Older Double Diamond Video Slot Machine Not Working

[rokgpsman]

Yes nothing happened when I put a coin between it. I’m just wondering since there is no comparator there, it’s making it not work.

I don't know about that, never tried it or heard of anyone trying it without a coin comparitor in the machine. Seems like the coin optic boards would be a separate circuit from the coin comparator and what you are doing would work. But it doesn't seem likely that your coin optic boards are bad, that doesn't happen very often. Let's give some of the experts here time to offer an opinion. You are on the screen in the test menus where you can test inputs when you do this?

Is your replacement coin comparitor on the way?

[Trooper11040]

Coin comparator should be here Friday!  I’ll order a new optic board in the mean time just Incase that’s bad as well

[Trooper11040]

Well I forgot to order the harness that goes between the game and the comparator...I also do not believe my optics are working...I get 0's on A,B, and C...no matter what I do, I can't get it to read anything other then 0's.  I tried wiggling the harness, cleaning the optics, nothing...guess ill be ordering one of those as well


Dan

[Trooper11040]

Got the coin comparator today but unfortunately needed the harness...I believe I also need a new optics board...and then last night, my door optic broke (the wire pulled off so i'll be waiting a few more days for everything to come in)  I can't wait to see this all up and running

[rokgpsman]

Be careful on the door optic parts - there are 2 of these, one on the door and one on the main cabinet. They are not the same, one is an optic transmitter, the other is an optic receiver. You have to get the correct one installed at the correct location, or it will not work. Make sure that the part you order and install has the same color wires as the one you are removing.

[Trooper11040]

I ordered the set of 2...one of each...i know the one with the bubble looking part goes on the cabinet...i still have the original..just unfortunately broke it yesterday...i was so close to being done with this and having it all up and running!

[rokgpsman]

yes, it is frustrating. You have to be careful, a machine like this is at least 20 years old, many of the plastic parts and small wires are fragile due to age. When you get the new parts you will notice that the connectors are the same on each part (poor IGT design decision), so it is possible to install them reversed. From what I know the wire colors are different on each part and is a good way to tell the difference.

So whoever removed the coin comparitor from the machine also took it's wiring harness? I wonder why, unless they needed it to repair another machine.

When you get the replacement coin comparitor installed you know about installing a "sample" coin/token in it?

[Trooper11040]

good to know...i am even considering upgrading the monitor to an LCD...the old tube is just nasty and so old...colors are all messed up on the bottom of the monitor.

[Amechanic]

Post a picture of the monitor where your colors are off. It sounds like your monitor needs to have a degaussing coil used on it..

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Degausser-Degaussing-Wand-Coil-for-Arcade-Monitors-CRT-Tube-Television-TV-US-NEW/123034014331?hash=item1ca566127b:g:6j4AAOSw7nZar7tt

There are other ways to do it without buying the tool

[Trooper11040]

I’ll get a photo. I’ve never heard of this before lol

[Amechanic]

I’ll get a photo. I’ve never heard of this before lol

Some games have a built in degaussing circuit.. There is a Thick wire around the back side of the monitor.. Has a 2 wire plug that plugs on to the chassis..

[Trooper11040]

Here are 3 photos from the test menu:

[Amechanic]

It’s usually in the corner but maybe because your screen adjuster is messed it could be why your colors look like that. If you hold a speaker magnet or and device that generates a magnetic field next to the screen you can change the colors. It can happen if someone puts a stereo on the game or right next to the monitor.

[rokgpsman]

Your machine's monitor is a crt. On the inside of the crt at the big end there is a metal screen and it can be become magnetized in some places. That's why they used to tell people don't let your kids put a magnet near the screen on a tv. Also, if you turn on or off a large motor like a vacuum cleaner near the crt screen it can put color blotches on the screen. This was back in the day when tv's were in console furniture cabinets and the screen was near the floor. These color "blotches" are because the crt's internal metal screen has become magnetized in some areas. The fix is to use some method of "degaussing" (you can google the details of what it means).

Old time tv repair repair shops always had a degaussing coil. In a pinch you can use something with a strong motor. You turn the motor on while holding it close to the center of the screen, then slowly rotate the motor in the air making circles in front of the screen as you back away and increase the distance from the screen. After you have moved back far away to not affect the screen you switch the motor off. You can probably find a video on youtube showing someone using a degaussing coil.

Things that have bigger electric motors can be substituted for a degaussing coil, like an electric drill or one of those large soldering irons that have a big transformer inside. Whatever you use has to have a strong enough magnetic force to affect the crt screen. The process of degaussing removes the magnetism from the crt internal screen. CRT's with large color blotches may need the degaussing process done a few times. And without the proper degaussing tool you may not completely get rid of the blotches but should get some improvement.
 
Inside many monitor or tv displays there is a built-in degaussing coil wrapped around the crt near the big end. Each time the monitor is switched on the degaussing coil will activate for a few seconds, then switch itself off. If your monitor has this it may have gone bad or gotten unplugged like Amechanic mentioned.

[rokgpsman]

I’ll get a photo. I’ve never heard of this before lol

Typical youngster response. 

I think there are LCD upgrades but they can be costly so depends on your budget. If you want to look into that just ask and someone here can point you in the right direction on how to get that done.

[Trooper11040]

Haha we had a tube when I was a kid. It was inside “furniture” and very heavy lol

[jay]

You can get a LCD from HAPP - these are meant as a direct replacement - they go for about $350.


With regards to the PE+ itself - I paid about $800 for my PE+ about 15 years ago they have dropped considerably and you could probably find a PE+ with a decent monitor for less than the LCD drop in. In particular slant tops are not the most desirable platform for the home patron due to their size (I don't ever want to carry one of those down to the basement) and I have seen some of these go for $150 - makes a great parts machine (Bill validator, buttons, coin optics, coin comparator, door optics etc etc).


You cannot use a standard LCD as the colors are all inverted - this is unique to IGT and Cetronix (sp?) monitors.
There is a thread on how to hack this - but it involves modifying the system board etc and as I have about 7 boards all setup so I can just swap the boards vs a bunch of chips. There is no way I am hacking up a bunch of boards. Makes them useless in other machines. I would be more apt to cough up the $350.

[rokgpsman]

Haha we had a tube when I was a kid. It was inside “furniture” and very heavy lol

If you have an AC powered electric drill it might be large enough to try, can't make it any worse. Or you could lift up your vacuum cleaner and move it in circles near the monitor. The monitor needs to be on when doing this so you can see if the degaussing process is working or not. 

Here are some of the videos out there, this is still done nowadays because there are many crt displays still in use:

https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=degauss+tv+monitor+crt+with+a+drill

[Amechanic]

I’ve heard that the old style soldering iron that’s  the size of a hand gun work good for this. I bought one of the circle style degausser tools for my person use here.   

[knagl]

I have an old Radio Shack bulk eraser that works well to degauss a monitor.  Based on the pictures, that monitor definitely needs to be degaussed.