New Life Games Tech Forums

This could be a generic slot question,however it occured in my I game.   I got home from work and the whole house smelled of fried electronics. For those who know what I'm talking about it's a very distinctive smell.  Anyway i went into the basement and tracked it down to my i-game.  The top box light burned out and stunk to high heaven.
It's the round type bulb.

Has this happened to anyone?  shouldn't the bulb just go out and not release toxic stink?

Did the bulb break? If not, I'd look for circuit board or PS damage.

No break - it's black though.   The game is on and works fine. I think the ballast burned out or something.

I had one the ballast burned out last wk. & it stinks like you said.
Ford

yep probably the ballast.. if you would have been there to see it you would have still been picking yourself up off the floor. They tend to cause lots of flashing, smoke and sizzles. Had a belly light on a few weeks ago, left the machine open for 4 days and still smell it inside, although it did look cool with the reels spinning and cabinet full of smoke.

Thanks for jumping in Ford and Brian.
This is one of those times where I'm glad that I have no prior experience with the cause.  :58- 
:98-

I had a brain flash iidea of a fog machine installed inside a slot machine so whenever it hits it would shoot some fog inside the the slot.

I'm sure bunker has already thought of the idea and probably has a remote control for it.    :3-

IGT had that idea.. with I Love Lucy... emitted a chocolate scent during one of the bonus rounds... that was annoying after the first few times.

I'd be pestering the cocktail waitress for some Toblerone bars.  :63- :261-

Any risk of fire??  This makes me nervous.

There's some risk of fire, since the ballast wiring is actually burning, but minimal. I never leave my machines on when I'm not home.. it's easier to hear a smoke detector from the living room than from across town.

That's exactly what I'm worried about...  I usually leave my machines on for a week or two then off for a week.  Depending on my schedule and how often I can play them.     I feel turning the I-Game on and off every day would stress the components.   But if these things can flame out then I may think differently.

Munch
 You can disconnect just the top the ballast of your IGame. Behind the bulb mounted on the left side of the metal bracket you can see the ballast (rectangular box with two wires coming out of it) If you follow the two wires coming out of it you will find the connector about halfway between the ballast and the power distribution box. Cant remember the colors and Im at work so I cant look but the connector is easy to find.
The threat of the ballast bursting into flames is pretty low, but I would definitely disconnect it. 26 years in the F.D.  I ran alot of calls for burning smell that turned out to be a light ballast. Not a big problem other than the smell.

Thanks!  I traced it out and it's definitely the ballast.   I have it disconnected now I going to try to find a replacement at Home Depot

If you cant find one let me know, I just changed all my IGames over to CCFL and have disconnected all my ballasts. I can remove one and send it to you

You put in regular lamp sockets?

naw,  I added these CCFL kits off ebay to my S2000 machines and liked the look so much I went ahead and installed them in my IGames last week. Pics and such were posted a couple weeks ago in the S2000 section of NLG.  The only machine with the standard bulbs in it now is my reel touch Bucks Ahoy. Ill probably change that one out too but have to do a little more research into that machine.  After a little modification the kit plugs directly into the top box power distribution board in the IGame.
 
http://cgi.ebay.com/12-DUAL-WHITE-COLD-CATHODE-LIGHT-KIT-MOD-CASE-BRIGHT-/380281735477?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item588a8ec935 (http://cgi.ebay.com/12-DUAL-WHITE-COLD-CATHODE-LIGHT-KIT-MOD-CASE-BRIGHT-/380281735477?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item588a8ec935)

How many watts do they use compared to
The 22w bulb in there now.  I'd like to do
This!

2 for the top and two for the bottom!

I did the CCFL kit to a few of my Bally 6000 just the coin tray though in Blue
after going to the casino and seeing how cool the Bally Alpha's looked with the coin tray lit up in blue
I had to try it, looks much better too I just mounted it to the bottom of the door but it lights up the tray perfect.

I remember reading a post here about installing these kits for lighting the award and belly glass
with great results but the reel glass was a different story something about the strips look funny
with that kind of lighting...I don't know it's my first cup of coffee on this snowy morning.

Anyway for the price and if you love to tinker...go for it


Tim

Your right for the price its a great investment, CCFL will last about three and a half years compared to the regular flourescent bulbs. I installed two sets in my S2000 machines. One tube in the topper,one in the top, one in the belly, and one for the reels. The reels do take a little getting used to but I like the overall look.

The IGames also take two sets but I used only three tubes. Topper,top glass and belly glass. Topper and Top glass kit was wired to the power distribution board just like the S2000 but the  belly glass kit had to be wired to the spare button located in the door.

Two kits with shipping are less than $15  and less if you email them for a quantity discount.