**Video Poker, Keno, Slots, 21** Gaming machines > VLC Machines

VLC batteries

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vette6048:
I have a VLC machine model 8825. Machine works fine but I heard that there is a way to install another set of batteries or piggy back them so when the current batteries get low you won't lose memory and have to get the board reset. Chips are almost impossible to find and I heard that this could be done. Anybody know the procedure on how to do this? Thanks for any suggestions.

SolidSilver:
Yes, replacing a battery without  powering down the system can be, and is, done in most any electrical or electronic scenario, not just slot machines.  The process is simply to insert a new one in parallel with the old one before disconnecting the old battery.

There is no serious electrical issue; the problems encountered are always mechanical. For each specific situation, you need to figure out how to solder, clamp, crimp, screw, or otherwise connect the (or a) new battery “around” the old one, so both batteries’ + ends are connected together and ditto their – ends. This may require some head-scratching on your part as every machine is different; and you may need  TWO fresh batteries, only one of which will remain in place as the permanent replacement; here are two examples from my past:

1.   Flashlight-style D-cell snapped into a spring-loaded battery holder.  I soldered wires with alligator clips to a new battery and clipped it in place around the existing battery temporarily. That allowed me to remove the old battery and snap in a new one, and then unclip & remove the temporary battery.

2.   Battery with wire leads soldered onto PCB. Temporarily soldered a replacement at thru-board holes further out on the power traces; unsoldered the old battery and soldered in a new one; then removed the temporary one so I could slide the board back into the machine.

Note that, except in the unlikely event of a rechargeable battery, only two electrical characteristics are really required for a replacement, permanent or temporary:

1.   Voltage: if the battery in place is 5 volts, the replacement MUST BE 5 volts. Zero exceptions. This is the prime requirement.

2.   Amperage or Capacity: most small batteries will have a rating in MilliAmp-Hours or MAH. The replacement should be at least as large, to assure it can deliver enough current to keep the system operating. However, there is no limit on how much larger it can be. If, for example, you are working on a 12-volt battery the size of a quarter, there is no reason you cannot replace it with the 25-pound 12-volt battery out of your ’57 Cadillac.

  The bottom line here is that you do not need to replace the original battery with an identical unit, if it is not available or if doing so will simply shift the same problem out a year or two. Just make sure it’s the same voltage, and at least as big.

I would recommend you be reasonably quick about the job. It is just possible for an old dead battery to suck the life out of a fresh new battery. Don’t leave an old and a new battery connected together in parallel any longer than necessary, and certainly not overnight.

Not all circuit boards with backup batteries need to avoid a power-down during battery replacement. In most cases, only active data (like credits or history) will be lost, as the real game program is permanently in PROM. But there were lots of weird little companies, with off-the-wall ideas, especially in the early “transitional” days of electronics.  If you’re not absolutely sure, don’t take the chance: parallel the old battery before swapping it out.

Finally, replacement assumes there is enough juice left in the battery to keep the system alive, even if just barely. If the old battery is dead, or weak enough to have permitted the system to flicker or die, it’s too late:  and good luck with that!

erbs:
Vette6048 in your post yesterday you mentioned that you had changed some batteries already. If you have, trying piggy backing other batteries will not work. I have the same machine 8825. The last time my batteries went dead I had sent the board to Worldwide Gaming and they fixed it. Not sure if they are still doing them. It was 2 years ago. Good luck!

vette6048:
I think Worldwide Gaming does not do it anymore. I will double check. The last person that helped me with my board was a person named Buddy from Texas. He fixed it fine and I had no problems until I changed the 3 pancake batteries(big mistake). I believe he goes by the name The Slot Doc. I am trying to reach out to him but I have had no success. I don't want to give up on the machine yet but I will wait and see if anybody else has the zero clear chip. .Correct me if I am wrong but these clear chips cannot be copied. Am I correct?

SolidSilver:
Unfortunately, that is correct. Video Lottery Corp was very tight about retaining control, if not actual ownership.
Clear chip software was specifically made to prevent copying. And now that IGT owns what's left of VLC, what little
support there ever was is gone. They not only have zero interest in supporting private "hobby" owners, they seem
to actually be hostile to us. As for Worldwide support, they have specifically decided to cease support, whatever the reason.
It would not surprise me to learn that IGT has quietly "leaned on them."

I'd give a tizzy to know who has which clear chips & related equipment, and if they'd be willing to sell them to a single servicer.
For instance, where are the clear chips etc previously used by Worldwide? Did they hand them over to IGT...? :sherlock:

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