Bally 5500 Tech Help

[jae5150]

First, let me say thanks....you guys have a great forum here.

Just became a member and this is my first post, but the knowledge I've gained from reading these posts has been excellent.

I just bought my first two machines (5500 round tops) and when I cracked them open for the first time, I prayed nothing ever went wrong.
BUT....it did, and honestly, after playing on this forum, I am kind of excited to start tinkering on it.

SO.....here's my problem.

Worked fine until the wires broke on the coin comparitor
Fixed the wires, HOWEVER, originally, my test light was hot on the power wire (dk blue, position 4), then...no power.
- I don't know if I accidentally arched the wire when I was working on it (thought I had the machine off the whole time)...any thoughts?

My FIRST question:

If im not mistaken....power is power right?
-Can I just pull power from another source? (light source, etc)

Hopefully, the answer is yes....it's already done. There was a loose plug (evidently from a small bulb behind the glass) that someone had removed for whatever reason.

So, assuming I didn't just pull a jackass move, the coin comp is now wired properly, and reinstalled.

NOW....

The coin comp is lit up red, the optics board is lit up yellow, and it sends coins straight to the return tray and will not register credits.

I know there are several posts on this topic, and like I said before...awesome information. Here is a list of everything I have done/tried.
Also, like I said, I have two exact machines (other works perfect) so I have swapped several parts trying to narrow this down.

adjust sensitivity on coin comp
tried several quarters and tokens
toggle switch on face of mpu is up
swapped coin comp
swapped optics board
on/off, reset, power up/down, plug/unplug, wiggle/jiggle, ram clear, scream/yell/kick/pray.....about a hundred times.

I'm very green here, so there may be some REALLY obvious stuff I'm missing.
Any advice on where to start, or what to try swapping from the other machine would be very helpful.

Last questions...this whole thing started with my bill acceptor making noise. About 3 out of 5 start ups it will run forever in short bursts.
This noise is what made me start snooping around to begin with, which led me to the coin comp, which led to the wires pretty much falling off the plug in my hand, which leads me to where I am now.

After fixing the wires, the bill acceptor is still acting up....common?
Are the coin comp and the bill collector linked?
Can it be bypassed/unhooked, and if so, which plug should I disconnect?

Sheeew....sorry to be a pain on my first day.

For a first post, I probably should have stuck with something like "hey guys, great forum...thanks for having me" 

Thanks again...really do appreciate any advice.
-JE

[stayouttadabunker]

I was surprised at how many 5500's were missing their glass prism.
It's located behind the coin-in optics board holding bracket.
You have to remove the whole thing to see if it there!
                                 UNLESS>>>

You have the belly door on your machine which drops.
If your belly door opens, it's right there... just left of the gate solenoid on top of the metal coin chute!

The purpose of the glass prism to to reflect to optic signal back towards the coin-in optic board.
As the coin passes through the optic beam, the coin breaks the beam - registering a credit.

Welcome to new life games!
 

[jae5150]

Thanks,
I wish it were that easy...the prism is there

[stayouttadabunker]

Thanks,
I wish it were that easy...the prism is there

Dang!       I was going for the 3 pointer field goal!  



Okay, ( Bunker rolls up his sleeves... )  have you gotten into the coin tests yet?
Pseudo toggle switch in the upright position on the MPU tray?
uh....coin-comparitor sample coin same as the ones you're dropping?


BTW "5150" means crazy demented guy on the loose right? 

[jae5150]

toggle up
same coins

coin test.....no, sign me up

5150...yes

[stayouttadabunker]

Getting any error codes on your display?
I need a PM from you with your Gmail address so I can mail you a 5500 manual for your reading pleasure.
Hotmail doesn't cut it because manuals are humongous!

[jae5150]

Seems like I get some random error code about every other time I restart it (83F, 54, 41, 42, ESPECIALLY 43....she vibrates a bit)
I either restart, or clear ram and eventually get a clean slate. Usually, JUST when I get start up with no error codes, that damn bill acceptor starts one of its rants.

click, click..................click, click..................click, click..................click, click..................click, click..................Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

Eventually, I can get it running with no codes.

BTW....any problem with clearing ram as often as I have been?

PM sent

[stayouttadabunker]

I emailed you a manual.
Start reading....take 2 aspirin and call me in the morning...lol
It's a mini version of "War And Peace"

[Neonkiss]

Had a similar issue with a 5500

Try swapping out the power supply with the known good one from the other machine.
When these go weak they can cause those errors.

Power supply is mounted on the back wall behind the hopper.
Not the transformer.     Leave that alone.

[stayouttadabunker]

They're not too expensive either.
I saw one or two for sale on fleabay.
If there's no auctions going on right now for them -
get on the horn and start calling up our beloved vendors.
I'm sure someone must have one for you!
The best way I've found - was to place an ad in the "Classifieds" section of NLG.
If it doesn't turn out to be the power supply -not all is lost.
It's ALWAYS good to have a spare anyways!


Hey! I found one for ya!>>>

http://cgi.ebay.com/BALLY-PRO-SLOT-6000-5500-POWER-SUPPLY-/190394510995?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item2c5465ae93

[Neonkiss]

Not to knock what people are selling, But IF it is the power supply you may want to consider installing a new power supply in the metal case.
Look in the back of the unit and you will see a power supply held in with 4 screws. That's all you need to replace.
You can buy the entire unit, but that not to say it might last a year, month, week or a day. You know what your getting with a new one.

[Buzz]

This is a question more than a statement, wasn't Blueridge selling the boards for Bally power supplies?? If I'm right, it was a long time ago!!! If I'm wrong it's not the first time. 

The supply listed on Ebay is a member here. raz410

[stormrider]

Seems like I get some random error code about every other time I restart it (83F, 54, 41, 42, ESPECIALLY 43....she vibrates a bit)
I either restart, or clear ram and eventually get a clean slate. Usually, JUST when I get start up with no error codes, that damn bill acceptor starts one of its rants.

click, click..................click, click..................click, click..................click, click..................click, click..................Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

Eventually, I can get it running with no codes.

BTW....any problem with clearing ram as often as I have been?

PM sent

That's a lot of different error's you have
Ram,drop door,and reel tilts
you can clear the 40's by holding down just the change button with door open and turning the power on then close door
without losing game settings it also sounds like your b/v is not to healthy either.

As other members suggest could be the supply
having a backup would confirm it and it's a simple swap.
The one posted on ebay from Raz as stated he is a member here
and a straight up seller have bought many parts from him.

You could also try Jim(Blueridge)for just the internal board if he has them
as it's usually the caps that go bad,why not pull the supply and have a look.

Here is a shot of the inside of the supply and cap info
not sure where I got it but all credit to the author.

Tim

[stormrider]

Jae5150,

With all these error's you have it might be a good idea to check
the backplane where all the harnesses get plugged in J1=reels J11=bill acceptor
especially when you get a new machine and it gets moved around
things inside can easily come ajar after the move.

Make sure where the reels plug in above the mpu are fully seated
and you don't have a broken pin or bent pin inside the molex.

I would also swap that b/v unit and see if the known good one works
in the machine with the error, and see if the click click b/v follows in the good machine.

More than likely you have a b/v that needs cleaning or just not seated properly
along with a loose harness somewhere.

[stayouttadabunker]

Storm,
Great picture! May I ask, which caps usually go bad with these supplies?



ADDED>>Oh! I should have looked at the other pages too...lol 
It looks like he had identified all the caps as well:
C101 - 100uF 25v
C103 -  4.7uF 50v
C7   - 2200uF 16v
C10 - 2200uF 10v
C9   - 2200uF 10v
C12 -   470uF 25v
C11 - 2200uF 10v
C8  -  1000uF 16v 

[stormrider]

Storm,
Great picture! May I ask, which caps usually go bad with these supplies?



ADDED>>Oh! I should have looked at the other pages too...lol 

Hey Bunker, Thanks
I have seen the big blue cap also go(not in the picture)

I have a feeling his problem is more in the wiring + the b/v unit than the supply
but who knows it will be interesting to find out what comes of this.

Tim

[jae5150]

Thanks for all of the help!
I will finally have a chance to get back into it tonight....will post the outcome.
-JE

[stayouttadabunker]

A really good tell-tale of bad caps is that they looked "bulged" on top.
Ballooned, bloated,  "ready-to-explode-appearance"...lol

[jae5150]

Thanks to everyone here, I have a working machine again.
Turned out to be a bad power supply...new one installed, and works perfect.
Thanks again!!