Sigma Draw Poker Error

[buddyp719pa]

My brother-in-law picked up a Sigma poker machine.  It's model name is POKER-B9 and model number is B09-01. When it fires up it reports "ROM is defective please check it". I've attached a picture of the machine and error.  We've tried a "key reset" but it didn't work.  I'd appreciate any info anyone has about this machine.  Thanks.

[Chris-socal]

I would start with a simplified approach.
First pull the game board, take a few good pictures from above, make sure you have every component photographed for reference.
Lift any IC that is in a socket and look for oxidation on pins or under socket.
Carefully Clean the legs on the every socketed IC with an eraser.
Replace the IC. Only do one at a time.

You can then start the machine and let it run for a few hours, I believe those use a 1F memory capacitor….they often need to charge for awhile.

If, after doing this,  you still have problems report back here. Other things can go wrong with those boards but it get a little more complicated. Power supplies are a known issue on these machines. They should all be pulled and checked really but lets talk about that after you have done a visual on the board and cleaned leads.

Chris

[buddyp719pa]

Thanks Chris.  I appreciate it.  I'll report back after the cleaning.

[buddyp719pa]

Chris,

Inspected and photographed the machine motherboard.  Nothing obvious to report.

Pulled and cleaned the socketed IC's and the plug/jack connectors.

Unfortunately, we still have the "defective ROM" error.

What's next?  And do you know if schematics are available for this machine?

Thanks in advance, again.

Buddy

[Chris-socal]

Can you post a picture of the board?
The image can be a max of 1Mb so you either need to use a compression utility or email the picture to yourself and let the email program optimize the file size. Up to 5 images per post.

Does the game prom have labels on it? Maybe the game prom really is shot. Rare, but possible.

Chris

[shortrackskater]

Topic moved to SIGMA Video Games from STATUS Video Games.
~moderator

[buddyp719pa]

Chris,

Left, center, & right motherboard pictures attached.

As always, appreciate the help.

Buddy

[Chris-socal]

What is the voltage reading on the backup battery?

[buddyp719pa]

Chris,

3.5V.

Buddy

[Badbaud]

Read with a voltmeter??

Those batteries usually read less then a volt.

[Chris-socal]

Alan
That board has an actual 3.6v battery in the middle of the board. I don’t even recognize this board. It doesn’t appear to be an SG series.

Chris

[Badbaud]

It is an older than dirt Sigma game. 99% of the time replacing the battery with a 3.6V LiIon battery gets it running.

[buddyp719pa]

Gentlemen,

"Older than dirt" sounds like something my brother-in-law would find! I'm a bit under the weather with a nasty cold but when I'm better we'll get a battery and report back.

As always, we appreciate your time and assistance.  Thank you.

Buddy

[Chris-socal]

Hope you feel better.
That statement comes from a man who is literally the soil in which many slot machines were grown! He is a legend himself. LOL
I haven’t ever seen that board in a Sigma machine so it pre-dates the SG series from the late 80s.
Doesn’t mean anything bad, it just means there aren’t a lot of people who know anything about them.
If there is something wrong with the game prom your only hope is to find someone with a good one and get a copy. Unfortunately the 1 and 2 label doesn’t tell us anything about the software title.
Honestly, a battery with 3.5v is pretty impressive but you never know. Maybe removing and replacing it will do a reset on the memory chip.

Chris

[buddyp719pa]

Chris,

Thanks.  Feeling slightly better today.

Ordered a battery as close as we could find to the original (no longer manufactured by OEM).

I'll let you know the result.

As always, greatly appreciate your time and assistance.

Buddy

[Chris-socal]

Most important is whether it is supposed to be rechargeable or not. You cannot put a non-rechargeable battery into a machine that has a charge circuit.

[Badbaud]

read the chemical composition of the original battery and install a replacement that has the same electrical functions.

Was it rechargeable? then the replacement must have the same voltage rating and be rechargeable.

From experience I have found a 3.6 volt Lithium Ion battery works just fine because the board does not have a recharging circuit (well any I could find).
The test was done by removing the original battery and powering up the board measure DC voltage across the two PC pads the battery was soldered to, no charging voltage was detected there.

[buddyp719pa]

Chris,

Sorry for long delay.  I didn't want to interfere with Easter weekend (Good Friday thru Easter Sunday).  I hope you had a Blessed Easter.

Ordered a new battery as close to original as possible.  It arrived Wednesday and I installed it late Thursday afternoon.  Machine initially issued a "ROM count error" but then cards appeared.  George, my brother-in-law, and I played for several hours (battery replacement fixes it 99% of the time - thanks Alan).

As always, thanks for your help and advice.  I donated $25 via PayPal.

Happiness was short lived as a new problem arose.  On Saturday George sent me a short video of the display "waving".  I've attached a video.  Hopefully this will be a "simple" fix as well.

Thanks again.

Buddy

[Chris-socal]

Well Im glad the game board works.
The only way to get us a video is to upload to Youtube and paste the link in your post here.
Those machines are so old the monitors need a capacitor kit. What you experienced is not unusual, a few capacitors are on their deathbed and work until they just poop out.
You can safely remove the monitor from the machine but do not remove the anode cup from the tube unless you properly discharge first. Unlike later CRT’s those do not self-discharge. There are videos on YouTube on how to discharge.

Chris

[Badbaud]

There is also a PDF on how to remove a Ceronix monitor board at the KLAR website under
helpful PDF's