July 2014 - Slot Tech
Transcription
July 2014 - Slot Tech
Slot Tech Magazine Editorial Page 3-Editorial Page 4-IGT S2000 Display’s NETPLEX Link is Down Page 11-Slot Tech Training at Ft. Hall Casino Page 12-TechFest 30 Review Page 18-Subscriptions and Back Issues D ear Friends of Slot Tech Magazine, This month’s Slot Tech Magazine is more of a travelog than technology report. May was a busy month for me. I took a couple of weeks to explore Nevada, Utah and Idaho on my trip from San Diego, California (my home base) to Ft. Hall Casino up near Pocatello, Idaho. The next thing I knew, I was off to Mystic Lake Casino for TechFest 30. I sort of apologize (but not really) for not putting a snazzy slot machine on the cover but I wanted to convey how interesting and fun it was to have so much “hands-on” at this year’s event. Ceronix’s head technician, Jillian Haynes, did a wonderful job providing everyone at TechFest 30 with something to work on during the morning session of day three. So, thanks to everyone who presented at TechFest 30 (we had 12 presenters in all) and thanks to everyone who attended. The class picture is on page 12. See you at the casino! Randy Fromm Randy Fromm's Slot Tech Magazine Editor Randy Fromm Technical Writers Jason Czito, Vic Fortenbach, Henry Kollar, Chuck Lentine, Kevin Noble, 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 SUBSCRIPTIONS Domestic (North America) 1 year - $80.00 2 years - $140.00 International 1 year - $160.00 2 years - $300.00 Subscribe online at slot-techs.com Publisher-Slot Tech Magazine Copyright 2015 under the Universal Copyright Convention. All rights reserved. For schematic diagrams, manuals, service notes and more, visit the 100% free Slot Technical Department at slot-tech.com Slot Tech Feature Article IGT S2000 Display’s NETPLEX Link is Down By Chuck Lentine and all of the information for test and setup modes-if it works correctly. T his article is going to dive a little deeper into this symptom which shows up at least once a week in our casino. If you are fortunate to have the IGT S2000 in yours, go get your favorite beverage now and come right back for some fun. This symptom shows up just after the machine has been powered down for a few seconds. That’s all it takes. Especially true after you move the game or have to reboot it for any reason and your game is a few years old, this is a rite of passage. We will look at some easy common fixes and a few that will make you say a few choice words to the machine. On a correctly operating machine, when the power is turned on, the VFD display reads “Display’s NETPLEX link is down” for about five seconds and then changes to “Testing memory, please wait” on the older machines and “Testing FLASH, please wait” on the newer conversions. After about a minute, the reels spin and the machine goes into game over mode (in a perfect world). While there are many articles on the IGT Netplex, I’m going to dive into some really oddball issues that only seem to find me. This is to help all of the slot techs on what to look for and not waste hours taking apart a machine. Netplex is simply a two-way communications protocol the CPU uses to talk to devices installed in a machine such as a printer, BV, and VFD. If there is a break in the line, half of the devices may work and the others play dead like the way Christmas lights work. One lamp goes out and everything “downstream” goes out. Netplex is happy in its own little world and does not play nice when things break or get grounded out. Fortunately, IGT has wired Netplex in “branches” throughout the machine. It starts with four connectors on the backplane that go to various sections such as On the main door of an S2000, there is a small display known as a VFD (Vacuum Florescent Display). It shows the machine status, coins in, coins won, credits, denom, doors open, Page 4 Slot Tech Magazine June 2015 NEW PACIFIC ILLUMINATION PRODUCTS NOW AVAILABLE FROM PART #4020 – LED board for Konami Reel PART #3040 – LED (24 volt) Plug “N” Play Edge-Lit Denomination panel for IGT 17” & 19” Slant Top games. PART #3060 - Dual 24 volt LED flex strips, pre-cut and pre-wired, Plug “N” Play, to replace CCFL assembly & inverter in Aristocrat Viridian Belly or Topper glass. CONTACT YOUR AG&E REPRESENTATIVE FOR SAMPLES, INFO OR TO PLACE YOUR ORDER 1-800-727-6807 June 2015 Slot Tech Magazine Page 5 main cabinet and top box. We will get into this further in the article. Before we get onto troubleshooting “Netplex Down”, observe the machine for a few minutes. When you turn it on, let two minutes go by and see what else happens. Does the machine just sit there or do the reels spin and BV resets but still says “Netplex down?” When you turn on the machine and you have “Netplex down” for more than a five minutes, the first thing is to replace or repair the main power supply behind the reels. This is very common. The power supply has no, low, or noisy voltage going to the CPU and it is locked up. Electrolytic capacitor failure is usually the cause of this. Replace all of the caps in the power supply. Editor’s Note: Mr. Lentine’s not kidding here when he says ALL of the electrolytic capacitors are bad and should be replaced. As featured WAY BACK in the March ’09 issue of Slot Tech Magazine (available online at http://slottechs.com/magazine/ backissues.htm ) this specific power supply failure has less to do with bad output filter capacitors and/or “dirty DC” than it does failure of the “zerocrossing” output of the power supply. This output has nothing at all to do with either the +13 VDC or Page 6 the +25 VDC outputs of the power supply. This is the pin 7 output that, under normal circumstances, is a 60 Hz square wave. Known as the “zero-crossing detector,” Its purpose in life is to tell the slot machine’s CPU that the AC power is up and running. As the name implies, the zerocrossing detector looks at the AC Line and, if the power drops out for some reason, tells the slot machine that the power is gone and it should do some quick bookkeeping and quickly shut down in an orderly fashion, writing important data to EEPROM (“e-square”) memory. The REAL fix is to replace capacitor C50. It’s a 100uf filter capacitor for the internal +5VDC power supply that powers the zero-crossing circuitry itself.-rf The second most common cause is a dead battery at BT1 on the CPU. This symptom will flash “Netplex down” on the VFD and sometimes it will be on Slot Tech Magazine steady. I have also had no display on the VFD. The telltale sign is the LEDs on the CPU are flashing. Even if this battery reads 3.6VDC while soldered in, I change it anyway if it is a few years old. When it has a load on it, the readings will be fouled with a weak battery. If your machine has “Netplex down” and the reels spin, BV resets and sounds like it is trying to come to life after a few minutes, your issue is probably with a device or a break/short in the wiring. The VFD is on one of the Netplex lines so if that particular line is shorted, the display will remain “Netplex down.” Your machine is essentially playing blind. If your machine is doing this, it’s easy to narrow down the lines or a particular device. I would recommend powering off the machine before you reconnect any device. Start looking for the obvious. Pull out the BV and printer. Check June 2015 the ribbon cable or coiled cord for the printer. These love to short out and create havoc. Disconnect the power cables going to these devices. Once you start zeroing in on the problem, you can disconnect the cables one at a time from the Netplex distribution boards located on the back wall of each section. If you need to isolate a larger section, disconnect the four plugs from the backplane. Do the reels and BV reset after being powered on for a few minutes? No: Problem is in the CPU or backplane. Yes: The problem is out on the Netplex line. Connect one plug at a time and observe what functions properly so you can rule out that particular section. depending where the tiny traces landed. Just add thin wire jumpers on the back of the board between the pins of the fried circuit to repair the damage and you are good to go. I also have had a few pins come loose on the power connector under this Here are some of the not-so-obvious issues that will drag down a Netplex line: Transact Epic 950 Printer: Ribbon cable shorts out on frame and numerous lines get sliced into. The +24VDC gets grounded through the Netplex lines. Fortunately, the interface board in the very back of the printer rails (where the ribbon plugs into) acts like a fuse and one or two very thin traces vaporize themselves or come away from the board stopping the short from going back into the machine. At the same time, the Netplex circuit is open or shorted June 2015 Slot Tech Magazine Page 7 board and short on the metal frame. ing down and have to move them out of the way with wire ties. If these fall just right, the connector end will get pinched when the door is closed and smash against the back of the Sentry bezel causing it to short out and take down the Netplex line. It can actually split the PCB in half! A quick way to eliminate the bezel PCB is to disconnect the Netplex line from the bezel “loop” behind the cashbox and connect the Netplex line directly into the BV. JCM UBA10 Bill Validator with Sentry Bezel: this one is my favorite. For those of you who are unfamiliar with a Sentry bezel, it is a small PCB mounted on the main door at the BV inlet. It has a flashing blue ambulance symbol when there is a problem with the BV, and scrolls LEDs like an airport runway when it is ready to accept money or tickets. The Netplex line approaches from behind the cashbox housing and splits off to the Sentry bezel first and then back to the BV. Now the fun begins. On a S2000 door, there is usually one or more extra button harness connectors that are not used. They are tucked away and normally do not cause any problems. However, if one of these comes loose and “dangles” down behind the Sentry bezel, it can interfere with closing the door. It gets jammed between the BV and the main door. I have had numerous ones hangPage 8 Slot Tech Magazine June 2015 If you suspect the VFD display is defective, it’s easy to swap it into the machine next to it for testing. Here June 2015 are some common issues I’ve encountered with these displays: BAD PGM - Eprom at U5 Slot Tech Magazine is bad or needs to be reseated. This eprom can be a stinker. It usually erases itself when it gets Page 9 spiked/zapped and can be restored if you have saved the image beforehand No Image - Driver chip at U3 is bad or needs to be reseated. Also, check these test points: VSS, GND - Ground VCC, VDD - +5VDC 13V1, 13V2 - +13VDC VDISP - +50VDC FIL1, FIL2 - 6.2VAC Check fuses F1 and F2, and Caps C17 and C24 if no high voltage. And if that is not enough, there are four dipswitches on the back of the VFD for testing: Dip 1 ON-Normal ON Operation / OFF-Test Mode Dip 2 and 3 ONON Normal Operation / OFF- Turns on anode 1 and 2 respectively Dip 4 Changes clock speed for various glass displays VFD Connector J1 Pin # 1 – Reset 2- TxD 3-Netplex +VDC 4- RxD 5- Netplex GND Stay safe, have fun, and a great summer! - Chuck Lentine [email protected] Page 10 Slot Tech Magazine June 2015 Slot Tech Event I Slot Tech Training at Ft. Hall Casino t was a beautiful Spring week near Pocatello, Idaho and the drive up from San Diego, California included a short trip through Zion National Park (right). I am always especially pleased when a casino invites me to return for another round of training with new employees. My previous visit was in June 2012. Not much has changed since then as far as the class is concerned but they have finished their beautiful new hotel and event center, pictured with the class, below. A new casino building is also planned but ground has not yet been broken for that project. Attending the four-day class were Scott Trahant, Wendy Hall, Kameryn Farmer, Joe Rodriguez, Brent Anderson, Robin Juarez, Dulcey Evening, Ricky Byington, Juan Rodriguez, Rickie Edmo, Kelly Yabeney, Corianna Honena and Wagner Galloway. If you are interested in a four-day class at your casino, contact Randy Fromm at 619.838.7111 to discuss STM your needs.-STM June 2015 Slot Tech Magazine Page 11 Slot Tech Event I TechFest 30 Review Wow! That Was Fun have found a way to make TechFest even better with the help of some new friends. TechFest 30 was held May 27-29 at Mystic Lake Casino Hotel near Minneapolis, Minnesota. This year, in addition to the usual, highly informative Page 12 presentations from the folks that make the ticket printers, touch screens and bill validators, Ceronix returned with their awesome hands-on monitor repair lab and my new friends that represent HAKKO brought a full-on soldering lab with every Slot Tech Magazine kind of rework equipment you would ever want in your shop. At the end of the class, we opened up a private beer bar and had a blast practicing component removal from some junk boards, generously provided by our hosts at STM Mystic Lake Casino.-STM June 2015 JCM’s Dan Petersen June 2015 3M Touch System’s Paul Hatin Slot Tech Magazine Page 13 CPI’s Sean Gray on the MEI unit Below: Scott Saltzman (ESP/ Surgex) was at the event to give live demonstrations of SuzoHapp’s “Power Pro” unit. Shoshone Rose Casino’s Vernon Hill Jr. was discussing the unit with him. I asked him to point to the unit to make the picture more interesting. It didn’t help. Page 14 Above: Mystic Lake’s Norm Hohenstein led a back-of-house tour of the shop facilities each day. This is the world’s best slot shop and a real highlight of the TechFest experience. Slot Tech Magazine June 2015 Slot Tech Suppliers (Stuff We Need)! June 2015 Slot Tech Magazine Page 15 Above: This was our exciting, hands-on soldering lab using all HAKKO equipment. We had the works! Above (and on the cover) are just a handful of the photographs of the crazy-fun during the hands-on LCD monitor lab, sponsored by Ceronix. Head technician Jillian Haynes led the group. Left: Pacific Illumination’s Harry Iverson was at TechFest 30 to discuss CCFL replacement but, most importantly, replacement with LED strips instead. He showed us how to replace the backlight in a 6 inch LCD monitor in one minute, as compared to the 10-15 minutes normally required to replace a fragile CCFL in this type of device. Right: Russ Wige represented Transact Technologies as he has at almost every TechFest we’ve ever held. Thanks, Russ. Page 16 Slot Tech Magazine June 2015 June 2015 Slot Tech Magazine Page 17 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 401 W. Lexington #777 El Cajon, CA 92022 tel.619.838.7111 fax.619.315.0410 e-mail [email protected] Back Issues Printed back issues are available for onlysix months from the date of publication. All single issues of Slot Tech Magazine are $15.00/ea. For further details on the contents of each issue, please refer to the website at slot-techs.com. To order, fax a PO or e-mail a note listing the issues you need. Subscription rates: Domestic (USA & Canada) 1 year - $80.00 2 years - $140.00 International 1 year - $160.00 2 years - $300.00 Complete archive (2001 to present) available online. Visit slot-techs.com for details. Invoice me! PO Number________________________ Company Name ______________________________________________________ Contact _____________________________________________________________ Address ____________________________________________________________ Address ____________________________________________________________ City _________________________ State/Prov. ___________________________ Country ______________________ Zip/Postal Code _______________________ Telephone ____________________ E-mail ________________________ [ [ [ [ ] 1 year subscription, domestic ] 1 year subscription, international ] 2 year subscription, domestic ] 2 year subscription, international Type of card: [ ] American Express [ ] Discover [ ] MasterCard [ ] Visa Account Number: ________________________ Expiration Date: ________________________ “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