LOCKOUT coil for coin mech

[shortrackskater]

I thought this would be an easy one... but my mistake was posting under Status slot machines.

I have an old video poker machine... it's missing the lockout coil. I measure 97VAC across the wires where it was. When the maximum credits are entered (5), the voltage goes up to 117VAC.
I'm not sure if that's what it should be for to engage and disengage.
ANY ideas? I would think this wasn't that uncommon of a problem since there's probably one of these in every slot machine made before the coin comparitor... right?

[shortrackskater]

Okay after revising my first post, and thinking...  ... here's my next step!
I'll put out the coin mech in my old Bally EM and measure the voltage and voltage drop when the max credits. At least then I'll get an idea of the voltage and voltage drop to engage the lockout coil.
Still I hope someone replies who can share some info.

[rokgpsman]

I'm won't be much help on this but it sounds like your machine uses a solenoid lockout coil that was made to work off line voltage or nearly line voltage of 115 vac. I think I remember that the older Bally machines used solenoid coils made for 50 vac. So be careful what you try. Do you have any schematics or wiring diagrams for the machine with the missing lockout coil?

In general, I think the solenoid coil gets its power applied to one terminal and the other terminal is connected to a circuit like a relay switch or other switch that applies a ground, which activates the solenoid coil. When the coil is not activated you will measure the same voltage on each of its terminals since the ground is not applied.

You say this is the lockout coil, can you bypass that function or rig something so it does not matter and the machine plays anyway, even with the coil missing? Or maybe use a Bally 50 vac solenoid coil and somehow change 115vac to the 50 vac for the substitute coil. If you connect 2 Bally 50 vac coils in series they might be able to handle the 115 vac lockout coil voltage in your machine, since each coil would get half of that voltage, about 55-60 vac. One of the coils would just be an unused coil not doing anything, other than having its coil connected in series with the other one to handle the 115 vac across both.

Just some ideas while I'm sitting here thinkin', if you try any of this have these things handy:

[Shaggy]

Mark, when measuring a/c voltage you have to remember it runs anywhere from 110v to 125v. So at 117v would be an acceptable limit. Most people refer to recepticales as 110v. Actually they run about 122v. So anyway It should be enough to activate a solenoid.

Dave.


P.S.  No Pig Latin tonight.     

[shortrackskater]

Ok I'm liking the fire equipment, especially the third "piece." 
Unfortunately no schematics on this machine.
It actually works fine without it, other than the coins will keep going into the hopper and not register after the max amount. I just thought it would be fun to get it back as it was originally.
So to check what I wanted to check (which I still didn't!), I opened one of my Bally EM's and found that it was cut! I had forgotten that it would keep taking coins as well, after the max! See picture.
Then I tried my Bally Video Twenty One and found NO lockout. I never knew... So I powered it up and forced an 11th coin and it simply played max coins (10) and then registered a "extra coin" message on the screen, which was just added to the credit limit! No picture... since there's no coil.
SO... I opened my trusty CEI machine, and - low and behold was the infamous little coil. See picture.
Hanktay Ouyay... oops ... Thank You!
UPDATE - sh*t! I tried to flip the coin switch on the CEI and stupid thing registered an error (probably my slow "flip speed" so I couldn't measure that voltage. So... I went to my vintage Bally 742a and finally got a voltage which was, yep Michael, 50 VAC - then after a coin is inserted, the coil de-energizes to 0 and the spring releases the tab into the coin mech, which sends the extra coin back to the tray. I wonder who thought of this? It's so simple.

[shortrackskater]

Ok waiting for all the old slot experts here...  Someone's gotta have a pile of these laying around... What happened to Barry? He needs to "unretire."

[SolidSilver]

Calabash pipe in mouth, wineglass in hand, sitting in the overstuffed wing-back chair in front of the fireplace, my deduction would be:
[/You have a short, or shorted component, in the circuit.i]

1. Your measurements indicate the system is attempting to operate the solenoid, unsuccessfully.
2. Excessive (line voltage) current is going to a low-voltage coil.
3. Both of which imply the reason solenoid was removed is that it burned out; and that even a replacement would also soon burn out due to excessive voltage.

So, I'd suggest you trace back those two wires to the switching transistor, looking for a short or bad transistor. If tno joy, check to see if something (a short) further upstream is sending line voltage instead of 50 volts to that transistor.
You might just solve an old problem that baffled the original owner.

(Oops, pardon me: wineglass is empty.......)

[shortrackskater]

 
Ok while waiting for response on my Mills M, I'm back to the Status...
I painstakingly traced back one wire of the plug (for the missing lockout coil) to the hopper plug!
That goes to a relay on the hopper:
Sigma Solid State relay 231D-3-5
Would this be the bugger that isn't switching off when it's supposed to?
The other wire is a "thicker" solid white wire. I'll check that now and add to this post.
UPDATE: The solid white wire goes to another relay on the MPU. One side of the relay says DC in 3.5v to 15vdc. The other side says 3amp 120VAC.