PE+ Hold buttons do not work

[thomas883]

Any help would be appreciated. I have a 1993 PE+ multipoker slant top. I have not had it that long, and it appears to have had a rough life. It was a $200 craigslist find. The hold buttons have just quit working.

The first time I played it the Hold buttons stopped working. It was late at night. I unplugged it, and planned on looking at it the next day. The following day I plugged it in and it worked fine. Then, a couple nights ago I was playing it. After about half an hour the monitor went a little blurry. So I opened it up to "wiggle the monitor around, just in case it was making a bad contact. I closed the lid and the hold buttons no longer work. I unplugged it and hoped it would have the same results as last time. No such luck.

The Hold buttons will not work. The machine is currently stuck on a screen asking me if I want to double down. It has 44 credits, and the screen says restart closure on the left hand side. When I use the reset button and test the machine all the buttons (0 changes to 1 when button pushed) except the 5 hold buttons work. I have wiggled just about every wire 30 times, hit the rest button a few dozen times, and tried the jackpot reset key about the same amount. I took the board out to check for a loose chip or any burn marks, none.

Any suggestions? I plan on purchasing a set chip, do you think that would help? I also did not remove the back panel board ( the one the main board plugs into).

Also in test mode the door open will flicker  between 0 & 1 extremely fast when the lid is closed. I do not think that that is the problem, but I just wanted to the thorough in explaining the current state of my machine.

Thanks in advance Rob

[thomas883]

Also forgot to mention that the micro swithch for  Hold button 5( far right) only has two wires going to it instead of three like the others.

[stayouttadabunker]

The last Hold[5] button only has 2 wires because the other buttons are daisy chaining the ground wire.

Can you check that button harness again?
The ground wire is the common wire for all those Hold buttons.
There has to be a break somewhere on it.

It may not be visible because the break is located under the wire covering and possibly inside the crimp.
In other words, the crimp is now crimping plastic somewhere - not wire.
Using a multimeter, check for continuity between each Hold button button's ground crimp and any metal on the door.
Start checking from where the harness 1st comes into the button deck at the leftmost Hold[1] button.

A SET chip will do nothing for you at this time.
No chip in the world will help you... unless a slot tech with a multimeter in his hand named "Chip" knocks at your door.

Anyways, you will still not have any working Hold buttons after using a SET or Clear chip.
Your problem seems to be more of a physical one rather than a corrupted ROM or machine configuration error.

[knagl]

I agree with Bunker, Rob.  This is more than likely a physical wiring issue, not an issue that a SET or CLEAR chip will help you with.

I have two bartop machines, and one of them has an intermittent issue with the hold buttons, but I've traced it down to a bad connection in one of the wires.  As I open and close the door, the wires move around, and that sometimes causes the issue to crop up.

I posted a list of the wiring for my bartop machine here.  I don't know if the wires are the same color between the bartop and the slant top, but it's very important that each of the three wires are plugged to the correct posts on the microswitches (and yes, there should only be two wires on the last button).

Since the buttons are wired in series, I also agree with Bunker in that you should start by closely checking the wiring going to the first (left) hold button.  If something isn't making a good contact in that microswitch, none of the other buttons will work.  In other words, focus your efforts on the first button, because if that one doesn't work, none of the others should, either.

The Self Test Input screen that you were using is *the* diagnostic tool you have to see if your buttons are working or not.  Use that screen as you're troubleshooting to determine if you've resolved the issue.

(Also, it's perfectly normal for the Door Open value to flicker between 0 and 1 rapidly when the door is closed -- the machine uses a pulsed signal on the door optics for security.)

[thomas883]

Thanks for all of the help. I just wanted to make sure that the machine had not "froze" up like some form of a tilt that needed to be reset. I will check all the connections and the grounds tonight, Unless my wife MAKES me go play blackjack.

Thanks again Rob

[Jim]

don't dismiss the micro switch itself,  I have experienced more bad switches, than wiring problems.

Jim

[thomas883]

OK
I pulled all the micro switches and tested them. They appear to be fine. the ground wires(green with yellow) all seem good. Traced the center wires from each switch back to the first wiring harness plug. They all seem good. The Gray w/blue wire that runs between the second and third HOLD buttons is bad. It appears to have a bad end or crimp in it. I have not had a chance to find a new end for it yet. I can only get it to register on my multimeter if I really wiggle it around. Could this wire be the problem? I tried to wiggle it around when it was attached to the micro switch, but I could still not get any of the Hold buttons to register an input on the TEST screen.  Should fixing the wire solve the problem? Thx

[thomas883]

Actually it is gray with purple strip and the rest of the wires are the same colors as in knagl's post.

[knagl]

A problem between the second and third buttons should still allow the first button to work.  Again, I'd focus your efforts on getting some kind of reaction from the first button before worrying about the others. You may need to trace and test the wiring back to the motherboard. As these wires get older, there's always a chance of a broken wire inside the insulation.

[knagl]

Also, those "ground wires" don't do anything. The metal posts on the buttons that they plug into go into the plastic housing of the button.

[knagl]

If you short these two wires together, it should register as hold 1:

 Hold 1:
C = Yellow/Purple Stripe
NO = White-ish or yellow (the color is fading on mine -- tough to tell)

[azgamingslots]

check the wiring harness where it passes the hinge in the door.  wires seem to break right there,  if you grab and pull each wire separately, and find any that are stretchy -they are broken and have to be spliced back together.