873A No pay

[Phan000]

I noticed that wiper arm 1 was missing the top screw.  This was causing it to be misaligned with 2 and 3.

Replaced screw, now paying  on everything, but with a runaway hopper.  It was paying correctly on the misaligned wins...


Getting closer anyhow.

[wolftalk]

the holes in the reel wipers arms are oversized, so loosening the two mounting screws lets you shift the wiper finger contact position on the rivets by cocking the wiper arms.

easiest thing is stick in the reels and put all three index arms on the shallowest slot in the index disc, then align the wiper contacts on the position/depth 1 rivets per the diagram I posted above.

note the diagram is looking at the wiring side of the contact plates, so position 1 is five rivets from the LEFT edge when looking at the rivet/wiper side.

you have to do the wiper alignment with the reels in and the wiper arms indexed into slots.  It is frequently the case that different symbols will be on the reels for any given slot depth.

on your machine tho, the melon, $2.50, bar and 7 symbols are slot depth 2-5 respectively on each reel.   The oddball is depth 1 and 6 slots on reel 1, which are both blanks.

e.g. if you put melons on the payline on each reel, the wipers should be on depth/position 2 rivets on each contact plate.

[DavidLee]

Okay, making good progress.
The machine is paying okay, its just the reel tapes that are misaligned.

Re the hopper continues to run.
Check the contacts on the payout relay located top left back of hopper.
Particularly the white / blue and or solid green wire contacts.
If these don’t open the hopper will run until timed out.
Also do a visual inspection for the spring, loose wires, bent terminals, broken armature etc.

[wolftalk]

if the hopper only starts when you have a valid win, then see if the payout counter is stepping up.

if a payout relay or hopper mixer relay switch is stuck closed or either relay is stuck powered on, the hopper will turn on when you turn the machine on.

[Phan000]

So it turns out that the payout counter is getting stuck.

I had previously cleaned it and tested horizontally.  Works fine, no missing teeth.

However, I see now that only works when not completely vertical.  Very strange.  I cleaned it again & disassembled.  I  cannot see anything causing the bind.  Works perfectly at a slight angle, and is stuck in straight vertical.

[Phan000]

In the vertical position, if I push on the lever, the counter advances properly.  However if I push on the black plunger, it does not.

[wolftalk]

the right end of your outboard carriage is bent and when the payout counter is screwed in place it looks like it might stick on the frame edge

the whole plus-shaped metal thing should be flat.

if it's not that, the solenoid plunger should be able to slide and pivot on the arm peg so it can center in the coil.  If the plunger is sticking in the coil, you'll need to remove the coil and see why.   Sometimes people put lube in there and you need to q-tip/alcohol it out.  The plungers should never be lubricating in the sleeve.

it's a little confusing because the arm/lever is directly connected to the plunger ... if you push on the arm, the plunger goes into the coil same as pushing on the plunger.

[DavidLee]

Good eye Wolftalk!

[Phan000]

I bent that part straight,  though it didn’t really seem to affect.  Cleaned out solenoid tune just in case and re-cleaned everything.

Stepping up pretty well via plunger now... manually.

Both plungers are now not powering up.  Runaway hopper still.

Frustrating as that part was initially working. 

[slcjeeper]

In your picture that shows the Zero switch, is it making contact in that position? The picture shows what appears to be a gap.

[wolftalk]

you're on a bit of a journey due to the hopper not being original to an 809-ZH.  It's actually not an 873A hopper either ... at least, not anymore.

assuming the rest of the machine is 809-ZH, you have an odds disc and pinball score-reel-like units in the top compartment doing payout multiplication.

you've also got an oddball microswitch where there's normally a couple redundant leaf switches (circled in red below ... the other guys can correct me if bally ever made a machine like that).

second image below is the typical payout counter step-up circuit.  Anything along the red highlighted path could be not working (there's plug connections in the path also that aren't shown). 

two quick tests:

1] play different number of coins.  If none of them step the payout counter, then it's likely not odds unit wipers

2] attach a jumper wire to wire 75.  Normally that's an orange/white wire on the hopper switches, but you've got the odd microswitch, so you have to figure out which wire is going to the payout relay and which to the jackpot lockup relay.    Once you figure that out (or don't bother and try them both or hold closed the microswitch), with a jumper on the wire going to the jackpot lockup relay, touch the other end of the jumper to yellow wire 30 on the coin switch.  Every time you touch wire 30, the payout counter should step up.

also make sure an ejecting coin would close that microswitch and if you like use an othermeter to verify the microswitch is working ok.

oh, and if the payout counter isn't stepping up or resetting, check the common orange wires on the coils and make sure it's good back to the orange wire on the plug.

[Phan000]

Tested wires in the hopper for way too long before letting this project sit for a few days

Looked at top box again for fun, and turns out that the jackpot counter up there was sticking.  I had already cleaned it, but I guess there was still some guminess

Thanks for all the help. Machine cleaned up nicely.  Still a bad gamble lol.  Put 25$ through before a win.