Newbie Intro - Aristocrat Esprit-Atlas Slot Machine Repair and Restore

[Deanobrew]

Hi Guys,


Newbie here, comin to you from regional Victoria, in Australia.


Hope everyone here is keeping safe and doing well.


Great forum you have here!


My Name is Dean and I'm an electrician by trade here in Australia, but certainly not an electronics guru.. lol


I'm happy to share and make a donation to NLG to keep this forum up and going, as forums like this will be hard to find in years to come if the legacy is not kept alive.


Anyway, Enough of my introduction.


I purchased an old Aristocrat Esprit-Atlas 5 reel "buccaneer" slot machine a few years back and have recently pulled the sheets off it to look at repair and restore of the machine.


Upon powering it up, I discovered that all I have working is the fluorescent lights, occasionally when I turned it off then on again, a reel or 2 would release and spin and the coin hopper would turn continuously until it finally blew the 7 Amp fuse in the power supply rectification board.

I then done some testing with my limited electronic knowledge, and found some suspicious Bridge rectifiers, transistors, voltage regulators and triacs.


I have managed to replace all the electronic components on the power rectification board, and before powering it up, I thought I would check the incoming AC voltages to the board, and found some very strange voltage readings from the transformer. I have attached a photo of the diagram with my voltage readings against what the diagram says they should be. Does anyone know how accurate these voltages are, or a better test method?


I have a circuit diagram of this board (that I'm happy to share), that I have been able to compare my readings to, as the drawing has the input/output circuit voltages for each plug on it.


I also have a wiring schedule for the entire machine that is very hard to work with if you don't know what the schedule is referring to... Like Me.. lol. Happy to share this if it is any good to anyone as well.


I also have a list of part numbers with the original component numbers and the replacement components for this particular board if anyone needs it for the power rectification board of this machine.
 
I'm looking for some advice on things to be looking for and test methods for getting this machine functional again.


It was mentioned in a previous Aristocrat thread here, that the batteries tend to leak and eat out the logic motherboard, but it appears my logic boards have had the batteries removed to avoid the damage for storage, and are salvageable. Any idea on the specs of these batteries? are they essential for functionality?


Any help is appreciated, and any information I have that is help to someone else is happily shared.


Thanks for your time in advance guys.


I look forward to bouncing info around here.


Cheers, Deano.

[Deanobrew]

I also have a list of part numbers with the original component numbers and the replacement components for this particular board if anyone needs it for the power rectification board of this machine.

[Deanobrew]

Ok, So quick update.... And thanks again for putting up with the newbie...


After trawling through the forums here, I managed to find a schematic drawing of the power supply board that appears to be more relevant to mine.


The drawing showed AC input and DC output voltages that are very similar to what I am getting which points towards my power supply not being the issue and that my readings are close to what is stated in this drawing.


My outputs: 5V regulated is a little low at 4.8volts along with the regulated 12v being at 11.9 volts, my -14vdc is around -12vdc and the +27vdc is around 24vdc. Does this sound ok?


My next step is to put some AA Nicad batteries (if that is all they need to be?) into the MPU (As I mentioned in my earlier post that these are currently missing), to see if this forwards any progress on getting this machine going, as I also read in the forum that these batteries are needed for functionality.


The current prognosis is that the Fluorescent lights come on, and that's about it.... digital display not working, nothing happens when I try to put coins in and pull the handle. Occasionally a reel release solenoid will fire when I power on the machine.


Any information or tips on where to go from here?

[gwslotting]

hi Deanobrew. 


I responded to your info about festoon bulbs in my other Espirit posting, before knowing you are in Australia.  I guess whatever vendor you will be suggesting to acquire the 24v 3w bulbs. will be from Australia.


Now I am convinced why your PC board is different. The Australia machines, and your 5 reel configuration should be different from my unit. Mine is a 3 reel unit. But still made in Australia.

[gwslotting]

Hi. I just read your new postings. I believe you are at a stage almost like where  I am... I just fired up my unit less than a few days after sitting in the garage for a few months.


I put in new lithium batteires to feed the SRAM, don't know if the machine will not continue with dead or no lithium batteries.


Once the power switch is turned on, the MPU board will go through "self diagnosis" as the fluorecent lights turn on. Immediately the reel motor will attempt to spin but find themselves locked by the big black brake stop against the black reel cogwheel, and the motor stops spinning instantly. This is because the cam that controls the reel motor, mounted on the camshaft under the reels  will be positioned at the toe of that "home" on off switch, stopping the motor instantly.  This is what I am at in diagnosis. Except there is a very loud grinding noise coming from the motor and the gears and the brakes,  I don't know where. See my posting under "Espirit grinding noise..." posted a few days ago. 


If you think your power supply board is bad, maybe I have the same problem. There is an EPROM I think on that board that controls the programming. I am not sure. My unit is way over 30 years, and EPROMs 2716 supposed to last only 10+ years. Don't want to take it out and put it on an EPROM programmer to check the codes yet.


Unless the unit went through the initial "self diagnosis" stage, you may not see any coin meter etc. light up


If the reels spin immediatley when power is on, the power supply board and its components requires a lot more troubleshooting.


If you get all the lights on, including the coin meters, then the unit is ready for the next diagnostic step.. Receiving a coin.


Service switch 1 allows you to troubleshoot with the doors open, as if playing an actual spin
Service switch 2 allows you to turn each reel by hand and the coin meter will display numbers from 102 to 123 , 202 to 223, 302 to 323 ( in my 3 reel unit).  for your 5 reel, to 502 to 523  etc.


The 3 EPROMS 2716 on the MPU board inside the cage controls all the programming. Like I said earlier, they are time bombs, only designed for 10+ years. Maybe in Australia you can contact the mother company to see if they can be replaced when failed. I would love to buy a few for backup even if I cannot get my unit to work now.


Maybe we can help each other.

[Deanobrew]

Thanks gwslotting,
[/size]Happy to share anything I have that could be of use to you.
[/size]
[/size]Is your motor trying to run with the brake on? Is there an issue with the brake? or is it jammed against the reels stopping latch lever? is this jammed? Not sure I follow you......
[/size]
[/size]Thanks for the info, Im still getting nothing from my digital displays and only getting the fluro lights when I turn it on.

[/size]I have checked all the input and output voltages to the attached drawing in this reply.
[/size]Every thing seems to be correct, though I have mentioned above, that the regulated voltages seem to be .1 to .2 volts lower than listed on the drawing, but I'm not sure this is an issue.

My next mission is to get some batteries into the MPU and fire it up... Can anyone confirm that these are just "AA Nicad 2500mah"?

I have attached some photo's of my machine for identification.

Hoping for someone to throw me a bone here and get this repair moving.

Thanks heaps guys.

[gwslotting]

My replacement are two panasonic 1.2V Cadnica 700m Ah , so in series that will be 2.4 V. Not sure about your 5 reel unit. They are seem only used to power the SRAM... Yes, get those batteries added maybe you can moved on to the next step.


I soldered two wires so that a double AA  battery holder can be attached to the outside of the MPU cage.  Based on other forum postings, if those batteries every needs replacing, one saves the hassle of pulling out the MPU board.

[Deanobrew]

Thanks, I was thinking of doing the same thing.
I will try this in the next few days when I get some free time and update the outcome here.
I was able to pull the credit display board out of the machine and test all the segments of the segmented displays, and they all seem to work.
Next step is those batteries.


Thanks again.

[gwslotting]

I would be very careful about pulling out any old PCB on these old units. Mine was assembled in 1984, 36 years ago !!!
Those EPROMS contains codes that almost no one has the codes to. And even if you can buy used PCB boards with EPROMS in them, they have to be your exact model, as there are so many variations of ESPRITs made. 2716 EPROMS used in those PCB are not the most reliable are more prone to ESD and Static damages. Even 1 bit off the machine may not function.  I have anti static floor mats and wrist anti static bands connected to my household ground prong of a 3 prong plug into the wall greceptacle. (with the neutral and hot prongs removed, of course!).  There may be a few guys that understands the Espirit codes out there and can recode them or fix the coding errors using an EPROM programmer. I want to try that, but am so afraid I may destroy the EPROMS on the boards when I pull them out.


You probably know all that as a professional.  Wearing socks on a carpet while working on these units on a dry day is very prone to static diasters.


Let they say, "if it ain't broke, leave it alone".  But 36 year old EPROMs and other chips are living on borrowed time. So are power related electrolytic condensors that are 36 year old...

[Op-Bell]

When you're poking around these machines with a meter, take care. The cabinet, although earthed, is NOT at logic ground. It's connected to one side of 24VAC. The OTHER side of 24VAC is connected to logic ground. This is so that the logic circuits can drive all the triacs without level shifters and then the cabinet metal makes the return path. You can get an exciting (and expensive) spark if you accidentally short any of the logic circuits to the cabinet.