New Life Games Tech Forums

Hi All,

I always been a fan of slots and now want to add one (or two) to my game room.  I'm looking for an older machine and a person at work has two for sale. Both Bally's
the first is a E1208-13 a quarter machine (really like the size on this one) and a E1090-84 (or34)-1 a nickel machine, which has a problem it does power up don't know anymore at the moment, was going check for any errors code.  Got some pics and going to see them this weekend. After check on the web I think these are the 1st gen of  "electronic machine" that had issues. The owner thinks it a very minor problem with the nickel machine...right... LOL
Looking for some good advice . ...are either one of these machine worth getting?  asking price is $200 a piece... they were purchased in 2000 and sat in a game room for the last 12 years with little play.

Thanks

Ray

Hi and Welcome to New Life Games.  :88-  The quarter Bally for $200 is a good price, the non working one depending on the machines over all condition, any where from $50 to $100. The parts to fix these can still be found and they are not all that hard to work on. I my self work on these Bally's as do others here. The non working machine could need only a fuse or just have a burnt wire on a boards plug. Won't know until your about to try powering it up. The fun is in the hunt and learning how they work. Next thing you know your 2 grows to 4. Then you know your hooked. Keep us posted and post pics when possible.

Gary

Hi Gary,

 :284- for the quick reply, I really appreciate the input  I worked on some Williams pinball machines of the same era, so I was hoping  working on the slots would be similar.  I'm  glad to hear parts are  still available to me that was on of the biggest factors in buying one or both.
Can you tell me the break down in the model # - game name, year  etc..... Also  I'm finding it hard to find a good database on the slots
Espeically in the E series...  I was lucky enough to get the FO-650-12 Electronic Slot Operators Manual.

Thanks,

Ray  

Hi Ray,  I don't know of any web sight like the Internet pinball database for slot machines. I don't have any information on breaking down the model numbers. The person who possible can is Barry Fox out of Foxsslot found on the Spencer's section on the home page. He has manuals and part too. Machines starting with 1000 are the earlier versions and used a few different boards. The MPU's had a daughter board and 50V reel reader boards. The 2000's had a single board MPU and 5V reel reader boards. Now there are exceptions to what I just said too. Best thing to do is invest in a manual because I don't know of any free down loads for one.

Gary

Roger's web site  has trhe Bally manual scanned nicely, a useful repair thing right there. http://jackpot7.freeyellow.com/index.html

The board technology for the Bally 1000 or 2000 series is pretty identical to their pinball technology except for one ugly twist.

It uses the super rare 2650 cpu.


The battery issue of the Bally 17s and 35s is also common as heck on the Ballys. One other mistake, the 1000s use an upper ram board with the same rot issue.

I am designing a new ram board replacement for the 1000 and a new mpu in general using the muich more common 65C02 as a kind of a hacking tool so you can program your own slot machine. Wierd programming project time :)


Am wishi8ng there was indeed a database of the Bally machine and personality rom types.....

Keep us posted no your progress on the new ram board. I'll have to go look at that down load for the manual. Thanks again. Gary

Thanks. I have the schematic entirely drawn up. It is not the same as the original since I have it to allow using 6115 RAMS or the 5101s. It uses jumpers to enable the 6116 chips. Also, it CAN allow a batterey but in a fit of smartness, it goes to a 3 pin connector so tjhe bttery will be in a holder velcroed to the side. Optional, I hear the machine can work without a battery.

One thing important, the board is NOT a direct plug in, but it solders in. This helps get past the biggest problem in the ram board design.

I have a ram board with me this morning at my parent's house, going to see about certain things at the electronics store to get some items to make sure of it going. All parts should be Digikey available, though.

Also, I do plan to sell both assembled but you can also buy the bare board only and purchase the parts....

and if you wonder my skills as an unknown, here is another project, a new pinball computer I am designing, go to nightmarepark dot com and click on the pinball mind link.

Hi Gary,

1st off thanks again for sharing your knowledge!   I got the person to drop the price to $175.00 on the quarter machine and have a appointment to see them both next week. I also got a hold of  "the complete Service Manual For Series E  1980-1986. It has allot of great info;  such as that some parts are interchangeable between the 1000 & 2000 series like the hopper board etc...  Stopped by my  local game room place Games People Play " http://www.games-peopleplay.com/ " and had a few 1000's and 2000's. Their on site tech who does board repairs say the 1000 series are  challenging but are good machines once you get them working. also they said the number after the dash "-"  ie- 1208-13 stand for the market the machine was operated in. 

Hi Tony,

 I would be very interest buying one of your ram & mpu boards when you start to sell them,  are you going to etch the boards yourself?

Checked out your website pretty intense & very cool!

Ray

Ray: Thanks. I do the board design and will farm out the board manufacture., I had my older board designs sent out to China, such as the Fear IO in the electronics page. I will try an American company back East my best friend recommended.

I will definitely be announcing the RAM board on here when it is ready and tested. Lots of market, so tis worth it. A nice friend also sent me a rare unit, a Bally E series test fixture I will be using towards the design and testing of this puppy.

And before I forget from my unknown, used to do game design and repair at Romstar and SNK which explains the avatar :

And for giggles, go to youtube, check out nightmaretony2. The attract mode for the pinball is on there, plus you can see what I look like in the 2 motel 13 videos as I am a goofy vampire doing a stage show. I am the older cranky vampire with glasses :


Gary: Also thanks on the knowledge you brought in to share :)

Hey Tony,
 Checked out your you-tube videos..... pretty cool stuff!  You sure did allot with 7 segments LED's in the attract mode.... I was impressed....... Also, you make a cool funny vampire and you appeared very comfortable acting and looked like you were enjoying do it.... maybe you have missed your calling !  :3-

Ray

Ray: thanks. That  was my first time on stage, I had it planned a different way but ended up pinch hitting it. I am hoping this year to make a wilder show as a mad scientist lab and vampire. Yesterday, I picked up THE perfect prop for comedy, a 1940s vintage dentist drill. There has GOt to be a joke involving a dentist drill and a vampire in there somewheres!

Thanks on the 7 segment compliment. I was asked to figure out a way to make the Bally home pinballs work again since the F8 cannot be gotten. What you saw was 65C02 assembly language and a pretty wild program. So it will become a piggyback board for the bally pin. I was being a joke brat again, bally brain, pinball mind.

The only thing slowing me down on things, lots of doctor visits due to cancer. Will beat it but tis taking forever to get things rolling though. Sigh...

Hey Tony,

Those old dentist drills are scary as H3LL! I remember, I was 6 the year was 1968 and my grandfather took me to a old dentist (he was at least 80) with on of those 1940's drill (if you're 3 stooge fan you saw them allot)  and I still remember the nasty smell of burning tooth & the smoke! Every since then I hate the sound of the dentist drill!!!

I remember assembly language but it been along time, I still program but its more for the web on a Unix box.

Very Sorry to hear you going through a rough time with your health...  hang in there Bud your get through it ...... I wish you the Very Best !  :133-

Ray

http://www.hydroponicsonline.com/store/img-hydroponics/vintage-emesco-teledyne-no-90n-dental-drill-handpiece_350449836686.jpg (http://www.hydroponicsonline.com/store/img-hydroponics/vintage-emesco-teledyne-no-90n-dental-drill-handpiece_350449836686.jpg)  (not my picture but the exact model I got.. there has GOT to be a joke involving the vampire and one of these! :D

I still do assembly, I used it for programming arcadse games way back when and I still use it. C is an easier language but for things like pinballs, there ARE some issues with timing, so I won't touch it.

I will do ok, even though I am a stage 4. kdiney cancer whciih spread to the left lung, also got little tiny nodules all over both lungs. No pain, just a ton of coughing. Kidney coming out 2-4 weeks from now at loma linda, which is pretty highly regarded. And my usual sense of humor, going to post a picture onf acebook of me in a bathtub covered with ice and underneath it: 'Ok, where's my kidney?"

And besides, a ton of projects and the bally 1000 board repair and ram board replacement are ramping up so darned fast, it would be a waste to pass on without getting things going, you know? :)

Hey Tony,

I 'm Cheering for you Man!  :291- :291- Fight the good fight, you will make it... ...Besides I'll need your expertise to help me on those to 1000 E slots  :293-


 :260- This is a scary vampire ..NOT!

Ray

Thanks man, and you betcha. These ballys call to me and want me around. The most exciting project to me is de4signing a hacker;s mpu which would give you the source code so you can program your own win codes into it. It wouldnt use the old code at all, it would be 65C02 based.

Still not onto them, main prject right now, doing an atari pinball machine and modifying it to use a balyl pinball power supply since the missing power supply is made of unobtanium....

UPDATE: I wound up buying the Bally E series 1208 quarter machine for $100.00 plus it had almost $20 in quarters in the coin hopper...bonus! The seller wanted $200. but it wouldn't coin up and had an error code on it. After I got it home I saw a loose wire to not original coin comparitor. With some help from fellow member Amachanic I got it working!

Ray: Congrats and SCOOORE!

1st advice, cut out the battery on the board PRONTO. You can replace with a battery wired and velcroed in place farther down the cabinet wall.

am now installing kicad on my parent's computer this very second, so I can pr9int how the ram board loks and deliver the final board to a board house for teh pinball computer project...can hopefully post a picture of the ram board. I am waiting for an internal pic of the 1000 area where the board mounts because there are 3 holes I am tempted to use as mounting holes...

Keep up the good work on the Bally boards.  :3-  Without people like you we wouldn't be able to keep these classic slots and pinballs working..  :259-   I'm glad to help rainman.

Gary: thanks on getting a nice guy going in this E1000 wrold we have on here. (I still do my first 2 job games, so if you have any questions on Romstar or SNK games, :)

Ray: glad you be in with a machine working again. :)

Amachanic  thanks for putting up with all my questions I'm learning :103-

Hey Tony,

Are you talking about the battery on the MPU board because I don't want it to leak battery acid on the board?  If I cut out the battery, will I loose anything besides the bookkeeping of  the winnings, etc? Will it coin up and can you play it without the battery?  Also, I guess I can get a replacement @ Barry Fox at Foxsslots ? or do you recommend another site?

Thanks,

Ray

Rainman: yup, talking about that battery. I am told it will still work but not save bookeeping, but talk to some others on here first to make sure nbefore cutting it out.

Also, measure it with a voltmeter, if it is dead, then it sure isnt working as a battery.

Barry is great people, I recommend and give thumbs up to him.

The battery's on the E series are rechargeable and
if the machine has not been left powered on for
2 to  3 hours the the battery will show less than
the 3.6 volts that it is rated for. 

I used a cordless phone battery pack and mounted to
the cabinet next to the board.

Hi,

Did you just cut the battery off of the MPU board and solder the battery pack to the two leads or did you first remove the MPU board to remove that battery?

Also, did you have and error code when you where done?

Thanks,

Ray

 my  1st slot machine: a1982  Bally's quarter E 1000 series 1208-13    now  working sometimes  paid  $100.00

Ray

Sweet machine Ray. I had a Nickel machine like that last year but sold it. You don't see the 6 coin machines too often. Feels good to get it working.   :244-

I removed the CPU and removed the battery by de-soldering it.
Then soldered the new battery pack in, then I reinstalled the CPU.
Then I put double sided tape to the battery pack and stuck it to the side of the cabinet.
But thinking back I should of used Velcro instead of the double sided tape.

Dont see why it wouldn't work. Should be fine, IMHO.

Also, here is how the RAM board looks like, by the way. I thought I would hav et make it bigger but it looks liek it will be the exact same size, including the cutout.

(http://www.nightmarepark.com/6502/Bally%201000%20RAM%20board%20p1.jpg)

And here is a picture of my Bally 2000 which will be my test fixture. I dont know the exact kind this is, though.

(https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-snc7/291979_2312505524440_1003453792_32409989_1026755787_n.jpg)

Yes, I know it is butt ugly. I also found a dead scorpion inside the first time I removed the reel rack. But after cleaning and oiling and getting things going, it will be a sweet tool.
I also DID ask for the ugliest unsellable one in Vern's shop for test fixturing. Got what I asked for, but it has a sweet future :D

Gary,
It sure does, Thanks couldn't have done it without your help!  :285-  I work in IT now but miss what I was schooled for, so I like to try to clear the cobwebs and  get back to "hands-on"   I'm starting to see how it ail works sort of similar to the  early SS pinball's machines of the early 80"s.
 Also,  here's a pic of  the nickle machine   also for sale, it's getting a "tilt" error at power up. Thinking of getting it if anything for a  parts machine since they are getting hard to come by.

Proten,

Just want to clarify:
1) pull out the MPU board
2) pull out the CPU
3) de-soldered and remove the old battery
4) solder in the new battery pack
5) reseat the CPU
6) reseat the MPU board
7) attach the battery pack to the side wall.

Thanks,
Ray

Hey Tony,

Looks good, is the RAM board hard soldered to the MPU board or is it attached using a socket or bus connector of some type?  Also, when are you going protoype it in your Bally 2000 "it might not be the prettiest, but it will be the coolest if it works"

Ray

Ray. Do you get an error code on the nickel machine when it tilts??

Gary

hi ray and thanks. Was planning top use 35 1 inch wires and solder upper and lower. The connector pins rot a LOT so I plan to get rid of them to get a direct connection.

I got 10 rold ram boards, IW as thinking of fixing those up but after cleaning and baking soda the rot was BAD on them, tis cheaper to do this design. Also, you notice some new chips. One secrelts certain signals to modify since it can use the 6116 as well, regular DIP or flatpack version or 5101s.

Gary,

I think it was either 41 or 81,  will check with the seller tomorrow and let you know for sure

Thanks,

Ray

Ray   If it's 41 that's usually point to the reel readers bad or dirty or just needs to be adjusted. If it's 81 I'd have to look at the error codes. I can't think of that one right off the top of my head. Gary

Gary,

Talked to the owner as soon as the machine is powered up it goes to "tilt" and on the code on the win meter is showing 500000  "normal run  display???" even after he does a reset . I'm going out early next week will try to offer them $50 but will go to $100, worst case I got a parts machine to learn on, best case I'll  get it work.
Is there anything I can try when I got out to look at it?

Thanks,

Ray

Morning Ray...

To be truthful don't try to fix it in front on the seller.. What if you find the problem then the seller want his $100 instead the $50.. From what your telling me I don't think theres much wrong. Mostly the common problems of needing cleaning, oiling, checking connections.. You can open up the machine to make sure everythings there, but thats about as far as I would go. Need to keep your poker face on too, don't look too excited, but you can be truthful in saying if I can't fix it I have spare parts.. Were you still thinking of coming out this weekend?

Gary

Hi Gary,

Sure I can stop by if you have the time..... give me a call and let me know

Thanks
Ray

Hi Gary,

 :284-  for having me over and taking the time to show me how the reel assemble and other parts of the Bally series E1000 machines works.  I like your setup;  I wish I had all your machines and spare parts, when my machine breaks, I know who to call.  You got me interested in those IGT's they were nice, I'll let my friend know to call you instead of GPP when he decides to get one.

I'm looking forward to getting that nickle machine and doing some trouble shooting and learning.  You know I be asking for  :99-

Ray

PS thanks for the Win Meter Display,  I'll be swapping it out tomorrow.