New member..Old machine

[KineKilla]

Hello all,

Name is Mike and I have recently acquired an older Bally 831 $.05 3-Coin(I believe).  This thing used to work, except for a few of the lights but some time ago stopped working completely.  I will be putting in the necessary time to get her fully operational again, and hopefully will be using the information from this site to do so.  I am a decent mechanic, but am entirely new to the world of coin operated devices.

A little history on the machine and known issues:

Before I moved it from it's old home, it was plugged in and had power but no lights were working at all. I know it had some power because the red light on the left side behind the coin hopper was illuminated.

Got it to my house (shop) and the front lights began working as soon as I plugged it in (red light in back of the hopper was now off).  I suspect a short in the power cord, so I will be replacing the cord in its entirety.

Toyed with it a little last night, found a white rectangular box (resistor?) on the back of the coin hopper had come detached on one side so I soldered it back on. The resistor/jumper sits just above the large 24 Pin ? plug on the back of the hopper.

The machine sends all nickels to the coin tray as if they are being rejected. Unless I manually hold the Coin Lockout Armature (?) out of the way with a piece of wire.  If I do that, they will fall down, trip the Coin Switch and I can hear a loud "clunk" somewhere in the top of the machine (they fall down to the right of the hopper though which is under the machine, rather than into the hopper as I expected them to.).  The Insert Coin light sometimes goes all the way out, but sometimes just dims a bit.  The Coin Accepted light comes on.  The lights on the pay lines do not illuminate except for the 1st pay line (I think it is always on), and the lights in the top do not illuminate, except for the 1st pay line (also always on).

The handle ALWAYS pulls (with or without coins, with or without power even), and the reels spin well and seem to stop well.  No pay out or Winner Paid light if a win is acquired.  From what I have read there is supposed to be a lock on the handle that deactivates when a coin is deposited, so maybe that isn't functioning at all?

So, needless to say this thing has one or multiple issues that I will need to work through.  I'm not the best at the terminology yet but have downloaded what manuals I can find and am doing a lot of reading.  I look forward to becoming a productive member of the forum.











 

[CVslots]

 

That was probably the best machine run-down I've ever seen! Good job! I can tell you will be a quick learner and have your game up and playing in no time at all. Meanwhile, keep your eyes out for a black glass lined with images of fruit with "Bally" scripted on it, as it is the correct belly (bottom) glass for your machine. They pop up on eBay fairly often I believe,nice ones run $50-80. 

[KineKilla]

Good to know!  I'd have just assumed that the Belly Glass was correct to the machine...I'll keep an eye out.

[Amachanic]

Hi and welcome to NLG.. Here is a link to a couple of the EM Bally manuals..

http://newlifegames.net/nlg/index.php?action=downloads;cat=97

In the top of your slot machine is the feature unit, it's the brain of the machine. The front top glass and frame lifts straight up with the door open. The whole unit will pull straight out.. The same goes for your hopper and reels, they should pull out. One thing I would do is to remove your hopper, and check around for any loose coins in the corners, to help prevent any shorts.. The red light behind the hopper is a safety times, some machines have a lever running under the hopper to push to reset the timer. If that's not there then you need to remove the hopper and push the reset, caution that is 110V at the timer and fuses.. Never file on any contacts, I find cleaning them with rubbing alcohol and a folded piece of paper between the contacts works well.. If you have or own a multi-meter, they work great for checking the contacts in the machine for proper operation.. Hopefully this will keep you busy for a while.. Good luck and feel free to ask any other questions..

Gary

[KineKilla]

I haven't done any looking in the top of the machine as of yet, but that sounds like a great place to start, thank you!

Mine does in fact have the sliding lever to push the reset for the timer.  I pulled the hopper, soldered the one wire I could see and put it back in. I'm planning on cleaning all of the connections on the Beau (?) Plugs throughout the machine tonight to see what that does for me, if anything.  I do have Multi-Meters and test lights so I'll also start checking things with it.  I figured the machine likely had solenoids, relays that are only on at certain times so testing them looked like a very daunting task.

[ricker]

Hey and welcome to NLG

An easy way to check your coin diverter is to lift up on your hopper bowl from the far right side. This will trip the switch(if working) located on the outside of the hopper bowl at the bottom. Your diverter switch works on the weight of the coins in the hopper. Switch can be adjusted for more or less coins you want in the hopper.

Richard

[Amachanic]

Hey and welcome to NLG

An easy way to check your coin diverter is to lift up on your hopper bowl from the far right side. This will trip the switch(if working) located on the outside of the hopper bowl at the bottom. Your diverter switch works on the weight of the coins in the hopper. Switch can be adjusted for more or less coins you want in the hopper.

Richard

With the hoppers in the 831, 809, 742, and the 873 they have what looks like a plastic golf ball on a lever inside the hopper bowl. When the hopper fill up with coins, that lifts the ball and closes a switch causing the coin diverter to disengage. Check that switch's operation. Should be open with the ball and lever down, and closed when lifted..
Gary

[KineKilla]

Good to know.  The hopper is absolutely loaded with coins...probably well over the jackpot amount of $50.  Can I just dump them all out and start empty?  Or maybe just keep $5-10 worth inside?  So much to learn....and I've got nickels burning a hole in my pocket.

[Amachanic]

Good to know.  The hopper is absolutely loaded with coins...probably well over the jackpot amount of $50.  Can I just dump them all out and start empty?  Or maybe just keep $5-10 worth inside?  So much to learn....and I've got nickels burning a hole in my pocket.

You only need to have as many coins as your max payout in the hopper. Too many coins make the hopper work harder.

[KineKilla]

I don't think it's working at all, at least it doesn't sound like it is trying...

I'll dump them all out and eliminate the possibility.