help me get started…total noob

[rokgpsman]

Ok now it's down to 0 credits. I notice that I can only put 4 tokens in at a time. At 4 coins I can spin once at 3 coins and then 1 the next spin. Is there any way to add tokens and the game can keep track of how many credits I've put in on the credit meter?

It wasn't built to do that unfortunately, like Amechanic said. Since you won't be using the "Change" button on the front of the machine could you disconnect the 2 wires from it and connect 2 new wires from it to the coin mech trip switch? That way you could easily punch in 3 credits to play instead of having to insert coins/tokens each time.

Also, what does the blue button do? I can't read what is written on it.

(enlarged portion of your photo below)

[Dbeeson]

The blue button is actually a collect button, if you want to be paid out the credits.

I'll stick a coin battery and do the diode/resistor swap and see if my credit problem is solved.

[Dbeeson]

Ugh.

Well here I am, back again. I now have another problem, which I may or may not have created.

I went to do the mod removing the resistor and adding the diode so my lithium battery would no longer charge. I did it and was not successful. When I fired it up, it went into ....6, frozen.

Ok, so I reversed the mod, and put the resistor back in it's place and removed the diode.

Putting the connectors back on I felt resistance when replacing the ribbon cable on J3. I turned the game on and it booted up but didn't go into the normal working mode. So I turned it off. Today I grabbed a rechargeable lithium battery and stuck it in. But again, the game didn't go into normal functioning mode when I closed the door. No lights flashing. So I looked at the connectors.
 Looks like I bent the pin adjacent to pin 1 (so the last pin?) and it touched the pin beside it, instead of going into the socket. When I tried to bend it back, I broke the pin. Non stop swearing over here. What a foolish mistake.

SO, now the damn game won't do anything when I close the door. If I go into load test #2, no lights or coils will cycle. Ugghghggh.

I guess my question is, if I get another ribbon cable connector (from god knows where), will everything likely go back to normal or have I shorted something out?

[Amechanic]

I bought some ribbon cable connectors from Jamco a while back. They work but the pins are .030 shorter then the original ones. I found that I could file down the top of the board connection for a tighter fit. I did by the crimping tool for making the cable repairs.

Your other option would be to get a used one off EBay for Foxsslots.

I don't think you have hurt anything, it could just be the ribbon cable. You could look for some bad solder connections on your IC sockets in your MPU Board.

[rokgpsman]

.....Putting the connectors back on I felt resistance when replacing the ribbon cable on J3. I turned the game on and it booted up but didn't go into the normal working mode. So I turned it off. Today I grabbed a rechargeable lithium battery and stuck it in. But again, the game didn't go into normal functioning mode when I closed the door. No lights flashing. So I looked at the connectors.

Looks like I bent the pin adjacent to pin 1 (so the last pin?) and it touched the pin beside it, instead of going into the socket. When I tried to bend it back, I broke the pin. Non stop swearing over here. What a foolish mistake.

SO, now the damn game won't do anything when I close the door. If I go into load test #2, no lights or coils will cycle. Ugghghggh.

I guess my question is, if I get another ribbon cable connector (from god knows where), will everything likely go back to normal or have I shorted something out?

Don't feel too terrible about it, a lot of owners of these machines have had problems with those ribbon connectors, it is one of the non-forgiving things in the design. If there is enough length some people cut the end off the ribbon and install another connector (or have someone do it for them). Or if they aren't a lot of cost you can just order an entire ribbon cable. These type of ribbons are still available from a variety of sources. Electronics stores can make the ribbon for you, they just need to know the length, number of conductors/wires and what type of connectors you need on each end. You can send them a picture of your old ribbon cable, or if they are familiar with it you can say it is for a Bally E-2000 slot machine, mpu to I/O cable. Also, some people remove the socket style connector from the mpu board and install a normal ic socket, that way the newer style ribbon connectors fit tighter since the pins on them are sometimes a little shorter, like Amechanic said. So you've got a lot of choices on how to repair it, get opinions from guys here that are owners of the E-2000 and E-1000 machines to see what they think is the best way to go.

Ribbon cable example sources:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/BALLY-SLOT-MACHINE-E-SERIES-RIBBON-CABLE-/350123645320?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item5184fed988


http://www.idealposter.com/bally_slot_machine_replacement_p.htm

Hopefully it is just the missing connection from the broken pin that is causing the new problem. If you have identified which pins it was on the mpu socket connector that were involved you can see what signal it is. Removing & installing those ribbon connectors on those socket connectors is as delicate as working with an ic in its socket. Your battery mod probably went fine.  Don't kick yourself too much over this, you've already fixed a bunch of things that were a bigger & tougher problem. I bet if we had a show of hands there would be several others that have had this happen.

Below is the E-2000 schematic for the J3 connector and a photo of the J3 board connector showing the traditional way to number the pins on a socket, but you will need to verify this. The schematic shows the J3 socket outline to help identify which pin has which signal. Notice the notch on the J3 socket at bottom edge in the schematic drawing of J3. I think this corresponds to the top of the J3 socket on the mpu board since the ribbon plugged in here has the red stripe at the top. Red stripe usually means pin 1 on a ribbon cable.

Now on a normal ic socket these pins would be numbered 1 thru 8 down the left side of the socket, then you cross over to the right side lowest pin and continue the count upward 9-16. But since they are connecting a ribbon connector to J3 instead of an ic they may numbered it differently. You can work that out with an ohmmeter if you have to, just check the pins of J3 to the U7 chip next door since it is connected to many of the J3 pins. Also notice that nearby transistor Q2 has its collector connected to J3 pin 16. All of this should show you how they numbered the J3 pins. Maybe the guys here familiar with that cable can say what pin numbers are broken from looking at your picture of the ribbon cable.

But unless you are just wondering about it I wouldn't worry too much about it now, you could wait to see if the new ribbon fixes everything. From my looking at it J3 does not have any power supply voltages or ground connections, just has logic signals, so you likely didn't ding anything badly shorting 2 of them together. But even if it did zap an ic you'll get it back running.

another source of info:

http://www.idealposter.com/



You weren't tired of working on it yet, right? 

[rokgpsman]

Another idea, doesn't the same size ribbon cable run from the other mpu connector J2 to a display, or from the I/O board to a display? Could you take that cable and use it in place of the broken one just to see if the machine will boot up, since the display isn't critical? Just an idea...

[Dbeeson]

Alright guys, you're not gonna believe this but I successfully repaired the connector pin.  I used a very small dab of (very expensive) conductive silver epoxy on the base of the connector and stuck the little pin back on. Wow.  I'm sure if I remove that connector again that pin will likely break off, but I don't see a need to do so EVER AGAIN.  I'm not touching it. That's it.  There's a rechargeable lithium battery in there and it's happy.


One thing to note, I think the mod didn't work before because as rokgpsman pointed out, I believe the voltage drop over the added diode was too great for the 3v battery.  But having said that, shouldn't' the game just act as though there is no battery and function as normal? Hmm…


Anyway, it's back to working perfect again, and no more messing around with it.  It's been fun hanging out with you guys, hopefully I won't see you again too soon!

[rokgpsman]

Alright guys, you're not gonna believe this but I successfully repaired the connector pin.  I used a very small dab of (very expensive) conductive silver epoxy on the base of the connector and stuck the little pin back on. Wow.  I'm sure if I remove that connector again that pin will likely break off, but I don't see a need to do so EVER AGAIN.  I'm not touching it. That's it.  There's a rechargeable lithium battery in there and it's happy.

One thing to note, I think the mod didn't work before because as rokgpsman pointed out, I believe the voltage drop over the added diode was too great for the 3v battery.  But having said that, shouldn't' the game just act as though there is no battery and function as normal? Hmm…

Anyway, it's back to working perfect again, and no more messing around with it.  It's been fun hanging out with you guys, hopefully I won't see you again too soon!

You can still stop in and see what's going on here now & then, there might be someone new with a problem on their E-2000 that you can be helpful with due to what you've learned on your machine this go-around.


Good job on getting it back working, that was a creative idea on repairing the ribbon connector pin. 

[rokgpsman]

...One thing to note, I think the mod didn't work before because as rokgpsman pointed out, I believe the voltage drop over the added diode was too great for the 3v battery.  But having said that, shouldn't' the game just act as though there is no battery and function as normal? Hmm…

yes, I agree that at worst it should have worked as if the battery was dead, game play ok but the accounting and credit display data would be garbled.

.....I'm sure if I remove that connector again that pin will likely break off, but I don't see a need to do so EVER AGAIN.  I'm not touching it. That's it.  There's a rechargeable lithium battery in there and it's happy.
…Anyway, it's back to working perfect again, and no more messing around with it.  It's been fun hanging out with you guys, hopefully I won't see you again too soon!  

FAMOUS LAST WORDS!    


MODERATOR- I guess this topic is closed.