Couple Questions About a Bally 1088-13 EM Lowboy

[Amachanic]

First of all I'm looking for a schematic for a Bally 1088 EM. Mine happens to be a 1088-13 lowboy. I have a speratic payout and bell. When you first start playing it, you don't get paid on a jackpot. Then it's will start paying as it should. Other times it just the opposite. Plays and pays, then the bell stops ringing on payout, then it stops paying all together? The other thing is, can anyone tell me what purpose the top door hinge switch does? Was it just connected to the candle, because mines not hooked up. It's just the candle without the wiring.

Thanks, Gary

[JMac]

Gary,

A shot in the dark!  One of my 873's was doing the same thing on the payouts and bell (And candle), drove me nuts.  Make sure that the hopper and reel bundle beau plugs are making good contact - That was my problem, they were intermittent, a little tweak on the blades made all the diff.!

The door switch on mine tells the mpu that the door is open and a tech (Yea right), is working on or otherwise servicing it!  Without the switch telling the mpu that the door is open, one would not be able to use test mode, etc...

[Amachanic]

John, How yea doing? I've been thru those plugs both sides if both plugs. I've checked the soldering and even moved two wires that were on bad cabinet plug connections. I tried wiggling the reels and hopper when its happened without any luck? As for the door switch, this machine doesn't have an MPU.. That's why the switch has me stumped?

Gary

[JMac]

Gary,

All I can say at this point is; "Good luck!" - I am sure that you will find and fix the issues...

As far as the switch goes, no mpu, then it must have been to light the candle to signify that the door was open...  For some reason some previous owner disconnected some things, I am guilty in that regard..

Again, Good luck!!

[OldReno]

Sounds like either your payboard wipers need some tweaking, or your reel wipers.  Move your reels up and down with the pay up and see if that makes it pay.  Make sure your your wipers have enough tension, and are in the right spots.
Door switch? I dunno, maybe an alert for the floor people that the machine's door is open....

[Amachanic]

I've tried the reel wiggle with no luck? I do see one wire taped up by the hopper relays, but I can't tell where it came from, thats why I'd like to find a schematic for this model. Couldn't be my problem any way since it does work correct when it wants too. The payout wipers are worn down but seem to be making good contact. I cleaned the wiper boards and fingers with a green scrub pad then applied a light coating of PBR contact grease. The reel bundle almost slides in and out of the Beau plugs too easy, but the female plug looks good, no bent or broken sockets. The males plugs are cleaned? I had another 1088 or 1089 machine, and it had the same door hinge switch? Might be time to start looking on the reels wiper board or payout board for a bad solder joint.

[David B Fowler]

Do you have harnesses so you can work the reel bundle and hopper outside the case? I think that would make troubleshooting easier.
Dave   

[Amachanic]

Dave, 
         Yea I have two 24 pin extension cables and an 18... Not a bad idea..    I'm going to double check the solder joints on the payout disk and reel wiper boards tomorrow. I did pull the payout board tonight. My zero stops not sticking and contacts are good. I did wipe down the payoff board once about two weeks ago, but it turned my Q-Tips black again tonight? I'm going to clean the reels wiper boards again tomorrow, since they were done at the same time? Not sure why it was so dirty that fast? It might have had something to do with the contact grease? It might have cleaned any tarnish off the boards contacts. I wish I had just one of the flat male pins from a Beau plug so I could check each of the cabinets female connectors to see if the were loose fitting causing a bad connection. Hard to tell with a complete plug.

Gary

[JMac]

Gary,

How about plugging in your extension cables and then using a meter on them, check 'em pin for pin??  Not foolproof, but if it shows issues then you know you are going the right way!

[Amachanic]

Gary,
How about plugging in your extension cables and then using a meter on them, check 'em pin for pin??  Not foolproof, but if it shows issues then you know you are going the right way!

John,
          That's what I had to do with that 831 Fruit machine I just finished. I was a pain in the butt. One of the problems doing that is the extension cables usually fit tighter then the machine plug. That's why I was thinking of making a single flat connector test wire I could meter the connection with. Just need to see if I have a bad male plug for a pin connector.
Gary

[David B Fowler]

You can also take 2 old ball point pens and remove the guts and push button ( 1 for each pin). Take an old Beau plug and remove a pin from it (male and female is good to have). This is where you improvise to get them to fit, into where the push button was you fit the solder tab down into it. Put some good epoxy to hold it in place. After it sets up good, you can use to test the tightness of each pin individually to look for play in it. Yes you can do the same without making the holder, but I lose the pins and my fat little fingers seem to drop things all the time.
Dave

[Amachanic]

You can also take 2 old ball point pens and remove the guts and push button ( 1 for each pin). Take an old Beau plug and remove a pin from it (male and female is good to have). This is where you improvise to get them to fit, into where the push button was you fit the solder tab down into it. Put some good epoxy to hold it in place. After it sets up good, you can use to test the tightness of each pin individually to look for play in it. Yes you can do the same without making the holder, but I lose the pins and my fat little fingers seem to drop things all the time.
Dave

Dave thanks for the tip.. I just need to track down the male pin part. I have the female connectors from a broken beau plug.

[Amachanic]

Well I tracked down a male beau plug pin and checked the female connectors, they seem fine.. I double checked the payout wiper board, and the hoppers relays, and found nothing wrong.. Played it for a while, and again the same thing happens  ..  Wiggled reels, and hopper, nothing.. No payouts or bell at all  ..  Then I'm pulling the handle I noticed that the air plunger link rod is rubbing on the large white molex plug behind the handles gear box.. I pull the reels out and go to check the plug and notice a broken molex pin connector.. The wires insulation was worn off too.. Put a new pin on and used some shrink tube to fix the insulation.. Put it all back together, and zip tied up the wiring really good, and it now has a bell and pays out again.    I will play it again in the morning, and hopefully that was the problem. Thanks for everyone's suggestion..

Gary

[David B Fowler]

 
YEA .... I love it when it all comes together.
Dave