Bally E1236 double progressive issues PLEASE HELP

[jerry304]

Hi All,

I just bought a Bally E1236 in great shape. All glass is near perfect and the game works perfectly except the progressive. When the game is powered on, the meters reset to nothing then will advance 5c every other quarter as it should. The issue is.... How do I set up a starting progressive amount, and how do I prevent the meters from resetting each time the game is powered on? There are two buttons at the base of the feature board, which do nothing when pressed. I read somewhere online that a Bally keypad is needed to set the progressive, and the keypad plugs into the J1 socket on the progressive board, but my machine has no pins or socket at J1, so it obviously doesn't plug in there.
Any help would be appreciated.

[litterbox99]

I'll chime in here....

I have a similar slot with the Progressive system.

When I first started working on mine, it would tilt
all the time. What I found out is.... I think these slots
won't do anything right until the progressive system
has values set into them.  If your battery was dead
or disconnected, you lost the programming for the
Progressive.

Someone passed this on to me and it helped me get going;

http://home.mchsi.com/~litterbox99/temp/Bally%20E2000%20Progressive%20Programing.rtf

It's a bit tricky, but eventually you'll get it.

Hope this helps !

Todd

[jerry304]

HI,
Thanks for the info. I went thru the self tests and the input and output and hopper tests were fine. I got to test 8, and could not get any of the values in the attachment to come up. I'm sure I am just doing it wrong. I'm certain the battery on the main board is dead. Who knows how long the machine was sitting. It was long enough for the seal in the air cylinder to turn to black toothpaste. Does this battery keep the progressive memory alive as well as the machines meters? I would have to assume it does. I work mainly on Bally EM machines. I don't have a lot of experience with E series machines.

If anyone has the progressive set up procedures for my model, Id really appreciate it.

Check out my posting in the EM section of my LED conversion for my 1090 dollar machine.

[litterbox99]

I've worked on three different progressive machines and from
what I discovered is the battery must be good. You may as well
replace it.

Also, after battery replacement you must set up the progressive values
or the slot wont play.  You at least must set the max/min progressive
and upper/lower values.

Remove the upper glass and look for two small red push button switches.
These are what to use to walk through and set your values. It's a bit
tricky to get into the programming mode and it took me several tries
until I got there.

[jerry304]

Thanks for the info. My machine does have the two push buttons (they aren't red, they are metal  I pressed them many times while trying different things and they never has any effect.  If the battery is dead, will that prevent the game from reaching the programming mode?

Also, when I power up the game after its cooled , the reel solinoids energize over and over for about a minute then once things warm up, the machine plays fine. Any ideas on that?

Jerry

[proten]

I will help with what I know, The E1000 machines
had problems withe the Ram Board the that is on the
MPU board. The E1000 boards had a problem with cold
solder joints on the pins for the Ram Board.
The battery is a Ni-Cd and is rechargeable, just
leave the machine on for 3 or 4 hours.

[jerry304]

I replaced the battery and the progressive meters now show all zero's. I still haven't been able to enter programming mode. I have the setup manual for this machine and all the input and outputs work fine. The feature/progressive butons check fine on the input test, so I know they are working.  Test 8 is a function test and shows the current game coins in and does a reel reader check and shows a code for the symbols on the payline. This too, checks out fine.
I just need the procedure to set up the progressives. Nothing I have done has had any effect.

[MarkInAz]

Hi Jerry,

I've been reading your posts here about your progressive-   
The key pad you heard about is for the 5000 & above machines.  The older E1000 & E2000 use just the two buttons to program the progressives.  Glad you replaced your battery, without it all setting are lost after power down so you would be spinning your wheels.  What you said about your reel solenoids energizing over & over at power-up has me a little worried you have a serious problem on you MPU or I/O board. Most of us are familiar with the solenoids being sticky and not energizing but that causes the reel to fail to stop at the end of a spin.  Maybe try reseating all you MPU & I/O board connector would help the solenoid problem. 

The instructions Littlebox gave you appear to work great for the E2000 machines.  It works fine on my 2344 but not on my friends E1000 machine.  There are two possibilities for this I believe.  1- the E1000 has a different procedure or 2- The RAM memories are slightly corrupted on my friends machine and yours too.  My friend is too cautious to let me attempt a RAM clear.  His progressive works albeit very slowly.  He doesn't want to chance a big snafu.  But if you are desperate Jerry you can try clearing your RAM by popping out the RAM chips and then putting them back in.  Then go through the programming procedure again and see if it works this time.  Before you do that thought check if you seeing the 1500 series numbers during Test-#2.  If you don't see the 1500 series addresses at all then you may not have the correct game E proms for the progressive.

Hope this helps.

Mark

[jerry304]

Thanks for your reply Mark,

The machine is showing a code 6 on start up. This will remain on the display for about 2 minutes then eventually clear. The code will reappear intermittently and when it does, the game can not be played until it clears on it's own. Hitting the reset button has no effect while the code 6 is displayed. The reel solenoid chatter doesn't happen all the time. Sometimes a sealed relay located next to the handle release coil will energize a few times.
As far as the progressive, I have no clue how to set the limits. Nothing I have done has had any effect. The two buttons show OK when I do the input test. Someone out there has to know how to set the progressive on an E1000. Is there a manual dedicated to progressive set up procedures? The manual for the main board doesn't give any info on this. On thr downloads section of this site there is a Bally manual which has to do with progressives, and it says it covers the 1000,E2000, 5000 series machines, but it says a keypad is required, and there is no place to attach a keypad in my game.
HELP  HELP  HELP  SOS SOS SOS MAYDAY MAYDAY MAYDAY

Thanks for you help,
Jerry

[MarkInAz]

Hi Jerry,

What about the 1500 series numbers during Test #2. Are you seeing them as the test goes through all the addresses?

Talking about the manuals- I have several and NONE tell how to program the progressive. 

I agree, someone must have it somewhere.

Mark

[jerry304]

I just checked the machine. I tried a power supply from another machine and still got code 6. I removed and reseated the ram chips. I removed the I/O board and cleaned all the pins and reseated the only two IC's that could be removed. I did test 2 and the only 1500 series code was 1501.
Besides the chatter from the reels, once the game warms up it plays fine.

Still can't figure out the progressive.

[jerry304]

Ok, now this dumb game won't release the handle when a coin is played. The coil energizes during the load test, so I know it's good.
I think it's time for the garbage man to take it away.

[MarkInAz]

Hang in there Jerry.  Maybe its time to put that one up for a few days.  Take a look at it later with fresh eyes.  Remember this is suppose to be a fun hobby. 

So when you are ready to take another wack at it maybe you can try this next Hail Mary trick.  If its been sitting around for a long long time connections get corroded. So with the machine unplugged of course, remove every board and clean every connector pin gently with a pencil eraser.  Clean ever connector socket gently with a paper clip. Remove every IC from its socket and gently clean it's pins with the eraser.  Put it all back together and give it a try.

Cheers,
Mark

[jerry304]

Ok,
I will try it.   Everyone who sees this, please look for info about setting up the progressive on an E1000

[proten]

I found this Bally Manual.
Hope this helps.

[jerry304]

Thanks for thinking of me, but that manual doesn't apply to E1000 machines even though it says it does.

[a69mopar]

I just checked the machine. I tried a power supply from another machine and still got code 6.

Is the code 6 followed by another number?  code 6 can be a memory error.  This could tie in with the loss of the progressive memory.
What is the part number of your board?

Thanks,
Wayne

[MarkInAz]

I found this Bally Manual.
Hope this helps.

Good try Proten.  Unfortunately this manual is for a standalone double progressive unit that Bally manufactured. This one uses a dedicated controller board, unlike the onboard double progressive in Jerry's E1236 which shares the machines MPU board to make it work.

Cheers,

Mark

[jerry304]

The code six is not followed by anything. The six just stays on the display.