New Life Games Tech Forums

Definitely using the wrong term, 'boot', but here is the issue with my IGT PE Plus video poker machine. It is a bar top version, on the system board there is sticker with date of 11/93.  (I am by no means a IGT techie (as you will probably tell), but an IT guy.

I was getting a battery low message so I soldered in a new LS14250 1/2 AA battery (my solder points appear to be fine and the battery is in the right direction based on the '+' on the board  I slid in the board and made sure it is seated properly.  Powering on, the screen gets power (it is green, but that is different issue) but the poker games aren't loaded/showing, almost like the board isn't seated right.  Does the front door have to be attached (didn't think so)?  Could it be a bad/defective battery?  Did I miss something obvious? Attached is a picture of what i am getting with the power on.  I have an issue with the color on it as you can tell.  It usually takes ~1-2 hours for the screen to fully come to life. I am guessing I need to replace the color caps?? From my quick searching on google/here, doesn't sound like a walk in the park for a newbie  :103-

Any guidance on 'non boot' issue would be appreciated.  I will tackle the green screen issue once (if) this comes back to life.   In the attached picture the yellowish dot in the middle is the reflection of a light on my ceiling not part the screen.

Thanks!

Is the machine making any noise? Usually you can hear the machine start up. I have a bar top that takes a while for the screen to come up so it looks like its dead as you've described. But after about 5 minutes, it will eventually come to life.

Did you test the battery to see if it was good before installing? You can test it with a multimeter, that would be the definitive way to know if your battery is good or not.

Thanks crgadyk.  Not hearing any noise other than the buzzing of the monitor.  I will grab my neighbors multimeter and test the battery.  Bought the battery on Radio Shack on Ebay...  If in fact the battery is dead, would that be culprit then (causing it not to even come on)?

It could... dead batteries can cause any number of odd things to happen in a machine.

You should also check under the MPU to see if there might be loose coins. Its in the bottom left of your bartop.

Check your battery first and then we can go from there. I've got 4 bartops all in varying stages of repair so I'm sure we can figure your issue out.

Thanks crgadyk.  Battery is showing ~3.6 volts so good there.  Will check for loose coins later today.  Darn work is getting in the way.   :96-

Did not solder the battery in backwards, did you.   :200-

Now you got me thinking about the direction of the battery.. I thought i had installed correctly based on the + sign on the board that i highlighted...did I ASSume wrong and be the cause of it not booting? 

You have it correct, but this is the plus for the battery

Hi Sharky,

I had a similar problem and my issue was that the MPU wasn't plugged in all the way just like you suggested.  I crawled inside and found a small plastic wire wrap that had broke and was laying across the "tracks" of the MPU.  That was just enough to keep the MPU from plugging in all the way.  So, you may want to look for any obstacles that may be preventing the MPU from fully sliding in.

Good luck!

:Dave :88-

Issue resolved!  And man do I feel dumb.   If the MPU could talk it would have been screaming at me saying "why don't you plug in that power pin connector on the MPU board so I will get power".  :30-  :200-  I didn't recall unplugging that cable when i took the board out a few weeks ago. So after looking at the board again, I 'saw the light'   :3-

In summary....

1)  Battery was installed correctly
2)  'Green' screen was 'normal' as it warmed up (takes a long time) and since there was no 'juice' to the MPU the color remained.  Once powered up, I got the Call attendant message, CMOS data message.
3)  After 5 minutes of searching this forum, one member said to check the fuses.. Well, last night I had removed each of the 3 fuses to inspect them.  One of them was not seeded properly. 
4)  Once reseeded, the reset procedure worked, messages went away....and
5)  Voila!! My video poker machine went from a pale creme background color to a pretty dark blue as shown in the pictures.


This is a great forum, you guys are great!.  I will for sure be back when I run into any issues or have questions.

John

 :wa

Don't you love it when it's the easy things?  Glad to see you got it working.  Have fun!

Glad to see you got it working. Makes me want to go out and see if I can get a 2nd one running. Right now I have 1 machine with 3 parts machines  :72-

I'm about to replace my battery in my poker machine.  Hope it goes well.

OK, here's the scenario.  I had the PE poker game in my other home for 3 years.
During that time, (whenever it was actually plugged in) the monitor said "Low Battery".
I have since moved to a new home in November and have NOT plugged it in.
Today I removed the MB and replaced the battery.  I put it all back together and plugged her in.
It lights up and I hear a faint buzzing sound from the xformer. 
The bottom Red light from the "Candle" is flashing and there is no picture on the screen.
When I power it down, the CRT has the square squigglies.  So that tells me its getting some kind of power.

Does anyone have any ideas?  Or procedures that I need to follow?

Seems that I didn't wait long enough.  It's working now!!  Yayyyyyy!!!!