igt hopper jam

[thegambler327]

ok new problem of the week!!! igt slant top splus,the hopper now locked up tight took it all apart no coin jams ect. what i found is the release on the bottom of the motor doesnt disengage when i cash out.My daughter broke it this time. So anyways if you release it by hand hopper spins fine,so i propped something under it to finish letting the hopper empty and worked just fine.So now what is the correct way of fixing that or do i just buy a new hopper?

[stayouttadabunker]

You're blaming it on your daughter?  
I don't think she went in there with a hammer!!!

Oh yeah, the dog ate my homework....   jk



So you propped something under the brake right?
How does the motor stop when it reaches the count of the payout -
do you let it run until there's no more coins in the hopper
or until you get a 3100 error code?


Anyways, take out the hopper and remove all the coins from it.
Take a photograph of the brake pawl
and the spring that's attached to the motor shaft.
Why? Because there are left and right hand brake pawls.
You machine needs the specific one.
I don't know what yours uses.

Post the pictures in the "Classifieds" section of NLG in a WTB ad
and hopefully a vendor/seller will have one for you.

[thegambler327]

yes propped something under it.But hopper shut off like its supposed too when the credits were paid out. Well i cant blame myself i was at work  she was playing hit the cashout ran out of coins the wife went to refill the hopper and couple coins spit out went into 3100 code. And if your looking at the motor the brake spring is on the left side.

[poppo]

The brake is used to stop the motor immediately when power is removed and not let momentum let another coin out. You may start getting some 3100 'extra coin out' errors occasionally.

Post some pictures, so we can see just what is broken. We may be able to rig something up depending on what is going on.

[stayouttadabunker]

LOL  Hitting the Cashout button doesn't mean "she" broke it - the slot machine is designed to
cash out all credits if she wants it to.
Because the hopper failed means you are not maintaining your machine for it to operate correctly -
so it's your fault. 

It's important sometimes to post pictures when you are asked so that we can
determine from what angle you are looking at the motor.
We have no idea how you are "looking at the motor"... 
Did you pull it out and place it on a bench to work on it or... what?

Remember, we are here to help you and the more you tell/show us - the better we can help you. 

[knagl]

I haven't looked at a hopper in a while -- is there a solenoid that activates to release the brake?  Is it possible that it stopped working?

I agree, a picture of the area of the hopper with the brake will help to diagnose the issue.

If you're not getting any 3100 (extra coin out) errors when you cash out, you might be able to skate by with your fix for a while, but it would be a good idea to eventually get the thing fixed correctly.

[poppo]

I haven't looked at a hopper in a while -- is there a solenoid that activates to release the brake?  Is it possible that it stopped working?

The shell of the motor acts as a magnet and pulls in a metal plate that in turns releases the plastic brake. In effect the motor it's self acts like a solenoid when it powers up.

[knagl]

Oh, very neat.  Thanks for the explanation, poppo.  K+

[thegambler327]

I haven't looked at a hopper in a while -- is there a solenoid that activates to release the brake?  Is it possible that it stopped working?

The shell of the motor acts as a magnet and pulls in a metal plate that in turns releases the plastic brake. In effect the motor it's self acts like a solenoid when it powers up.

ok so what do i do to actually fix it the correct way? And when i got it up and running again it didnt go into the 3100 code

[poppo]

ok so what do i do to actually fix it the correct way? And when i got it up and running again it didnt go into the 3100 code

Well, it you post a picture we can get a better understanding of what may or may not be broken.

You may or may not get a 3100. If the pinwheel stops on it's own before another coin reaches the coin optics, it will be fine. But if it should happen to keep moving a bit too far, you would get a 3100. The brake is designed to stop the motor dead in it's tracks as soon as the hopper turns off.

Here are a couple of pictures of what it should look like. The first shows it with the brake engaged (normal condition). You see there is a spring on the one side to hold it in this position. The arrow shows the metal arm away from the motor.

The second picture shows what it would look like when the motor turns on. I'm manually holding in the metal arm to release the brake. That metal arm should push in very easy against the motor and the spring should make it pop out just as easily.

Click on pictures to enlarge.

[poppo]

Now in order for the brake NOT to release, the metal arm would have to not be being pulled in. But that is almost impossible since the motor acts as a magnet. However if there is too much friction at the top pivot point from gunk, it may be biding. Also as shown in this picture, the arm actually pushes the red lever which is what engages the 'teeth' on the motor shaft.  It that tip is broken, it also won't disengage. And make sure someone didn't install the spring the wrong way that would keep it from disengaging.

And here is link to where Bunker posted a picture with more descriptors. http://newlifegames.net/nlg/index.php?topic=10751.msg93548#msg93548

The bottom line is you may be able to get by with the brake held off, but don't be surprised if you do get an occasional 3100. That can be cleared by opening and closing the door, but if the hopper stops with a coin blocking the optics, you will probably get a 3200 'coin jam' until you get the coin out from the optics path.

Oh, one more thing. On occasion, I have stuck my hopper back in and had it appear the be stuck when it tried to pay out, but it was due to the coins and not the brake. Pulling it out and shaking it a bit would fix it. So just be sure it's actually a brake issue and not something else.

[Jim]

I guess the best way to fix your hopper is to find out what is wrong with it.  you can test it out side the machine and watch what it is doing,  that motor is 115vac,  unhook the two connectors that go to the motor,  fashion a test harness out of a inexpensive two wire extension cord.  basically cut the end off where the female plugs are,  strip back the insulation and attach some connectors to it.  then place the connectors on the motor and plug the other end into a power strip with a on/off switch. 

now you can turn the hopper on and off at will, and observe what is happening, correct your problem and move on.

after it is repaired you can also use the machine to test the hopper. 


Jim

[kforeman]

I guess the best way to fix your hopper is to find out what is wrong with it.  you can test it out side the machine and watch what it is doing,  that motor is 115vac,  unhook the two connectors that go to the motor,  fashion a test harness out of a inexpensive two wire extension cord.  basically cut the end off where the female plugs are,  strip back the insulation and attach some connectors to it.  then place the connectors on the motor and plug the other end into a power strip with a on/off switch. 

now you can turn the hopper on and off at will, and observe what is happening, correct your problem and move on.

after it is repaired you can also use the machine to test the hopper. 


Jim

  we used to call these "the suicide cables" back in the S+ and PE days becuase we just used alligator clips for connectors...i almost miss them.    i popped the breaker in the shop at least 3 times in my first few months while trying to test hoppers on my bench.  for some damn reason i couldn't figure out that it was much safer to plug the suicide cable into the wall  after i had connected it to the hopper first. 

[thegambler327]

Now in order for the brake NOT to release, the metal arm would have to not be being pulled in. But that is almost impossible since the motor acts as a magnet. However if there is too much friction at the top pivot point from gunk, it may be biding. Also as shown in this picture, the arm actually pushes the red lever which is what engages the 'teeth' on the motor shaft.  It that tip is broken, it also won't disengage. And make sure someone didn't install the spring the wrong way that would keep it from disengaging.

And here is link to where Bunker posted a picture with more descriptors. http://newlifegames.net/nlg/index.php?topic=10751.msg93548#msg93548

The bottom line is you may be able to get by with the brake held off, but don't be surprised if you do get an occasional 3100. That can be cleared by opening and closing the door, but if the hopper stops with a coin blocking the optics, you will probably get a 3200 'coin jam' until you get the coin out from the optics path.

Oh, one more thing. On occasion, I have stuck my hopper back in and had it appear the be stuck when it tried to pay out, but it was due to the coins and not the brake. Pulling it out and shaking it a bit would fix it. So just be sure it's actually a brake issue and not something else.

welll im 99.9% its the brake i had the hopper empty when i tried it again,it ran for about a second and locked back up.ill try and take some pictures when i get home from work tonight.I would like to think the spring was fine because it worked fine for the past month,never jammed or any other problems.

[thegambler327]

well it actually wasnt the brake it was the coin counter was a little worn out and was getting stuck. the screw that holds the counter keeps threading in. fixed it by putting a set screw behind it so that it keeps it from tighting up.the brake was a little gummed up so i just cleaned it up and put everything back together.So thanks again for all the help!

[poppo]

Glad you got it working.