First Slot machine ever...

[Redwingii]

So I traded for this Double Marquis slot machine on Craigs List... Well, have not had it working yet, it looked like it did but at the time I didnt know what I was looking at or for...

Now Im home with it and figured out the hopper and coin mechanism are set up as dollar size not quarter as he said (from what I now understand they are the same but different in physical size and there is NO way he could have been using quarters as he said... Either he was covering up or he traded it and fliped it.  Either way I no longer trust anything he said.

So I get it home plug it in and now I know that error 11 is flashing... According to this forum (which has taught me everything i know) its a low voltage error and should clear when the power gets good... I have it on a UPS and tested the outlet and its fine so I assume that there is a noise filter on it and that's causing my issue..

Now the current problem..  Most posts I see are 90% of what I have but I can't even figure out where the power supply is...  I think its at the back and I think I have to remove the coin hopper and bill validator to get at it but that isn't good design...  I hope im wrong but I have absolutely no documentation and have not had any luck finding any...

Am I on the right track???

Thank you for any help

[uniman]

Welcome to NLG Redwingii

You have an Ultra Series Universal and they do not have a noise filter problem. Only the older Universals have the noise filter problem.
Your coin comparitor is for $5 tokens and higher. It is an extra wide comparitor.

THE BIGGEST PROBLEM WITH ULTRAS IS THE MPU BOARD SEATED TO THE BACKPLANE. TRY WIGGLING YOUR BOARD WITH YOUR THUMBS ON EACH CORNER.

I put that in caps because it is a cronic problem that causes every error code imaginable, especially when moving a machine. Once the board is seated and errors are cleared, DON'T MOVE IT!!

If the error 11 persists and there are no other errors other than 50 and 51, then we must assume bad power supply.

Your power supply is located under the bill validator cash can. Should have a screw holding it in, it is the silver box with little holes in it.

[Redwingii]

I can find the power supply now, thank you..  Ill look it over for obvious issues...

The first issue I actually had was a completely dead machine... I didn't realize how heavy it was so while unloading it there was a rough landing.  It worked enough to accept a dollar two or three times and the coin collected at least once but I don't remember if I was using the tokens.  A 50c piece basically fits and I think that was what registered once.  I un-pluged it to move it and it died at that time.  I figured out that the battery looked bad..   After making solid contact with a good battery and resetting, it gave me lights and numbers on the front display.

That's where I am now...

So, I have collected poker chips since I was 8...I am 42 now.  So the only coins I have on hand are two token's from the Sands and Ceasars... They fit but will they work, at least for testing (don't quite know how to do that yet).  Is their anything special I need to know when I go to buy some...   My other option is to convert it to quarters... ya... this greenhorn has no idea what would take..

[Redwingii]

Thank you again...

I work with PC's so in one way I kind of have a little knowledge (the most dangerous kind to have).  I actually did use compressed air and re-seated the main board a few times.  I have not taken an eraser to the contacts yet but watching the 4 little led's it seems to be pretty solid...  Again I did not clean the contacts so I keep that in mind as the source of my problem...

Is there an easy way to rule out the power supply as an issue.  I don't really want to go to the trouble of a deep clean if that's not even an issue..

Can't say thank you enough...
 

[Redwingii]

Hey... I realized you can lift the coin tray off without removing any of the screws I started to remove...

YES... I have very little idea about what Im doing...

[CVslots]

Thats OK!!!! I can guarantee you that 9 out of 10 of us here started off in your EXACT situation!!! And if they tell you different, they are LIARS!!!

Roz

[Redwingii]

So just to make sure, I pulled the main board again and im back to a dead machine...

Im going to have to validate the battery is making good contact again.  Can a main board seating issue cause no lights on the 4 little red LED's.

Thanks

[jbshocks]

board not seated properly can definitely cause no lights.  Like Uniman said the board being seated is likely your number one issue.  I have adapted a $5 comparitor to take quarters.   If you have a $5 hopper you need a different wheel to go with quarters.   Your tokens may work.  You just need to put one in where the sample coin goes.  I see this is a soaring eagle machine.  Where are you located?  I am in SE MI if you are close enough I might be able to give you a hand.

I forgot to ask  how is your battery not seated?  It is soldered to the board.  Can you post a picture of the battery?

[Redwingii]

The point where a battery looks to go, 2 wires take it to a battery holder.

[jbshocks]

for starters that looks to be a lithium battery, is that correct?  If so it should have a blocking diode installed or it could be a fire hazard.  The ultra uses a 3.5v NIMH battery.  Can you pull the board and take a picture of the area the battery belongs, top and bottom?  I have had a board where the trace was corroded away at the battery and it did not work. 

[Redwingii]

Before I forget... Im basically at 23 and 94.

Yes it is a lithium battery, so I need a diode on the negative side due to a fire hazard.. Taking the battery out now and Ill put it in when im working on it.

Seated the board many times, and I poked around with a test meter to see if the board was getting power or anything was going on...  I think the board is getting power, just not sure if its from the battery or the wall....

Here are shots of the board...

[jbshocks]

The pictures are to poor for me to make out the corrosion condition or if a diode is in circuit.  I would just put a NIMH in it.  Ebay is the only source I have been able to find the original type now.  http://www.ebay.com/itm/3x-Ni-Cd-60mAh-3-6V-14h-6mA-Rechargable-Battery-Cells-/150991979392?pt=US_Rechargeable_Batteries&hash=item2327d2c380  If you wanted to go the diode method I would try a cr2032 with an on board holder.   I suspect but I have not tried that a super cap would do the job on an ultra.

Your out where I don't usually get.  I am at roughly 75 and 14 mile in Clawson.  You could bring the board over and we could validate its condition in one of my 7 Ultras.  Get some tape on that eprom window. 

[Redwingii]

Still no luck on the 4 red led's doing anything when I power on so I took the board out of the machine and tested the power and the battery appears to be sending power to the board.  Found out the coin hopper slides out.  The board looks and smells (no hint of a electrical component fried) fine.  So is the power supply my next step?

[Redwingii]

Im not sure if i found the issue or not or if it can be fixed..

[Redwingii]

After using a microscope and taking a good look where it looks to be broken looks more like green protective coating is over it.  Since it was working, I had front numbers and even the reels worked once, it has to be easy fix.  Im going to solder  the battery contacts again just to be sure nothing moved during transport.  If the main board is out and the battery in where can I test voltage to be sure there is a good connection to other parts of the board?

Thanks for all the help

[uniman]

I've been away for the weekend and missed your posts.

Really don't like the lithium battery, it may work but not recommended. Moving the battery off the board is good !!

The power supply produces a filtered 5vdc for the board. Universal wiring is color coded and pink is 5vdc and black is ground.

One test you can do if the board doesn't light at all is to shove a token, screw driver, whatever, up into the coin in optic. This is below the coin comparitor, it is a grey U-shaped plastic piece. Should have a U97P on it. When an object is in the optics path a red LED on it lights up. The LED is in that tiny hole on the right. If the optic lights up then it is getting 5vdc. Now if the 5vdc is not a clean 5vdc then the optic may light and the board still not work, but if the optic does not light you know there is no 5vdc. Even with the board removed the optic should light with power on and an object in the optic.

[Redwingii]

Took and shoved a dollar up the coin slot and the little red light came on.  Does that mean the power supply is good?

[Redwingii]

Ok, on the re-read I see that the light only tells me most of the 5v power is good, it may be noisy and cause no main board lights.  I resoldered the battery holder to the board and verified connections, the battery power is getting to the board. 

If I understood correctly, the board should light up even with out a battery because it only uses it keep settings.  If its not there you just need to do a hard re-set after each power outage. 

The only corrosion I can find at all is by the the PC 817 IC and its not all that bad.  I found out that these are things to keep things separate so a voltage from one part of the circuit dosn't blow up the rest of it.  Like the ones on the modems that keep phone line spikes from hitting its circuits.

So if my issue has to do with no lights, maybe no power, maybe this is whats bad?  Im quickly exhausting my knowledge...

[Redwingii]

oh, and just to make sure im not missing something stupid, There are only 2 fuses on the power supply and 2 fuses on the on/off switch box?

[jbshocks]

I know the board should light even without a battery but I had one that would not when the short trace between the close battery holes and the far batter holes was broken. 

[uniman]

I know the board should light even without a battery but I had one that would not when the short trace between the close battery holes and the far batter holes was broken. 

I usually find, no battery, no lights. I do remember an exception one time a few years back, but I have a couple of clean boards with sound problems and I just tested them again, no battery, no lights.
So for now I would try it with the lithium battery.
The optic lighting up is a good sign the power supply is most likely ok. Remote chance that the 5vdc could be "dirty".

[uniman]

Here is something you can check out

Remove the coin tray.
Pull your hopper out, as you found out it just slides out.
The power supply is held in place by one screw, on the front at the the bottom. Make sure that screw is there. If no screw, get one and secure the power supply. Like the hopper the power supply just slides right out when screw removed.
Behind where the hopper was is the bottom of the backplane. The five wire connector at location CN13 supplies the power to the main board. (pink wire is 5vdc, black is ground) Reseat it. Follow the wires back to the power distribution panel behind the power supply.
Should go to the square connector on top, second from left. Reseat that connector too.
With battery in place try starting the machine while holding the three reset buttons down. Put your thumb under the board while pressing the reset buttons so as to not flex the board.
If it doesn't light, try pushing the board in on left then right side.

If no luck, pull board and using magnifing glass, examine pins on back of board. Look for corrision, little green dots. Often times it is the grounds that are corroded. If you find corroded pins, get a small brass brush, wal-mart has them, and some electronic parts clear that evaporates (get mine from autozone) and brush the pins and clean them. Check afterwards for any broken brass wires from the brush and remove them. Then spray liberally the backplane pin holes and immediatly insert the board a couple of times to clean it. Remove board and let dry and blast with air both board and backplane.
Then try the board again.
If no luck, I would suspect board problem. Best thing to do is take board and power supply to someone who has working Ultra and try them there.

The cleaning procedure above saves lots of headaches later.

[Redwingii]

Reseated the Cn13 connectors and took a reading at the plug and found 5v like I expect.  Im testing with the battery in place.  I figured it this broke, can't hurt it much more so with the power on and the speaker up I could hear the buzzing.  When I pilled the board out, it stopped.  Don't know how much that really means.  I have checked with a magnifying glass the male contacts on the main board but not the female contacts, any good way to inspect them?

[jbshocks]

you are doing the memory clear aren't you?

[Redwingii]

each time I hold all 3 buttons until the BV stops moving.