IGT Start-up problem

[Larshar]

Hello and help! Glad I found this forum. I have a 1995 IGT "American Pride" triple 7 coin operated slot machine I purchased back in 2004. The model # is B5033CFW. It has worked flawlessly since I purchased it, and I just had my first problem last night. Normally, when I flip the toggle switch to start it up after opening the door, the first thing that happens is the fluorescent lights come on, then the bill changer goes through about 6 seconds of it's setting up, after that the wheels spin for about 3 seconds, then I shut the door, the wheels spin again for another 3 seconds or so, then the red lights come on the front and the machine is ready to go. Last night, it would only go as far as the bill changer phase of start up, then nothing else would happen. The wheels would not spin and it would not finish it's start up procedure. No red lights on the outside, thus no codes. It's as if it just does not finish it's start-up procedure and just sits there in limbo. Does anybody have an idea what could be wrong? I would greatly appreciate any input. Thank you.

Larry

[Neonkiss]

check the fuses. It sound like you have the 110v but may be missing the lower voltage for the gameboard.

[Larshar]

Thanks for responding!  There are 3 fuses that I know about and they are inside the machine on the bottom right under the bill collector box. The top one says 24VAC 6A 240VAC the middle one says 8VAC 8A 240 VAC, and the bottom one says 120 VAC 6A 240 VAC.  All 3 fuses appear to be OK.  Are there more I should be checking?  Thanks again.

Larry

[PinballWiz]

Thanks for responding!  There are 3 fuses that I know about and they are inside the machine on the bottom right under the bill collector box. The top one says 24VAC 6A 240VAC the middle one says 8VAC 8A 240 VAC, and the bottom one says 120 VAC 6A 240 VAC.  All 3 fuses appear to be OK.  Are there more I should be checking?  Thanks again.

Larry

You really should check them with a meter.  Many fuses can look good, but actually be blown.

Rob

[Larshar]

I just checked the 3 fuses I mentioned with a meter and all check out OK.  Any other suggestions possibly?  Thank you very much.

Larry

[Foster]

I suspect a poor power connection at the Motherboard power connector.
The connector is a 6 pin white connector, right front of motherboard. You will need to remove the tray and hopper to have easy access to it.
Move it up and down a bit or remove it and clean with electrical contact cleaner.

[Larshar]

Thank you Foster for the great suggestion.  I saw the white 6 pin connector just as you described and I took it apart, and cleaned it, but no go.  Still in limbo after the bill changer does it's thing.  I would have bet the farm that what you said was the problem.  What's crazy is that it was working just fine last week.  I go to cut it back on a week later and now this.  I will galdly accept any other suggestions that you or others may have.  I am sure it has got to be something simple.  Thanks again.

Larry

[knagl]

Larry-

Welcome to NLG.  We'll get your machine up and running.

For starters, can you post a picture of your machine?  I don't remember ever seeing "American Pride" as a S+ theme.  I just want to make sure that we're on the same page for what machine is being worked on.

My initial thought before I saw Foster's reply was that wiring harness -- it seems to be the only thing that really goes wrong with the machine.  As far as it working fine last week and not now, that's just how it goes -- if the part is going to fail, it has to fail at some point, and it would be working normally up until that point...   

[Larshar]

Thanks for the response Knaql!  I really appreciate it.  Here is a picture of my machine.  I can follow instructions pretty good for a layman, so just let me know what to check next and I will get it done.  Thank you very much for you help.

Larry

[knagl]

Neat graphics -- that's a Sizzling 7's clone, but I've never seen it before.

Is that a picture of the machine in its current state?  It almost looks like the bill acceptor bezel is lit up.  Is it, or is that just a strange reflection in the photo?

When you turn the machine on, are the reels "stiff", or do they spin freely (just as freely as they do with the power off)?

Did the connector look burnt at all or otherwise badly discolored?  Did you remove the MPU (silver) tray?  If not, with the power off, remove the hopper, remove the tray (lift straight up on the black knob handle, then out towards you once it pops out).  Look for any obvious burn marks on the MPU board, then put it back in, put the hopper back in, and try turning the machine back on.  If your fuses are good, I'm still suspecting that power connector.

The real good news is that there aren't a ton of parts in the S+, and as such there isn't a ton that can go wrong with them.  Also, parts are very easy to come by, so if you do wind up needing to buy a part, you won't have to pay and arm and a leg for it.

[Larshar]

Knaql,

That is an old picture.  Your eyes are not playing tricks, the bill acceptor light is lit up.  Of course now, the only thing that lights up are the fluorescent lights inside the machine.  The wheels spin freely as if the machine was off.  I removed the MPU board the other night hoping that was the answer.  I remember when I bought the machine, the fellow told me that when weird things happen (when the machine is operational) to pull that board out and then replace.  Usually a bad contact or something.  I just did this again just now and no luck.  That white connector is almost new looking.  The MPU board did not have anything that jumped out at me, but I am not sure just what to look for in all that circuitry.  No obvious dark places or anything like that.  The machine is really in very good shape and clean.  Somebody else told me it could possibly be that in-line 3.6v battery soldered in the MPU board that could keep it from "loading up" for lack of a better word.  Still scratching my head here.  Thanks!!

Larry

[stayouttadabunker]

PLease take the board back out, remember, ONLY with the power OFF.
Check on the board connector pins to see if anything pins are bent.
Because your reels are "spinning freely", there's NO power going to the motherboard or the MPU isnt seated correctly.
Are you good enough with a power tester to see if there's is indeed power coming out of that 6-pin white molex connector?
if not, we can run you through with details as to how to check with a meter for power.

[Larshar]

The MPU pins look as if they are ok and it seems to seat without any problems.  No bent pins, etc.  I have a meter and I certainly agree that we need to see if power is coming out of that 6-pin molex connector as you stated.  Can you please walk me through on how to test for that?  Are we interested in the side with the male prongs, or the female side?  Thank you.

Larry

[stayouttadabunker]

Ok,
I would like you to remove the 6-pin female molex from the motherboard that comes from the power supply.
There are two green wires, two orange wires, and two blue or white wires.
EACH green equals 12V each, each orange are 5V while the blues (or whites) are common.

See what you get when you touch the tester leads between one orange wire and one blue wire--the meter ought to show 5V.

Testing between one green wire and one blue wire should show 12V on the meter.

[knagl]

Somebody else told me it could possibly be that in-line 3.6v battery soldered in the MPU board that could keep it from "loading up" for lack of a better word.

You'd get an error 12 if the battery was low or dead.

The power supply for the machine is in the lower right side of the cabinet, under the bill acceptor stacker can.  You'll want to check the wires coming from there that go to the motherboard.

[stayouttadabunker]

Larshar,
Look closely at these pictures...on the backside of the motherboard molex, in the female's second green wire location, you may see it slightly discolored. Brownish really.
That green wire one of two grounds for the split 12V wires to equal 24V.
These were pretty cheap and only contacted the pin on two sides. After time, the pins and the contacts become somewhat oxidized, causing intermittent power connection.
Both the male pins on the motherboard and the females in the molex need to be cleaned.
Go to radio shack and pick up electronic metal cleaner stuff...I actually dont know what it's called 
somebody help us out here!

ADD>> double click on the picture to fully enlarge it.

[Larshar]

Stayouttadabunker,

This is EXACTLY what my molex connector looks like.  Same wire, same discoloration, etc.  If I put mine next to yours you could not tell them apart.  Let me try what you suggest today and I will get back.  Thank you very much!

Larry

[stayouttadabunker]

There's five ways to fix this recurring problem with S+ power harnesses.
One is to take some sandpaper and roughen up the pins on the motherboard.
Two is to buy some metal electronics contact cleaner stuff.
Three is to take the female receptor contacts out of the molex and sandpaper/clean the metal contacts.
Four is to buy some trifurcons females and install them in the molex.
These trifircons have more contact points onto the male pins.
Five is to buy a new power harness and give me your old one for telling you how to fix this

[Larshar]

OK, complete dummy of the year award goes to me.  Machine is up and running fine now.  Fuse indeed was the culprit.  PinballWiz and Neon Kiss were right to begin with.  Everybody else was thrown off by my suggesting the fuses were OK.  No longer will I ever trust a cheap Radio Shack multi tester on a fuse only to find out that is indeed blown.  Not sure which one it was since I replaced all 3.

I want to thank everybody on this board, especially knagl and stayouttadabunker for all the time you took to help me solve this.  If there is any consolation to my stupidity, I did learn a lot from all of you about this machine I did not have a clue to before, and in discovering this site, will know where to come if I have more problems in the future.

Happy New Year to all and thanks again for all your help!

Larry

[PinballWiz]

OK, complete dummy of the year award goes to me.  Machine is up and running fine now.  Fuse indeed was the culprit.  PinballWiz and Neon Kiss were right to begin with.  Everybody else was thrown off by my suggesting the fuses were OK.  No longer will I ever trust a cheap Radio Shack multi tester on a fuse only to find out that is indeed blown.  Not sure which one it was since I replaced all 3.

I want to thank everybody on this board, especially knagl and stayouttadabunker for all the time you took to help me solve this.  If there is any consolation to my stupidity, I did learn a lot from all of you about this machine I did not have a clue to before, and in discovering this site, will know where to come if I have more problems in the future.

Happy New Year to all and thanks again for all your help!

Larry

No problem.  We all learn as we go along.  This group has a great number of fantastic teachers.  I'm glad your game is back up and running.

Rob

[Larshar]

Thanks Rob.  I didn't mean to leave Foster out of my accolades.  I appreciated his input as well.  Take care.

Larry

[Neonkiss]

 
The S+  is a tough machine.
We all knew you would get it fixed.
Now you need another S+ so you can swap parts around to do your trouble shooting..

[Larshar]

Thank you! Thank you!  Sitting here playing it right now.  Working like a charm (for now).  Until next time.....

Larry

[knagl]

Larry-

Congrats on fixing your machine!  

Glad to hear it's working for you again.  Should you ever have any trouble with it again, we'll be here!  

(As an aside, and completely optional, but you're encouraged to toss a couple of bucks into the site hosting fund to help pay the hosting bills for the site which keeps it up and running.  There's a PayPal link at the bottom of every page.  Even if it's only a few dollars, every little bit helps!  If you can't, that's totally okay too -- everyone here is happy to volunteer their help no matter what.)

[Larshar]

Thanks again knagl.  This is a tremendous site with some great people on it.  I was more than happy to make a donation, thank you for the reminder.  My wife and I both love this machine and it's good to know that if something should happen again, I do have somewhere to go.  With all the mess in the world that can make you lose sleep at night, this machine not working is one of them for me!  Best wishes to all and I am sure we will talk again soon.

Larry