Bally 5500 Premature Spin Issue

[StatFreak]

<ADD> Problem synopsis:
Machine sporadically spins without warning after first coin is dropped or the first credit is wagered using the bet one button. Does not occur when max bet is used.

So it seems that we both have the same problem.

Have you checked the handle optic like blueridgeslots suggested? It will be easier for you to check it than it will for me. (I don't think that it is the problem, but it's best to make sure.)
« Last Edit: Today at 09:25:16 by channelmaniac »


2 totally different platforms between the 5000 and the 5500

My bad. Any ideas as to why my machine would have the same symptoms?  The irony here is that I do have an optical spin device; it's just on the outside of the machine instead of inside. (I understand that the design is different from the 5000, but it's not exactly standard 5500 either. No handle. No microswitch. (I tried disconnecting the "bet one" button and playing coins, but the problem persists. I suppose that it could be the optical handle or its driver board, but how would I check it?

[knagl]

Does the control board for your light wand device have any status LEDs on it?  Like perhaps a LED that shows when the beam is either broken or not broken?  I've worked on some infared devices that had a LED on them to show when they're aligned (just like the safety device of an automatic garage door opener).  If you have one of those types of lights, you could see how closely aligned your wand is -- if you bump it or jiggle the machine and the status changes, you know that it's barely aligned.  If you can bump the wand without the status changing, it's probably fine.

[StatFreak]

I'm afraid not. There is a jumper to make the light wand blink or stay on steady when activated (the lights for this are separate from the sensor light), and a set of 8 dip switches. 1-4 are on and 5-8 are off. I've never messed with them because I have no idea what they do. The wand has a large optical "diameter" of 9/16" and the transmitter and receiver are 1-7/8" apart. Both pieces are attached rock solid to a metal frame 3/4" in thickness that is bolted to the side of the door frame at the upper right corner.

In addition, once the credits are bet and no errant spin occurs, the machine will not spin until the light is broken or the spin button pressed. It can sit there for hours with the wand active, and I can hit the side of the door with my palm just under the wand with no reaction. I also disabled auto spin as a work-around so that I could still have fun with the wand. I play by pressing bet max and then either pressing spin or swiping the wand. The machine NEVER misfires when the max bet is pressed; it always waits for the button or wand. So I don't think that the wand is the issue.

The problem occurs when either the bet one switch is used or coins are dropped. I have also tried disconnecting the bet one switch and have just dropped coins, and the problem persists. That suggests to me that the problem is in the MPU logic, hardware, or software since both pressing the bet one button and dropping coins produce the same result, while pressing bet max (with no spin) does not. The machine has done this as long as I've had it, and it can go more than a dozen spins without the symptom, or misfire twice in a row, but three times would be extremely rare -- actually, I don't recall that ever happening. The pattern of misfires seems truly random, and averages, as a guess, about once every five to seven spins. It always occurs after the first coin/credit, never on the second or third coin.