New Life Games Tech Forums

To my surprise, the laby that I bought my last two machines from (her late husband passed away) called me today and told me to come on down to pickup a free Bally 809.  The machine looks great and seems to pay correct.   However, the 1st reel (far left) seems to be frozen / move very little when the handle is pulled.   Is this something that can be lubed or does something need to be rebuilt.  I just gave away my Bally EM service book to the guy who bought my 1090-1, so I'm out of luck!

Sound like lubrication to me.
Pull the reel bundle by flipping the end tabs by the shaft. They are spring loaded closed.
Then check how each reel spins on the shaft. If reel one looks good, check out the reel mech for dried up grease.

I agree with Neonkiss. It's very common for the left-most index arm to prematurely lock down when the machine hasn't been used for a while. It is usually the reel mech/grease issue. Some silicon spray or WD40 on the reel mech (under the reels) and a few plays will usually do the trick. Make sure that you don't get any on the electrical components.

Of course, you could always do a complete cleaning and re-greasing.  :79-

   If that doesnt do it, try the slit that the index arm moves thru. Since there is some movement, this slit is  likely gunked up and causing the index to falter.

Tried the lubrication and it doesn't seem to help.  I did notice that when the reels are set into motion, that the left side reel bundle seems to "pop" up from the spring loaded retainer and then go back down. 

check to see that it's locked in place. The reel bundle should no pop up.
sound like it's not locked down.

There's a flat machined on the shaft at the end, it has to be in a particular orientation for the clip to lock it properly.

Thanks for the help.  I got the stuck reel running, but isomething is still out of spec.  The reel will spin as it's suppose to, only if you pulll the handle slowly towards the end of the pull.  If you pulll the handle quickly, it immediately locks up.  I finally figured out the reel assembly and it's been put in correctly.  Any ideas?

Try adjusting for a longer handle pull, by moving your L-stop bracket on the back right of the reel mech just a tiny tad back, and also adjust your 'kick' rod by moving the two 1/2 inch nuts a few turns one way of the other...(shorten the rod). Of course if you adjust it for too long a kick, it might lock up.  Fix that by pushing on pump arm while you push down all the way on the handle.
Let us know if that works.

Thanks for the info!  I think it's running okay now.  I may need to adjust the pull a bit farther, but for now it seems to be great.  Thanks for the help.