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I just got an IGT 37700 slant top video poker machine and I need a manual for it.

Is that a PE or a PE+?  If you post a couple of pictures of it (inside and out) we can tell you what you have, if you're not sure.

Are you having problems with the machine?  If so, what are the issues?

The machine says "coin-in timeout". I removed the whole coin mechanism including the coin comparator and the complete assembly that it attaches to. Then I turned the machine back on and closed the lid. The code disappeared so I turned it back off and installed the coin mechanism with the coin comparator attached and the code reappeared. Then I shut the machine back off and removed the coin comparator and shut the lid and the code remained on. Then for the second time I removed the whole coin mechanism and shut the lid and the code disappeared again. I believe it looks to me like the circuit board below the coin comparator is bad. I am not sure how to remove the circuit board. I removed two screws behind the connector and the top board came off but the bottom board does not. I can post pics as soon as I can take them possibly in a few hours.

Here are pics of my machine model 3770C serial 359264 manufactured 7/93

Update: I just removed the coin comparator, went into input test mode on the screen, it showed:
0 coin detector A
0 coin detector B
0 coin detector C
1 coin out
1 door open
0 all other things
I slid a piece of cardboard the size of a Popsicle stick in the slot past the optics it showed:
0 coin detector A
1 coin detector B
1 coin detector C
1 coin out
1 door open
0 all other things
What does this mean?

0 means off 1 means on.
So Door Open 1 means the door is open as the sensor has been triggered.
Coin in time out error typically means a coin has bounced back inappropriately.
To clear this error you simply use the white button, cycle through the setup screens, close the door and the error has cleared.
If it hasn't cleared or comes back after the first coin drop then you likely have a bad or dirty optic.
Dirty is common as coins pick up grease and oil from peoples hands, during the service life of the machine people have spilled or intentionally dumped drinks down the coin slots (some people figure a drink or two will loosen the machine up)
Cigarette ash is a common contamment - or tobbaco smoke.
This is all possible before any organic growth from that may occur from the combination of the above and other human filth.
With your cardboard test (length might need to be a bit longer and/or wider).
When you insert the card board you triggered the ABC optic.
The ABC optic board is the small circuit board below the coin comparitor.
The optics are either in a triangle or in a straight line. You can determine which by looking at the componet layout on the back of the board.
When you insert your card board if it is not long enough you won't reach the C optic (assuming straight line) or if not wide enough to cover both optics in the triangle.
The optics are usually triggered A-B-C n order and a coin coming back causes the coin-in time out as a security measure against stringing a machine; a coin on a string was a classic cheat designed to add credits with the same coin over and over again.

If you can't seem to trigger the C optic even with longer and wider card board then as mentioned it is either dirty or bad.
Generally if the optic is dirty it is on (1) 100% of the time. This means its blocked.,
Remove the board - worst case is you need to replace this (and they are relatively cheap).

When you open the board one side is the sender optics  and the other is the receiver. Clean both sets of optics (6 in total using clear warm water and a qtip or two.). Don't use alchol as this will etch the optics and they won't work for sure.
Try the cardboard test again.

Just ordered a new optic board will keep you posted after I try it. Can you tell me which machine I have from the pics posted earlier, PE or PE+? I still need a manual for it. Thank again for all your help

You have a PE+ slant top.

The A, B, and C coin-in optics should all normally be showing 1s unless there's something blocking their path. Hopefully the replacement optics board you ordered will resolve the issue.

I thought there was a manual floating around somewhere on the web. I'll try to find it for you.

I just got the new optic board and installed it. I am still having the same exact problems with it.

0 coin detector A
0 coin detector B
0 coin detector C
1 coin out
1 door open
0 all other things

I slid a piece of cardboard the size of a Popsicle stick in the slot past the optics it showed:

0 coin detector A
1 coin detector B
1 coin detector C
1 coin out
1 door open
0 all other things

Both the old optics and the new optics gave me the same results. I checked all the wires and connections and everything seems tight. I opened and closed the door and cycled through all the test screens and no difference. When I unplug the optics and close the door the error disappears but when I plug the optics back in the error reappears. I powered off the machine before plugging and unplugging anything. Can both optic boards have the same optic (A) not working?

Its strange that the error goes away when the entire assembly is unplugged as the machine should be looking for a 1 on all three input lines.
 :204-

Could be a short in the harness ?

With two sets of optics giving the same results, I'd begin to suspect that your MPU board might have some issues interpreting the signals its getting from the optics.  Do you by chance have a spare MPU processor board to try, to eliminate that or isolate it as the problem?

That's exactly what I'm thinking. I don't have another MPU board so I just ordered a new one and will keep you posted with results.

Excellent. We'll get it running yet.

I just got my new MPU board and it required me to use use about 6 or so ICs from the old board. I transferred the ICs over to the new board and installed the new board. When I tuned the machine on I got the same error as before, "Coin-in Timeout". I think maybe the ICs in the old board may be bad I don't know. Where do I get new ICs and how can I test my old ones or know which ones may be bad?

ICs? Are you talking about EPROM chips? I've never heard of a bad EPROM causing the coin-in optics to malfunction, but I guess nothing can be ruled out right now.

Are you getting the same results as before on the self test inputs screen?

Yes I am talking about the EPROM chips. Yes I am getting the same exact results on the self test inputs as if I still had the old MPU board in

Hmm.  With two sets of optics and two MPU boards giving you the exact same results, I'm back to what Jay was thinking that there might be a problem with the wiring or the harness.  While on the self-test input screen, does the status of any of the three coin-in optics change if you wiggle the wires and/or harness near the optics, or where it connects to the motherboard?

I went to the self-test input screen and wiggled all the wires and connectors I could find connected to the optics and motherboard and everywhere close to them with the cardboard between the optics and it never changed or flickered from

0 coin detector A
1 coin detector B
1 coin detector C
1 coin out
1 door open
0 all other things

For some reason I could never get coin detector A to show a 1 unless I unplug the connector to the optic boards which clears the code when I close the door and I believe that is the whole problem. I am thinking with two different MPU boards and two different sets of optics it only leaves wiring, motherboard, or EPROMs from the old mpu board that could be the problem. The only other thing which is possible but unlikely is both optic boards and/or both mpu boards are bad. I'm wondering if I could find an mpu board with all the EPROMs already installed in it or at least get other EPROMs to put in my mpu board would fix it. If I knew of another machine I could try my parts in to verify that they work would be ideal but I don't know of any.

As Knagl said, it's unlikely that the EPROMs would be the cause.

The program reference guide doesn't specify whether the optics should read 1 or 0 when open, but Knagl and the default picture in the manual both agree that it should be 1's when unblocked, so I see two or three problems.


First, the signals for the working optics (B,C) are reversed: you are getting 0's when open and 1's when blocked.
Second, A isn't working at all.
Third, you have a coin out 1 which conflicts with the default states suggested by the picture in the manual. For giggles, try blocking and unblocking the optic on the hopper and make sure that coin out is working properly. If it's not, that would strengthen the motherboard or MPU board theory, and having swapped out the MPU, I'd check the motherboard next.

BTW, have you tested both the door harness from the connector to the motherboard and the short connector coming off the optic board with a VOM (not by just jiggling the wires?)

I've attached copies of the two relevant pages from the field service manual and the program reference guide. The field service manual schematic might help some.

Stat :31-

When I remove the hopper the coin out changes to a 0. How do I block the optic on the hopper? I can't even find it.

This is sounding stranger and stranger.
Removing the hopper would clear a a COIN OUT..... but a COIN IN error seems weird.

The optic on the hopper looks like a U shaped piece of plastic at the top of the bowl.

The coins are lifted from the bowl by the wheel onto the hopper knife as they roll through the U shaped plastic the optic path is broken by the passing of the coin.

As a test I would suggest removing the hopper - stepping through the set setup screens and then close the door.
Your machine should run fine without the hopper at least until you hit the cash out.

I removed the hopper and ran through the screens and closed the door. The coin-in timeout error was still there. There is a long channel up to the coin comparator that is filled with quarters. When I remove the top quarter, I can turn a plastic wheel that on the input screen changes the coin out between 0 and 1. When I put a quarter back in there, it goes back to 1 so I  believe that is the hopper optic and it seems to be working correctly. When I press the button under the optic board connector the input screen shows the B optic changes from 0 to 1 and the A & C optics remain at 0.

When I press the button under the optic board connector the input screen shows the B optic changes from 0 to 1 and the A & C optics remain at 0 (pic 2).
I am also showing the location of the coin out optic (pic 1).

Showing error message I have (pic 1)
Showing error message cleared with coin in optics unplugged and door closed (pic 2)

Showing input screen coin in optics unplugged (pic 1)
Showing input screen coin in optics unplugged and hopper removed (pic 2)

1's with optics unplugged is not normal behaviour. Unplug the connector on the processor assembly that goes to the hopper and coin comparator and see what happens then. If You leave the screen on input self test and close the door does the door open signal alternate between 1 and 0 ?

Do you know if the machine ever worked with coins? Have You checked for aftermarket freeplay type devices that may be installed ?

Shows coin optics and hopper unplugged at processor (pic 1)
Shows input screen with coin optics and hopper unplugged at processor (pic 2)

OK,
I just saw this post and was going to confirm your finding with my machine here.
In test mode, I do show all 1's and with optics blocked they change to zero's.
That coin switch does change optic B when pressed.

Now the bad news. I closed the door to my machine and all the hold/deal buttons are dead.  :279-
I traced the wiring for all five switches and they are good, so I went back to my computer. I found the attached trouble shooting manual that I have. I hope it helps out out with this issue.
I looked at what it said about my issue with all deal buttons being dead and it said to change the TEST SWITCH???
I thought that can't be right the test switch work, the deal hold buttons don't work. Anyways traced the wires and sure enough the common wire in the deal button goes to the test switch and mine is bad. I guess when I went into test to check your issue it was the last time that switch worked and then died.

Again check this manual and I'm sure it will help you out to resolve your problem.


AHHHHHH, THe manual is too big to attach here.  :8-
Let me took and see if I can just pick out the section about the coin optics and post that. Or check your mail and I'll try to send the manual that way.

The machine worked with coins when we got it on Christmas day with no issues and then after a couple hours of play it did what it is doing now. I would like it fixed to use with coins. I do not want to use it for free play

Here is a page from Apendix 21 on the manual I email you.
You might start here

Agreed with you so far.  Think of the 1s and 0s as continuity present and continuity broken, respectively.  When there is nothing blocking the path of the optic, it returns a 1 -- the circuit is completed.  As such, in an idle state, there should be 1s on all the optics.  When a coin goes past, the continuity is momentarily broken, and the optics would briefly flip to zeros (no continuity) and then back to ones.  I agree with your diagnosis -- the B and C optics are giving the opposite results of what they should, and the A optic is never working.




Here is where I disagree (perhaps with the manual).  The hopper optic works in the same fashion as the A, B, and C coin-in optics.  When the optic is unblocked, it returns a 1.  As a coin passes through, it briefly turns to a zero, then back to 1.  A "normal" idle condition would be for the hopper optic to be at 1.  If it's blocked and stuck at zero, it would result in a coin-out timeout.



For what it's worth, on my bartop PE+, when I remove the coin-in assembly, I get a coin-in timeout on the screen.  It is not normal for the machine to return all 1s on the A/B/C optics when the coin-in assembly is removed.


For reference, here is a screenshot from MAME of a working machine with no errors:

(http://i50.tinypic.com/346kys4.png)

I would remove the harness from the coin comparitor and see if anything changes.
My suspicion remains that there is a ground or short.

I agree with Jay, the ground short looks to be the issue.
All the signals with optics or switches are normally open and close when in contact with a ground. If you use a DVM and check the wire from the optics to see if they already are grounded at pin 4, 6 and 2 for the A, B, and C optics

If you look at your photo in reply 25 where you have the coin in optics disconnected, this is where you want to be with them connected. Another words, you have a short to ground from the optics to the plug that you disconnected. Thats why when you disconnect that plug you get a normal screen, but when connected you show optics B and C closed/blocked (grounded)

My machine is working perfectly now! I have a friend I talked to and he gave me the phone number of a guy who works on video gaming and poker machines. He came over and cycled through all of the self tests and said he thinks the machine locked out because it has a lot of security features in it to make it lock out when someone tampers with it. The only way to get it working again is to cycle through all of the self tests on all the screens.

I really like this forum and I want to thank everyone for all of your help I appreciate it very much. If I can help anyone else please let me know.

Excellent - to hear you got it working.
That is the correct way to fix the error, when it doesn't clear that way we start looking at optics.

If you go back to reply 21 - I did suggest stepping through all the setup screens.
I am surprized that in all of your testing that you didn't do that a number of times.

Yes you did Jay, I see that now. I must have overlooked it. On the bright side I am glad I was able to learn more about these machines through all of the problems. I like working on things and this is the first machine like this that I have worked on. I have really enjoyed chatting with everyone and you all have been very helpful. I guess I just need to follow instructions more closely.

In case anyone else has a similar problem here is a response from slotdoctor.com that I would like to share:

"Looks like you covered all bases. Eproms causing the tilt...no. All "ZEROS" on optic (in self test inputs) means there is a short. A "0" means the signal is a "LOGIC LOW" or "GROUND" at that connection. Check MPU board edge connector for bent bins. If your motherboard connection is "buggered up" the new MPU connection might me taking a hit (bending pins on the replacement MPU) when you install the board. Check the motherboard connectors for obvious damage. Look close with a flashlight. If you moved the game or laid game on its back, quarters could slide under motherboard causing a short, even after you stand it back up.

Also close door while in input test page...the door open should "pulse" quickly from 0 to 1 over and over again. If not there is your problem."

Does anyone have a PDF copy of the Manual?
Thanks - Jonathan