HELP HELP Bally S5500 Problem

[Tom Bera]

Any suggestions please!! What I have going on is when after I do a complete clear coins may just drop thru and if you hit a winner pushing the cash out button nothing happens and then hopper empty code appears. When this happens the coin optics amber light flashes, I was told this indicates the board is resetting? What I have found out by accident is I taped the door open switch down so I could observe the insides easier. With the switch taped down I do a clear and it works perfectly. No coin drop thru, pays out on wins, I played it for about a half hour to be certain. After turning off the power it went back to not working correctly. I have had the board checked and was told it is ok. Also replaced the power supply circuit board. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated.    Thanks Tom

[Sunrise Side]

The door switch, you can pull outward on the plunger and it will stay out which closes the contacts and is the same as taping down the switch. So no problems until you turn the power off and then turn it back on, correct? So when you turn the power off and back on again and do nothing else , do you have a error code on the display?

[Tom Bera]

No codes come on until the coins drop thru  and then a coin reverse code will come on, Also if you should get a win before a coin drops thru you can not cash out. You will get a hopper empty code. Also when it acts up the coin optic yellow led is blinking on and off. If I do a clear with the door switch taped down operation is perfect until I turn it off and then restart then the led blinks and goes back to the problems. I was told when the yellow led is flashing the board is trying to reset. Thank you so much for the help. Tom Bera

[Trisail]

Any suggestions please!!
What I have going on is when after I do a complete clear


I assume you have leave in mains, where you are able to do the 'complete clear'

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coins may just drop thru

I have to assume also the door is closed, the machine has completed the initialization, the reels turn and stop at the last symbols that were on the machine before the door closed. You drop a coin in the machine and it drops into the coin tray, no credits are put on the machine.


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and if you hit a winner pushing the cash out button nothing happens and then hopper empty code appears.

Not sure how you are getting a 'winner' and pushing the cash out. You must have credits on the machine? I think you needed to have no credits on the machine to perform a complete clear. If you have a bill validator and are able to but credits on the machine - that would be OK.  Nothing happens with hopper? It goes immediately to 'empty code'? are there coins/tokens in the hopper? does the hopper try to run, but not able to pick any 'coins' and dispense them to the coin tray?


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When this happens the coin optics amber light flashes, I was told this indicates the board is resetting?

The LED on the coin comparator flashes, with the door open and the door switch taped?  I believe it is telling you the comparator is not functioning properly?


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What I have found out by accident is I taped the door open switch down so I could observe the insides easier. With the switch taped down I do a clear and it works perfectly.

I believe to do a clear - the door must be open and the machine would need to know that by the door switch - not being taped down.


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No coin drop thru, pays out on wins, I played it for about a half hour to be certain.

You can play the machine with the door switch taped, it pays out wins - I will assume it puts the credits on the display and not paying out through the hopper? You are able to play the machine for some time - the coin drop thru 'to the hopper?', and put credits on the display and you can press the bet or max button and then press spin or pull the handle the machine plays OK?


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After turning off the power it went back to not working correctly. I have had the board checked and was told it is ok. Also replaced the power supply circuit board. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated.    Thanks Tom

Sounds to me you may have 2 problems - one with the coin optics and one with the hopper - at least. ( the coin comparator is the part that has the sample coin in it - the optics are the board unit just below the coin comparator)

If you get an error that says 'coin reverse' the coin optics are probably bad. There are 3 sensors that check the speed of the dropped coin, they must be detected in order - A, B, C for the coin to be accepted if the coin comparator has compared the dropped coin with the sample coin and it determined it was a good coin. If one, or more, of the optic board sensors are not working you could get a reverse coin error.
If the hopper motor turns on and tries to dispense coins, but you get a hopper empty error - then the coin shelf is not picking up the coins and putting them out passed the hopper coin out sensor. If the error occurs immediately - you probably have a bad hopper coin out sensor or a problem with the wires for the hopper/sensor.
The MPU board - checked OK - the machine may be OK and should work. You replaced the power supply circuit board  - the power should be OK.


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I am a bit confused how you can play the machine - get a win - and everything works OK for an hour or hour and a half? If you turn off the power to the machine and it does not work properly without doing a 'complete clear' - I would suggest the battery on the MPU board may be bad, especially if you seem to have to do a complete clear to get the to do anything/work.   

[Sunrise Side]

I agree with Trisail. Bad optics board.  NLG member rjpohl has optics in the classifieds on here and he has them listed  on Ebay as well.
     https://www.ebay.com/itm/224660514489?hash=item344ecf66b9:g:7ZMAAOSwLXFhdaGq
The hopper may have issues. May have dirty optics on the hopper. Use canned air and blow them out. Both sides of the optics. Sender and receiver. The optics is mounted at the coin knife .

[Tom Bera]

I ordered the optics board and will let you know what happens, Thanks and keeping my fingers crossed.

[Tom Bera]

I received the optics board today and installed it but no luck same results. I am posting a couple of pics of the comparator and the wiring. it has been changed and I need to know if it is correct and the wiring right. Thanks Tom Bera

[Sunrise Side]

What are the spliced wires connected to?   Is this machine 25c or 5c ? Looks like a nickel in the comparitor ? The coin guide might be incorrect size and to large for Nickels which will cause errors. Take the coin optics assembly apart and check the size of the coin guide. Any coin that passes through has to cover all 4 optics holes to work properly.  While you have that assembly apart , there is a plastic prism which is parts of the optics design. Make sure it is clean. If you disassemble the prism, be sure to take notice of the orientation of the prism  and the bracket that holds it in place.

[Sunrise Side]

Also , can you empty the coins out of the hopper and set one coin inside against the pinwheel plate. Take a picture so we can see the distance between the coin and the shelf wheel.

[Tom Bera]

When I do the complete clear with the door plunger taped down the hopper will work perfectly and pay out  correctly. After powering off everything screws up again.

[Tom Bera]

Also the wires in the pic are the ones to the comparator I was wondering is the comparator is correct? I have no idea if the spliced wires are correct. I wish I had history of the machine and when the problem started and if someone tried to fix it. Thank you for your help Tom

[Trisail]

When I do the complete clear with the door plunger taped down the hopper will work perfectly and pay out  correctly. After powering off everything screws up again.

I am still confused about this post - I don't believe you can clear a machine, with the machine thinking the door is closed - the door switch taped down.

Anyone else have comments or concerns about this?

I must admit I have never tried that, I don't have a machine to test on.

My 2 cents.

If the battery is good and wired ok, a clear is done, the machine works until powered off, then does not work. Sounds like clear is not working properly and battery is not holding information in the ram.

What am I missing?

Can't give you much with the coin comparator wiring - not enough information.

[Sunrise Side]

If the machine was a 25c or 50c machine and you put a Nickel in the comparitor and drop nickels in the optics will not work properly  and the hopper will not work properly on payout.   If the optics is working properly and the hopper is working properly the errors will be cleared by opening and closing the door or pressing the door switch.  Pictures?

[Sunrise Side]

Your correct Tony. In order for Clear procedure to be done properly, switch has to be in open state.

[Sunrise Side]

Comparitor is working properly.

[Tom Bera]

If you can tell me exactly what to do or what to check, maybe I'm making this harder than it really is. I will retest in the AM to see what is happening at what time. Tom

[Sunrise Side]

Will a Quarter fit through the coin entry on the outside of the door ?

[Tom Bera]

Yes it is a quarter machine.

[Tom Bera]

Battery is new tests a little over 3 volts The board was tested at Klar. What is the correct wiring for the door open switch? I have a cd for the manual but is so hard to read. Like I said I clear with the door plunger taped in or pulled out it works perfectly. I am going to check to see what the amber led on the coin optics when it works and when it doesn't.

[Trisail]

Sounds like the door switch is wired backwards now to me. We can get the wiring for the switch.  I can try tomorrow  no time tonight for me. Maybe another member can post something before.