Bally 5 cent Watermelon 3 reel 956-22 issues

[Thiatime]

This 5-cent machine has sat idle for a while. You helped me with this machine about 7 years ago. At first, the machine was all jammed up. So I printed out the post on how to fix your machine. And I got the machine to spin and pull handle to return with oiling of all spinning parts. Now when I put a nickel in it goes through but nothing happens and on the front of the machine, it is stuck with 5 coins deposited it is lit up like I put in 5 coins. If I open up the machine and pull the small lever (see pics, I can pull the handle and all reels spin, and if I hit a payout, nothing happens. So basically, it is not recognizing the coins deposited. Any ideas? I am moving and recently picked up a game king so that get it played always and want to sell this one, but I need to get it working. Thanks for all your help

[wolftalk]

if you push down the coin switch (where the coin drops out of the mech on the door), do you hear anything?

if no, check the 50V fuse.

do you have a voltmeter?

[Thiatime]

Yes, I do have a multimeter. And you're talking about thin wire that the coin triggers when it goes thru and it usually clicks when you push down on it. It is not making any sound. Where is the 50A fuse located? Thanks

[wolftalk]

yup on the coin switch tripwire.

usually microswitches click when toggled, but not always.

the fuses are mounted by the transformer, so you'll need to yank out the hopper to see them.

you can also poke you meter probes and look for 50VAC.  One probe on the yellow wire 30 on the coin switch, other probe on orange wire 70 on any coil you can get to ... usually the coin diverter coil on the door left of the coin switch is accessible.

with one probe on orange wire 70, you should see 50VAC on orange/green wire 74-1 on coin switch when the tripwire is up, and 50VAC on the blue/yellow wire 23-1 when the tripwire is down.

is the handle locked when you are putting a coin in?

btw, if you're bored, please email lots of highest possible resolution pictures of the game to slotpics@cdyn.com.  Things like:
- entire front of machine
- entire inside of door
- inside of cabinet with everything installed
- all sides of the reel mech
- all sides of hopper
- payout counter unit including wiring
- inside the cabinet with the reel mech and hopper out

assuming high res pics, close-ups aren't as useful as the entire area.  Can zoom in to see details, but most folks have a tendancy to take pics too close in and lose info like wire colors attached to things :-)

[Thiatime]

Hi everyone,
Thanks for the earlier suggestions/reply. Quick update:

I found the fuses, and sure enough, the middle 10A was blown. I replaced it, and the machine managed one spin before the new fuse blew as well.

From what I've been reading (and as some of you might have suspected), it sounds like I'm likely dealing with a short circuit – possibly in the coin-in switch or another component. Looks like it's going to be a process of elimination to track it down.

I'll take those photos that were requested and will email them tomorrow.

Appreciate all the help!
Thomas

[Thiatime]

I have sent the pics you requested. And the coin trigger is making a click sound when the coin goes through, Thomas

[shortrackskater]

I love your profile gif!!! 

[wolftalk]

the pics are available at https://bingo.cdyn.com/slots/956-22/pics/imagegallery.php

the 956-22 was made later than I have docs for, but it's likely similar to the 956-1 (https://bingo.cdyn.com/slots/956-1/) except the reel wiper wiring.

looking at the pics, a couple things to check:

1] make sure the vertical switch blades on the bottom/left of the payout counter isn't touching the metal outboard carriage.  You can loosen the switch stack and twist to create a gap if necessary.

2] your reel shaft isn't locked into the reel mech.  Turn the shaft and fiddle with it so the locking levers are holding the shaft forward (see first below pic for example).   When installing the reels, drop the shaft in and let the shaft push the lock levers down ... then when the levers swing up and hold the shaft forward, you know you're good.

3] the switch travel limit bars on the reel mech A/C switches may need an adjust.  The bars should not touch the blade to the left of them.  In this case it's harmless if they do, but it can stress the moving blade at the contact line and eventually the moving blade cracks (red arrows in pic below).

4] you'll want to remove the line unit (next to the transformer).   You pull both the jones plugs to disconnect the wiring, but you'll need to look at how the unit frame is attached to the cabinet.  Once it's out, you'll want to look at the coils ... your reset coil has gotten hot - measure it with an ohmeter to make sure it hasn't failed.

when exactly did the fuse blow?  Did you need to deposit a coin, or did it blow when the spin ended?  If when ended, was there a winner, what were the odds, and did the hopper turn on?

the middle fuse is the 50V fuse ... which of course is most of the game :-)  If that's blown, pretty much only the lights work.

just my luck the picture of the left side of the reel mech doesn't show the code stamped into the slotted metal index disc on reel 1.  What is the code?

if you see nothing obvious, you may need to muck around removing units and trying with the door open/closed/unplugged to narrow down where the fuse blowing issue is coming from.  Unless you have a bucket of fuses, the ideal thing is getting a circuit breaker kit like this one:

   https://www.amazon.com/mxuteuk-Breakers-Protector-Terminals-Waterproof/dp/B0CGX22ZS5

attach wires with alligator clips to the spade lugs, then you can plug the wires onto whatever breaker you want to use (or solder wires with alligator clips to any breaker you want) ... or if really lazy just connect the breaker with a couple jumper wires with alligator clips on both ends.
 

[Thiatime]

shortrackskater

I will keep contributing, especially since I have 4 machines. I have this one and a Game King, which sixcardmark helped me out big time to take the 4.0 hardware to 5.0 and finally to 6.0 Superstar poker.  I also have a Jacks or Better video poker from 1982. I also have a 25-cent 50s slot from Sharkey's Casino I will send pics. There is so much knowledge on this site it is amazing. BTW, this machine is going up for sale when fixed. So, anyone in SoCal who is interested, contact me. Thanks to all who have helped Thomas

[Thiatime]

Quick update:

I replaced the 15 amp fuse with a reset-type fuse. Upon further inspection of the coin meter, I jiggled the wires, and one of the terminals broke off. I'll need to find a replacement for that somewhere.

Regarding my previous list:

#1 Where is the payout counter located?
#2 This issue has been fixed.
#3 Where are the switch travel limit bars located?
#4 Is the line unit located to the left or the right of the transformer?         
I'm sending pictures of the stamps on the reel mechanism and some other components.

[wolftalk]

payout counter is the thing on the left side of the hopper with the spiral cam.

the limit bars are the red arrows in the second pic in post #7 ... I forgot to say that in the text, so I fixed that.

the line unit is to the right of the fuses ... has the round brown contact plate.  The plugs behind it on the back wall connect the unit to the rest of the machine.

the 484-475 index disc was most commonly used in "money gusher" games.  The 809-ZH schematic and reel wiper wiring documentation should be close for the reel and payout counter wiring info ... look at a 956 schematic for other stuff in https://bingo.cdyn.com/slots/.  The 'A' column on the reels is your $2.50 symbol.

one difference on the 809-ZH is when it did jackpot lockup.  According to your glass, your game only locks up on a 777 with 5 coins played, so your odds disc wiring will be a little different and only jackpot relay #1 would be used. 

note when you get a jackpot lockup, the game won't accept a coin.  The casino would be doing a hand pay and the attendant in theory could use a key to release the jackpot and allow a coin to be inserted.  In practice, most casinos had paperwork in the machine that was used to record hand pays, so when the door was open the attendant toggled the coin switch to trip the coin relay and disconnect the payout circuit.

since the 956 is a "lowboy" version of an 809 - meaning they shoved all the 809 bits into a shorter cabinet - the 809 and 956 circuits are pretty close.

the coin meter isn't necessary ... a lot of games had them removed.  If you really want a meter, email me/post a pic of what style you have in there and I'll see if I have one.

[Thiatime]

Don't you need the coin meter so the machine can see how many coins have been put in? You can see the coin meter in one of the pics I sent. The black piece with the bent wire is the coin meter, right? Because it will not add credits to the machine to check if is is working. Also the line unit the screws were loose I tighten them up maybe that was the short? Thanks for your help

[wolftalk]

oh, sorry, I shoulda checked and made sure of the terminology.

the black thing with the bent wire is the coin switch.  A coin meter would be a box with number wheels that count how many coins have been inserted in the game since the meter was installed.

you definitely need a working coin switch.  The switch itself is pretty standard, but you may need to transfer the bent wire to a replacement switch or bend/cut the one that comes on a new switch.

this one looks right:
   https://www.amazon.com/DIYhz-Coin-Switch-Black-10307/dp/B07JM27GNJ

as a temporary hack, you can see if the broken lug connects to one of the brass rivets on the switch, and if yes solder the wires to the rivet.  If no good on the rivet, you can usually carve/melt away enough plastic to reconnect the wires to the stub of the broken lug.

which screws were loose on the line unit?

[Thiatime]

     I ordered the switch, and we will see what happens when I get it. The line unit screws that attach it to the cabinet were loose could that cause the short? Thanks

[wolftalk]

     I ordered the switch, and we will see what happens when I get it. The line unit screws that attach it to the cabinet were loose could that cause the short? Thanks

if the line unit was so loose it could flop around and electrical parts touch something, sure ... but that seems a bit unlikely.

while waiting for a coin switch, you can simulate its behavior with a jumper wire if you disconnect the yellow wires from the existing switch. 

1] connect one end of the jumper to the yellow wires
2] other end connect to the orange/green wire (74-1)
3] to simulate a coin drop, disconnect end from 74-1 and touch it to blue/yellow wire 23-1, then reconnect it to 74-1

i.e. normally yellow wire 30 connects to 74-1.  30 disconnects from 74-1 and connects to 23-1 when the coin switch tripwire goes down. When the tripwire goes back up, 30 disconnects from 23-1 and reconnects   to 74-1.

so on the switch:
- common lug - wire 30
- NC lug - wire 74-1
- NO lug - wire 23-1

[Thiatime]

  I installed the new coin switch and it is not blowing fuses anymore. When I first installed it and turned it on, everything was fine. Then, it blew, and it was a loud pop. However, I reset it, and now it does not light up for each coin deposit; it is stuck on 5 coins. So much progress, but not quite there. Any ideas? Thanks

[Thiatime]

  Thank you, Wolftalk, you have been extremely helpful

[wolftalk]

if the 50V fuse is still blowing, the not so fun job is trying to find a triggering event assuming the fuse doesn't immediately blow on power on.

if you are lucky, you can remove the hopper then operate the coin switch and the fuse survives.  Quite a few circuits are disconnected without the hopper in, so it narrows it down.

other things to note:

1] is the fuse fine (IFF) when you push down the coin switch tripwire, but blows when the tripwire goes back up?

2] have you removed the odds unit yet (odds unit = line unit ... bally kinda used "odds" on multiplier games and "line" on multi-line games, but it's the same unit)?  At least unplug it and see IFF

the most common failure is the odds unit got cruddy and the wipers didn't reset so the reset solenoid stayed powered and burnt up

when the odds stay at 5 coins played, the odds unit didn't reset.   If the coin relay on the left side of the reel mech is tripping when the coin switch is operated (and the handle releases), then either the odds reset coil is bad, the wipers are stuck, or the "open-at-zero" switch poking out over the white plastic ratchet/gear on the odds unit isn't working - it should be open at unit reset, closed when the unit steps up 1+ times. 

the open-at-zero switch is just there to prevent the odds unit reset solenoid from firing when the odds unit is already reset (reset = 1 coin played, stepped up 4 times = 5 coins played).  It's harmless if the open-at-zero switch with the blue/red (21-1) and yellow/red (31-2) wires is stuck closed as the solenoid will always fire on first coin, so that's just a wear-n-tear issue.  If the ratchet/wipers doesn't spin all the way to the reset stop and open at least one of two open-at-zero switches in the circuit, the reset solenoid coil stays powered and turns into a toaster element.