WBA 11 bill validator not working anymore

[audihere]

I recently pulled my Bonus Wheel Double Diamond Deluxe out of storage where it sat for 15 years.  I put it there in 2009 because the CMOS battery had died and I wasn't sure if just replacing it would get it running again.

I've been reading a lot on this forum and decided to try fixing it.  I soldered in a coin cell battery holder to the MPU and put a CR2032 in it.  Removed the VARTA battery (didn't see the U16 voltage regulator so I think it's a 500 board).  Powered it on and got the red screen error on the bonus wheel LCD screen.  I replaced the coin cell battery on the back side of the bonus wheel LCD board and the game finally booted up and played for the first time in 15 years!

However, the bill validator/acceptor used to work a long time ago, but I it's not even trying to suck in a bill right now.  It doesn't light up green on the front insert area either.  When I power on the machine, I think I can hear it clicking or spinning the gears but after that, nothing.

I went into the menu and confirmed that the bill acceptor is enabled.

I pulled the unit out and looked at it and nothing looked way out of place to me.

I don't know if I could have knocked a connection loose while performing the above work.  Or, if by replacing the batteries I need to re-setup something in the menu?

I'd like to get it working again if anyone has any ideas?  Thanks!

[Stayouttadabunker]

Hmm...15 years ago, U.S. bills had small heads printed on them....all the bills except one dollar bills are using the big heads.
Try a one dollar bill.   
If it works, you may to get your bill acceptor head updated for the newer bills.

[audihere]

Hmm...15 years ago, U.S. bills had small heads printed on them....all the bills except one dollar bills are using the big heads.
Try a one dollar bill.   
If it works, you may to get your bill acceptor head updated for the newer bills.

The bill acceptor does make a grinding noise upon power up. But after than no noises, no lit slot, doesn’t even attempt to suck a bill into it. I’m thinking it’s not getting power or communications/setup issues?

[Stayouttadabunker]

Can you stick the multimeter probes into the end of the power supply connector to see if it has any power output?
If so, what readings are you getting from the power supply?

Did you try a $1 dollar bill?

Lastly, I hope you didn't pull out that bill validator with the machine's power switch ON?
It's NETPLEX based...and NETPLEX doesn't fare too well too hot-swapping parts....that's a very good way to burn out stuff and make your hands dig into your wallet for more Benjamins to spend.
With IGT's, basically, turn OFF the power switch whenever pulling/installing circuit boards...that includes printers as well.

Some members here are really good with bill acceptor diagnosing.
They will tell you what tests to run to check your validator.
I'm not one of them....I hate validators.
I like the older slots that use quarters...haha

[audihere]

Can you stick the multimeter probes into the end of the power supply connector to see if it has any power output?
If so, what readings are you getting from the power supply?

Did you try a $1 dollar bill?

Lastly, I hope you didn't pull out that bill validator with the machine's power switch ON?
It's NETPLEX based...and NETPLEX doesn't fare too well too hot-swapping parts....that's a very good way to burn out stuff and make your hands dig into your wallet for more Benjamins to spend.
With IGT's, basically, turn OFF the power switch whenever pulling/installing circuit boards...that includes printers as well.

Some members here are really good with bill acceptor diagnosing.
They will tell you what tests to run to check your validator.
I'm not one of them....I hate validators.
I like the older slots that use quarters...haha

I don't think I pulled the validator out with power on, but if I did it was after I had noticed it wasn't working at all.

$1 doesn't work, it doesn't even try to suck in any denomination, like there's no power, but it does make a clicking noise when the game is turned on.

I saw something in another thread about running an "Auto Config Netplex Device", but couldn't find that in my Vision menu, does it have it?

I did see in the Diagnostic menu Input section that my MAIN DOOR and BILL VALIDATOR DOOR simultaneously alternate between 1 and 0 every 1/2 second.  That might be normal operation?  In the attached pic, the Main Door is open which causes that value to remain solid at 0 while the Bill Validator Door still alternates between 0 and 1.

Which pins are the ones I need to probe on the power supply connector for the validator?

Thanks!

[audihere]

I think I found the power connector for the BV.  Measured 13VDC.  See pics.

[Stayouttadabunker]

When you soldered in the new battery holder and installed the battery, the machine lost it's settings.
You need to go into the options menu by opening the door and push the little white Test button.
On the lcd screen, look for
[3.3] Bill Accept Options
Enable or disable the bill acceptor.

Once you enable it, get out of the menus by hitting on the Max bet button a few times, close the door and try a $1 dollar bill.

[audihere]

OK!  I made some progress.

Couple setbacks throughout the way.  My Cash Out button was (probably purposely) dislodged by previous owner 15+ years ago maybe so it wouldn't try to spit out a ton of quarters?  When I Disabled the Bill Validator, I couldn't re-enable it in the menu by selecting it with the Cash Out because of the dislodged switch, so I had to figure that out.

Then, I was getting a Reel 2 Tilt error message and wasn't able to do anything until I was able to get that to clear, which may have been the latch not COMPLETELY down on the main door?  I did first try pulling Reel 2 a couple times and re-seated it, but that didn't seem to help.

I also forgot to plug the 2-pin power connector back into the bill validator harness, but once I saw that, I re-booted the machine and the bill validator was making noise and finally lit up!!!

So, I put in a $20 and it spits it right back out.  This is a major improvement of the BV not lighting up and not sucking in any bills at all though.

Like you recommended, I tried a $1 bill and it took it and gave me 4 credits.  Yippee!

I'm assuming my $20 might be too new?  Not sure where to find an old $20 or if there's a way to update the bill validator for new $20's?

Thanks!

[Stayouttadabunker]

Get ahold of JIM at Midwest Slots.
His phone number's on the homepage of NLG up in the vendor's listings.
Pretty sure he can update your BV.

[audihere]

OK, I'll do that.  But... my success was short lived.  I left the game alone during dinner and when I came back to it, I'm now getting Coin In Jam error.

I tried rebooting it and going into and out of the setup menu but no luck. 

Hopefully this is an easy fix?

[Stayouttadabunker]

uh oh...that might mean the MPU is dying out!
Post a clear photo of the circuit board.... especially around that big green Varta battery area, if it's still attached to the board.
Plus, it's been sitting in there for like 15 years. Yikes!

That particular battery is normally just used to keep memory of tampering with the machine while the power is OFF and for casino use...it's not needed for home use.
After a while, they leak acid and destroy certain tiny circuit traces that will cause "Coin-In Jam" and "Open Door" errors.
At some point during the corrosion, the board will NOT work anymore.
That's when it would be good to send it in for repairs.
NLG member Lookes is very good at fixing these.

[audihere]

Here's 2 pics of the PCB.  When I recently took the game out of storage, I soldered on a new coin cell battery / holder.

At that time, I also pulled the VARTA battery.  There's a closeup of where the VARTA was, maybe one of those traces got messed up?  I don't really see any acid leak damage.  This problem popped up out of the blue.  Anything else I should check?

[audihere]

I got the game working again possibly by re-seating the I/O board into it's slot and also re-seating the connector into the back of it.  I also actuated the main door latch slowly several times and was able to clear the error.  Hopefully I'll stop getting these erratic errors for a while.

I'm trying to get V3.60 eprom for the WBA-11 BV to take new $20's.  Then I'll be all set!

Thanks for your help!

[audihere]

Well, wasn't able to find V3.60 in IDO24 (not sure if a file exists?), so I went to a local coin collector shop and bought a 1996 $100 bill for $100 and it works on my game!