Universal Slot Machine 8116-A2

[mantaramian]

I just got a Universal Slot machine DOA

Upon inspection the machine would not power up so I started to diagnose the machine.

All fuses are good, it turned out to be a bad plug, and you know those cheep PC power cords. So I replaced the cord and started to get some life to the machine.

So the first error I got was the error 50, door open..... No big deal. So I unplugged the slot machine and closed the door and plugged it back in, I dropped a coin and pulled the handle and the reels did not spin but I could here a noise coming from the machine like the reels were trying to spin. I unplugged the machine opened the door to examine the reels, the reels move freely so I went threw the whole thing again but this time I got the error 50 (door open) and error 41 (reel problem) So I pulled the board out to see if there was any battery corrosion.

Well I was just in time.... another few months with this heat and who knows what could have happened....

So I clean the area very well with isopropyl alcohol and a tooth brush. I put a new battery in and reassembled everything.

After reading the manual a little closer I was able to follow the direction to clear the errors. This time with the door opened and the machine ready to go I deposited a coin pulled the handle and the machine started to make its wonderful sound as if the reels were spinning but that irritating noise started again.....

I was able to determine what the noise is.... the coin counters spinning like it was in a race..... They were spinning as fast as the could.

Does anybody have any ideas?

[knagl]

I was able to determine what the noise is.... the coin counters spinning like it was in a race..... They were spinning as fast as the could.

Does anybody have any ideas?

Are you saying that the physical coin meters are spinning rapidly?  I'm not a Uni expert, but I'd suggest letting it sit for an hour (while turned on with the meters clicking away) -- the issue may resolve itself.  The machine may be trying to get caught up on pulses that it needs to send to the meters (for example, if a jackpot was hit or large cash out was recently completed).

On a slot machine, the game typically has electronic ("soft") and physical ("hard") coin meters.  When there's a jackpot, for example, the soft meters can be updated almost instantly, but it takes a ton of clicks of the hard meter to catch up and display the correct number of coins out (coins won) from the machine.

If it's still clicking away after an hour or two, then you may have another issue (and Uniman or someone else more familiar with Universal machines will have to help), but it's not out of the realm of possibility that it just needs to get caught up.

(By the way, did the reels spin and the machine appear to work normally, or did the reels not spin?  If the reels didn't spin as they should have, then you likely have a bigger issue and can probably ignore my suggestion to leave it on and clicking away.)

[uniman]

You said you cleared the errors (41). Did you do a ram clear? A ram clear would also stop the meters from counting any previous jackpots. Altough a battery change would have cleared the ram too.
Try clearing the ram anyways. Push the black button at the bottom of the board (middle) while powering up at the same time.

The meters spinning after a handle pull does sound like a bigger problem. Here is the most common problems I've found;

1. The power cord damaged because it comes out of the bottom of the machine and is made to go into a stand, not on a floor getting pinched by home users. (You found a bad cord and replaced)
2. A coin on the MPU board. (Not your problem you had the board out and replaced the battery.) But check under it.
3. A coin or screw behind the connectors that the MPU plugs into. THIS IS WHERE I WOULD START. Remove the MPU connectors and frame. About 4-6 screws. Pull it loose and check the wiring behind it.

If after this it still acts up, then the MPU board is suspect.

Jim

[mantaramian]

Thank you all for you advice.... Let me check into the areas mentioned and I will post my findings.

  

[uniman]

It does sound like a dead short problem, voltage for the reels getting to the meters.
Universal has two small openings from the bottom box to the top box. Both in the rear corners and the left side is right over the MPU connectors. 
Any screws rolling around the top box can fall right in behind those connectors and sometimes causes a short.
Let us know what you find.

[mantaramian]

Sorry for the delay... to my surprise the fellow I bought the machine from had a TDC machine and I was able to interchange the RAM and z80's around to determine if I had any bad parts....

Well the TDC kept giving me the bad ram error no matter what Ram was put in the machine, so I was able to narrow down the problem to the harness from the door to the board on the back of the machine.

The long and short of the story is: the TDC is up, running....

The Universal is still having the same problems.

I pulled all the components out and carefully inspected them to make sure nothing was stuck where it should not have been.....

So now I am at a stand by till I come across something that I will be able to compare the boards to.....My z80's are good, the ram is good...... I am tempted to remove the sockets and replace them with new ons unless somebody else has any better suggestions.....


PS Happy belated 4th of July 

[uniman]

I would try unplugging one component at a time and try the machine. Start with the hopper, unplug it and turn on the machine, then try a spin.
Then unplug the meters.
After that I would unplug the handle.

[mantaramian]

Will do, I will keep you posted! Thanks