new! slot tech training now availableslot-tech.com/members/magazine/lores/july14.pdf · slot tech...

New! Slot Tech Training now availablein South Dakota, Louisiana

Slot TechMagazine isan official

publicationof the

Randy Fromm's

Slot Tech Magazine

EditorRandy Fromm

Technical WritersGlenn Allen, James Borg,Jason Czito, VicFortenbach, Henry Kollar,Chuck Lentine, CraigNelson, Kevin Noble, PatPorath

Slot Tech Magazine is publishedmonthly bySlot Tech Magazine401 W. Lexington #777El Cajon, CA 92022tel.619.838.7111 fax.619.315.0410e-mail [email protected] the website at slot-techs.com

SUBSCRIPTIONSDomestic (North America)1 year - $80.002 years - $140.00International1 year - $160.002 years - $300.00

Subscribe online atslot-techs.com

Copyright 2014 under the UniversalCopyright Convention. All rights re-served.

Slot Tech Magazine

-EditorialPage 4-Aristo Topper RebuildPage 9-Regional Slot Tech TrainingPage 12-Slot Tech Training at Harrah’s SoCalPage 14-Glenn Allen’s Power Supply RepairReference SectionPage 22-Subscriptions

Randy Fromm

Publisher-Slot Tech Magazine

New Regional Slot Tech Training Program

Dear Friends of Slot Tech Magazine,

In order to serve the many, small-to-medium sizedcasinos that cannot come close to filling my maximumclass size of 15, I have instituted a new Slot Tech Trainingprogram. Moving forward, I will schedule a series ofregional, four-day classes. Beginning this month at theLode Star Casino in Ft. Thompson, South Dakota, I willhold these classes at a sponsoring casino and invite otherslot techs to attend in order to fill the remaining places inthe class that the sponsor cannot.

I believe this arrangement will work well for everyoneinvolved. The sponsoring casino need only provide meetingroom space and guarantee six people for the class. Tuitionis $795/person (inclusive of all classroom materialsincluding textbook, digital multimeter, soldering iron andsoldering supplies, sample components, etc.). Meals andlodging are the responsibility of the student.

The sponsoring casino saves the cost of transporting andhousing their own slot techs. Those from other properties(those with, presumably, less than six techs or are lackingin meeting room facilities) will now (finally!) have chanceto attend a class where it just wasn’t possible previously.

Following South Dakota, I am going to hold a class inShreveport, Louisiana and possibly one here in San Diego,home to Slot Tech Magazine. However, I am wide-open tosuggestions for future classes. I suppose that if I’m goingto hold a class at Lode Star Casino (REALLY remote.Check it out on Goggle Earth. It’s located precisely halfway between the geographical center of the United Statesand the Canadian border) I’ll consider holding class justabout anywhere I’m needed. If you’re interested insponsoring a class in your neck-of-the-woods, pleasecontact me and we can discuss it. See page nine for moredetails regarding the class.

See you at the Casino.

RegionalSlot Tech Classes

Lode Star CasinoFt. Thompson, SDJuly 15-18, 2014Eldorado CasinoShreveport, LA

August 25-28, 2014

Classes open to all slot techs

July 2014Slot Tech Magazine

Slot Tech Feature Article-Fixing Older Aristocrat Toppers

Slot machine toppers,when working properly, can attract more

attention to any slot ma-chine. But if the slot ma-chine topper is not workingcorrectly, more attention isdrawn to the machine notto play it. A topper that isnot working properly is likea dented can of beans atthe supermarket. Thebeans inside the dentedcan may be OK but youdon’t want to take a chanceon buying them, so youpurchase a can that is notdented. The same goes forany slot machine; it has tolook great and operateperfectly to attract andmaximize play.

The older style of the Aris-tocrat topper has beenaround for over 10 years.These toppers were actuallydesigned and made byCasino Data Services (CDS).Aristocrat purchased CDSand the toppers came withthe deal. Before CDS waspurchased, they manufac-tured several different slot

ma-chinesand pro-gressive control-lers. We still use one ofthe CDS’s progressive con-trollers on our bank ofAristocrat machines.

The older Aristocrat topperscome in only one shape(oval) and is attached to theMK6 style of cabinet. Thetopper consists of two parts,the first being the centersection which displays thename or theme of the slotmachine. This theme plas-

tic is backlit from behindwith a standard 22 wattFC8T9 Circline fluorescentbulb. The second part ofthe topper is the border oroutside edge of the topper.This border is made ofchrome metal and sur-rounds the center themeplastic. The chrome borderhas holes for the LEDs thatchase around the oval edge.

By Vic Fortenbach

Slot Tech MagazineJuly 2014


Before you attempt repairson this type of topper, thereis one word of caution: Dueto the small area inside thetopper, the lack of any airventilation and the UV lightfrom the florescent bulb,over time the plastic partsinside the topper can be-come brittle and easilybroken with the smallestamount of force.

Gaining access to the in-side of the Aristocrat topperfor florescent bulb replace-ment can be done with a11/32 inch nut driver.There are four nuts ar-ranged in a square patternon the back side of the ovaltopper. Removing thesefour nuts releases thetheme plastic and the metalchrome border. There is aground wire and a four pinsignal cable for the LEDsthat will be still attached. Aplastic 11/32inch nutsecures the ground wire tothe chrome border andtheme plastic. Both thesignal and the groundcables are short and mustbe disconnected from thetopper for bulb replace-ment. Disconnecting thecables makes the job ofbulb replacement easier soyou’re not stuck holdingthe theme plastic and bor-der with one hand, whileattempting to change thebulb with the other.

The Circline florescent bulbused inside these toppers issecured with three metalclips, the florescent lamp“snaps” with these clips tosecure the bulb. The ten-

sion on these clips is strongand may break the bulbduring replacement. How-ever, since these clips areso strong, you will neversee a bulb lying inside atopper from clip failure.If the topper’s illuminationbulb is still not lit evenafter the bulb has beenreplaced, chances are it’sthe ballast. These ballastsare metal and totally sealedto prevent repair. All youcan do is replace the bal-last. The ballast specs areFC8T9 22 watt Circlineflorescent lamp ballast at120 volts AC. Replacementballasts are available fromSuzo-Happ. If you searchonline, use the FC8T9designator instead of thewords “Aristocrat ballast”since Aristocrat also usesthree other type of ballastsin MK6 machines.

The ballast is secured bytwo screws. Removing thesescrews and replacing theballast is a task that isbetter performed on theworkbench instead on aladder in a busy slot floor.You may think removingthe topper from the slotmachine would be a totalpain, but it’s not. Thesetoppers remove from theslot machine cabinet withno tools and just a littleelbow grease.

To remove the Aristocrattopper, just grab a hold ofthe left and right side out-side edges of the topperand tug toward you. Withsome elbow grease, thetopper will slide off of itbase with a little side toside wiggling motion. Allthat remains is the topper’smetal base still attached to

This is the AMP, Metrimate connector


the top of the cabinet. Thiseasy removal is possibledue to a black Metrimateconnector that has beenbuilt into the base. All ofthe connections for thetopper are routed and con-nected through thisMetrimate connector. If youare not familiar with a blackMetrimate connector, theseare the same ones used onslot machine CRT monitorsto connect the CRT monitorto the slot machine’s cabi-net or monitor tray.

Once the topper has beendisconnected from thetopper base, both thetheme plastic and the top-per itself can then be handcarried to the shop forrepairs. It’s OK to leave thetopper base and connectoron the top of the machine,since there are no exposedwires or sharp edges topose any guest issues.Leaving the topper mount-ing bracket on the top ofthe slot machine does lookstrange but it’s only tempo-rary until repairs can becompleted and the topperre-installed. Since thecandle is mounted to thetop of the topper, place themachine out of service sothere will be no gamingissues, with a “candle-less”slot machine.

The border LEDs and thecircuitry that controls themare the point where most ofthe problems with a topperoccur. Troubleshooting theLEDs on the topper borderis pretty easy. The LEDslight or they don’t. This

problem can be divided intotwo areas: the border cir-cuit board with the LEDssoldered on to it and thecontroller board inside thetopper.

The border LEDs are di-vided into three separatecircuits. By sequencing thecircuits in a 1-2-3-1-2-3order, a chasing effect iscreated. If one completechannel is out, all of theLEDs that are connected tothat channel will be unlit.The remaining two chan-nels will continue to se-quence or chase but thechasing effect will lookmore like flashes of LEDlight instead of a chasingsequence. Because of theheat inside the topper, onelikely cause of this issue isthe backing out of the wiresfrom the connector harness

that connects the themeborder to the driver circuitboard. Punching down all ofthe wires (there are fourwires on each end of theconnector harness) on theconnectors at the end ofthe harness is one way torepair this problem.

Since the controller circuitboard is old, Aristocrat nolonger supports it andreplacements are not avail-able from Aristocrat. But nofears, the parts used onthis board are not exoticand are available from anyelectronic parts supplier.

The circuit board inside thetopper is a complete circuit.By that I mean that every-thing is on board: Thepower supply, a clock orpulse circuit, a three-stepcounter, buffer chips and

This is the LED chaser driver PCB


NEW PROGRAMRegional Slot Tech Training

Classes Available:Ft. Thompson, SD July 15-18 2014 Lode Star CasinoShreveport, LA August 25-28 2014 Eldorado Casino

Day 1-Beginning Electronics forSlot Machine TechniciansThis segment assumes that you haveno previous electronics training andtakes you through a simple, NO MATHlook at electronic components, elec-tronic circuits, schematic diagrams andmore!

Using a Digital MultimeterThe DMM is the single most importantpiece of test equipment you can use.

Electronic ComponentsAll of the individual components usedin gaming machines are introduced.Students learn how to test them forproper operation.

Day 2-Diodes, Transistors & OtherSemiconductorsHands-on Transistor Testing Lab

This part of the school takes a look atall of the different types of semiconduc-tors commonly seen in gaming ma-chines. We'll take a look at the opera-tion of each component, along with test-ing procedures to determine if the partis good or bad.

Day 3-Morning Session-SolderingGood soldering technique takes prac-tice but there are some tricks that canreally help speed things along. Duringthis segment, each student will be pro-vided with their own soldering suppliesand a fun project kit they will assemble.This equipment will be theirs to keep.

Day 3-Afternoon Session-Power Sup-plies (continues Thursday)This module covers all types of powersupplies, including linear power suppliesand the Switched-Mode Power Supply(SMPS) found in virtually everything ina modern casino.

Day 4-Afternoon Session-LCD Moni-tor RepairLCD Monitor repair is generally prettyeasy thanks to their modular design.This segment covers the theory of op-eration of LCD monitors. There will be apresentation on component-level repairtechniques, CCFL testing and replace-ment and using LED strips as back-lights.

Includes free CCFL tester!

Cost of the ProgramTuition is $795/personIncludes:Digital MultimeterSoldering iron, tools and solderingsuppliesSample componentsSoldering Instruction KitTextbook

Students are responsible for theirown meals and lodging.

If you’re interested, please contactRandy Fromm right away. It’s first-come,first-served and there is a very limitednumber of places available in eachclass.

Randy FrommSlot Tech Magazine401 W. Lexington Ave. #777El Cajon, CA 92022619.838.7111

You can fax a PO to 619.315.0410 andwe’ll invoice you. Be sure to include thestudent’s name.

Attend or Sponsor a Class Near You!

Since 2001, Slot Tech Magazine has been holding slot techtraining classes at casinos across the USA. These classeshave mostly been held at larger properties with a dozen or

more slot techs from their own slot department attending the class.In order to serve our smaller cainos (with, perhaps, just a fewtechs) we are now holding regional classes that are open to all slottechs that wish to attend.

This is the full, four-day class that covers power supply repair andLCD monitor repair, down to the component level.

To Enroll: Download the enrollment form at slot-techs.com

If you are interested in spon-soring a regional class atyour property, please contactRandy Fromm for details.

Class Schedule 9:00am-4pm Daily

This is a “fast-track” class for slottechs who want to learn thequick and easy way to fix moni-tors and power supplies withouthaving to learn a lot of electronictheory or mathematics.


LED driver transistors areall mounted together onthe same board. There iseven a power conformationLED onboard to verify inputpower.

The driver circuit boarddesign is straightforward.

Editor’s Note: I tried likecrazy to obtain the sche-matic diagram for thissimple circuit but was un-able to do so. It’s not worththe effort to draw it out asthe circuit is so easy totroubleshhot and repair.Heck, the ICs are evensocketed!-ed.

Incoming power (12 voltsAC) is derived from a smalltransformer mounted sepa-rately on the side of thetopper. The input of thistransformer is 120vac. The120vac comes into thetopper through theMetrimate connector pins 1and 3. Pin 2 is ground.Once the 12 VAC has en-tered the board through asmall two-pin connector, itpasses a one amp fuse andis rectified to about 18 voltsDC. The 18 VDC then isregulated to +5 VDC by aT0-92 package, 7805, +5volt regulator. This regula-tor seems to be heat sensi-tive as this one part failsabout once a year in ourtoppers. Failure of the +5volt regulator stops thechasing motion of the bor-der LEDs, keeping only onechannel of LEDs lit. Theother two LED channels areunlit. It’s very easy to re-move and replace this partsince there are only three

legs. The pulses that createthe chasing effect of theborder LEDs is created by a555 timer chip. This chipoutputs a single pulseabout every 1/3 of asecond. The pulsesare sent to a 4017CMOS de-cade counterchip. This chiphas 10 pinoutputs and acount reset pin.Only one outputpin is active high atany one time. The 4017chip is configured to onlycount to three and recyclethe count. Each of thethree output pin is con-nected to a buffer/driverchip and then on to thelarger transistor drivers.The transistor driver out-puts are connected to theboards LEDs.

To date, the only issue Ihave had with these boardsis the failure of the 7805 +5voltage regulator.

The only other problemwith the Aristocrat topper isthe failure of the whiteLEDs on the border. TheseLEDs are connected inparallel so when one LED“burns out,” the rest staylit. Just one LED that is outon a topper is not a big dealbut when there are several,they should be replaced. Totest which LEDs are notlighting on the topper bor-der, just set your multi-meter to the diode settingand connect the black(minus) meter lead to thecathode end of the LED.The red (plus) lead from the

meter isconnected to

the anode sideof the diode. The

small amount ofvoltage from the

multi-meter will lightthe LED if it is not alreadyburnt out. This makeschecking the LEDs quickand easy. This technique ofchecking LEDs can also beused to check LEDs on billacceptor and printer bezels.

Editor’s Note: This worksOK with Fluke meters. Itmay not work with otherbrands. But then again,who would want to useanything else but a Fluke?-ed.

The best source of replace-ment LEDs is a junk topperdesignated as a “parts top-per.” Matching the lightcolor and brightness ofthese older LEDs to thecurrent LEDs now availableis near impossible. Withrepairs on the Aristocrattoppers fairly easy to com-plete, the repaired toppercan be made to work an-other 10 years.

- Vic Fortenbach- Vic Fortenbach- Vic Fortenbach- Vic Fortenbach- Vic [email protected]@[email protected]@v.fortenbach@slot-techs.comslot-techs.comslot-techs.comslot-techs.comslot-techs.com

Burned Pin


ADVERTISEMENT - Power Supply Repair

Attention Slot Manager!Four-Day Classes With Randy Fromm

-Power Supply Repair-LCD Monitor RepairNo previous electronics knowledge required. It’s easy and fun to fix casino electronics down to the component level.

Call Randy at 619.838.7111 to discuss your needs.


Slot Tech Event

Slot Tech Training at Harrah’s Southern California

This was an ad hocclass, requested byTim Gaalagher of

Harrah’s Southern Califor-nia, located about an houraway from Slot Tech Maga-zine in the casino-rich,North County area of SanDiego. Tim wanted trainingfor two groups of slot techs.For the beginning group,we covered the basics ofusing a digital multimeterfor component identifica-tion and testing as well assoldering using the latest

Above: Tim Ghallager of Harrah’sSoCal

Top Left: The super training teamof David Kruidhos (l) and GlennAllen

Bottom left: Putting the solderingtraining to work by building a fun,solder-practice kit.

Above:David Kruidhos demon-strates Hakko soldering gear.


equipment from Hakko. Guest instructorDavid Kruidhos of the Stratesys Grouprepresented Hakko for the demonstration.If you’re interested in Hakko (you shouldbe) his contact number is 858 774-1174.

The advanced group consisted of a dedi-cated group of really professional techsthat already had a firm grasp on repair.For them , he had requested a session on“CCFL-to-LED conversion.” I asked HarryIverson from Pacific Illumination to surf hisway down from Dana Point to San Diegofor the presentation. Harry brought a messof LED strips with him and we went nuts

during a “hands-on” lab, changing thebacklights in both monitors and playertracking displays. You know Pacific Illumi-nation from their advertisements in SlotTech Magazine. They provide almost all ofthe CCFL replacements (and now LEDreplacements) for the casino industry.

Following this, we had a presentation onrepairing Aristocrat power supplies fromexpert technician Glenn Allen of ThreeRivers casino. Glenn is also a well-knownpersonality from the Slot Tech Forum.Glenn has prepared some really greatdocumentation on these units. They havebeen reproduced in this month’s Slot TechMagazine

If you are interested in sponsoring a slottech class at your property or you wish toattend a regional tech class, please contactRandy Fromm or see the website at slot-techs.com.-STM.-STM.-STM.-STM.-STM.

Everyone had a chance to play with the latest andgreatest Hakko gear. This stuff is amazing!

The advanced class performing LED replacements on all types of displays.That’s Harry Iverson (Pacific Illumination) on the left directly above.

Harry Iverson

slot-tech.com-Technicalslot-techs.com-Magazine


Slot Tech Reference Section-Aristocrat Power Supply Information


Notes:


Aristocrat MK5PFC-II: (U14; UCC28513DW)

1. No Power:Q5 shorted, D4 and D5 shorted (Replaced with Schottky Diode 1N5818), R185 (SM Resistor 08050.1W 1% 100ppm 1Khom) Open, U14 Shorted/Blown up, R86 (.36 ohm Replaced with .50 ohm) BlownOpen -Replaced All -Test Good-

2. No Power:Q5 shorted, D4 and D5 shorted, R185 (SM Resistor 1Khom) Open, U14 Shorted/Blown up, R86 BlownOpen, D35 & D36 Bad (SM SEMI DIODE SCH 30V BAT54 SOT23) -Replaced All -Test Good-

3. No Power:Q5 and Q1 shorted, D4 and D5 checked OK, R185 (SM Resistor 1Khom) Open, U14 Shorted/Blownup, R86 Blown Open, D35,D36, D6 and D7 are Bad, Q4( SM SEMI FET 60V 2N7002 SOT-23), and U2(SM SEMI IC COMP LM339 QUAD) -Replaced All -Test Good-

4. No Power:Q5 and Q1 shorted, D4 and D5 checked OK, R185 (SM Resistor 1Khom) Open, U14 Shorted/Blownup, R86 Blown Open, D35, D36, D6 and D7 are Bad, and U2. -Replaced All -Test Good-

5. No Power:Q5 and Q1 shorted, D4 and D5 shorted, R185 (SM Resistor 1Khom) Open, (burned out trace betweenR185 and R86 repaired), R86 Blown open, U14 Shorted, D35, D36, D6 and D7 are Bad, Q4 and U2(Pin1 shorted to Pin2, 3, 11 &14) -Replaced All -Test Good-

6. No Power:No visible damage to any part. Check U14 VCC to Ground shorted.Check U13 pin 5, 6, 7, 8 to pin 4 if shorted replace all low voltage part, U13, D19, D20, L10 R55,R56,C17, C21, C22, C314 along with U14 and in some cases U2.

7. Low Power:(24V @ 0.2A) after repairing no output problem:Check 400V line – if reads 160v Replace U2 V. With a meter connected when power is applied you’llsee it go to 400V and then bleed down to 160V. Sense circuit is being pulled down through U2 pin 12thus damping Q1 gate drive signal.

8. Relay won’t energize:Remove relay andmeasure coilresistance, 575 ohms.Check coil voltageshould be 9V to 15V@ 0.02A. If voltage iscorrect replace Q4 andD21 (low current).

CHEAP ADVERTISING

To advertise in Slot TechMagazine, contactRandy Fromm at

619.838.7111 or emailadvertising@slot-

techs.com

Slot Tech Magazine is anofficial publication of the

MK-7 Troubleshooting Guide

No output Voltages.C18 or C19 is swelling,One of R18-R22 is open circuit,1. Replace faulty resistor (one of R18-R22)2. Replace both C18 and C19 (Has to be the same value andvoltage. Allowed brands:Nichicon, Nippon, Panasonic, Rubycon)3. Check and replace if faulty F3, S3, R5, R6

No visible damage. One of D12 or D24 isshorted,D12 or D24 faulty1. Replace faulty diode (D12 or D24) This is fast 1000V1A diode RS1M2. Check if winding 4-5 (in T1 if D12 faulty or inT2 if D24 faulty) is not open. Replace faultytransformer. It is recommended to replace corresponding transformereven if winding 4-5 is not open

Many parts are burnt out next to Q3, Q3 is shorted1. Replace Q3 Use 2SK2611, IRFPF50P, 2SK2487A only2. Replace D11This is 30V 1A Schottky Diode. Use MBRS130, MBRS140, B130, B140, SK13b, STPS130 only3. Replace D10 This is 30V Schottky Diode BAT544. Replace U15. Test and replace if faulty:

5.1. Q2 IPW60R125CP only5.2. Q1 PNP 100V 1A FZT535.3. D2 This is 40V 1A Schottky Diode . Use STPS140, MBRS140, 10BQ0405.4. R122-R125, R126-R1295.5. S3, F3, R5, R6, Q10, Q11, U5, U36.Replace R37-R43, R130-R133

Many parts are burnt out next to Q8, Q8 is shorted1.Replace Q8 Use 2SK2611, IRFPF50P, 2SK2487A only2.Replace D22 This is 30V 1A Schottky Diode. Use MBRS130, MBRS140, B130, B140, SK13b3.Replace D23 This is 30V Schottky Diode BAT544.Replace U5, R95-R102, R135, R136

“OK. You asked and I listened. My new tech class eliminates obsolete CRTmonitor repair and the associated monitor repair lab. In just four or five days,your slot techs can learn to repair Power Supplies, LCD Monitors, TicketPrinters, Bill Validators and more. It’s easy and it’s fun.“- Randy Fromm

“I can help you bring down thecost of casino electronics repairs”

tel.619.838.7111 fax.619.315.0410

Randy Fromm

new! slot tech training now availableslot-tech.com/members/magazine/lores/july14.pdf · slot tech...

Documents