IGT Optical Coin In Timeout

[cliffeby]

My Joker Wild IGT Fortune 2 machine was giving me a Coin-in Timeout error.  Took me forever to find and learned a lot about the machine.  Here was the issue.

The red connector on the machine connecting to the optical coin board was bad.  I had a second machine, so I knew the optical coin board was good.  I had tested for voltage (+9.5VDC) between pins 1 and 4 and got a solid reading.  Tested several locations along the path and all good.  Apparently, I was nudging the connector just enough while testing and didn't pick up a loose connection.  The broken finger on the sensor board was "a dead giveaway”, but I ignored it.  For now, I jammed the green/orange connector through the hole and stuck it on.  I assume these red connectors are sold by the hundred pack somewhere.

Conclusion - double check anything that looks suspicious.   

[Stayouttadabunker]

It sure does look like  one of the header latch fingers broke OFF...good job! 

[cliffeby]

After solving the loose connection above, the game plays well.  The only issue is when power is off for more than 10+/- minutes, I get an immediate Coin-In Timeout error on startup.  The sensors are all reading 1s (active) in Self-Test Inputs and on door close, it resets and is fine until the next time that I shut down.  A quick up/down on the door latch is all I need to for it to be ready for play.

There's a large capacitor that was added to the coin optic circuit.  I assume it was added to try to address this issue.

Any ideas on why the sensors are not responding as expected on startup?

[Chris-socal]

Doesn’t that insinuate that the machine detects continuity on the coin out switch during startup?
What is the capacitor across? They use small capacitors on pinball switches to make sure the board gets the switch signal, it extends the electrical signal for a few milliseconds.
A large capacitor like that could extend the signal for a long time. Have you tried removing it?

[cliffeby]

I traced the wires for the coin circuit on my Fortune II.  Here's a pic of my circuit compared to the IGT manual.  Since I don't know the value of the CREM, I'm reluctant to rewire.

Any ideas on what's causing the coin-in timeout on startup after extended off time?  After door reset, no issues.

[cliffeby]

As suggested by Chris-social, I removed the 10,000mfd capacitor and for the past week, it starts without the coin-in timeout issue. No apparent negative side effects. Thanks for all the help and comments. Would love to know what the intended purpose was.

[Chris-socal]

Who knows what they were guessing at. 10,000uf is a big cap. It would cause a lot of confusion for a circuit. Glad it’s behaving well now. Fun machines.

Chris

[cliffeby]

After several days with no issues, I started getting an intermittent pulse to the bell.  It's now increasing in frequency and duration.  Looks like that's what the 10k mfd capacitor was preventing.  I don't get a bell ring with an open door on this machine.  Any ideas on the root cause? 

[Chris-socal]

If there is a schematic with the bell on it, you start with the bell and work backwards through the circuit. There is a driver for the bell, something is making the driver switch on. There is probably a Triac on the board that triggers the bell to ring. Its probably might be getting feedback. Maybe there is a filter capacitor on the main board.
If you are going to be working on PE machines it would be good to have a spare board. There was just a WTS recently for a really good price. Its good to have a spare for testing purposes.
Its difficult for us to give advice not being in front of the machine. We are basically guessing.
Also, K-Lar has a testing station for PE boards.

Chris

[cliffeby]

The wiring diagram in the Fortune II manual shows the bell connected directly to the motherboard.  I don't think that I've ever seen a schematic.

[Chris-socal]

Its in the file system.
Looks like Q18 and U21 might be the onboard switch transistors for the bell, it appears to be on a 10VAC circuit.
I don’t know which legs of the computer or other components send the signal to engage the switches.. would need to follow the traces back more. It is a photo copy of the schematic so it might be easier to read if printed and taped together.

Chris