New Life Games Tech Forums

Hello all. First off I would like to thank everyone here for all of the great information I have found on here.

I have a 1994 IGT S+ Balloon Bars
Game Prom is SP541 on a 10mhz board.


I believe I have read every post on here the relates to sound issues and I am still unable to fix the sound issue I am having. At first my sounds would go in an out. Works sometimes and not others. One day it stopped working completely so I pulled the mpu, check the connections, put it back in and it worked. A few days later I tore the machine down and did a full restoration on the inside of the machine (was pretty ugly from the years in a casino, Ill post before and afters later) which came out great. Once I got the machine all back together, everything worked great except the there was no sound.  The mpu looks to be in great shape, nothing bent, burnt, or missing. I checked the speaker with a multimeter and it reads between 7 and 8 ohms. the wires leading all the way from the speaker to the mpu were checked and good. Checked the resistance on the volume dial and it changes as on the multimeter as i move it. Today I went back and checked everything again and when i put the speak back in it all of the sudden made a little noise. There is now sound coming from the speaker (dont know what i did for it to make sound) but its more of a buzzing noise that you hear whenever there should be some other kind of noise. It will also make some strange sound when the machine is just idle from time time to time but only for a second or two at a time.

My question is what else can I check? I dont believe the speaker is bad as I have hooked it up to an ipad and got quit but quality sound from it. Im still going to replace it. I dont have access to another mpu so if the only other thing i can do is replace it with a new one i will. Im just hoping i dont have to do this.

Thanks in advance for your help.

Try re-seating the sound chip at U-49.

Most are in a socket, but the newer board had this chip soldered directly to the MPU

Sounds (no pun intended)  :61- like the volume control pot...rotate it back and forth a few time an see if it makes any noise...If it seems to be the problem, then replace it or use some contact cleaner...(recommend replacement)

Thanks Neon! pulled the sound chip and there a was some dust under there. Cleaned it up and now everything is working great. THANK YOU!

I recommend you upgrade your game chip to SP1271, you will have more options and faster game play.  SP541 is REALLY outdated, even for an S+.

What additional options would I get from upgrading to a SP1271. Also, if I decide to do this what exactly do I need to do to make the switch?

Pretty much change the chip (eprom) and turn the key a time or two...no worries...

The additional options would be for stuff like supporting external progressives and extra bookkeeping stuff.  Nothing that you'd likely really notice other than perhaps faster bang-up of credits on wins.  If you're happy with what you have, keep it.  If you like to tinker, consider upgrading the chip, but there won't be a big payoff in terms of benefits or changes to what your current setup is already giving you.

Would the SP1271 allow me to do coins to credits (dont know how or think I can with current chip)? My machine doesn't have a BV and I would like to be able to add more credits to the machine and not just have the winnings go to credits.

sp1271 also gets rid of the dip switches for all options.  To me just the faster play and credit accumulation is worth it.  This chip does not allow you to add credits using coins, the machine will only take up to the max bet when using coins.  You can get around this by tokenizing your machine, which involves getting a different SP (would have to look it up) and setting up the machine.  It works like this.

1. You setup a denomination, say 1 cent.
2. You set up the token value, say 50 credits (the limits are between 2 and 99 credits)
3. Whenever you drop a coin in, it will give you 50 credits.

This works really well for machines with no dbv, since you can just load up credits like you want.  You don't even have to use 50 cent coins, the machine just validates whatever coin you have on your comparitor and it will work.

You can read about it in this post from Kevin a couple of years back
http://newlifegames.net/nlg/index.php?topic=13923.msg119882#msg119882 (http://newlifegames.net/nlg/index.php?topic=13923.msg119882#msg119882)

On my video slot, even though it has a validator, I tokenize it.  I use nickels, but each nickel will give me a $2,000 credit.  I don't have to keep bills around to play, just put in a nickel and I get $2,000 worth of play.

 :212- :212- :212- :212- :212-
 :205- I do this with a S2000 where one quarter is worth 100 credits.