New Life Games Tech Forums

Moe dropped by a really sweet 6-reel Bally today, for me to play around with.
And, it's a great excuse for me to show how I check out new equipment.  And I have an IPhone so can take pics as we go.
Some of this will be very elementary, and you already know it, but stay with the thread.  
This beauty is a modified 742A, which has had the cabinet extended by nearly half, and two reel mechs bolted together to give 6 reels.
Also, the hopper has two payboards side by side, which allow both sides to pay independently.
A pretty clean job of it, they did.
Going to try to post a pic, and if it goes, then will write more....

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-oK6J3t_2Yck/UADHV9iio7I/AAAAAAAAAOs/YELkvPd4Q-M/s751/IMG_1542.jpg

Well, the photo goes through a link, which I guess is ok...?
I guess I should copy onto desktop so I can embed it...

Before plugging it in, first we need to check it all out and make sure we don't fry anything.
The power cord is frayed, and has been fixed with connectors, but part of this fix is to make that a safer connect.  Will eventually solder and heat shrink the cord, and offset each of the splices.
The fuse caps are missing, so no fuses, but otherwise the electrical looks ok.
There are some spare wires coming from the transformer area, which need to be capped, but it appears they were part of an anti-cheat system build into the machine.
This pic shows the two brass plates which were (probably) wired up to either 120V or 50V, which, when pierced by a drill would short out the machine and pop the fuse.  It has been disconnected, and I'll trace down those wires and remove them for safety purposes.

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-DFCwpDMieVw/UADLkL-ef7I/AAAAAAAAAQI/NSbxluAKa80/w331-h248-n-k/IMG_1553.jpg
Show left side.

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-um93S_mdNbY/UADL9Gs25CI/AAAAAAAAAQQ/M4EHP6UNHBk/w331-h248-n-k/IMG_1554.jpg
Closer view where you can see where connections were.

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-YwPAYWpzREY/UADH5WWVneI/AAAAAAAAAO0/_0pH2PSwtag/w322-h241-n-k/IMG_1543.jpg
View of reel mech showing timer latch links.  Each of these 6 links have been replaced with variator links, which will certainly give the indexing more randmoness.

Here's how to check your drive links for wear.
https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-0eeW-RuwFHo/UADLRFCQ30I/AAAAAAAAAQA/2Y1cDOWJQVI/w322-h241-n-k/IMG_1552.jpg
Grab on end of link and pull toward you.  There should be no play.  If there is that indicates wear on the crank trip shaft pin.

Three encapsulated relays are mounted on the 3rd reel wiper board. 
https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-RWapmKSLPeQ/UADJZW00g3I/AAAAAAAAAPc/zTDT5m2agmE/w173-h230-n-k/IMG_1548.jpg
This is a Must Play 2 coins machine, so I suspect these relays do that function.  Will trace them out as I go along.

Mechanically it's in great shape, with no slop anywhere, and very minor reel rubbing, which I've mostly fixed by carefully bending the reel tins.
The reels will spin a long time when I hold the fan, which shows good lube.
Looks like it's going to be fun to work on, but now I need 3 fuse tops, and some fuses.

Since this is two reel mechs built into one, the designers/builders made a nice modification.
They extended the cam gear assembly (probably welded and machined it...?), and now it fits into the cam gear hole on the left reel mech.

https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-tJwMJBZLmJk/UADIaW6cinI/AAAAAAAAAPE/ogHEJX49QA8/w322-h241-n-k/IMG_1545.jpg

Shown as shaft on bottom right of photo,  extending halfway through both reels.
This will significantly cut down on wear on the half gear and bushing.  Nice job!
The back half gear is a bit sloppy, so I'll try to find a new nyliner, or put a small shim on the inside to make it more tight.

Left side of reel mech is pretty much simple and standard.
https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-jXcmLGEz_iw/UADJu4W9cXI/AAAAAAAAAPk/c5kPkR_jKWA/w307-h230-n-k/IMG_1549.jpg
No tricks or fancy stuff here, just simple good working trouble free, EMP resistant parts.
So far I'm reel impressed (pun, sorry)

Wow... Sweet conversion on this machine. Someone sure spent a lot of time building it. Nice fab work on the reel mech.

Gary

Great project do you have a picture of the door closed? Thank great post!

Photo of machine with door closed.
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-rZZNhJFGQok/UADFwZI5jBI/AAAAAAAAAOM/BZkqgEWuvEw/w531-h398-k/IMG_1538.jpg
As you can see, the belly glass is broken, but that's in the works. The chrome trim-holder has been bent badly, but a bit of straightening will make that better.
Since the fuse caps are missing, that means we can't play with the electrical yet, but there are a lot of other things we can do in the meantime.
Now is the time to make an inventory of missing screws and fasteners, lights that are missing and general work to be done.
Also, it is a perfect time to go through the machine and with great care check all of the switch closures, for full opening and closing.
It has been very well lubed, but we can oil all the reel boards, adjust and check the wiper fingers, and also clean and check the two hopper payboards.
And, a little bit of clean-up all around is a nice thing to do.
It is also a good time to check each of the subunits to see if there are any shorts. (of course you know that's already been posted here, right?)

Here's how to pull forward the reel wipers, to give an accurate adjustment of the fingers, and also give you room to oil the boards.  First, give the reels a partial kick using the pump arm assembly.
Next stick a small screwdriver in between the half gears (right hand side below the pump arm), and that will hold the kick mechanisms out of the way so that you can pull your reel wipers forward.

Image of pump and half gears https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-2S_zB7_jsF0/UADI9gcGWhI/AAAAAAAAAPU/yd_mRogqgf8/w173-h230-n-k/IMG_1547.jpg

Shown with screwdriver holding half gears in partical kick position.
https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-BK6p7rlM8NA/UAHPVUWBvTI/AAAAAAAAARc/SxN8IGIA-lw/h120/IMG_1565.jpg

Now you can pull your reel wipers forward and get a good look at the tension on them.
https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-qUcniT0TeWE/UAHPbk_iUlI/AAAAAAAAARk/zgpGhibtrmU/h120/IMG_1566.jpg

You should adjust your wiper tension so that the wipers when pulled forward push out at least to the far edge of the reel board.  More tension than that may lead to excess wear on the wiper buttons.  Less may lead to bad electrical contact.

So anyway, I fighting with my programs to learn the best way to upload photos. Obviously I'm a novice at doing that....  I am putting them onto google photos, and hopefully the links will show up ok.  If there is a better way, a way that I can imbed them directly into my posts here, I would sure appreciate some advice on how to do that.  That might be a much cleaner way....
Thanks,
OldReno

Bump.  I'm trying to group my posts on this all together for easier viewing.
This first post does not have embedded pics, but the other 4 do.
Please don't add posts, and then they will all stay together and be easier to find instead of searching them all out.
Some of these thoughts can help folks figure out their new machines, I hope.
Thanks.

Sorry about the links for photos.  I can't get them to come up.  However the other 4 posts on this topic are embedded.
When I get time I will try to re-write this and paste the photos instead of links.  My apologies, I am just an egg.