Wild One Poker - Aristocrat mk2.5?

[Patfish2000]

Hi

First time posting on here but I have read through dozens of topics over the past few years. About 10 years ago I purchased an Aristocrat Wild One machine, not knowing anything I managed to figure a few things out thanks to you guys and got it working.

After being in storage for a few years I fired it up and it had a "coin-in optic error" which I fixed, I then decided that as the button lights were the only thing that had never worked I was going to get them going and the machine would finally be in  its former glory.... However while doing some tinkering inside I left the door open with the machine on - my nephew then managed to pull out a loom which was followed with some sparks......

I have attached some photos of the machine and added some numbers to a couple to go along with my description of the issue. Basically there were some sparks, I turned the machine off almost immediately, checked the fuses - the fuse in the power supply box was blown. I replaced the fuse and turned the machine on, the fuse blew again but the screen turns on (only the screen appears to be getting power)

1. Image showing where the loom was pulled from

2. Fuse that is blowing located here

I know it could be many things or it have toasted the machine but I have grown really fond of this frustrating thing so would love to fix it again - I have no idea where to start or what I have done,

Cheers - Pat

[Trisail]

You are in for some troubleshooting work. If you do not have much of an understanding of electronics, meters and how to systematically troubleshoot, it will take a lot of time for anyone to help here in the forum through posts, even remotely on the phone.

I would like to help but am absolutely swamped at this time and the near future.  I can give you advice if you like on what to do.

1st and foremost document everything you have tried so far, good and bad.

Forget about what caused the problem.

You need to start from scratch. 

This seems like a very daunting thing to repair and I'm not going to tell you it will be easy, but it is not impossible.  Everything can be repaired given enough time and resources.

If you can wait a few months, I would be willing to help you.

If you are in a 'hurry'  many members here can help and give advice.

I don't have a machine like yours and have not worked on one. I have no knowledge of what is in your machine, but have many years of troubleshooting and repairing electronics. My advice on how to start to troubleshoot from scratch:

The picture #1 pointing to ?? I will assume is the power supply which contains the blown fuse. If this is not correct then everything that follows may be moot. If so let us know.

You have a short in the machine that is blowing the power supply fuse. That can be almost anything as you have most likely determined. 

You must systematically determine what 'item' is bad causing the short.

You will need to start unplugging 'items' to try to isolate the problem area/item. Take pictures, then take more pictures. Label things before you unplug or disconnect anything so you can put it back correctly.  The worst thing you can do is cause more damage. Rule number 1- do no damage.
Do not be concerned about doing this (damage) and looking bad, it happens to all of us, even me. Try your best to keep it to the absolute minimum, because you will have to fix everything you damage once you get power back on.  It can be done.

If you can determine the item/area that is causing the problem, you troubleshoot that and hopefully get power back on and see what else may have been damaged and go from there. Time and resources...

Up to you how you would like to proceed.

Feel free to PM me if you like, we can talk a bit, so you can get a better feel about what I have posted. I really do not have time to do a deep dive at this time but would be willing to help in the future.

EDIT:  I see are located in New Zealand. Not optimal for you, and most people on the forum. My offer for help still stands. I am helping someone remotely in France using Google translate, it can be done. I have helped members on the East coast and Alaska and even shipped a gutted machine to Hawaii,  ( I will ship that glass soon, someday  )

[Patfish2000]

Hi Trisail. Appreciate the quick response. No rush, I have time and some knowledge of electronics. When you say 'items' do you mean things such as the hopper/coin in-optic unit/PCBs and then testing them? I could probably figure out how to do that with a multimeter I picked up today. Or do you mean remove individual 'items' (while documenting as I go) and systematically turning the machine on until it works, i.e trial and error with the hope nothing worse happens as you've outlined? Your assumption is correct re. the power supply

I would absolutely like your help when you have a chance. Luckily we speak far better English than the French, no translator required

[Trisail]

The 'items' was mostly for connectors - free hanging, board to connector, cables and harnesses. Sounds like you will be able to disconnect things and determine the cause of the problem.

Because of how the problem started with the door harness being pulled with power on, I would start by disconnecting that harness 1st. Get a bunch of fuses and you should be good. You can remove the hopper and leave it out, it is probably not the cause. If the door harness turns out to be the problem - check were the other end plugs in to and look to see if you can see any damage. It most likely plugs into a motherboard that distributes cables and signals through out the machine. Try to determine if the short is in the door or back on the motherboard/inside the machine. Depending what you find - disconnect the most logical connections 1 at a time and check for proper operation ( no fuse blow ) or disconnect many connections and re plug in 1 at a time. This would be where it could get very confusing as you will need to know where everything plugs back in. This method would reduce the number pf fuses needed. IE - in a basic nutshell - unplug everything suspect, power up and see if fuse blows (it should not) if it does the power supply itself would be suspect. (most logical part to be bad at this point). If the fuse does not blow with just the power supply connected with no load - then plug in one thing at a time and go from there.

More to come later.

[Patfish2000]

Sorry for the delayed response, I have been studying for registration! I think I have isolated the problem, I will post some photos and a detailed reply this weekend

[Patfish2000]

After a long while slowly sourcing spare parts I now have an (almost) working machine, I think I now have the ram clear issue but I will look into it tomorrow and post an update. Thanks again for your help

[Patfish2000]

Hi again,

So I had the machine working for the first time(light tower going, pushbutton lights working etc) but I had the infamous 'metering error', I wanted to swap out the button panel as it was badly corroded before I did a battery swap and reset on the board. I changed the battery and did the steps that are posted on the forum for resetting the board - once I put the board back in  and turn it on there was a pop which sounded like a fuse (in the screen area) Now the screen doesn't turn on.
 When I power the machine up now the lights turn on, the pushbuttons and light tower flash on briefly then switch off while the magnetic flap in the coin chute clicks as it usually does, however no sound and no screen. Any ideas? I have looked over the screen module but can't see anything that looks blown or burnt, i may have to teach myself how to find broken components with a multimeter and test them all? I don't suppose anyone has a manual for one of these

[Patfish2000]

I also have a not working spare machine which I recently got so I have some spare parts, however the one thing that isn't working on the other machine is.... the screen module part. So I am sort of confident that if I can isolate the part(s) I can replace them or source new ones, I am just hoping one of you wizards will help narrow down the issue

[henningt79]

Hey there!  I am not sure if you are still active on this forum but picked up the same exact machine and am working through the infamous "metering error" and curious if you were able to resolve your issues.  Also wondering if you could confirm the exact board that is used in there (not sure how to identify what an MK2.5, etc...is) which may help me to be able to troubleshoot further.  Also curious looking at one of the images you posted has a large part which mine seems to be missing.  What is the large tumbler type hardware that is sitting towards the bottom of the cabinet when it is opened?