New Life Games Tech Forums

i just recently purchased a 1978 bally 1088-1 3 reel dollar machine. the machine came with no coin mech, but ive recently ordered one from the internet. the machine powers on and i can get the reels to spin but im not too sure if its working correctly. i have yet to have any of the combinatrions of reels payout any coins. im wondering how to set the reels up properly with the odds wheel, or do the 2 work seperatly to each other?? is there any way to test the machine? also the coin insert wheel in the top of the machine sometimes doesnt register having 3 coins inserted. if anyone can help me figure out how to get this machine up and running that would be great. im rather new to slot machines but have pevious experience with pinballs, arcade equipment and antique pop machines.

Can you post a picture of your machine? Is it an EM or E series.

heres a picture of my machine. the tag on the side says 1088-1-732. ive gotten a little farther with my machine but i have a few questions. none of my tube lights work in the machine. ive tried new tubes and starters and still not one of them will come on. could there be a fuse or something else controlling these? my machine seems to work, i can put a dollar in and pull the lever, but the credit unit in the top doesnt seem to step up if more dollars are put in and a win on the reels doesnt pay anything out. when i turn the unit on the winner paid light is on and the insert coin lights, and the coin accepted light never comes on. curious if anyone has any insight on theses issues. thanks

There is 4 fuses in the back of the machine behind the hopper.
It is best to check with a DVOM in case the fuse holder is bad.

i checked all the fuses, they all seem to be good. which of the 4 fuses would run the power for the lights??

If the voltage is there... you might have a bad ballast for the light.

thats what i was thinking too, but none of the tube lights work. theres 3 in the machine. could all the ballasts be dead??

I would look at the fuses first and then check voltage with a meter at the ballasts connections.

ok, i should have 50v at the ballasts correct??

any idea why the payout isnt working??

50 v from the transformer is what I see. Now you should have starters along with the ballast and they quite often will be the problem with the lighting issues along with burned out bulbs. FS-5 is what is in mine.

As far as the payout goes, I would look first at the switches on the hopper. These switches are what count and control the payout from the hopper and quite often get out of whack when people dont remove the hopper correctly and mess their gap settings up with their fingers. This is where I would start.
Good luck tinkering

im pretty sure its gonna be the ballasts that are dead as ive tried new bulbs and starters. ill give them a test today to see if there getting power. where can i find the hopper switches? all i see is the one on the front that closes when the hopper is full. when i get a winning combination the hopper doesnt move or anything, not even the  hopper payout wheel does anything. i alos have an issue with my step up coil in the step up unit. when i put the coin in it seems to get power but it doesnt step up the wheel just makes a bunch of noise till i push it in myself. could the coil be dying?

Your tube lights run from 120V, not 50V.  Look for a connector unplugged somewhere, probably a solid white and solid black wire, that should be your 120V to your ballasts and starters.
Is this an electromechanical or electronic machine?  does it have PC boards?
Send pics of the insides...

Oldreno will be the best help you can get .... the small ballast is direct from the 120 line in. He can help you better in this.... I am still trying to figure alot of it out.

its an electromechanical machine.  ill snap a few pictures tommorow. the ballasts seem to only be getting 66volts between the black and white power in wires. probably why they arent working, does the hopper and stepper unit work on 120v as well?? maybe my 120v circuit is messed up somewhere.