March 2016 - Slot Tech

Slot Tech Magazine Editorial
Page 3-Editorial
Page 4-Quick & Simple Repairs #119
Page 5-Invitation to Attend TechFest 32
Page 10-Slot Tech Training at Sands Casino
Page 12-Those Antiques are Still Out There...
D
ear Friends of Slot Tech Magazine,
It has never been in Slot Tech Magazine’s “wheelhouse” to present repair data on old machines. Of
course, if you go back to our first issues (back in 2001)
you’ll find all kinds of stuff about coin hoppers, PE+
and UK “Fruit Machines” so when I received a contribution from Tom Baker at California Antique Slots, I
thought I’d give it a shot and publish it. Take it with
however many grains of salt you wish.
Tommy Talbot
On a sad note, I
have just found
out (almost a year
after the fact) that
my friend, fellow
road warrior for
the casino industry and former
JCM technical
trainer Tommy
Talbot passed
away last year. I
can’t imagine how
it is that I hadn’t
heard this news.
He was a really
great guy and a
super presenter at
many TechFest
events. I miss him.
Just a reminder that I have a regional slot tech class
coming up in Flagstaff, Arizona (at Twin Arrows Casino) April 4-7,
2016 as well as
TechFest 32 in
May. Everyone is
welcome to atPublisher-Slot Tech Magazine
tend.
Randy Fromm
Randy Fromm's
Slot Tech Magazine
Editor
Randy Fromm
Technical Writers
Tom Baker, Nathan
Galloway, Chuck Lentine,
Pat Porath
Slot Tech Magazine is published
monthly by
Slot Tech Magazine
401 W. Lexington #777
El Cajon, CA 92022
tel.619.838.7111 fax.619.315.0410
e-mail [email protected]
Visit the website at slot-techs.com
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Copyright 2016 under the Universal
Copyright Convention. All rights reserved.
Registration now open
for TechFest 32
May 24-26, 2016
Mystic Lake Casino
See website at slottechs.com for details
and registration form.
Slot Tech Feature Article
Quick & Simple Repairs #119
By Pat Porath
As pictured you can see the
green jumper wire between
the connector and chassis
ground. On the Fluke multimeter display it shows
23.93 VDC, I also hooked
up a DVD drive off the shelf
to verify voltage and to put
a slight load on the power
supply. Simply by plugging
in the power part of the
DVD drive, when first powering up the power supply,
the light on it will flash for
a second or so, indicating it
has power. Another way is
Atronic e-motion Power
Supply and Other Power
Supplies
I
’ve recently been working on repairing and
testing power supplies.
It has been very interesting
so far. Mostly replacing
capacitors, testing other
items such as diodes and
transistors. One of the
many things I thought was
interesting was how to
power them up and check
basic voltage on the bench.
On an e-motion game, the
power supply is similar to a
power supply for a standard, desktop computer.
You have to start the power
supply with a ground wire
between pin 4 (green wire
on larger Molex connector)
and the power supply
ground. This is the “soft
switch” that starts the
power supply. Without it,
even a perfectly good power
supply will not power up.
Page 4
Slot Tech Magazine
March 2016
Invitation to Attend TechFest 32
Plan now to attend.
Attention Slot Techs and Slot Managers!
TechFest returns to Mystic Lake Casino Hotel
May 24-26, 2016
Visit the website at slottechs.com for “Early Bird”
discount of $100/person.
Schedule of Events
Events subject to change
For complete details & enrollment form, visit the website at slot-techs.com
Tuesday, May 24, 2016
Wednesday, May 25, 2016
Thursday, May 26, 2016
9:00 am - 12:00pm
Electronic Components and
Component Testing
Presented by Randy Fromm
9:00 am - 12:00pm
LCD Monitor Repair
Presented by Randy Fromm
9:00 am - 12:00pm
Ceronix LCD Monitor Repair
Presented by Ceronix
Electronics repair is actually pretty
easy, once you know how to test the
components. It often doesn't matter if
you know anything at all about how
something actually works in order to
fix it. You just look for bad parts and
replace them. This seminar covers all
of the discrete components commonly
found in electronic gaming machines.
We'll look at how they work, how they
fail, and how to test them as accurately, inexpensively and safely as
possible. Each attendee receives a
digital multimeter and sample components, theirs to keep following TechFest.
1:15pm - 3:15pm
JCM Bill Validators
JCM is a huge player in the gaming
industry. This session covers UBA
troubleshooting and configuration as
well as iVIZION. This presentation will
be given by JCM's Dan Petersen.
3:30pm - 5:30pm
FutureLogic Troubleshooting
FutureLogic printers have been a
mainstay of the industry since TITO
was born. They are easy to configure
and to troubleshoot. This seminar will
be presented by Dan Petersen.
March 2016
LCD monitor repair is easy. This is
the first of two presentations on LCD
monitor repair at TechFest. During
this seminar, we will cover the theory
of operation of LCD monitors and
you'll see just how simple they really
are. We will also cover circuit
analysis of the electronics with an
emphasis on what fails and how it
can be repaired in any casino's tech
shop.
1:15pm - 3:15pm
Touchscreens
Presented by 3M Touch Systems
Touchscreens rule the casino world.
This presentation will introduce you
to touch technologies and how they
work. Troubleshooting and repair
techniques will be presented.
Everyone will receive diagnostic
programs as well.
3:30pm - 8:00pm
Component Removal and Replacement
Presented by HAKKO
Soldering skills are the most
important skills a technician can
posess. It doesn't do any good to be
able to diagnose a failed component
if you can't remove it and replace it
properly and it's no good trying to
work on modern, surface-mount
components without the proper
equipment. This exciting new
seminar will present the latest in
soldering techniques and rework
equipment. A special "Hands-On
After Hours" session will allow
extended time for everyone to try out
the gear themselves.
Slot Tech Magazine
Although it can be argued that all LCD
monitors are more-or-less the same, it's
nice to get the inside track on specific
monitors from the manufacturers themselves.
This is a "hands-on" session where
everyone will have the opportunity to teardown and rebuild an LCD panel as well as
troubleshooting actual failures on LCD
monitors in a "power-on" lab where you
will actually make repairs. This is the
most fun thing we do at TechFest.
1:15pm - 3:15pm
Transact Technologies Ticket Printers
Transact Technologies presents servicing
and troubleshooting Transact brand,
thermal ticket printers. These units are
simple to understand and troubleshoot,
once you know how they're put together.
We have covered these printers extensively in Slot Tech Magazine. This is your
chance to ask questions of the expert.
tel.619.838.7111 .
[email protected]
Page 5
to press the CD eject button. This will OPEN and
CLOSE the drive. In this
way, we sort of have three
ways of verifying that the
power supply is operating
properly while it’s on the
bench:
1. The cooling fan is spinning on the power supply.
2. Hook up leads to black
and red wire with volt
meter, shows voltage such
as 24vdc.
3. The CD or DVD drive
opens and closes when
eject button is pushed.
Even if EVERYTHING looks
perfect on the bench with a
power supply, It is important to test it in a game to
make sure it works before
putting it on the spare
parts shelf. Unless you have
a darn good power supply
tester that puts a load on it,
even then I would probably
test it in a game just to
make sure.
Editor’s note: I could not
agree more with Mr. Porath
in this regard. You cannot
be absolutely certain the
power supply is 100% operational unless it is tested
in a working slot machine.
The power supply might
work perfectly well on the
bench but fail under full
load in a slot machine.
Additionally, the power
supply might generate a
“zero-crossing” signal or
some other control signal in
addition to the DC outputs.
If these signals are defective
or missing, the slot machine will malfunction and
you wouldn’t even be aware
Page 6
of it when testing
only the DC
output(s) on the
bench.
BlueBird Slant
Top XD Power
Supply
To power these
up on the bench,
only a standard
power cord, a
Molex type connector and two
jumper wires are
needed (see
figure 2). A unit
had a tag on it
“may be bad” so I
plugged in the
jumper connector, applied
power, bingo!
The cooling fan
was spinning
indicating voltage. Later I threw
it in a game to
make sure it would power
up the game and it worked.
Others, as many of us know
Slot Tech Magazine
(WMS, Atronic, Bally, IGT,
and so on) are not so easy.
Replacing caps, voltage
March 2016
March 2016
Slot Tech Magazine
Page 7
regulators, diodes, transistors and so on, still doesn’t
fix some. As I said, I’m just
starting to tear into them
and I’m finding it pretty
neat.
Editor’s note: Power supply
repair IS pretty neat. Much
of the time, it’s pretty
darned easy and you have
nothing to lose by attempting a repair. It’s not working anyway so you might as
well try to fix it. If you fail to
fix it, you can always send
it off to a repair depot.
Naturally, I would recommend any repair facility
that advertises in Slot Tech
Magazine. Unless you
butcher the unit while
attempting to repair it,
there is generally no “previous repair attempt” penalty.
game in which none of the
player buttons would work.
After button panels were
swapped, boards replaced
and a couple of RAM clears
were done, what was left?
The main processor board,
power distribution board,
power supply and even the
backplane board were
changed. Nothing at all
would get the player buttons to work. Luckily a coworker had an idea that
just might fix it, other than
setting the game on the
nearby railroad tracks to
get run over by a freight
train. A while back we
“stripped” a few e-motion
games that were taken off
the floor to part out. Some
of the parts were taken out,
tested and put on the shelf.
Since we had a couple of
complete door assemblies
in storage, a fellow tech
stated he made one good
complete door assembly out
of the two bad ones. After
the door unit was replaced
all of the player buttons
worked. Apparently somewhere in the door wiring
harness a cable and or wire
was pinched, thus causing
the buttons not to work. It
was quite unusual but odd
failures can happen with
older games.
Editor’s note: I have always
said that a good shop runs
on “junk.” Knowing what to
throw away and what to
keep is part of running an
efficient slot shop.
- Pat Porath
[email protected]
Atronic e-motion Buttons Wouldn’t Work
We had an Atronic e-motion
Visit the Technical
Department at
slot-tech.com
Schematic Diagrams
Service Manuals
Educational stuff
And much more
It’s all free
Page 8
Slot Tech Magazine
March 2016
March 2016
Slot Tech Magazine
Page 9
Slot Tech Event
Slot Tech Training at The Sands
T
here are casinos in
many (most?) parts of
the world. It follows
logically that there are slot
techs as well. Last month,
Slot Tech Magazine featured the nice folks at the
Royal Beach Casino on the
island nation of St. Kitts in
the Caribbean. The average
temperature there was 85
degrees Fahrenheit. When I
stepped off the airplane in
Bethleham, Pennsylvania,
it was 19 degrees as I stood
shivering in the snow,
waiting for my Uber car to
arrive.
That having been said, I
received a warm welcome
from the staff at the Sands
Casino. We held two consecutive classes in order to
accommodate three shifts
and still have full coverage
on the slot floor.
It actually worked out fine
because the Sands
Bethleham features a number of Emeril Lagassee’s
signature restaurants
(which are awesome) and a
great Chinese restaurant as
well. There was even a fastfood sushi bar so I was in
heaven!
Stepping outside at the Lehigh Valley
Airport in Allentown/Bethleham,
Pennsylvania, it was 19 degrees.
Page 10
Slot Tech Magazine
March 2016
Right-above: Cesear and Harry
testing transistors during our
hands-on semiconductor lab.
Right-below: Chris and Tony
build their FM radios during our
hands-on soldering lab.
Do you mind if I “toot my
own horn” just a bit? Please
forgive me. Following the
class, I received this really
nice e-mail from the Sands:
I really appreciate your visit
and training. The guys and
gals really sucked it up and
we will save some $$$ in
the long run. If you need
any references please let
me know. This would be the
second time I have used
your services and nothing
but kudos from the team.
Great job.
Steve Houle
Director of Slot Operations
Sands Bethlehem
March 2016
Slot Tech Magazine
Page 11
Slot Tech Feature Article
Those Antiques are Still
Out There...
I
t is quite exciting to
actually run into
machines that are from
the 1980s. They have
indeed, withstood the test
of time. I speak specifically
of the genre of machines
called the “Flip It” games.
They were originally made
by Games of Nevada, which
then became Mikohn
Games.
The plastic pushers still
push the dollar-size tokens
and quarters across a white
plastic floor; some are in a
pile of two to three high. A
player inserts a coin, it is
launched by a rotating set
of fins and the coin falls
into a basket or into the
spill area. Gravitational pull
from our planet virtually
guarantees that the coins
will never be higher than
the aforementioned stack.
But that does not stop a
player from trying to get
them to spill. A small
inertial relay erases any
credits if the player decides
to “shake” or “shimmy” the
machine into becoming
generous. Remember,
however, that the cameras
are always rolling.
This particular game, the
quarter version, is located
at Sierra Sid’s in Sparks,
Page 12
By Tom Baker
By Tom Baker
Nevada. (It is just about 15
minutes from the Reno
Airport and is a truck stop
as well. The largest
collection of firearms,
proudly displayed in
various protected glass
cases are just inside the
casino.) The game has an
old spiral cam from the
Bally days (approximately
1975 or so). The zero-stop
switch needed adjustment
back to 1/32 of an inch. It
had been constantly hit by
personnel reaching in to
get the drop bucket filled
with quarters, hence the
machine was not resetting.
Over a period of several
weeks, after my first
encounter with this
machine, I came up with
several check sheets for its
complete checkup (It had
not been cleaned in many
years).
My approach to the game
was quite linear. There is
some overlapping as I made
my way from the mains (the
120 VAC power) to the
switch inside the machine
(To this day, I have not
been able to find a
schematic diagram or
service manual for the
Games of Nevada machines.
There are modern “Flip It”
Slot Tech Magazine
games, but those manuals
do not come close except in
name only.).
With the help of their slot
tech Roberto, we made our
way carefully through every
part of the machine; it has
several hoppers and the
coin drop. We found much
dirt, dust and such
throughout the machine.
(Please refer to the
excellent article in Slot
Tech Magazine, January
2016, page 10, on slot
maintenance.)
We started with a complete
March 2016
cleaning. We then made a
visual inspection of every
component we could reach.
I used another check sheet
for this, based on another
article in Slot Tech (on
discrete components.)
After this, we turned the
machine on and performed
an operational check. I have
still another check sheet for
this as well. Both
the visual,
audible,
temperature
factors were
closely watched.
A big help was all of the
articles I have found
tremendously useful in Slot
Tech magazine. This is why
I subscribe. Such modern
information is quite
“backwards compatible” to
the old machines.
Editor’s note: While Slot
Tech Magazine has never
been intended for anything
but modern equipment in
modern casinos, I am
pleased that you have
found it useful and
educational. Thank you for
your contribution.
Thomas R. Baker
www.california-antiqueslots.com
tbaker@california-
We would watch
the game work.
And then it
didn’t. We were
disappointed at
this point.
Roberto had
patiently put up
with me for
several hours
(Remember, this
is a very popular
game at this
casino.).
You can access
the check sheets
from my website:
www.californiaantiqueslots.com.
Scroll down to
Casino. There
are many links
to safety sheets,
maintenance,
operational and
electrical. Above
all, my approach
puts “Safety
First.”
March 2016
Slot Tech Magazine
Page 13
Subscriptions & Back Issues
Why back issues of Slot Tech Magazine are
important to own . . .
S
lot Tech Magazine is strictly technical. As such, the magazine's contents are not time
critical. The repair information and technical data contained in past issues is just as valid
today as it was the day it was published.
Additionally, current and future articles more-or-less assume that readers are already familiar
with what has been covered in past issues. This editorial policy assures that Slot Tech
Magazine's contributing writers are not limited to "writing down" to the level of a novice
technician but are free to continue to produce the most comprehensive technical articles in
the gaming industry.
Randy Fromm's
Slot Tech Magazine is
published monthly by:
Slot Tech Magazine
1944 Falmouth Dr.
El Cajon, CA 92020-2827
tel.619.838.7111
fax.619.593.6132
e-mail [email protected]
Back Issues
Printed back issues are available for onlysix months
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“I can help you bring down the
cost of casino electronics repairs”
Randy Fromm
“OK. You asked and I listened. My new tech class eliminates obsolete CRT
monitor repair and the associated monitor repair lab. In just four or five days,
your slot techs can learn to repair Power Supplies, LCD Monitors, Ticket
Printers, Bill Validators and more. It’s easy and it’s fun.“- Randy Fromm
tel.619.838.7111
fax.619.315.0410