Thanks to NLG my S+ lives! (Code 12, 61-Loop,CLEAR/SET, Door Optics, new DBV)

[captmatt]

So I've had this old IGT S+ in a back room of the house for about 17yrs.  I had acquired it from a casino boat that was going out of business, of which I was the Capt.  I thought it would be cool to have but never got around to putting the effort in to bring it back to life.  Until recently.


When I dusted it off and brought it into my workshop (garage), it had power showed error code 12 in the window and that's about it.  Knowing zero about these machines, I hit the interwebs.  Sorting through all the info available, I kept coming back to NLG more often than any other source.  I was impressed with not only the quality of the responses from the professionals, but the patience and willingness to see problems through for noobs like me.


To that end, I was able to get my machine up and running with most of the help coming from this site.  So, to pay it forward, I thought I would list some of the steps (now known to me as common) that I took to get it done.  Hopefully this will help others with the same or similar issues.


This is off the top of my head so if anyone would like more explanation, I'd be happy to help.



Game/machine: Wild Cherry (IGT S+, Wild Cherry, Type 0, SP1160 / SS4133, Mfg. 1993)


Bringing it back to life:
Code 12 - Changed battery on the MPU.
Stuck in 61-1 loop - CLEAR chip **The clear process is not recommended by the experienced pros on this site and I understand why. However, I actually have a better handle on how these things work after having gone through the menus to set preferences and learn how tests are conducted.
Enable BV - SET 015Chip
Jumped cash box cherry switch to remove the possibility of that being an issue
Bypassed door optics for testing/troubleshooting
Ordered/Installed new optics
Configured machine through self-test/settings menus (not as difficult as I thought)
Cleaned the thing up, looks and works great!


Remaining issues:
I get a 3100 error occasionally. Easy to reset but drives me nuts.  I'll probably break the hopper down to clean/inspect, the brake being first on the list.


The machine is currently equipped with a DBV-45 (yeah really old) and I wanted to upgrade to be able to accept newer bills.  I did the research (mainly from this site) and decided to forgo the cabinet modifications required for a WBA upgrade, settling on a DBV-200. I had a great conversation with Jim from Midwest Slots when coming to this decision.  Very helpful - nice guy - bought the 200 from him on the spot.


Along the way, I was able to find a number of essential documents to reference during this process.  Happy to pass them along to anyone who wishes to take a look.


Thanks to NLG for helping with this project!

[knagl]

Great to hear of your success and thanks for the nice post.

[Ash100]

Welcome to NLG.


Thank you for sharing that bit of info. It's always nice to hear great stories like yours, and we all pretty much started the same way.


Enjoy your machine!


Curtis ash100

[Stayouttadabunker]

Betcha you learned a lot eh Capt? Glad to hear you got it up and running and have you around!! 

BTW, [3100] means "extra coin out"...could be the brakes, a weak brake pawl spring, or just a dirty unmaintained hopper full of gunk.

[Tilt]

 
Believe it or not, most of us here are not professionals, just hobbyists.  There's a delphi forum where casino slottechs help one another out, but it's geared towards the professionals, not home users.

Sounds like a fun job you had.  I took a Gaming cruise once in the late 80's out of Ocean Springs, MS when I was attending a class at Keesler AFB in Biloxi, MS.  This was before dockside gaming became legal there.  It was fun, fairly small boat, but had a buffet dinner and 4 or so hour cruise out into the gulf for $20.  Good, cheap way to kill a little time.  If I recall correctly they had to cross over into international waters, and when they did, had to turn off the machines, then turn them back on when we got into US waters.  Thought it was odd, but gaming laws can be odd.

Congrats on getting your machine working, and I'm sure you'll get the 3100 error fixed too. 

[Ken]

Glad you got your machine up and running! I'm curious what modifications would have to be done to put a WBA in?

[captmatt]

If I recall correctly they had to cross over into international waters, and when they did, had to turn off the machines, then turn them back on when we got into US waters.  Thought it was odd, but gaming laws can be odd.[size=78%] [/size]

It's actually the state/federal line, usually 3 miles.  Since there's no federal law prohibiting gambling, we just had to get out of the jurisdiction of the states from which we were sailing.  Normally MA and FL.   I had a blast.  I learned a little about casinos and they learned a bit from me.


3100 just came up again.  Driving me crazy.  Another puzzle to solve.

[Ash100]

Glad you got your machine up and running! I'm curious what modifications would have to be done to put a WBA in?

Ken,
I upgraded from a DBV-45 to a WBA 12 with some help from Jim.
He, at the time, had a kit that included the BV, Cash Can and Power Supply, maybe some other things as well. Some minor modifications to the Frame were required to make things fit, but it all worked flawlessly once it was together.


And he provided easy to follow instructions.


I'm sure he can explain it better to you than I can if you want to ask him about it. I've got another S+ that I'm considering doing the same mod to in the near future.


Curtis ash100

[captmatt]

Betcha you learned a lot eh Capt? Glad to hear you got it up and running and have you around!! 

BTW, [3100] means "extra coin out"...could be the brakes, a weak brake pawl spring, or just a dirty unmaintained hopper full of gunk.

Thanks!


Yes, I just took the hopper apart, cleaned, focused on the brake assembly, agitator, knives.  No luck.  It only happens when I'm not in credit mode.  Winnings paid directly from the hopper pay out the correct amount, hesitate for a minute, then drop one more coin - every time.  Optics tested good.  Stumped.

[Stayouttadabunker]

oh! I did a video on youtube about this about 10 years ago....lemmie find the link for ya.
Found it....hope it helps ya!...Here it is...>>>
https://www.youtube.com/user/stayouttadabunker2/videos

I'm curious what modifications would have to be done to put a WBA in?

Harnessing, and power supply basically.

The big problem is the WBA's need to be programmed somehow to communicate with the ID 022/23 protocols that the DBV-200's had in the S+ machines.
I'm pretty sure if that programming was ever done somewhere, it was never release because they came out with the S2k's?

[Tilt]

If I recall correctly they had to cross over into international waters, and when they did, had to turn off the machines, then turn them back on when we got into US waters.  Thought it was odd, but gaming laws can be odd.

It's actually the state/federal line, usually 3 miles.  Since there's no federal law prohibiting gambling, we just had to get out of the jurisdiction of the states from which we were sailing.  Normally MA and FL.   I had a blast.  I learned a little about casinos and they learned a bit from me.

3100 just came up again.  Driving me crazy.  Another puzzle to solve.

Gotcha.  I knew it was some type of line we had to cross.  Bet it was a fun career.  IGT used to make some S+ machines that were designed just for ships.  They were narrower than the standard S+ so you could fit more in the limited space onboard a vessel.  If you have one of those be careful with the glass, replacements can be hard to find.

[Ken]

I have a few WBAs 12/13s for S+ machines is why I asked. Guess I will install one and figure it out.

[Stayouttadabunker]

I have a few WBAs 12/13s for S+ machines is why I asked. Guess I will install one and figure it out.

That's waayy cool Ken! 

[captmatt]

Glad you got your machine up and running! I'm curious what modifications would have to be done to put a WBA in?

Ken,
I upgraded from a DBV-45 to a WBA 12 with some help from Jim.
He, at the time, had a kit that included the BV, Cash Can and Power Supply, maybe some other things as well. Some minor modifications to the Frame were required to make things fit, but it all worked flawlessly once it was together.

After Jim and I spoke, I got the impression that the only benefit of going to the WBA would be that it accepts the new 5's and 100's.  As I understand it, the DBV 200 will accept all other newer bills.  Do you find that to be the case too?

[Tilt]

That's correct. 

[Jim]

Captain  and Ken,   the WBA will not accept the new 100, only the new five and ten plus all the other bills.

as for the modification, two versions of the bottom part of the metal housing, the part that the cash can slides on and rests on. this part has to come out!  the older version has that bracket tack welded in four places, you have to drill the tack welds to remove it, on newer models it has one screw that you remove and it will come out. on the older version you have to remove the metal housing from the machine.  to get the new shelf assembly into the metal housing you have to loosen the first nut holding the reel shelf assembly to the side cabinet, this allows you to lift up the reel shelf to tilt it into position, lastly, you have replace the black connector on the left side of the 200 head ( only two wires to it), this is the signal wire to light up  the door bezel lamps, polarity sensitive, no damage done if hooked up wrong the first time, only lamps will not come on, reverse hook up and they will work fine, this is a +5vdc signal. and depending on what size door bezel you have you may have to modify the wba bezel to fit into that opening. from start to finish takes about 1 hour or 1 1/2 depending on how skilled you are using tools etc. you also need to replace the power supply .

Hope this helps
Jim 

[Stayouttadabunker]

Below is a photo of the older cash can guide rail in the housing Jim is taking about.

I had to drill out the four welds to get it off....>>>