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I recently purchased an Aristocrat/IGT 25 cent slot machine on eBay - for $49! The model number is R45NBL - from an earlier thread I learned this is an Aristocrat Esprit and "OP BELL" sent me a PDF manual that looks close although my machine is a progressive with a different reel set. The date of manufacture is 1982 and the reel set says "aristocrat/atlas."  All it did originally was power up: lights went on and that's it. I went through and cleaned all the contacts of all the connectors and on as many parts as possible. I also replaced the very dead batteries on the processor with new ni-cads. Now I have a machine that will accept 1-4 coins and cycle through completely but will not pay out. The 1,2,3 coin indicators blink as each coin is added but the number 4 blinks continuously.
If you put over 4 coins (the maximum) in, the hopper will activate and spit out the excess coins and it also registers in the "coins out" meter! Can anyone help me with trying to troubleshoot this thing? I've attached some pictures. In addition to the previous information, here's some other problems:
  * One shows a detached wire - from all the other posts I read, this looks like the one that's supposed to be cut! It appears to be once attached to the lock on the side of the door.
  * The next on shows a metal guide that attaches electromagnetically to a solenoid on the door just past the coin acceptor thing. (I'm fixing this so far, just by looking at it - I'm not a slot technician so please bear with me) - the thing BUZZES and doesn't seem to stay in place properly. I can knock it into place but it seems to slide off by about a millimeter and starts to buzz again! I actually don't think this is causing any real problems - maybe I just need to realign it for better contact?
   * No sound - the speakers will hiss if I turn the volume up,  but that's it.
* Finally  - I have a two inch, red, aluminum pin that fell out when I removed the reel set. It was wedged above it.  It's threaded at one end. I have no idea where it goes - anyone know?

Post some pictures of the machine so we know exactly which game you have / working on.

The model number is R45NBL - from an earlier thread I learned this is an Aristocrat Espirit and "OP BELL" sent me a PDF manual that looks close although my machine is a progressive with a different reel set. The date of manufacture is 1982 and the reel set says "aristocrat/atlas."

Here's one picture - I just moved it from my profile to here.

Hi shorttrackskater. I want to wish you a belated welcome to NLG. :88-


NOTE: 7/26/2009: MERGED BOTH THREADS AND MOVED TO REEL GAMES, GENERAL CHAT. Removed redundant posts.

<7/26> Shorttrackskater, post your pictures here per our PMs. :71-

StatFreak :31-
:nlg- Global Moderator

This is a picture of the aluminum pin that fell out of the machine - it was wedged above the reel assembly.

That looks like a dart shaft.....

What he said ^^. It sure doesn't look like anything that belonged in that machine.

Makes one wonder though...how did THAT get in there? :127- :129-

Someone trying to juryrig something, perhaps? :79-  :103-

Okay I guess it's safe to say that no one, so far, is familiar with this machine although there are other posts directly related to this same machine. I wish those people would surface. And I assume that red aluminum pin is an anomalous object that somehow got in there.
Can we pretend that this is a machine that everyone IS familiar with, just for a few minutes?
What would you do if you had an IGT machine that accepted and registered coins, released the handle to be pulled, cycled through but did not pay out in win combinations? And, it does spit out (and register on win meter) quarters if too many are inserted (5 and over).
Please remember I have never worked on an electronic slot machine...only a minimal restoration on a Mills Vest Pocket!
But anyone help me with some basic troubleshooting?
I would first say that there's something wrong in the reel assembly area - I took it apart and saw a "optical looking" board. Would that be a good place to start and, if so, where and what kind of signals am I looking for? I have checked every area of this machine for dirty contacts and loose connections and all seem to be okay. Or would I look at the CPU or MPU, whatever it's called? Maybe the proper signals are getting there but the computer isn't working.
I'd love to get something to go on.

If we are playing the what if game......

Lets start with what we know:
It sounds like the hopper / meter / cpu is functioning if it is kicking back extra coins.
     Futher extrapolation of this thought means the hopper optics and hopper brake are working as it pays out 1 extra coin and then stops.
     If the optics don;t work it keeps spitting out coins as it can't count how many it coughed out.
     If the hopper brake doesn't work you will get a coin-out tilt as it paid too many.
Since the reels spin / stop I would make the assumption that the reel optics are working just fine.
    The reel optics count the number of spins and then the stepper motors control exactly what stop they make.
It sounds like your coin in - comparitor and optics are woking well. Your not getting coin-in tilts, it is putting on the correct number of credits etc.

So what is likely wrong.......

MY first suspicion is that the winning combinations are NOT winning combinations.... this really has two solutions.....

The first possibility is that the reel strips are on wrong so that when something appears to line up it is not a valid win.
On a IGT or Bally you can remove the reel strips and you will note that there is a small knotch in the reel strip.
If you run your finger along the inside of the reel housing you fill find that there is a little plastic knotch that needs to line up with the cut out.

The second possibility is that the game chips don't match the reel glass or strips. This is pretty consistent with the manner in which you received your machine.
It almost sounds like someone snagged a board and slipped it in to sell as parts complete.

In both of these cases before you start disassembling I would play your machine heaps more and see if you get it to pay out at all. Even if the win is bogus to what is posted on the glass.

Pull out the MPU board and post a picture if you could please. If we can figure out what kind of board is in your machine then we might be able to help more.
IGT used to buy up old slots via vi trade ins - and then remanufacture with their boards in place so this is where you get IGT/someone else machines etc.

Post a picture of the reel assembly as well. As I mentioned before in the post that I deleted, and in my PMs to you, posting pictures of the interior of your machine will do wonders in getting the help that you are looking for. Without them we are all just playing a guessing game.

This model is in fact covered in the Esprit manual - it's the 4-coin buy. The meter board and the progressive are different, but everything related to the reels will be as described in the manual. If I recall correctly the strips are usually glued on, and if so they're not likely to have moved. The problem could be the optics at the back of the reels. An optic problem will usually cause a tilt when you pull the handle, though NOT if you pull it while the door is open. Or perhaps the game has the wrong EPROMs, maybe because someone mixed and matched a reel assembly and a CPU from different games. I can read and understand the EPROMs, if you have a way of dumping them to a hex file. I can quickly tell if you have the right strips. By the way, what are those money bags on the strips? They don't feature in the pay table.

Hi
Thanks for the reply. Sorry it took so long for me to repspond -  I didn't get the e mail that there had been a recent reply.
The person who I bought this from said it "worked" but stopped after he returned from a long trip. I'm going to try and find him and see exactly what worked...all or a portion of the machine. Yes - the reel strips don't match with the rest of the machine, which is a progressive. Tonight I will post some more pictures in response to the other previous post. Thanks for the help!!
Off to work...on a Sunday!

Okay, here's some new pictures of the CPU and the reel assembly, which is not the correct one for this machine. I have sent a letter to the seller asking what exactly DID work on this machine. As soon as I hear from him, I'll post the answer.

More CPU

Reel assembly with silly looking money bags!

Hope your not missing a chip in socket IC4 (A000-A7FF), but it is a possibility.  I don't know enough about this machine to guess, but having the code start at A800 rather than A000 seems strange.

Hi
There's an old discussion on a nickel version of this machine (different problems) and his picture of the CPU board shows the layout - no chip in the same socket. Thank you for the input though - any help is greatly appreciated.
mark

Most of these games don't have a chip in that socket, and the code does start at A800, which is where the reel strips, pay tables and other personality keys are stored. The only kind that does have a fourth chip, to my knowledge, are those with a secondary game in the top box.