Blinking candle on Aristocrat

[Wallytdog]

I purchased this machine ( $20) and when i plug it in the candle blinks. I checked all the fuses and appear to be ok. I then pulled the CPU and found there is no battery. appears someone tried to bypass it.. would getting a new batter installed get me started ?

[shortrackskater]

 

FYI: Your duplicate post was removed from the other (old) thread. We like to keep topics on subject best as we can here. Plus there's at least one member on that thread that has passed away. Let's take care of it here. 
These older Aristocrats are a tough one here but I'll poke around and see if I can get some more knowledgeable members to reply.
In my opinion, that battery may just be there accounting reasons; in other words to just keep the credits in the memory. It's likely that, when switched off, it just lost its credits. But it can't hurt to put the battery back and see what happens.

[Wallytdog]

I apologize for the duplicate posts. Just a little frustrated and hoping for some help! I will be more patient and wait for some feedback.. fingers crossed i can get this working!

[shortrackskater]

If you do a search of "Aristocrat" in this forum (Other reel slots) some of the same units as yours that pop up. I believe that battery was just a nicad that was trickle charged. The jumper concerns me but the previous owner may have disconnected the voltage source at that point.
Can you post a photo showing the MPU board?

[Wallytdog]

thanks for taking a look

[Wallytdog]

Being that this did not have a battery, and has been turned off for some time. Can i assume i will probably need to reset the Eprom?

[shortrackskater]

Being that this did not have a battery, and has been turned off for some time. Can i assume i will probably need to reset the Eprom?

Eproms are programmed electronically and can be erased with UV light. The circuits are different for holding simple credit  information. So, your Eproms should be ok, battery or not... unless they were exposed to a VERY HIGH amount of light for a very long time, which is  highly unlikely.
I'm still on the hunt to find a member to chime in and help you out. 

[Chris-socal]

Sorry to hear your machine isn’t working. I don’t know anything about these machines specifically but a few general observations.

1. A blinking candle is often a good sign, at least the computer is running….or part of it.
2. On many of these machines from the 80s 90s you don’t need the battery, it was only to protect the accounting data.
3. Any IC that is in a socket needs to be carefully lifted and clean the pins/inspect for oxidation. If you are not familiar with handling eeproms and ICs watch a YouTube video so you understand the risks.
4. Look closely at all switches on the door or top box. Make sure they are all making good contact.
5. Is there a reset key on the side of the machine? Usually right side. Many times to reset the flashing candle and reset the machine you just need to turn the key. They are often key 2342, but if you don’t have a key you can just jump the wire inside.

Are there any other buttons inside the machine?  If so, press them.

Chris

[HariBalzanya]

These do need a battery to start up

I was working on one last week that wouldn't start up, the tilt light was constantly lit. It had a 40 year old exploded nicd battery in it. Replaced the battery and it was 90% back to life.

I used a 3.7v rechargeable lithium ion battery pack in place of the nicd pack.

Then it booted up enough for me to start working on are related issues with the reels

I've pretty much got them going now but looking for a few pull arm pieces and the small bulbs are tough to find too.  It you have and leads, I'm all ears

[Wallytdog]

DO APPRECIATE THE FEEDBACK! I have been checking for where i have power and dont, and current appears that there is no power going to the board. I am taking a shot that the rectifier/capacitor module is not producing usable DC. i a going to start by replacing those. They appear to be original and can dry out out after 20+ years.

let me know if you think im on the right path

[Wallytdog]

I have also read that the machine should power on without that battery, its for storing information, and saved credits.. Please let me know if this is incorrect. also what is the correct battery to install here and i can add that to my list

[Chris-socal]

Most of the old transformer type of power supplies can be replaced with switching power supplies but that is not true in all cases.
Sometimes they send low voltage AC to the board and there is an onboard rectifier or rectifier diodes on the game board. Since there are filter capacitors and you say a rectifier off the board you could probably trace which wires go to the board and trace where they go. They could be sending 7v to the board then there’s a 5v regulator.
Rectifiers are easy enough to test so grab a multi meter and test it….tons of YouTube videos on how to test a rectifier.
It is highly unlikely the transformer is bad but likely one or more of the the capacitors is shot. Having said that, I have a game from 1983 and the giant capacitors are fine. But it all goes to an onboard rectifier circuit which cleans it all up.

Without a schematic or personal knowledge of the board it is difficult to say. A clear picture of the game board might help.


Chris

[Wallytdog]

there is an image of the board in a previous post of mine

[Chris-socal]

I can’t see underneath the ribbon or daughter board but I don’t see a rectifier.
Technically speaking, you could apply a clean 5v supply to the 5v line and the computer would run. That doesn’t mean all the peripherals would run but you should see some kind of life.
However, I question one issue, a blinking candle requires a DC circuit to make it blink….where is that DC voltage coming from?

Did you clip onto the 5v rail on the circuit board to verify there is mo 5vdc or did you only try to find it on the transformer block?

Chris

[Wallytdog]

I checked the 5v fuse, and that was good. so then i checked the 5-volt regulator assembly. and when i used the multimeter, there was no reading. tells me its either the 5volt regulator transistor, or the capacitor, or bad connection

[shortrackskater]

I checked the 5v fuse, and that was good. so then i checked the 5-volt regulator assembly. and when i used the multimeter, there was no reading. tells me its either the 5volt regulator transistor, or the capacitor, or bad connection

Is there a heat sink on that regulator? If so, and there's another regulator with one, you could just feel it compared to the others, which should be warm after it's powered up for awhile.

UPDATE: After Chris-socal's reply (#16) ... I should have added... check the regular AFTER you know it has the input voltage of course! oops!  

[Chris-socal]

Bad capacitor would not cause a zero reading. You should be able to trace AC up to the rectifier and the output side of the rectifier should be putting out DC. Its easy to check the 5v regulator and see if DC is coming out of that. We keep asking the same questions in different ways.
How is the candle blinking? Its getting power from somewhere.
If you were not getting any DC then the rectifier is out but something is driving the candle circuit.
The computer board needs clean 5vDC to run. Start with that.

Chris

[gwslotting]

Hi...  I have an Aristrocrat Espirit , bought used in 2020, last time I fired it up was 2022. Have not touched it since. Please read some of my posts with others between 2020 and 2022. I am not active in NLG site now, but back then I remembered soldering a + and an - wire connected to a AA battery holder (ebay, amazon etc) so whenever batteries need replacement, i don't have to tediously tear out all the circuit boards.  Also I recall purchasing extra Eproms and a programmer to make backup eproms in case the old ones failed, rendering the entire unit dead.  Hope that helps.