Money and Heat saving Idea

[Mildly Annoyed]

Being an Electronic Engineer and having worked with Electronic machinery for some 30 years, I know that it is best to leave Electronic equipment on constantly rather than turning it on and off. The reason is that any equipment after about 1970 is composed of Transistors and/or sub-miniature transistors en-mass in the form of Integrated Circuit chips. These chips contain thousands of transistor junctions along with sub-hair thin wires / traces used to interconnect all those different sub-components within. When the IC is energized for some time, then de-energized for some time those components heat up and cool down causing thermal expansion and contraction which weakens it and shortens it's life.
So, when I got an IGT S-Plus slot machine, I knew I wanted to keep it on all the time to lengthen its' life span.
I also didn't want to pay for all the time it was idle, so I did a simple mod of installing a switch for the Fluorescent Lights, which are the biggest electricity consumer.
The yearly cost of leaving the Fluorescent Lights on is $ 40. ( $9 / ea. X 3 with a lifespan of approx. 1 year + $ 13 / year for Power at current prices )
On the S-Plus it was very easy to remove the 2 plugs on top of the back of the power supply, break the circuits and add a long wire that goes out the drop area to an external switch.
Now when I play the machine, I just flip the switch to turn on the lights and turn them off when done.

I imagine that if someone had a large game room with many slots, the costs would add up to several hundred dollars per year. The heat output of that many lights would be significant too.

This is just an assumption, but if all those slots used 110V for the Fluorescent Lights it wouldn't be particularly hard to run a wire to each machine in parallel to supply the 110V from the Game Rooms Light Switch ( Or Switch-controlled outlet / fixture ) rather that the machines power supply.

That way, when you come in the room and turn on the lights, all the machine lights come on too. 

[Foster]

In the S+ has a isolation transformer in it for the 120VAC because hopper motor also uses 120VAC.
 
I can tell that the Isolation brings down the shock to the body some but you still feel it.

[reho33]

That would leave the current draw from the board itself whatever that is. Excellent idea though so k+ to ya

[Mildly Annoyed]

You're right. In this case the Game Room lights and Slots may be on different circuits and share the same Neutral and Ground so there is potentially 220V between the FL and the rest of the machine if they are on different circuits and each circuit is on a different leg.

It wouldn't be acceptable to assume it would be.

On the other hand, neither would having multiple slots in the same room on different circuits. ( Same 220V potential between 2 slots in case of internal shorts or when servicing )

Note to anyone with multiple circuits in a room of metal boxes : Maybe you'd want them to be on circuits that are on the same leg in the breaker box. They usually alternate, so every 2 is OK. Next to each other is bad.

Maybe a safer, not quite as convenient, but cheaper idea would be to have a dedicated power strip. Plug it into an outlet that's in the same circuit as all the machines it's going to light. Make a handful of various lengths of 2 wires with Molex Connector on one end and a 2 prong on the other. ( Or 3 prong if you're paranoid and want to worry about bonding that x ft. run ) ( Or live in Florida where the lightning is so wicked you do worry about it )

[reho33]

Well the S2000's have 25 volts going to the ballasts so all that would have to be done is to have a switch for all 3 ballasts to sitch on and off the 25v going to them. You might need a TPDT switch to accomplish this. However, there are 3 15 watt florescents in there so 45 watts + MB = 60 watts at idle. Since you only have one machine active at a time (unless you are playing 2) then the max might 300 watts but only for a moment. Bettor Slots says on his website that you should leave the slots on at all times if possible because the electric draw is so low, it is like 20 bucks a month more and he has a lot of slots. I tend to shut mine off and only put them on to play and have not had a problem with that.

[jay]

If you keep your machines on 24/7 the boards heat up as do the chips, as do the traces on the motherboard, power supplies etc etc. It might take a week for everything to heat up to its maximum/stable operating temperture. What is hard on the machines is expansion and contraction of the boards so if you leave electronics on all the time then leave them on. If you don't then don't. I run my machines for a few hours max when I am playing or have friends over then they are off and may stay off for a week.

I had an old computer that I had left on for years, and rebooted as necessary but it was never off. I shut it down one day and it would not come back on until the next day when it had cooled sufficently. Eventually I had to replace the power supply as this behavior repeated itself anytime the computer was left on for an extended period of time.

[StatFreak]

Something else worth mentioning is ambient temperature. Remember that modern slots are computers. When businesses have servers running 24/7, they usually place them in cold rooms under controlled conditions. Casino's aren't cold rooms, but they do keep their temperatures moderate all year 'round, and they also don't expect to get more than a few years out of their machines before replacing them with newer models. They also have spare parts at the ready should any fail along the way.

If you live somewhere that rarely gets hot, or always have your air conditioner running, and don't have too many machines crammed into a small area, then you might not have much to worry about. Personally, I live in the desert where the summer temperatures routinely exceed 100°F, and I don't have my AC running 24/7. I also have the machines in a small room. I would never consider leaving them on for extended lengths of time during the summer months. In fact, if the ambient temperature (with the slots off) is over 75° in the room, I won't turn on more than one or two at a time.