Another Bally 873 With Issues.

[JMac]

Guys,

My second Bally 873 has issues that I need a little guidance with;

(1) The jack pot bell works intermittently or not at all. Where do I start looking?

(2) The "Winner Paid" light is on most of the time, once in a great while it will work as it should, for one or two plays and then who knows!!??  On some plays the light will go out when the handle is pulled and come right back on before the reels even slow down, other times it stays out until a win is registered, Again, where do I start?

(3) Once in a while, it pays out when nothing denoting a payout is shown??  I could ignore this, but???  It seems that my number 2 reel strip may not be the correct one, will deal with this once I find out about the proper reel strips.

[slotsteve]

bell could be going bad or have loose wire   swap it with other  game
points too close on hopper is winner paid light  swap hopper too
this way  you know what is what .your buying 50 year old games  they broke a lot when they were 10 years old , but on a em there nothing you can't fix

[rdaniel]

Just a comment here, but it appears that your reel glass is for a nickle machine, since the three bar payout is only $5.00. It should be $25.00  for a quarter machine.

[JMac]

That small issue will be rectified once all of the other issues are resolved - FWIF I was aware of that when I bought the fool thing..  I was led to believe by the seller that was the only issue with this, yea, right!!  Everything on/in it had/has issues!

A good scan of the payout area of the glass and a little work in a paint program and what it will end up saying is "3 bars pays 100 coins" similar to what my other machine has (See attached).

[JMac]

bell could be going bad or have loose wire   swap it with other  game
points too close on hopper is winner paid light  swap hopper too
this way  you know what is what .your buying 50 year old games  they broke a lot when they were 10 years old , but on a em there nothing you can't fix

Well, the bell is OK, it goes crazy on the 5Th payline JP (Three 7's) as it is supposed to.  The thing is mute on the 3 bars or the other three 7's pay lines.

Whatever circuit that is supposed to activate the bell on the 3 bars and other3  7's payouts is kaput!!

Where do I look??  My guess is a switch somewhere is not doing its job!?!?

[slotsteve]

bell rings for hand pay only  5th line

[rdaniel]

Bally made many variations of each model. It could be that this model was wired so as to have the bell ring only on the 5th coin win and it was attendant paid?

[JMac]

No,

Two or three days ago the bell used to sound on three bars and three sevens, all lines but intermittently as if dirty contacts would not let it run as it should.  I am sure the problem is a switch out of adjustment on the reel bundle, but I have no idea which one. 

If I swap out the hoppers or feature units the problem stays with machine #2, I tried swapping the reel bundles, not good results.  I am convinced the problem is on the reel bundle or the wiring on machine #2.

[slotsteve]

the bell on 873 should only ring for hand pay if it was ringing for other someone changed the wire , the bell was to let casino know there was a hand pay /jackpot , unless someone did a mod to it.  follow bell circuit to see if wire has been moved

[JMac]

Not true, BOTH of my 873's ring (#2 machine used to) on 3 bars and/or 3 sevens Any line), as does a friend of mines nickle machine.

[OldReno]

If you think the problem lies in the reel mech, then check out your wiper fingers on all 3 reels carefully.
Read this post on my troubleshooting tips (if you haven't already) to see how to pull out the wipers.
http://newlifegames.net/nlg/index.php?topic=19336.0
Generally, the bell circuit is the lowest of the cuts on your wiper assembly.  You might also check out the back of the wipers to verify that the cuts are correct.  However, you said it did work at one time, so again, check the tension and adjustment of your lower wiper fingers on all reels. They may need more tension. 
Bell should be a stand alone circuit (6V) activated only when the correct reel index position is hit on only the pays that are wired in for it to ring. 
Also, the bell is used not only to alert attendants to jackpot pays, but to generate the excitement needed to keep gamblers playing.  And also, to alert floor personnel that a machine may be running away on a pay.  Good floor people could mentally count off how long a bell rang, and if it rang too long, they would automatically sense it, and know to go check it out and see what the problem was.... Saved many a runaway this way.

[slotsteve]

we sold hundreds of 800  model games  which only the bell would ring on a handpay , but you never know what mod have been done only good thing is with a em slot every thing can be fixed

[OldReno]

Steve, I hear you.  Also, in that case, I would bet the bell rang from the JP lockup relay being closed, and it probably rang until the JP reset key was turned and another coin dropped in the machine.
Yes, EM's are certainly prone to be modified.
In any case, the way to fix stuff is trace back the wiring....

[slotsteve]

your right on the money reno that how we got them , like you said  em's  can be fixed. funny most of the games we got we bought out of reno  closed casino's late 80's early 90's , back then we found many games thur penny saver

[JMac]

Well guys, It looks like we are chasing our tails here.  It just dawned on me that everything was working much better than it is now before I pulled the reel bundle the other day to check on the bell, everything after that went to hell in a hand basket!

When I received the machine from the trucking company I inspected the heck out of the package (Wrapped in cardboard),  I could not find any issues at all, it looked clean.

After I got the machine home (It was a few days before I got to this one as I was working on the my other 873).

When I did get to it I almost could not remove the reel bundle, after I did get it out I noticed that the rightmost beau plug broken, I cleaned things up as best I could and most everything seemed OK. Other than the machine was dirty, needed to be oiled and some adjustments I thought I was OK.  How this one item was damaged is beyond me, why not both plugs!?!?  No damage on the packaging, can't yell at the shipper!, hummm!

In as much as everything was working, even if not correctly it did “playâ€�.  Well since disturbing the bad connections again and again it has been a cluster *&^% and it seems to get worse each time the reel bundle is R & R’d .  Take a close look at the after photo and you will see what I mean!

Since I pulled the reel bundle this morning and cleaned the reel wipers no bell at all, no 200 coin payout, etc… All other payouts are OK.  I think that broken beau plug is the issue…  I may try to pull the 2 female round connectors forward and super glue them and see if it helps but I don’t have high hopes at this point

Due to a very bad back and a lot of pain, I am going to let someone else get this thing going – I now know where the problems are, and being disabled as I am I think this is the best solution.   I want both the male and the female beau plugs replaced and I am in no shape to do it.

Oh, not only is the #2 reel strip wrong, so is the reel itself, the number on the reel is the same as reel #1, reel #3 appears to be correct.  That explains the “Mystery Paysâ€�!!

What a POS!!

Thanks for the help, but let’s let this thread die a miserable death!!


The photos below show the beau plug before shipping and after I received it! FWIW!?!?

[OldReno]

That's a shame.  Not many pins left there, since there are so many pays.  Often you can find enough empty spots between both sets of plugs to eliminate one.  There are workarounds for that.
If you're ever up Reno way, drop it by my place....

[JMac]

I tried to glue that sucker back together and was successful, BUT, the plug will not align properly so now the reel bundle will not even go in, so the bundle is on the floor and I will take the whole mess to LA Slots as soon as they are open again.

Thanks for the help and the offer...    I would bet that the messed up plug is at the root of all of the remaining issues!!  Fix the plugs and I'll bet the issues are resolved!