New Life Games Tech Forums

Hi Guys, I'm a newbie to this forum and also working on video poker machines.  I bought a fortune one machine and the ONLY thing it does is
flash the 2 candle lights on top.  I can feel static from the screen...which I've heard on an IGT means nothing.  On the CPU my +5vdc is 5.15 and the chips that run on +12 are getting 11.23vdc.  I was told to "plunge the monitor"  I have no idea what that means.  I'm guessing the memory is shot thats why I only get the 2 lights.  I've been searching for another MPU card to see if that is the problem.  Any ideas?

Thanks

Ron

The program chips run with +5 VDC, +12 VDC, and -5 VDC. Make sure your -5 regulator (the one not mounted to the heatsink) is putting out -5 VDC. The pinout is ground, in, out. If there is little or no -V input suspect the full wave bridge. One leg of it opens up commonly on this board. If you do have all three voltages try removing all of the EPROMS (including the CAP PROM and the MCU) from the board and cleaning their legs with a soft pink eraser and reinstalling. Also clean the main edge connector. Use a scope and make sure the main crystal is still working.  If none of this fixes the problem the problem is more board related and will need more extensive scope work.

Thanks Badbaud!  I found a fortune 1 book on the internet but it shows the unit having multiple cards mine only has the one.  Do you know where I can get a schematic of just the MPU with everything on it.  Also do you think that 11.23 volts on the +12 volt line is too low?  Thanks again for getting back to me so soon.  I really appreciate it.  I want to get this machine going:)

Very, very good post badbaud... :3- :3- :3-
that's the kind of helpful posts everyone likes to see around here! :89- :89-
I gave ya a + karma so now you're back to even!  :96-

I know schematics exist, check the web, I still have the one with my initials on it (drawn: AJD) as I drew it when working at Fortune Coin many years ago. As far as the low 12V the quick cure is usually to replace the 5 larger value electrolytic caps on the board.
I have noticed a problem with the EPROM sockets having tarnished contacts. If they are the very old, original sockets, you can pry the very top off of the socket and visually inspect the pins. Sometimes leaving this top off and shoving the EPROM back into the socket will give you a better electrical connection.

Thanks Badbaud,  I will give it a whirl.  I finally got a chance to work on the machine today without my kids making noise.  It sounds like the screen is trying to draw...I can hear like a white  noise that goes up and down in tone.  Is that normal?  When I unplug the molex connector going to the monitor the machine does the same thing..just flashes the candle and does nothing else.  I can't THANK YOU enough for your help and input :) 

What is the make of the monitor? If it is a Ceronix that up and down sound could be a chirping power supply in the monitor. Maybe your game is fine but the monitor is bad. Have you tried flicking the coin switch 5 times to see if you can play a game? The lockout coil should de-energize with 5 coins in, look at the I/O board, the LED's on it should flash when you flick the coin switch. Pressing the front panel buttons should also give you some LED movement on the I/O board if the game board is working.

I have flicked the coin switch and it does nothing.  I hear no game sounds at all.  I've followed the harness around and didn't find any other boards in the machine or a harness to plug one in.  The monitor is a Cenronix 1490.  I didn't see anything such as a part that looked heated or caps bulging.  I am going to put a cap kit in it just because after 25 years I'm sure it's time.  I'm sure this sounds ignorant but should I get sound or lights or something even if the monitor is shot?  In the book it mentioned LEDs as well but I can't find them there not on the main board...The MPU connects via a wire harness not an interface card on mine.  If you would like I can take some pics and post them for you.  Thanks Again for your help!!!!  I need it.

Hmmm now I'm starting to wonder if you have a Fortune I machine. Behind the hopper somewhere should be a square board called the interface board. It interfaces the front panel switches to the MPU board plus the coin in switch. It also has some triacs on it that control the hopper and coin lockout coil. The main interface to the MPU's back plane, where the MPU plugs into an edge connector, is via a 24 pin ribbon cable that runs from the lower left of the backplane board down to the interface board. <side note> if you look closely at the interface board (or I/O board) you will see the "picture" of an outhouse. That's because we used to call this board the Super Handy Interface Terminal... so it was a natural to put an outhouse on the board.
A cap job on the monitor may help but chirping usually indicates a deeper problem. First step is to make sure the MOSFET near the 16 pin regulator IC is not shorted. Next is to use a Ohm meter and check for around 52K Ohms from the last pin of the vertical amp to ground, a lower reading usually means the vertical amp is bad. Also see if the 160V zener diode near the FBT is shorted. If the FBT is kicking on and off (High voltage there then gone then there again) it could be a small 1N4148 diode between the FBT and the regulator IC. If this diode is open it won't provide the 47V peak FBT pulse to the regulator IC to keep it running. But it could also be a bad 12V regulator. Heck chirping can be caused by many things, lately I have discovered that a bad yoke can cause this condition, yokes are failing on these old monitors and no one, including Ceronix, knows where to get replacements. Ya, post some pictures, including the back wall behind the hopper and a full picture of the backplane board without the MPU board plugged into it, also a picture of the MPU board.

Hi Badbaud,  I was talking to Gordy and he doesn't think it's a fortune 1 either.  I can guarantee your the expert not me you could tell me it's a roman candle with a door and I'll go with what ever you say. I've enclosed the pics for you.  The sound and lamp drivers are all on one board, when you look at the pics on the far left you can see the pot for the volume.  If it's a fortune 2 machine is that better or worse than a fortune 1?  If you need more let me know.  Thanks again for your help!!  Ron

Ya, no -5V on this board. I work on these quite a bit. Here are some solutions I have discovered. Check for blown fuses. Look for bent pins on the main edge connector. Unplug the connector near the transformer and inspect the pins on the board and the pins INSIDE the molex connector. A squashed pin or burnt pin can cause the board not to work, replace squashed pins and on the board clean the pins with a pink eraser, if a pin is really bad the connector will have to be replaced. Check your battery voltage, if it is not at least 3.2VDC the game will lock up (normally with a message on the screen) change the battery. When you do CMOS error will come up on the screen (once you get the monitor working) and there is a button pressing procedure to clear this error. Remove all of your EPROM's and clean the legs and look for bent pins. The 40 pin chip just to the left of the 4 character EPROMS is the video chip that generates the video for the monitor. If it is bad then you will not get any video. With a scope you can check for a horizontal and vertical signal at pins 40 and 39. No signal may mean the chip is good but your processor is not working to tell this chip to generate the sync signals. Your processor chip may be working but your program chip (the EPROM by itself between the RAM chip and the MPU chip) may be bad. If you have used a scope before check the data buss on the program memory EPROM. Look for the "grass" of a working data buss, if you see square waves instead of the MPU grass generated when it communicates with the program memory you may have a bad EPROM or a bad MPU chip. 90% of the boards I get in like this have a bent lead on one of the EPROMS, a dead battery, or bad pins on the power supply connector. Worse case you could sent the board and monitor to the shop I work out of and they could be fixed and back to you within a week. I have a IGT tester specifically for this board in the shop.

I cleaned the pins on the EPROMs with a pink eraser.  While doing that I noticed the pins on the sockets were dull and some were kind of blackish so I cleaned those with a scribe and rubbing alcohol.  None of the pins were bent and there all facing the right direction.  The pins in the molex connectors were straight and clean.  The bad news is I longer own a scope.  Do you think it would be cheaper to send the board in for repair or buy another one.  Like I said before your the expert. So is this a fortune 2 unit?  Also would my 12v be good at 11.23v?

I don't know how the moderator feels about me drumming up business for the shop I work at on their forum so I am emailing you separately.

Buying another board may leave you in the same situation you are in now. We get boards in that unsuspecting people buy on Craigs list or on Ebay.

A recent one a customer sent us had a rectangular hole chopped through the center of the MPU board and the customer says he got it listed as "slightly used, needs some repair".