FYI: Locks for Bally EM Reset Switches

[essmeier]

Not too long ago, I acquired a Bally 891-20 Super Continental.  The machine came with a front door lock, but there are two key switches on the side of the cabinet for which I had no keys and I needed replacements.

Short version: The Defender Security U9950 lock works, is readily available, and is inexpensive.

My switches:

1. The bottom switch rotates 180° and allows for switching the game from coin play to credit play, and vice-versa.  The switch needs to be set to either position A or position B (as shown in the attached photo) and then the key needs to be removed.
2. The top switch rotates 90°.  This switch is for resetting the replay register to return the credit count to zero after a hand pay.  You just turn this 90° until the reset engages, and then you turn it back and remove the key.

As I didn't have keys for either of those switches and needed to use both of them in restoring and testing the machine, I took the locks apart, removed the pins from the lock, and that let me turn the locks with a flat blade screwdriver.

I wanted to replace the locks with proper locks with keys, and figured that was something that I could easily acquire from any one of a number of sellers of slot machine parts.

Turns out that's not the case, and the few sellers I checked with told me they didn't have such locks for sale.

I did, however, find something that works well, so I thought I'd share it here.

The lock is a Defender Security U9950.  Keyed-alike model number is 9950A.  That's chrome; brass is U9953/U9953KA, bronze is U11089/U11089A.

This lock:

Accommodates cabinets up to 1" thick.
Comes with restriction washers to allow for either 90° or 180° rotation.
Allows for the key to be removed at any key position.

Due to slightly loose manufacturing tolerances, the outer shaft of one of the locks I purchased didn't quite fit through the shaped hole in the steel plate that's designed to keep the lock from rotating.  A little bit of filing on the flat sides got it to fit.  The other lock fit perfectly.

The best part is that this lock is available in many places, and is quite inexpensive.  I needed two that are keyed alike, so I bought them online as the ones that are keyed alike are somewhat harder to find than the ones that aren't.

The ones that aren't keyed alike can be currently purchased at Home Depot for about $7 each.  They're also available from Amazon, because of course they are.

Just an FYI for anyone who might need a lock for a key-controlled switch as there are a number of Bally electromechanical machines with such switches.