Machine Set-up

[will7187]

Hello to anyone that may be able to help.
My grandparents recently moved and they brought over their Video Poker machine to my house. I have been looking around on the site and others and I am  pretty sure that it is a PE or PE plus machine. I know it's IGT. I looked all over on the machine but did not find any model number or anything like it(unless its on the bottom... ha its too heavy to look there tho).  My problem is this, If you hit a royal flush the machine would instantly pay-out in coins, no Jackpot on screen it would just start to dump the hopper. So i was looking around in the settings and changed the "Hopper Size" to 14 coins and it automatically changed the "Bill Credit Limit" to 14. Now, I did this to see if i was right and played a few hands and hit 3 of a kind and it said jackpot on the screen and the music played, requiring the key to be used to reset. So I set the "Hopper Size" to 799 and the same for the "Bill Credit Limit" figuring that if you get 4 A's=800 or RF=4000 that it would put the machine into a jackpot state.  Upon playing the machine more, I noticed that you may not add more money into the machine if      money added + credits =  >799. And while playing I hit a Full House for 45 credits and the machine spit out 45 coins while it had 745 credits already on the machine.

I just need to know if I am doing something wrong in the settings. I would optimaly like a Jackpot Condition for 4 A's(800) and RF(4000) but do not understand why it spits out coin at a win of 45...


Any help is much appreciated. If you need pictures I can upload them, just let me know what you need a picture of exactly.

[Brianzz]

On that machine the credit limit, hopper limit and BV limit is all set the same, so there's really nothing you can do about it.

[will7187]

What is causing the machine to pay coins instead of credits then? Should I just change the limit to 3999 then so only the RF produced Jackpot condition? What factor decides when the machine should go into JP?(like if the prize is 4000 but the hopper only has "3999" that would cause JP right?)

[jay]

The model number for the PE+ is usually on a plate just inside below the front of the hopper.
Pictures of the inside and out would allow us to confirm the model but everything you posted leads me to believe it is a PE+

A PE doesn't have a bill validiator, nor did the Fortune I and Fortune II's that pre-dated the PE series.

This would then either be a PE+ or a GameKing and it sure doesn't sound like a GameKing.

[Brianzz]

your jackpot/bv/credit limit is set at 799 so if a pay condition exists that would make the credit meter go over 799 it'll pay from the hopper.

[will7187]

Sorry this is a bit confusing but i think i am understanding. Is is advisable just to have the RF produce a JP? and what caused the RF to pay coins out the first time? both of those limits were set to 4000? I will definitely post pictures give me about 5 minutes.

[will7187]

pics

[will7187]

pic

[Brianzz]

If it was initially set to 4000 that means a pay would have to be more than 4000 credits to trigger a handpay, eg 4001 credits. To get a Royal Flush to handpay all the time the limit should be set to 3999

[jay]

Its the same configuration of the machine as I have.
For sure its a PE+
Yours has a nice cutout on the top for a progressive meter.

In terms of serial number and model number you can see the plate just below your hopper in the picture.

In terms of limits, any win over $1199 ($1200 or more) you have to cut a W2G for the patron.
So if this is a Dollar machine the limit would normally be set at 1199 or lower.
Because having someone win and run is not legal at least according to uncle sam....
On the other hand if this is a quarter machine 4000 quarters = $ 1000 and you are fine.

The hopper as you will note is also not huge so nominally speaking the size would be set to no more than 1000 coins because it physically could not hold more.
In a Casino there would be a drop door so when you have too many coins going into the hopper the excess get purged into the stand below. This way the casino could keep 1000 coins in and not worry about having to hand pay for the smaller amounts.

In a home 1000 is kind of pushing it because if you have an extra 400 coins in they have no place to go.

On the S+ Slot which is the sister to the PE+ (same era, same processor etc) the older game chips used a dip switch to control hopper limits, and they would either be 300, 400 or 1000.
The newer chips allowed for this to be programmed in via the selftest button much like the PE+. I will note that the S+ hopper is about twice the size as the PE+ My point of bringing this up is just to illistrate conventional hopper limits.

At home my limit is set to 100 - enough to keep people entertained with the sound of falling coin, small enough not to be too annoying.

[will7187]

And, for instance if the limit was 1000 and there was 910 credits on the machine and you won a hand for 100 it would pay in coins because the machine doesn't want you to have more than 1000 credits?? Is that correct? If this is correct how come it didn't pay 5 coins every time I won J or better with more than 1000 credits on the machine it would just add the 5 credits?

THANK YOU for all your help  I really appreciate it, I consider myself pretty technical but I have to learn the things first, but once I learn it is retained forever.

[will7187]

Hey Jay, is this a S+ Slot? this is the other machine I kind of "inherited."

[StatFreak]

And, for instance if the limit was 1000 and there was 910 credits on the machine and you won a hand for 100 it would pay in coins because the machine doesn't want you to have more than 1000 credits?? Is that correct?
...

Yes, that is correct.

...
If this is correct how come it didn't pay 5 coins every time I won J or better with more than 1000 credits on the machine it would just add the 5 credits?

THANK YOU for all your help  I really appreciate it, I consider myself pretty technical but I have to learn the things first, but once I learn it is retained forever.

I'm not sure. Are you certain about the hopper limit that you had set at the time?

I would add that the decision as to how high to set you limit and the number of coins to use are a matter of personal preference. Jay mentioned the overflow after the hopper limit is reached. To change the hopper limit you move the grounding pin that is in the plastic wall of the hopper higher or lower. There are several holes in the hopper wall to do this. It works by simply grounding through the coins in the hopper - when they touch the pin it triggers the coin diverter to drop the coins into the slot stand.

You can drill a hole in the top of the slot stand to allow coins to drop into a bucket the same way that the casinos do. Most home users don't do this, but I enjoy having my machines play like they would in a real casino, and I just collect the extra coins from the buckets for play rather than opening up the machines to get more coins. They can also be used for hopper fills. Of course, this means using more coins per machine than the average home user.

By having each machine's hopper full to its limits my friends can freely move from machine to machine with their coins and cash out any machine anytime that they want, as they would in a real casino.

I just wanted to give you another perspective.

[StatFreak]

Hey Jay, is this a S+ Slot? this is the other machine I kind of "inherited."

Yup, that's an S+ 

[jay]

The serial number and model number is on the right hand side just behind the pull handle.

IF you check out Ricks FAQs there is lots of info on the S+
One of the first things you might want to do is identify your game and reel chips (instructions are in Ricks Faq)

If you post those numbers some kind soul might pass you the PSR and PAR sheets from their private collection.
PSR is the Program Summary Report and it is the instructions on how to change various items like hopper limits - the menus are a lot more cryptic because you don't have a nice monitor to display all the choices.
A PAR is the Paytable and Reel sheet. It will show you payback percentages, and payout distribution... based on 10mm spins.

You can then check out the online game bible and see what other chips are available to perhaps up the % payback

That particular theme also has tournament chips available for it.

[will7187]

Ha this is sooo much information... Ok let me ask this: If you press cash out and the amount of credits is greater than the hopper size will it drop coin or lockup?


And for Jay: Where should I post that information about the S+ at? And I have no interest in changing any of the chips since the machines technically really aren't mine yet... the grandparents still come around often and I don't want to hear any noise from anyone.

[Brianzz]

You may find some files of use on this page..

http://www.newlifegames.net/uploads/up/upload.php

[StatFreak]

If there aren't enough coins in the hopper to complete the payout it will pay until no more coins come out (usually before the hopper is completely empty) and then go into a tilt mode. For the S+ it is a 3300 error. For the PE+ it probably has a friendly message on the monitor. Jay can confirm this.

In either case, the tilt is cleared by opening and closing the door. You will want to add more coins to the hopper to complete the pay before closing the door.

[jay]

Call Attendent, Hopper Empty is the PE+ message and the candle will flash.

You can start a new thread in IGT Reel Games.....

In terms of changing chips.... there are two chips that control the game.
The Game Chip and Reel Chip.

The reel chip is the theme and %% payback. The game chip controls how the machine plays and is kind of dictated by the reel chip.
If you were to change it out to a higher %% payback the grandparents would never know.

Just to blow your mind a bit - you can get different game kits for the S+
This involves getting new top, belly, reel strips, and the aforementioned chips. A game change takes about 12min.
Occasionally you have to change the reel glass - Ie going from a 1 line game to a 3 or 5 line game...
You can have any game in the S+ bible (also under Ricks Faqs) so if you want a 5 coin, 5 line double diamond deluxe (and who wouldn't)
Its not that hard to do.

You can also get other games for your PE+ including some video slots. Depending on if you have a superboard or the standard, you can get a 5 game multi set.
Personally I enjoy playing blackjack on this platform. Usually you don't have to change out the glass since most everything is on the screen but you can just to give it a different look.

[will7187]

Thanks everyone for everything!! Seriously! And I have been searching for the manual for hours.... only to find that one website had it but wanted $110 for it and i was like "WTF" ha well thanks all but i gotta get to sleep its like 1:20 here and I have work in the AM...


L8R
-will

[jdkmunch]

NLG = Priceless

[jay]

Will,

This site works off of donations - all funds go to cover the cost of hosting and bandwidth so if you find that you have saved money buy not being scammed for $110 you might consider making a donation of any amount that you are comfortable with.
This will change your status to "contributing member" Paypal button is on the bottom, whether you contribute or not is up to you, we are still here to help either way.

Cheers