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I just got a Bally V-5500 video poker machine. After a ram clear, it works great, however, the bill validator will not pull in bills. All the lights on it are on, it seems to do it's self test when the machine is powered on, it just acts like whatever optical circuit is supposed to see the bill inserted is not functioning. If I open it up and put a bill in, it will spit it out at power up and the next self-test. Can anyone give me my options for this? I'm assuming fixing DBV-145s isn't very practical. Will a DBV-200 be a plug-in change? Thanks, Gary.

And you enabled/selected the bill validator in the menu after the clear?

Also, are the dips set correctly on the bill validator? And has this validator EVER worked in this game?

Here's a link to the manual, if you don't already have one....page 1-23 shows the dip switch settings.

http://newlifegames.net/nlg/index.php?action=downloads;sa=view;down=3846 (http://newlifegames.net/nlg/index.php?action=downloads;sa=view;down=3846)

Thanks for the reply! No, the validator hasn't been working for a while per the fellow I bought the machine from. I had gone over the dip switches and they seem OK. I'd downloaded the manual but it's pretty light on DBV details.  When I power the game up, the validator seems to go through some sort of startup sequence so I assume it's electronics are somewhat functional. I sure would like to read some sort of detailed sequence of operation that explained the functions and circuits of the validator. Does anyone know if the V-5500 game processor actually has control over whether the DBV pulls the bill in? I was under the impression the DBV should do that on it's own and then simply pass along to the game if the bill is good and how many credits to give. Again, as I understand the DBV, it is pretty much autonomous and just 'talks' to the game to relay if the money's good and the game only being able to turn the DBV entrance slot light on and off to inhibit the DBV operation. That is happening on my machine so I'm thinking the trouble is actually the DBV's inability to see the bill being put in and consequently not starting up the motor to pull it in. During start-up, the little motor does run in reverse to clear anything in the device. Thanks again, Gary.

Yes, and since the DBV entrance slot light goes on and off at the correct times, I'm assuming that took.

So, on to the dipswitch settings....how are they, in accordance with the manual?


Edit: sorry, didn't see your previous post. If dips are set correctly and BV is set up in me u, one must ask if the BV you have is Bally protocol? Is there any kind of label/sticker on BV to indicate what protocol (ID) you have on your BV? Different manufacturers of machines spoke different languages/protocols. Software/protocols are typically indicated by a label specifying a certain ID (such as ID003, ID023, etc.).

Do you see anything like that on the BV?

Continuing thanks for your help!

The DIP switches are set to match the manual. The unit does have a Bally sticker indicating ID044 ver 3.11 on it. Am I correct in assuming the only thing the game's processor board does is send a signal to the BV telling it to turn off the entry light (and this in turn inhibits the BV operation)? Once the 1st coin is put in, the BV light goes off and stays off until the next play. Again, I'm assuming the BV itself decides when it should pull in bills based on whether the game has sent the signal to turn the entry slot light on or off. I'm thinking I should completely disassemble the BV and touch the soldering iron to ever solder pad to be sure there is no bad solder joint or broken wire. Off the topic but while the game plays perfectly, I did get a four aces win that according to the backglass (it's a Bonus Poker game) pays 400 coins but it only credited me 150. Is that the mark of an incorrect personality chip? This is my 1st foray into an electronic game (have 3 Bally EMs) and not being able to check win amounts by manually locating the wheels is annoying me greatly. Thanks again, Gary.