E2290-1 acting wierd

[Amechanic]

I recently made my self a tool to check the tension of the crimp on connecrors on the power supply plug, as well as the large white plugs on the IO, and MPU. The reason for the tool was I had a Bally 1208 E1000 that would work speraticly.. Sometime on a power on the win meter had weird codes like 84 400, of 84404. When you tried to close the door then the jackpot bell would ring. I checked everything I could and changed out the power supply with a new after market one,  but no help.. That where I had an idea   make a single pin header tester.. I removed a pin from a header on a junk board, I then needed to make something to hold the pin. I took an old pen and used the tip end to hold the header pin. I epoxied it in the pens tip, and sealed the other end with a piece of paper, then epoxy the end closed.
After building this tool I started checking each connector separately what I found surprised me. I had four of the crimp on connectors on my MPU plug were so worn out and damaged that they had no tension on my tester. I then totally rebuilt my MPU's plug with all new connectors. Once done my machine has worked perfectly!! I never would have found this with out my new tool. Just sliding the plug on a board can't tell you if you have good connection and the same with a VOM. I'm now planning on making one in each size so I can check other plugs like the reel readers, and the top IO plugs. I have attached a pic of my simple home made tool that found my last machines problems..

Gary

[mr-monoxide]

But wouldn't a low tension connection show up with a high resistance reading?

[Amechanic]

But wouldn't a low tension connection show up with a high resistance reading?

I'm not sure about that. Your meters test ends are bigger and round. These header pins are flat. The ones I found would work sometimes, but the next time powered on I had a problem. These crimp connectors do have a life span. They were never intended to be taken apart and put back together very many times. You only make the connection one one side of the pin, its not like the connection surrounds the pin.. Once they get bent they loose the connection.

[rokgpsman]

But wouldn't a low tension connection show up with a high resistance reading?

Depends. Your meter uses a few volts and is limited on current flow when it measures the resistance it is checking. In actual operation if a connection is making contact but loose or low tension and enough current (electricity amp low) is going thru it then there will be an unwanted higher voltage drop even if the contact resistance is less than 1 ohm. This may not be what's going on in your case, just sayin'.

5 amps flowing thru a .5 ohm contact resistance will drop 2.5 volts at the contact point and can get warm. The higher the contact resistance, even in tenths of an ohm, the larger the voltage drop it causes. That's why we sometimes see a burned or overheated molex connector housing, it got hot from a resistive contact. This normally happens on power supply connections or other stuff that are higher current signals than typical logic gate signals.  But on older machine even the logic signals are sometimes at higher voltage or current levels. If you don't find any other explanation for your problem it is always good to check connector contacts and other wiring connections. The metal surface on pins and contacts tarnish and corrode over the years, that adds to their loss of good contact. And as connectors are disconnected and reconnected dozens of times that causes the pins and contacts to loose tension. They don't last forever. If it wasn't for service reasons or ease of assembly in the factory there would be no connectors anywhere in the machine, they are a potential failure point, so engineers would eliminate them in favor of direct wiring. They got rid of sockets on circuit boards in our division, too many problems. Made it a pain when replacing chips for software updates or repair, but overall reliability was increased.

[mr-monoxide]

I see what you're saying, guess I have a lot more work to do... should I just solder the wires directly to the terminals and eliminate all connectors?

[rokgpsman]

I see what you're saying, guess I have a lot more work to do... should I just solder the wires directly to the terminals and eliminate all connectors?

No, I don't think so, that shouldn't be necessary. It would really cause headaches for you when doing repairs or troubleshooting later. Just clean the pins, try to increase tension on the contact. Or replace contacts, pins, connector if needed. In some case you can even buy new mated connectors and install them in place of the old ones, if there is room. You can use any connector you want, just get one with as many wires as you have on that cable. Today's connectors are a lot better than the old ones.

The point I was making is that connectors can be an overlooked source of problems, especially on older equipment. We did away with connectors only on a limited basis, stuff where they absolutely could not have an intermittent or breakdown, like a cruise missile guidance assembly or some of the equipment going into space and not coming back. I think I read that the Mars Rover did not have connectors (or very few), worried that dust, vibration and huge temp extremes would cause intermittents. Plus it saves some weight which they are always wanting to do.

[Amechanic]

I see what you're saying, guess I have a lot more work to do... should I just solder the wires directly to the terminals and eliminate all connectors?

I myself I wouldn't solder the wires dirrectly to the pins. I would always just repin the plugs. I want to be able to take things back apart

[mr-monoxide]

Ok I'll go back through and check tension on all connectors. I'm still curious if the voltages at the reel assembly and readers I mentioned earlier are low or are they correct?

[ramegoom]

Those Molex connectors are notorious for gaining resistance on low spring pressure contact problems. If there is even a possibility of them losing spring tension, replace them.

All pins and terminals are tin plated brass. If the tin plating is gone or corroded, cleaning them won't really help as tin on brass causes electrolysis and will lead to fast oxidation.  Terminals MUST have tin on tin to function properly. I work in the automotive industry and specifically, terminals, connectors and wiring. Number one rule is, dissimilar metals cause electrolytic oxidation and must be avoided at all costs.

[Amechanic]

You can be like a dog chasing its tail going round and round unless you start eliminating problem causing areas. I've worked on these for years and most of the problems I've found were with connections. I guess it could be possible that the 5v regulator on your power supply is bad or going bad, or It could just be with that power supply plug too. I hate doing a new set of connectors on the power supply plug, simply because there no room to work. I've actually removed the reel shelve to make more room before, just to make the job easier.
One other thought.. Have you checked the condition of the fuse holders? I've had problems with them too. Tops not tight, bent and tarnished connections inside too..

[Sunrise Side]

If you are installing a new power supply , I wouldn't recommend using the old connector. This is hardest working board in the machine due to the heat . Get a new connector from NLG vendor here. http://www.ebay.com/itm/Bally-Slot-Machine-E-Series-POWER-SUPPLY-CONNECTION-/350252825206?hash=item518cb1fa76

[mr-monoxide]

Problem solved! I replaced the power supply with one of the snazzy new ones and now everything works great. I can only conclude that the original power supply was producing voltages that were right on the fence line of being enough for the machine to work correctly. That's probably why it would work great sometimes and tilt at others because the voltage was bouncing back and forth over the line of minimum power needed to work. Many thanks to you all for you're input, because of your suggestions I now have a perfect machine that I hope to enjoy for years to come.. Now, back to that troublesome jennings j400 sitting in the corner.....

[rokgpsman]

.....Problem solved! I replaced the power supply with one of the snazzy new ones and now everything works great. I can only conclude that the original power supply was producing voltages that were right on the fence line of being enough for the machine to work correctly. That's probably why it would work great sometimes and tilt at others because the voltage was bouncing back and forth over the line of minimum power needed to work......

Or that the power supply voltages were ok but they had excessive "ripple" (ac noise) on them from bad filter capacitors in the power supply.

Glad to hear you got it running, I know it is a relief to get it going.   

[Amechanic]

Glad to hear its running. The power supply's are the #1 problem in these machines. Sounds like the large cap was going bad on your old power supply.

[mr-monoxide]

Thought you might like to see the machine

[rokgpsman]

Shiny and clean looking, appearance is extra nice.   

About how much are those new snazzy power supplies you installed?

[mr-monoxide]

Shiny and clean looking, appearance is extra nice.   

Thanks, apparently it was well taken care of over the years. I don't know much about it's history other than it's dated 1984, it was originally from the Frontier Hotel and it's numbered as machine 0437. It even still had the Frontier Hotel security seals on the plastic mpu cover so I'm assuming it was completely original when I got it.

About how much are those new snazzy power supplies you installed?

$59.00 + free shipping on ebay. Thanks to Mr Spina!

[Amechanic]

Those are great new power supply's. I was involved in the BETA Testing if them. I ran a prototype here for about 4-6 months before they were offered for sale. I have used them since too. Better quality then the original..