Bally Slot Machine - some problems

[HerrBerzerk]

Hello,


I have a Bally Slot Machine here, seems to be made in Ireland, with the name "Big Spender". It is a single coin, 4 reels machine and pays from left to right and right to left. Max. payout is 400.


I have already fixed plenty of things like broken contacts on the lever, adjusted a lot of contacts, fixed the delay relay and so on. But there are still 3 problems left and I'm kind of stuck.


1) When it should pay 100, it only pays 75. 200 and 400 pay fine. My understanding is, that at coin 51, the carry over contact should hold the payout until the stepper made one full spin. So it shouldn't matter if the 100 contact on the payout stepper ends at 53 or 97.


2) 3 Bells pay nothing, no matter if left to right or right to left. 4 Bells pay fine. 3 Bells should pay 20. Other combinations that pay 20, like 3 plums or so pay fine.


3) 3 or 4 single Bars don't ring the jackpot bell though they pay out fine. All other combinations do ring the jackpot bell.


I did already sight check the beau plugs and the wiper boards for loose wires or bend or loose contacts, but I did not see something obvious.
Unfortunately I don't have a manual or schematics.


Thanks for any hints,


Frank

[HerrBerzerk]

Short update:


Problem 1 and 3 seem to be fixed. The first problem was with bending the 100 contact on the payout stepper so that it stays a little bit longer on the contact. The third problem might be fixed by completely removing all four wiper boards, cleaning them, reworking all the wipers and so on. Thats what I did for the last 2 hours.


But the problem nr. 2 is still there. Three bells do not pay out 20 bucks, no matter left to right or right to left. Four bells pay out 50 with no problem. Also 4 Cherries or 4 oranges payout the 20 bucks fine. I checked all cables on the wipers, on all connectors, the beau plugs and the payout stepper. It's nothing obvious like a broken cable on a connector or board. Also the wipers look like they work perfect and are clean. The wiper boards look, like someone soldered a lot on them in the past. Maybe he soldered a cable to a wrong contact plate?


I have no idea how to troubleshoot that error. Any ideas or hints?


Thanks,


Frank

[Jim]

since everything else is working for that pay it shouldn't  be   that hard to figure out.  the wipers feed the "ground" signal through the wiper contacts down to the hopper payout disc for the particular win line.  the feed starts on the fourth wiper contact , then through the third wiper contact  and onto the second wiper and finally onto the first wiper contact. I don't know if the three reel pays are picked off at the second  or first wiper contact?  on most Bally EM's  there is a gray wire that if fed to the common part on the third reel disc (fourth in your case) it will land on a certain set of contacts determined by the symbol on the reel and where the reel was stopped by the notch. the gray wire will be transfered to the next wiper disc because of this action, now the gray wire signal is sitting at the feed through contacts on the next wiper disc, when the "bell" contacts line up the contacts on that wiper disc it should transfer the gray signal over to the next wiper disc. this will continue until the gray feed is presented to the final wiper disc and is sent down to the hopper disc. 

If you could trace the "hot" line from the 20 pay on the payout disc up to the third or forth reel wiper disc. now put a meter lead on that point and trace back through the wiper contacts working back to the gray feed wire on the forth wiper disc.  hopefully you will find the error.  you could use the the other 20 payout symbols as a reference, they all have to end at the same point on the hopper payout disc for a 20 pay.

It is a simple series circuit that is developed through the wiper contact discs.

Hope this helps

Jim

[HerrBerzerk]

Hi Jim,


thank you for your information making me understand the circuit a litte better.. Since the wiper boards are very crowded, would the following be a valid test?


I traced the 20coin hot wire (white-red) up to the left beau plug. I also found a grey wire on the right beau plug, buzzing it out to the 4 wiper boards, so it seems to be the right one.


Now I put my ohm meter in buzz mode, one to the grey wire on the right beau plug and one to red-white wire on the left beau plug. When I put the reels on 3 bells I get a buzz. Not on two bells or something else. Also I get a buzz on e.g. 4 Cherries, wich should pay out 20 too.


Is that a correct test? If yes, that would mean the wipers are working right, correct? Can I measure if the 20 circuit is working fine on the payout stepper board too?


Thanks,


Frank

[OldReno]

That sounds like a very odd payout structure.  Normally 3 bells is an 18 pay.  Do you have a 10 pay for 3 oranges, and 14 for 3 plums?  Are those segments wired in on your payboard? Can you post pics???

[The Fatman]

Wondering if the back of the wiper board wires might be broken from one the solder connections? Does the bell connection make contact all the way thru all 4 boards?
Dave F

[HerrBerzerk]

sure

[HerrBerzerk]

2

[The Fatman]

I would make sure that the zero switch closes well and makes good contact when closed first. Then check the 3 relays, they look like they are not pushed into the connestors all the way.
Great pics ... wouldnt hurt to clean the wiper board ... looks a little dirty on the contact traces. A little lube (Lubriplate) wiped off will help them to move smoothly when advancing.

Dave F

[HerrBerzerk]

The three relays don't move in any further. I don't know what they are for. The upper relay is tilt. The middle relay is labeled 50x relay, though I have no idea what it should count 50x. The lower relais is not labeled.

[The Fatman]

I have never seen a machine with the BAR payouts BASS AKWARDS. Usually the triple bar is the highest. That alone makes me feel it is a European machine maybe from Ireland but dont know. The payouts are higher than I have seen for the English machines which payouts are  usuall capped at 20 for the top regular payout. I am hoping to find out the answers to this one too. Maybe posting on an oversea blog you might get a better answer. Great pics you provided... But since the relays are sealed... very possible that the issue could be in one of them or their strange looking connections on the back. Looks like the wires are just pushed into the back of the plug... didnt see a solder connection.... but I dont see as good as I used to.
Dave F

[The Fatman]

Is there a model tag located under the handle on the outside bottom area of the cabinet? This might be a good start in figuring where this originated from, if its still there.
Dave F

[HerrBerzerk]

There is a model tag that says that the machine is made in Ireland. Though the technique shouldn't differ that much from machines made in the USA.


I tried to figure out the reel wiper connections for the bells, but that did not help me any much further because I don't understand it. I removed the wiper boards and buzzed them all out with the multimeter for the bell position. I wrote down what I found in the attached file.


I don't know it this is important, when I have three bells no matter in what direction and I move the last reel down about half a symbol, so the wiper moves to the next line of contact plates, the payout of 20 starts. Not always, but most of the time.


PS: If someone could point me to a manual with schematics for this, or at least a very similar 1coin 4 reel both directions machine, I would be very happy, also to buy it.

Thanks,


Frank

[HerrBerzerk]

I got it fixed, with a little luck. It was the coin unit. I did not take a very close look at the coin unit because all other 20 got payed fine.

[/size][size=78%]My guess is though, all other 20s just payed fine because they did include lower winnings as well. The 20 payout of bells is the only one that does not include lower winnings.[/size]



However, adjusting the zero position of the coin unit fixed the problem (though I DID adjust it already by sight, but 20 is hidden behind the red spiral disc).


Thanks all,


Frank

[The Fatman]

Enjoy the new slot addiction we all have. 
Dave F