S+ recurring 61, clear chip & other issues

[MOONAFARI]

Whatever is less than Newbie, that is I, and I probably have no business trying to fix anything.  Amazingly, I can find no one in my area who will work on my machine.  It's an S+ five times play machine (1994) that I got many years ago.   It worked for a while then gave me the 3300 error. I fiddled with it, replaced the knife, adjusted some things and it worked again for a while, then went back to 3300 error.  I gave up and put it away for  years.  I just pulled it out again and of course the battery was dead, so I replaced it, and now am stuck in the 61 loop.  I read that I should not use a clear chip except in certain circumstances, like replacing the battery, and read the cautions about inexperienced people like me trying to reprogram things, remove chips, etc., and that scares me. However I assume I have no choice but to do the clearing first before I can get back to the previous 3300 issue, or see if there are any other problems - is that right?  Can/will people on this forum help me do this reprogramming?  It all sounds so daunting to me!   Thank you for your help.

[Stayouttadabunker]

Where is your little white Test button located in your cabinet?

[MOONAFARI]

It's inside the cabinet, upper right next to the power switch.

[Stayouttadabunker]

Ok....open the door, power up the game.
If you see a [61] in the in the [Winner Paid] window, press and hold the little white test button by the power switch for about 3-4 seconds.
You should hear a 'ding" and see the [Winner Paid] should now display [61-1].
This is when you CLOSE the door, and turn the Jackpot Reset key on the right-hand side of the cabinet, momentarily.
The [61-1] should go away, the reels will spin from right to left, and then machine is ready for coin acceptance.

Depending on which SP chip is installed on the MPU board, determines if your topbox candle is flashing ,or the [Coins Played] and [Insert Coin] display lamps light up back and forth.
This is just signaling that the door was recently opened and that a game hasn't been played yet.
Once you play and complete one game, the lamps turn off.

Anyways, ONLY if the [61] comes back....is when you're in a "61 Loop".
If this happens, then you should contact NLG member RB for a CLEAR chip and a SET015 chip to re-enable the bill acceptor - if you wish.
When these chips come in, I will be able to tell you how to use them.

The hopper's [3300] code is no biggie...I'll help ya with that too.
[3300] means the hopper is empty.
or that there hasn't been a coin sensed going thru the optical eyes for more than a few seconds.
It's not a complicated fix.
We'll just have to have you test a few things for us and we'll figure out what's causing the code to pop up.

[MOONAFARI]

Yep - I've been reading everything and trying to figure this out on my own, so I've done all that with the power button and reset key and I am stuck in the 61 loop.  It just shows the 61 - doesn't go back to the 61-1.  No other numbers in any of the windows; the top candle light is flashing slowly, the bottom one flashing fast.
I saw an answer you (I think) posted to someone else telling them to contact RB for the chips, but I couldn't figure out how to find him so I ordered what sounded like the right ones from Ebay.  They're cheap and if I got the wrong ones I can just ask RB  for another set.
You're very nice to offer to help me - I do appreciate it.

So maybe I should tell you what occurred when I gave up and put him away for the last ## years.   He worked for a bit after I got him.  I had won a jackpot (was playing with actual quarters) and he was trying to pay out when it went to 3300. I went to websites, watched videos, found owner's manuals, bla bla bla, and it sounded like I needed a new knife, replaced it, took the hopper apart per some directions I found and tried to adjust it to make sure things were in the proper position.  It worked and paid me the money, but I didn't have sense enough to set it to play with credits, and soon it 3300'd me again.  The hopper wasn't empty - I had a few hundred dollars worth in there.   I opened it up and watched it do its thing, and the quarters wouldn't stay in that wheel - they fell out before they got around to where they were supposed to fall out.  I tried all the procedures I read to clear the winnings off - but it wouldn't do it.  I gave up.

To show you how dumb I am - the other day when I put a coin in, it wouldn't even fall through - just stuck there.  I poked around and found the coin comparitor (didn't know what it was called at that time) - and said "Oh look!  No wonder it won't go through -  there's a coin stuck in this  little thing." So I took it out.  LOL.

Thank you so much, I'll be back when the chips get here.