 word, flood. Crap, that was 3.