Can't get game king to take coins or dollars

[shortrackskater]

I'm helping someone with their machine. It boots up correctly but just won't take money. I can select games and denom. But wont work! Tried reset key and it will display menus but I have no idea what I'm doing. HELP

[CVslots]

I have no idea what I'm doing. HELP

That's reASSuring....lololololol!!!!  I don't have a clue..bill and credit limit set? That would be where I would start?!?! Not to be "grasshopper"...but, what does the machine think???

[shortrackskater]

When the machine last played, it worked, I'm told. It went into storage for a few months. It boots up like it should, I think. The menu comes on...says PLAY 10 CREDITS. It's as if it's all ready to play but won't take bills or nickles. I made sure there was one in the CC. The BV cycles as well. When I turn the reset key (on the side) I can go into menus but there's nothing I see to check coin/bill issues.
The only thing that happened was there was about 300 credits in it. Someone pressed cash out and supposedly, that's when it stopped working. But when I turned it on and did the reset key...the screen just said that it PAID that amount out last game. It seems that is cleared since it's now saying PLAY 10 CREDITS. When I press the little white button on the CC, I hear a very high pitch and the screen just flashes (very quickly) that amount that was paid out, but does not register a coin. The door seems to be closing properly as well. Lost.
???

[PLUNGER BOY]

 Did you try adding coins to the hopper ??? Did you make sure there is paper in the ticket printer  ???

[shortrackskater]

No printer...and there's a few nickles in the hopper but it was working for the previous owner; they just never used the cash out button and just left the money in credits. Hmmm I'm having second thoughts on buying a GK if something simple is not so easy! Is the Game Maker easier than this to troubleshoot? I'm not sure where to go with my friends Game Maker now. I was their only hope!  
I had say SOMETHING to use those guys!

 

[Yoeddy1]

Is there a reference coin in the coin comparitor?

Jason

[shortrackskater]

Is there a reference coin in the coin comparitor?

Jason

Yes...the machine won't take bills or nickles. Boots up and looks like it's ready to play. No error codes I see and you can change games and denominations. It is a nickle machine...and was working before my friends bought it.

[Yoeddy1]

Seems strange that just storing it would do this...but we see weird crap all the time out here. 

For giggles, did you do a complete clear and setup again on the machine?

Jason

[shortrackskater]

I have no experience whatsoever with this machine...only s plus's and s2000's and that's just a little experience. I'm just trying to help some good friends who just got this Game King.
I don't know what to do.

[thegambler327]

does it say the doors are closed?should say" closure M" and double check the stacker door. I would open and close the stacker door then it should say "closure MB"also is the bottom light blinking when you close the door?

[shortrackskater]

I know closure M was there and not sure about closure MB...I think I recall seeing that as well and making sure multiple times that everything was closed. I'm not at the machine now but can check when my friends are available.
Any other ideas would be greatly appreciated!!! I'm just doing this as a favor for them, not charging.

[thegambler327]

well i would think since its not taking bills or coins and everything comes on and cycles its gonna be a door or optic problem.

[4 Deuces]

Yo!  Not a GK expert, but I have two of them and they're my fav, so I'll offer up a few ideas ...

The GK can have 3 different doors that have to be closed: The main (M) door, the belly (B) door and the cash can door (B).  Any one of those three will look like the game is working, but won't take cash/coins.  You should see in small font at the bottom left of the screen CLOSURE M if all you did was open/close the Main door.  Or, you could see in small font at the bottom right of the screen CLOSURE MB.  You may have to adjust the monitor image a little to see the message as it's at the very bottom if you don't see the message after closing the door.  So, I would open/close all of the doors and see if you get CLOSURE MB in the bottom right.  To close the GK door, you have to pull the lock back towards you to fully engage the lock on the door.  If you see DOOR OPEN M or DOOR OPEN B, then there's an optics issue.

Hope that helps!

:Dave

[shortrackskater]

Yo!  Not a GK expert, but I have two of them and they're my fav, so I'll offer up a few ideas ...

The GK can have 3 different doors that have to be closed: The main (M) door, the belly (B) door and the cash can door (B).  Any one of those three will look like the game is working, but won't take cash/coins.  You should see in small font at the bottom left of the screen CLOSURE M if all you did was open/close the Main door.  Or, you could see in small font at the bottom right of the screen CLOSURE MB.  You may have to adjust the monitor image a little to see the message as it's at the very bottom if you don't see the message after closing the door.  So, I would open/close all of the doors and see if you get CLOSURE MB in the bottom right.  To close the GK door, you have to pull the lock back towards you to fully engage the lock on the door.  If you see DOOR OPEN M or DOOR OPEN B, then there's an optics issue.

Hope that helps!

:Dave

Thanks Dave!
If it is optics, what do I look for to troubleshoot? Alignment? Wires? I should know this from reading other threads...

[4 Deuces]

I've never had bad optics, so I'm not 100% sure on how to test them.  If the optics are bad, then obviously they would have to be replaced. 

I would check alignment though, especially if the door is hard to close.  I bought a GK once that had this issue.  It appeared the door was closed tight, but it was really hard to pull the pin forward, so the person didn't bother to.  As a result, it showed the same situation as you're describing.  As you probably know, the door latch can get pushed back into the door from slamming the door in the casino, which makes it hard to pull the pin all the way forward after the door is closed.  A simply adjustment of the latch solves this by loosening the screws and pulling the latch forward and tightening the screws again.  It makes closing the door very simple and the pin automatically comes forward from a solid connection.

If that still doesn't solve the problem, then I'd focus on loose or crimped wires or disconnected optics.

Good luck!  Nice of you to help your friends.   

Happy Thanksgiving!

[shortrackskater]

I tightened the main door...it still sags though. I carefully marked the optics on the door and chassis. They seemed to be about 2mm off so I readjusted...four times. When the machine is powered back on and the door is closed the CLOSURE M remains, no matter what I do. Isn't there any kind of RESET on this machine? The key just puts it into a service mode. How do I bypass the door optics?

[thegambler327]

ok my opinion is after rereading its not a optic. Since you can select a game and denomination,that should mean all doors are closed and optics are working.I guess the questions that should have been asked were,did the cc work before hand?and were they using it on a regular basis?This might just be a dbv problem.You said it cycles but does it take the bills in and just spit them back out?

[CVslots]

Just for giggles....reseat your board and your I/O boards...or try swapping out the I/Os, specifically the door I/O. 

[cowboygames]

You might start by looking at the cmos battery voltage and then the credit limit settings. Ros' idea about the IO card is good, but I don't see how that would affect the BV accepting bills. Ultimately, if the battery is good, credit limits are high enough and boards are all seated well it might not hurt to try a full clear and re-key it. As stated above, your optics seem fine because you're getting the closure M when the door is latched and I believe the message stays there till a game is played. That's the way it works on the S2000's anyway. Just a few things to try, good luck

[CVslots]

Right, forget about the optics, the Closure M tells you the door was closed, so the optics are operating fine. I was thinking an S2000 door I/O will throw a Closure M when they are not seated, but maybe I dreamt that...  


And then check the #1 overlooked cause for a game "playing opposum"...the CASH CAN!!! Take it out and SLAM it back in...

If you pull your main board out, check the connector pins on the back. We had a bent pin on one and it was throwing a door error, but can't remember if it was a Door Open or a Closure...the little gold pins are tough, just grab them and straighten them out if any are leaning over.

[4 Deuces]

Agree too about the optics.  As long as you're getting a CLOSURE message with no OPEN DOOR messages, then all doors are closed.  That was one of the things to check off your list.

To get to the Settings menu, you have to press the White Test button.  If this is a small 9", then the button is located in the upper-left corner of the MPU.  If it's the larger model, then it's located below the monitor.  Either way, it's on the MPU.  That will get you to the setup screens.  Some options can only be set with a reset chip, such as the denom and enabling CC and DBV. 

Try ... Setup-->Machine Options-->Credit Style Setup and make sure the limits are set high.
On the same Machine Options menu, you could also ensure the Bill Validator Setup menu (2nd page) is set to 99.  That's how many times a rejected bill is allowed just to rule all things out.
Those two are a stretch, but you want to have a list of things to check when you visit them again.

Good luck!

[shortrackskater]

THANKS EVERYONE!!! I will go to work on this...again, and I'll report back soon!

[shortrackskater]

Okay I'm back...machine still boots up and looks like it want's to work but won't take coins or bills.
I made sure all the boards were seated properly and not bent pins.
When I push the white button, it does the same thing as turning the key - it displays diagnostic and accounting menus and nothing about set up!
Here are more things I noted:
* Closure M stays on all the time
* DOOR OPEN M goes away when door is closed and comes on when open.
* Candle flashes red, fast.
* HOLD/CANCEL buttons come on (sometime 4 or 2) and if you press them, different games are selected.
* If I press and hold the little white button on the CC, I get "COIN IN JAM" and it also displays the last pay out.
I'm going to go and check the battery voltage on the mpu Tuesday and I'll report back.
And, again I'm new to working on this machine and I'm doing this for some friends for free.
Any help would be greatly appreciated, again.
mark
 

[CVslots]

Here...read this...same issue of Coin In Jam...

http://newlifegames.net/nlg/index.php?topic=5622.msg49084#msg49084

And I won't even mention the fact I said this already.... 

Roz

[knagl]

"Closure" is not an error message.  It indicates that a door was previously opened, and has now been closed.  The message will vanish (and the candle should stop rapidly blinking) once a paid game has been played and completed.  As long as there are no "Door Open" messages, you're good to go.

Skip checking the MPU battery voltage, too.  It's fine -- you don't have any error messages.  As thegambler327 said, since you can choose games with the screen or the physical buttons, the doors are being correctly sensed as closed, and the machine is ready to be played.  You're just at the point where you can't convince it to take money.

What exactly happens when you attempt to put a nickel in the slot?  You said "it won't take it", but what does that mean?  Does the coin get jammed?  Is it rejected and falling through to the tray (back to the player), or is it going into the hopper but not adding credit to the machine?

Assuming for the moment that it's rejecting the coins back to the player, please do the following:

- Remove and re-insert the sample coin in the comparator.  Make sure it's seating properly -- use your S+ as a reference as to how the coin should be sitting in the comparator.

- Adjust the sensitivity of the comparator to make it less likely to reject coins.  Here's a post on how to do that.


Next, the bill validator:

What exactly is the bill validator doing or not doing?  You said it cycles -- are you just talking about when you power it on?  Does its power-on cycle sound similar to your S+ machine, or does it sound like it's taking an extra long time going through the cycles when you first turn it on?  Did you do as Roz suggested and remove and then re-insert the cash can firmly?  Does the validator cycle when you remove and/or re-insert the cash can?  Does the machine attempt to take bills and reject them, or does it never even try to take the bill in?

Since we're not there to see what the machine is doing or not doing, you're going to have to give us as many details as possible, please.


Of note, since you mentioned it, when you push the white self-test button near the MPU board, you'll see a menu that appears very similar to the attendant menu (the one that is accessed by simply turning the jackpot reset key with the door closed).  However, there are a few more options only available from the self-test menu (look closely and you'll see the extra options).  Of further note, there are certain settings that can only be accessed with a keychip procedure, and are not available by simply pressing the self-test button.  You should not need to access any of those to get the machine to accept coins.