Help with machine - not accepting coins & dollar on validator

[richehmke]

Just picked up an IGT Triple Play S Plus model B4936CF1W, MFG 1/94 - no error codes, have reset key, everything lights up other than bill validator (power is going to it, hear it ramp up when I power on machine) but the light to insert the bill is not illumating, nor accepting bills, and when dropping coins, they fall right to the tray and don't engage, even though machine has no error codes and says "insert coin."  It appears all connections are "good" and I'm hoping this is something simple as I'm not real experienced in what to look for - any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

[rickhunter]

open the door, and look at the coin comparitor, is there a coin in it?  It would be on the door directly under where you insert the coin.  It is a black box with some wires coming out of it.  It should have a sample coin visible.  If not, you need to put one in it.

[richehmke]

Yes, the coin is in the comparitor - also, forgot to mention in original post, both lights are flashing on top of the machine

[rickhunter]

ok, with the door open, there's a little white button under the comparitor.  Push the button a couple of times and see if you hear credits added, then try to spin the reels.  All of this with the door open.

[richehmke]

pushed the white button while power on & door open, did not register credits

[rickhunter]

Are the reels stiff, or are they loose?

[richehmke]

They're not loose, you can turn them and you feel the "click" when they turn manually

[rickhunter]

with the door open, there's a little white button next to the power switch, if you hit it a few times, do you hear the solenoid click and do you see different numbers show up in the coins played window and or winner paid and credit window?

[richehmke]

no "clicking" noise from the solenoid - the winner paid shows 12, but it has shown that since I got it 2 days earlier.  I did the jackpot/reset key several times but that didn't seem to clear anything or fix the issue.

[rickhunter]

Ah, the 12 is a low battery on the mpu board.  You need to change the battery.  Remove the coin tray, and the hopper, and then pull up on the round knob in the back to loosen the tray that has the mpu board in it.  You lift it up, and out and you should be able to see the brains of the slot.  There's a 1/2 AA lithium battery soldered, you need to replace that.

[richehmke]

Do you know where I could purchase one of these batteries and does it have to be soldered on?  I don't have a solder gun, thus any suggestions/options?  Would a local electronics repair facilty be able to do this quickly?

Thanks again for your help!

[rickhunter]

One way or another you will have to solder something.  Any electronic repair facility can solder it for you.  For the battery you can put a WTB ad in the classifieds area here and one of the dealers could set you up.  Also for the cost you might end up paying someone to solder it (I don't know what you would get charged on it), you could buy a spare board with a working battery for around $35 to $40.  Always a good idea to have a spare, and since this platform is now 20 years old, the parts are drying up.

e-bay also has them all over the place, here is one.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/IGT-Bally-BATTERY-3-6v-Lithium-Battery-for-Slot-Machine-/281113887946?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item4173b184ca

[richehmke]

Thanks again Rick for your help!

[knagl]

no error codes

...

machine has no error codes

the winner paid shows 12, but it has shown that since I got it 2 days earlier.

For your future knowledge, the only way the S+ can display any error messages is via the red LED displays on the front of the machine.  "12" is an error code (low battery, as Rick already mentioned).  If you see a number on the display(s) that doesn't seem to correlate with what you're expecting for credits, win paid, etc., it's probably the machine displaying an error code to you.   

[richehmke]

Hi Rick (and others) - so I replaced the battery, put the board back in, when I popped the board in, I heard something (with the power off) almost like it recognized the battery - however, when I turned the machine on the same error code (12) came on with same result as last night - is there another step(s) that I'm supposed to take?

Thanks

[richehmke]

I just replaced the battery for the machine, as the coin & dollar validator was not working and was advised the error code 12 was the battery causing the issue - is there an additional step to take (from a reset perspective or another perspective) that needs to be done to test & hope this fixes the problem?

Thanks

[rickhunter]

Normally, after replacing the battery, the error 12 would go away followed by host of other errors that can be cleared by a combination of pushing the white button next to the power switch, turning the jackpot reset key and or open/close door.  Below is a link with procedures to clear common errors found on your machine.

http://www.newlifegames.net/igterrors/

[rickhunter]

You should not have heard anything with the power off.  There is no "battery recognition" sound.  What exactly did you hear? Can you describe the sound?  I will tell you that "sounds" when a machine is powered off is not a good sign.  I would start looking for loose coins that may be causing a short somewhere.  I would start by pulling out the power supply and opening it up to look for coins inside of it.  Without the cpu board installed, look with a flashlight all inside the cabinet looking for coins or anything that may be shorting.  Look at the little green board where the cpu board plugs in (this is called the motherboard) and look for burn marks or discoloration of any kind.

[richehmke]

I'm not getting anywhere - very frustrating.............anyway I could do a skype or iphone facetime to have you walk me through what I can do?  I'm reading what you're sending but unfortunately, it's "greek" to me without any experience. 

[richehmke]

The sound was very feinght, so maybe that was nothing - the board looks good, nothing loose inside........

[rickhunter]

Do you have a multi-meter to verify that the battery you had installed was good.  Can you post a picture of your mpu board, and the machine with power and mpu board installed.  These machines have door optics which senses when the door is open and closed.  You need to make sure that when you close the door, that you pull down on the lever on the right hand side and it is all the way down to verify that the door close optics line up.  Does anything happen when you do this?

[rickhunter]

Can an op close this thread, there is no point on having 2 threads with the same issue.

[richehmke]

battery is good (tested when I took the board into Radio Shack earlier), the door optics are working & aligned

[knagl]

What is the voltage of the battery? Are you positive it is installed with the correct polarity?

[knagl]

Can an op close this thread, there is no point on having 2 threads with the same issue.

I've merged them together.

No need to start a new thread for a machine that's already being discussed in a different thread.