DBV-145 - Upgrade Board Features

[pinwizman]

I have a DBV-145 that takes the 1 dollar bill ok, but nothing else, I've been told there is no update for the new bills for a 145. I found this web page showing a Pyramid 5 U-1000 Upgrade Board. I was wondering if anyone has bought one and what they thought of it? Also if bought what it cost? Is it worth getting sense I can't seem to find a validator that id updated that will work in my Bally 5500.

 http://www.pyramid5.com/u1100.html

Thanks Rob

[CVslots]

I've never seen or heard of that board. If you just post a Want to Buy in the classifieds, you will find the validator you need. You can upgrade to a DBV-200, which will take everything but the new $20 and $100, or upgrade to a WBA and you will be set for many years.

[rokgpsman]

I gave them a call, interesting that I've never run across them before, they told me they had been in business for over 12 years. They make their own bill acceptors and also make upgrade boards for the old DBV-145 (and other JCM heads) that allow them to work with all the new bills. They sell the board itself with software for about $100, you tell them what brand your machine is (CDS, IGT, Bally, etc). Most hobbyists will probably try to find a lower cost way to upgrade but it is an option if your old DBV works but won't take new style bills. Evidently they sell a lot of them, especially overseas, from what the rep told me.

The rep said he hadn't actually installed one himself, he was a salesman, so couldn't tell me how the board was installed. The picture of it makes me think it is plugged into the eprom socket of the DBV-145 board (after removing the eprom). But there isn't much room inside the DBV head to do that so maybe it completely replaces the old board. Their website says it "only takes 5 minutes" to install.

Here is their main website:

http://pyramidacceptors.com/

[rokgpsman]

I have a DBV-145 that takes the 1 dollar bill ok, but nothing else, I've been told there is no update for the new bills for a 145. I found this web page showing a Pyramid 5 U-1000 Upgrade Board. I was wondering if anyone has bought one and what they thought of it? Also if bought what it cost? Is it worth getting sense I can't seem to find a validator that id updated that will work in my Bally 5500.

 http://www.pyramid5.com/u1100.html

Thanks Rob

Rob,

Some would say to upgrade to a much newer bill acceptor but for lowest cost you can simply swap the DBV-145 with a DBV-200 and get some improvement to your situation for not a lot spent. I'm not saying it is your best option, that depends on how much you want to spend and what you want to end up with as far as the machine taking all new bills or just enough to make the game easy to play at home.

If your machine worked with a DBV-145 then you can usually replace it with a DBV-200. It is a somewhat newer model and usually offers more choices in what bills you can use than the DBV-145 does, since the -200 usually had later software releases available than the -145 did. It probably won't have software new enough to let it work with all the latest US bills but should work with more than just the $1 bill.

The DBV-200 is a direct replacement for the DBV-145 and although it too is older there are still plenty of working ones around. Look on your existing DBV-145, see what the ID number is, such as "ID-044" or "ID-044P". That is what type of DBV-200 you'd need to install. If possible, post a picture of your DBV-145 showing the top portion where the nameplate sticker is.