MPU batteries in the casino

[smoothgrh]

Being a poor solderer, I think it's a pain to have to change MPU batteries on my home games when the battery is soldered on.

So I'm wondering: how do slot techs change batteries on a casino floor? Does the casino shut down a section of slots in the early morning and a tech changes all of the batteries every couple of years whether the battery is low or not?

Why are they soldered on in the first place?

(I install a battery seat whenever I have to replace soldered-on batteries)

[Stayouttadabunker]

The enviroments are different....you're talking apples and oranges.

In casino's, the machine are almost never turned off.

For machine's at home that aren't on 24/7 - that's when the onboard batteries get drained.

I've seen IGT S+'s on the floor for over 15 years never having a battery changed out once.

[smoothgrh]

Huh. But the batteries aren't rechargeable. I had read that the batteries drain at the same rate whether the machine is on 24/7 or if it's storage — not true?

[dailey]

In answer to the earlier question, batteries are sometimes soldered to the board to ensure the best possible electrical connection, a connection which is more fail safe than a battery holder. Something that's probably a concern only to a casino. Outside of the casino environment, I think a battery holder makes more sense.  Just my opinion.

[Stayouttadabunker]

Huh. But the batteries aren't rechargeable. I had read that the batteries drain at the same rate whether the machine is on 24/7 or if it's storage — not true?

Many slots nowadays use the Ni-MH (Nickel–metal hydride) batteries to retain the machine's settings and internal accounting numbers.

Those ones are definitely re-chargeable cells and are only really "ON" and being dis-charged when there is NO power to the machine....otherwise, they are trickle charged to a specified voltage and an embedded chip switches off the charging voltage.

There are several types of re-chargeable cells in different electronic slot machines...older platforms in the 80's -90's such as the IGT S+,  used Lithium cells before the Ni-MH batteries came out.

If you stick in non-re-chargeable, regular alkaline cell batteries in a slot machine that has a charging unit,  you run the risk of overheating the cell and having it leak, explode, or catch fire.

[smoothgrh]

OK, thanks for the insights. I always wonder how the casinos handle the kinds of things I have to do with my home machine. Especially those that still operate the late 1990s/early 2000s machines like at the Longhorn Casino in Las Vegas, or the Cal-Nev-Ari.