DBV-145 - PE+ says it is enabled but it won't take a bill

[CarlDon]

My PE+ Draw Poker machine (slant top, if that matters) won't take bills. When I turn the machine on the bill validator cycles several times then stops. It won't take a bill - it won't even acknowledge that I am attempting to load a bill. Then I go into settings and it says the bill validator is turned on. I see lights on in the bill slot but still nothing will get it to do anything to pull a bill in. I opened the door where the BV is when I close it the BV will cycle again and for a split second the lights on the front of the BV (where the denoms are shown) lights up - I saw a post or video somewhere saying if that light on the front was not turned on then the BV wasn't activated. I do not have a set chip. Would it be worth buying one to turn the validator off then back on?  Thanks!

[Chris-socal]

Hello
Lots of questions still to be answered and several people here are very knowledgeable about BVs in PE machines. Lets gather some more information, please answer these questions.
1. Did you just acquire the machine? Have you seen it accept bills before?
2. Have you checked the battery on the game board? It should read above 3volts
3. Have you pulled the BV and opened it?
4. Does the game accept coins?
5. Does the game have any credits on it?
6. Please post another picture of the game screen when it is in Play mode with doors all closed.

To answer your other question, its never a bad idea to have a set chip on hand. You will likely need it to activate the BV if the battery ever goes dead. Thats about all the chip does really.



Chris

[CarlDon]

Thanks for the quick reply. See answers below. Chris you fixed the monitor on this machine a few months back (blown fuse, you made a youtube video of the repair). When I got the machine the battery was dead and I replaced it with a battery holder so I can easily change it.

1. Did you just acquire the machine? Have you seen it accept bills before? - I've had it for a few months and it has always done this. The guy I got it from says it used to take bills (he also swore the machine was touch screen and it clearly is not so who knows if he's right about it taking bills)
2. Have you checked the battery on the game board? It should read above 3volts - Battery was replaced when I got the machine so it is fine.
3. Have you pulled the BV and opened it? - I have, it looks pretty clean, nothing seems out of place and it engages with the bill box as it should.
4. Does the game accept coins? - Yes, accepts and dispenses coins
5. Does the game have any credits on it? - Not currently.. in Credit mode it will add credits when a hand is won then I can insert more coins to play or use the credits. I can only insert 5 coins and it auto-deals the hand (meaning I can't add more to load up the credits)
6. Please post another picture of the game screen when it is in Play mode with doors all closed. See attached.

[jay]

If the bill entry light is not on then its not going to accept bills and you will need a SET chip.
If your ordering a SET then I recommend you get a Clear chip at the same time.
Hopefully you will never need the clear chip but if you ever do then its good to have one.

The DBV145 is a very old bill platform. It accepts money in 1 direction. It accepts none of the new money so when your testing you want to use a $1.00 bill.
A DBV200 will accept money in 4 directions (front/back, up/down) you can replace the head and power supply without any other modifications.
A DBV200 can be upgraded to take all new money except the new 100's.

The PE+ was never a touch screen, and can't be modified to use one.
If you change the chip set over to Keno, you can also add a light pen and you use that to touch the screen. (kind of clunky at best and only works for Keno).
If the CRT is ever switched to LCD that will no longer work for you as it uses the CRT scan lines to track the pen positioning.

[Chris-socal]

Great reminder Jay…about DBV145 only taking current $1 bills. Other than that it has to be a bill from before 2003.
Does the BV have any dip switches?
Did you open it and wipe the lenses (only with a damp cloth using water, never alcohol or other cleaners).
Also verify there isn’t anything stuck in it. Wedge of paper, crumpled bill, coin, etc.

Chris

[CarlDon]

There are two banks of dip switches on the back. 8 of them then a 2 bank. They are all off and from what I've found that is what they should be. Most of them are just to tell the BV to reject certain bills, correct?

Is there someone on here that sells the DBV-200 head and power supply? I see several of the power supplies on eBay but I don't find any of just the reader part.

Carson

[jay]

I think RB or JIM can sell you new ones. There are also the vendors on our home page, that you can always call.

The 145 power supply and the 200 power supply are pin compatiable meaning you can swap one out for the other.
The big BUT is that the 145 power supply doesn't have the amps to properlly run the 200head.
Visually they are very similar but the 200 has fins on it for more heat dissapation.

[Chris-socal]

 
Im still a little suspicious that there is something else going on. Its ok to upgrade, Im not saying don’t do it. However, those 145s are robust, if its cycling and the light comes on then goes off I suspect something is telling it not to accept bills. You might upgrade to a 200 and it will do the same thing. I had once that the light would go off as soon as the bill touched the first sensor. I looked deep inside and found a dime inside preventing the belt from moving. I got excited because I was sure that was the problem…but then it still wouldn’t accept bills. I then looked inside very closely and found a sliver of paper wedged just right to block a bill from entering. Someone had been stuffing stuff inside it. After that it worked perfectly with $1+bills.

I also think you need to get the set chip, turn it off then back on.

Verify the dip switch settings. Is dip switch 8 supposed to be on or off? Isn’t that the one that tells it to use a stacker or not?

[CarlDon]

I looked up the dip switch settings again and it does look like 8 should be on to use the stacker. I'll give that a shot. In the meantime, I've ordered the PE+ set and clear chips from ebay. If I can get the 145 working I might consider the 200. My mother-in-law works at a bank and I've asked her to be on the lookout for older bills. I really only want a couple $50's or $100's so I can load it up without having to keep putting quarters in.

[jay]

The hack to that one is to program the bill accepter to be one cent. That way you get 100 credits for a dollar. Youdon’t have to change the denomination from $.25 or whatever you would normally have displayed on the screen.

[CarlDon]

Oh yeah.. then just disable the "Cash Out" button and clear the quarters from the hopper.. that's a great idea. Thanks! I'll add that to the checklist once I get the BV working.

[Chris-socal]

You can buy 1990s $5, $10 and $20 on eBay, it costs a little more but not terribly more.

[CarlDon]

Well I did the set chip and get the same outcome. Turned off the BV and booted the game to verify it was turned off. Used the set chip again to turn it back on and still nada. It's weird the system doesn't give any sort of indication as to what might be the problem. It has to be something security related because it won't even illuminate the red "Insert Bills" sign. When I get some time I'll take it out and take it as apart as I can and get everything cleaned and oiled.

[sixcardmark]

The PSU for the 145 BV may be shot.  They weren't that good to start with.