Tournament black box?

[Badbaud]

The PSR for SP1227 does not mention tournament options.
BUT the game I got in for service is a tournament game and has  SP1227.
The game has a black box on the wall to the left of reel #1.
I'm thinking this is some kind of tournament retro that didn't require a tournament SP chip.
Are there instructions on how to run the game in tournament mode?

[Stayouttadabunker]

That PSR does NOT have anything for tournament play - like you said.

But now you've got me wondering if the black box is just the power supply for the lighted denom sticker...
Does it have a ribbon cable?

[knagl]

Does this "black box" have wiring going to the MPU or motherboard?  Without us seeing what you're seeing, it's kind of difficult to even begin to hypothesize what you might have there.

Also, have you checked in the self-test menu to verify that the chip is SP1227 (on the off chance that the chip is mis-labeled on the EPROM itself)?

[Badbaud]

Yes, self test showed SP1227.
The box does not have a ribbon cable.
When I first turned the game on it had over 2000 credits on it.
I closed the door and turned the jackpot reset key and the credits counted down to zero, then the middle mechanical meter counted for a while.
The customer brought the game in yesterday at 1PM and wants to pick it up at 1PM today to take home.
Not much time for determining how to get it into free play.
The game has no hopper and the coin in area has been blocked but it does have a DBV200.
I guess I'll try enabling the BV today and see if it will take bills to get a game to play.

[Stayouttadabunker]

Since there's no time, I'd just throw in a generic SP and document the black box's wiring pinouts to the motherboard.
I will take a guess and say the harness from that box runs to location [J2] on the motherboard? or to the DBV harness?

From a different PSR, try this?...>>>

"Tournament game play can be initialized by simultaneously pressing the Spin Reels player switch and turning the jackpot reset key."

[Badbaud]

Finally got time to do some exploring.
The black box has nothing to do with tournament.
It powers the large fluorescent lamps.
I don't think the game was ever a tournament game.
The backplane has the dreaded Molex pin and header pin burned and the Bill Validator was in stall mode.
Sooo, I plugged one of my fake hoppers in, jumpered out the coin harness, ran a set chip and plugged in my good test bill validator.
More to come as I am currently re-pinning the power cable and the backplane.

[Stayouttadabunker]

The PSR for SP1227 does not mention tournament options.
BUT the game I got in for service is a tournament game and has  SP1227.

The black box has nothing to do with tournament.
I don't think the game was ever a tournament game.

  You're starting to sound like me... or a newbie... just kidding
What made you think it was a "tournament" game? The black box? 

[Badbaud]

No, the customer said the person he bought it from told him it was a tournament game.
It was actually a rip off put together game.
The cash can was seized, the BV and transport were defective, the bet max button had all if it's wires ripped off and the MPU had a large burn spot on the back.
I put in all known good parts and the BV still wouldn't turn on so I did something someone on NLG recommended never doing.
I ran a clear chip through the bitch then ran a set chip and it now takes bills, they went straight to the hopper so a little reading of the PSR told me how to fix that.
43 minutes late but I got it done so the customer can pick it up.
I told him he may be staying an extra day because most of the east bound roads were snowed in this morning.

[Stayouttadabunker]

ouch! Sounds like a machine scrapped together from junk parts...wow
Glad you got it ready!

[Badbaud]

Well, he did buy it off of Ebay, what else could you expect.
It was his first machine purchase and now he understands why it cost less then $300.