Triple Lucky 7's IGT S2000 machine - No signs of life

[Archilea]

Newbie here, never owned a machine. I have an opportunity to pick up a "Triple Lucky 7s" machine that doesn't currently work.


The seller gave me the following description:
 
It was working fine until it hit a large jackpot then it went haywire. It was just played a lot and the door was opened and closed a lot. There are no melted wires. It does power up."

This seems like a great opportunity, and I've always wanted to own a slot machine.  As an electrical engineer, I can handle the wiring, but every machine has it's little details that can derail things... so here I am.  Can anyone tell me about this machine, what to look (And look out) for, etc. ?  Where do I start?  Is it worth $150?

Pic for reference:

[shortrackskater]

Buy it!
We'll help you fix it. When you move the machine, first take out the hopper (if it has one)  or you might have coins stuck where you don't want 'em.
When you get it home, power it up and post what error code (s) you see on the display. It actually might not be broken at all!

[Amechanic]

I don’t think it has a hopper, since I don’t see a coin head mounted on the button deck.

[Stayouttadabunker]

It won't be difficult at all to get some parts to make it take coins....however, that particular game is much more fun to use bills and tickets as it is setup to be.


For $150, that's very good even if some stuff is kaput.


It's one of the easiest games to up and running the way you want it....parts/games are readily available for that platform.

[shortrackskater]

I don’t think it has a hopper, since I don’t see a coin head mounted on the button deck.

Whoops! I obviously didn't look that close! 

[nglayton]

For $150, I would buy it.  The parts alone are worth at least that much.


If it powers up your 1/2 way there. Lots of great info here to read up on and it would surprise me if someone hasn't already post an answer to whatever issue it has.

[DB26]

I’m a newbie too and I’ve gotten so much help here. I would definitely buy it for that price. Sounds like a steal.

[Stayouttadabunker]

Make sure there's no bricks inside....lol
At least check to see what's in there...

[shortrackskater]

It looks like the reels may have been jarred but if it hit any payout, it may simply have had some kind of printer jam or error if the cashout was attempted.

[Archilea]

Thanks for all the great responses! I heard what I wanted to hear - it is a pretty easy to get back up and running, and parts are available for it. Seems like a no-brainer, so I'm picking it up on Saturday (For $125, no less).


I'm looking forward to digging into it and making it functional - and possibly adding coin capability to it.  Thanks everyone - More on Saturday!


Here's a few more pictures:

[DB26]

Looks good! I bought my first back in September and immediately added coin capability to it. With the help from the members here of course. It was a sinch!

[Stayouttadabunker]

Looking at the pictures...looks like it's loaded with everything...cool find!

[Archilea]

I have the machine in hand now.


When I power it on, there is no sound, no lights (Other than the interior service light) and no activity.
- Is there a sequence with the key and switch, or do I just turn the switch to "1"?


No smells or obvious burning/melting of any wire harnesses. Everything seems normal.


- Is there a main fuse or breaker that I might have to reset? I didn't feel one on the power module in the back.


There is obvious damage to the tray speaker connector, and the bill collector snagged a wire and ripped it off the cable tie pad. I circled these in red in the first photo.


There are lots of "Not connected" connectors in the harness I assume this is normal... but could be wrong.


- I don't suppose there's a basic operation manual here, is there? I feel like I need the ...For Dummies book to get started.

[Stayouttadabunker]

Start reading about your machine...>>>

http://newlifegames.com/nlg/index.php?topic=21511.0

[Archilea]

Thanks, Stayouttadabunker - I've spent several hours there already.


This seems more like a simple power supply issue, as if the supply is either dead or not receiving power. I don't get the first signs of life.

[Stayouttadabunker]

OKay...you have the reels out of there.

Push the power supply box rightwards into the power connector on the right hand side of that box fulla holes...make sure the power switch is OFF...OFF means the circle on the power switch.


By pushing together the power supply box into the connector insures good contact.


There's a little thumb screw on the left hand side of that box...

righty tighty, lefty loosey

but it's a junk and strips inside....it's better to just push rightwards the power PS box into the connector.

[rickhunter]

The switch appears to be in the "ON" position when you took these photos with the machine apart.  You need to make sure that whenever you pull/push/remove/add or move things inside the machine, that you do so with the power OFF.  These machines are not hot-pluggable for anything and doing so quickly causes all kinds of damage to various components.  So always make sure you have power OFF before removing/adding anything to the machine.

[Archilea]

Thanks. Stupid mistake on the switch, thanks for reminding me. I promise to do better (Or I'll pay for it, I'm sure).


So I pushed the power supply and connector together, disconnected completely and reconnected a couple of times, with no luck.
Then I removed the power supply completely and put it on the bench - It's hard to see well, but all the caps look OK (No bulging or other issues), no signs of damage or smoke.


After re-connecting the power supply and tightening the thumbscrew (Mine's not stripped - yet) I connected AC and turned on the switch - and was greeted with lights and sounds!!!


Very awesome. Then I noticed it was beeping three beeps - High, lower, then high again. The top light on the candle tower was blinking. Bill acceptor light is blinking.


So I looked at the display:
When it starts up, I see these messages:
- Display's NETPLEX link is down.
- Display passes self-test.

- PLEASE WAIT... TESTING MEMORY
- RAM Error
- Call Attendant

<Turn Key>
- Game EPROM CRC Mismatch -0xB000001


On the inside, I see (Top to bottom) the following LEDs:


yellow - off
yellow - off
yellow - ON
yellow - ON
red - off
White button


I am 1000% sure that the previous owners did NOT try to switch games, or touch anything EPROM related. They were afraid to touch wires. 
So maybe the EPROM was corrupted somehow, or the legs on the chip corroded (Should I try re-seating them?).


Next steps?

[sixcardmark]

Keep turning the j/p key (4 times probably) until it says to hold in the test button for 3 seconds then it will tell you to close the door.

[Archilea]

That worked! ...sort of.  (What does "j/p" stand for?)


I turned the key once:  NON-RECOVERABLE DATA ERROR
Twice: SOME CRITICAL DATA WILL BE LOST
Thrice: PRESS TEST SWITCH FOR 2-3 SECONDS


Pressed test switch (White button on main board): PLEASE CLOSE THE MAIN DOOR


Closed the main door:
- NETPLEX Auto-Config in Progress
- Waiting for NETPLEX Devices
- REELS SPIN, right to left!!!!! (Small celebration inside!)
- Play 45 Credits
- CALL ATTENDANT
- CLOSURE M (Not sure what this one is - It senses the main door closure, so it might be something else?)
- Main Battery Low  (Is this the 2032 coin battery?)


Then, I tried turning the key a few more times.
I was able to get to the menu, which had 3 top level menus:
- Accounting
- History
- I/O Tests


I tried navigating through the menus, and ran the I/O tests (I think)... and then:


The display went dark
The lights started flickering very rapidly (Ballasts going crazy?) They are fluorescents...
Everything seemed to go dark.


Now, when I turn it on, nothing happens - back to square one with no lights or sounds. I'll re-seat the power supply again and see if that does it, but I wonder if I should use some contact cleaner on the connectors?


Thanks to everyone that got me this far...