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Wise ones:
Thanks to this list. I have several EM machines all working well.  The machines get sparse use most of the week.  On the weekend they get played at least for a few minutes each.  I leave them plugged up all the time.  I don't mind changing a bulb every now and then.  I have even heard that the machines should be left on a winning hit when not used for some time.  Should machines be left plugged up or unplugged?  Why?  Does it make a difference if they are left on a payout hit or not?  Why?

Thanks
Terrance 

personally i turn my machines off when im not playing them....... i rather use the on/off switch inside the machine instead of the plug switch.....the machines heat up after a while...... leaving them on a winning combo makes no difference to a machine...... plus its a fire hazard leaving them on 24/7.......... id  :37- if i came home one day and my house was torched up cuz my machines were left on..... :279- :279-

I have mine plugged into a strip that I turn off when not used. Another thing the heat I don't need, The weather is to hot
to run them & make the AC work harder.
Staz has it pegged.

Makes no difference if the machine is turned off. HOWEVER, if there is any chance the cord is in bad shape or can get chewed on etc., then it may not be a bad idea to unplug them.

Jim of Bettor Slots says on his website that they should be plugged in and turned on 24/7 because of 2 things:

1) Turning on and off stresses the power supply and the MPU
2) Puts strain on the backup battery so you will be changing it much sooner.

    I don't subscribe to this however. I just turn them on when needed and deal with the  consequences later. So far so good.

I'll sort of buy #1, especially since there is a large change of temperature. But #2 IMO is not a big deal. What, you have to change the battery every 3 years instead of every 6.

Since a Bally EM is not a computer, there are no batteries to wear out and no computer boards to short out or overload. with electrical surges.
I turn my EM's  off when not in use, leave them on a winning combination such as 2 cherries. That saves the rubber zero switch stop bumper from getting sticky and affecting the coin accepted light.

I was hoping that someone would have noticed that this was in reference to an EM machine before I got to the bottom of the thread.  :259-

I agree, and always leave mine on a paid out cherry win (or mixed bars for a JPO) when they will be off for a while. I have fewer problems with the machines after they have been sitting when I do so, mostly for the reason you mentioned.


Stat :31-

StatFreak  That's why I'm green & you are red. You're the wise one.

Ford, I corrected your post. :96- :88- :72- :72-

The thing with the Bally EM Slot is that they like to be played... It seems to keep them working correctly and paying out. It's when they sit and don't get used is when they seem to develop problems. Kind of like the human body, when it just sit around we get fat, our knees, feet and backs hurts, but if we keep moving we have less aches and pains. So get up and play your slot machine, at least your right arm will get some exercise..  :72-  :200-

:212-   :94-


<PS> Excuse me while I get off my fat a** and walk hunched over (holding my bad back) to the other room on my painful feet and torn up knee, to play my EM, which is currently broken due to non-use (actually, I'm serious – just ask Buzz.)

When I get on binges where I play the machine a lot for a week or two or three, then I leave it turned on.  Otherwise I leave it off.  Never thought of that leave-on-winning-combo trick to save wear on the zero stop.  Fortunately I like to always leave mine on a winning combo anyway just because it looks better that way.  : ))

I also restore lots of pinballs, and many times you see damage on the inked backglasses from the heat cycling of the game being on/warm and off/cold (among other factors.)  Since slots were usually on 24/7 hours in the casinos that probably why you don't see a lot of peeling/cracking slot glasses, compared to pinballs anyway.
Even so I doubt turning on an EM game on and off at home would really make much difference at all on the slot glass.  On top of it, Bally pinball glasses in the 70s were of super quality.  Found a few really trashed Bally pins from that era like ones left on somebody's back porch for years and years, but the backglass still looked like it just came out of the factory!

Funny thing is when I made this that post I was referring to my self   :30-...   I have 6 working Bally EM machines, and two still waiting for some loving care, but since hitting the BIG 50 a little over two year ago,  my knees and back bother me a heck of a lot more, and I tend to find my self driving the recliner more then I use too. So it's time to put down the laptop, grab my coffee and head out into the garage for a few hours before it gets too hot outside work...

Amachanic, wait until you hit 70. When you get up in the morning it takes about 2 hrs. to loosen up so you can do something.
After 50 it's all down hill & over the hill.

Well, I just turned 49, I do have aches and pains, and as for being fat, the picture on the portal page says it all. Regarding my machine, I haven't used my EMs in quite some time and when I turned on my JPO and set up a win to check something before answering a post the other day, my hopper turned into a runaway. I think the relay under the hopper is stuck, but I haven't gotten to it yet.

So you see, my answer wasn't really as humorous as it might have appeared.  :96- :5- :30-

Wow I think we are channeling each other  : O   I turn 52 in a couple of months as well.  Just sold off 3 solid state Gottlieb pins that have been laying around in my garage for 3 years, I have been just too damn lazy and pep-less to delve into them as they can be a real pain to get working again.  If they had been EMs I woulda had them fixed LONG ago! 

My pain is my feet and ankles (60 lbs overweight and extreme aversion to exercise.)  I'm wearing out my Lazyboy as well.  But I'm finally getting out of my doldrums and trying to get into the swing of things again and at least doing some rerubbering of my keeper pins.  Like my mom has always told me, "It's no fun gettin' old".  Now I finally know what she meant!!!

Back to the topic, I have a question. I've got a Bally 809 and Bally 1114. Neither have power switches. I just plug them in to power up. Is this how they were made originally? My "bigger" 1114 has a toggle switch on the inside of the door but it does nothing when I switch it. I don't understand why these wouldn't have a power switch inside.

Well back when these machines were in casinos they were on 24/7. I guess they didn't think it was necessary to turn them off, if they had too they just pulled the plug, or possible flip a wall switch. I have my machines all on power strips so I can just flip the switch when I want to play them...

Thanks although now I have another question that I think I already asked a year or so ago (age related forgetfulness?): Is a cheap power strip okay or should I use one with surge protection? I have my video machines with a surge protector as well as my IGT but I'm not sure for EM's if it really matters. I would think it wouldn't.

A standard power strip is all I have all machines on even my Bally E-Series and my Bally 5500..

Correct, power/surge line protection is not needed on EM slots, pinballs, etc.

<<<Well back when these machines were in casinos they were on 24/7. I guess they didn't think it was necessary to turn them off>>>

Probably.  Also I can imagine people who'd just lost a bundle in a machine wanting to get even with the casino and (if there'd been a switch) reaching around back to shut the machine off so others would think it was broken... till a service guy came around to see if it was just a coin counter timer overrun  : )

Most of my "newer" (80's and up video and 90's reel)  machines have an internal power switch, only accessible after opening the locked door. That's what I meant for my older EM; not a switch on the outside!

"I turn my EM's  off when not in use, leave them on a winning combination such as 2 cherries. That saves the rubber zero switch stop bumper from getting sticky and affecting the coin accepted light."

RDaniel and anyone else... why should you leave the machines on a winning combo.  All of my machines are old 800 series except for a 989 with basically the same technology inside.  The rubber zero stop will get sticky how from the machine being left on?  How will this effect the coin accepted light?  Just trying to do the best things for my old and somewhat delicate EM's.