Paladin
Active member
An Introduction to Bally Slot Machines, Manual 6000 1979. This is a good primer for Bally electro-mechanical slot machines. Page 22 corrects the myth of how the slot machine got its name-it certainly wasn't what I thought. This manual, in PDF format, is 45 pages in length and it is broken down into five parts for easier downloading.
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- Feb 17, 2007
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Bally Slot Machine Manual
I just had to post, as I just got my first slot machine project running!
A friend of mine saw an ad on craigslist for a non working 80's slot machine and asked if I could check it out for him as he was at work. I told him that even though I've worked on video games and pinballs, I've never even seen the inside of a slot machine. I tried to do some research online before I left, but there didn't seem to be any sites out there that show the insides of these things.
I went to the guys house and looked the game over. It looked to be in good shape, and even though I got the old 'it's probably just a fuse' line I figured it didn't look too intimidating. I gave the guy my friends money, and we loaded it up.
Later when my friend got out of work, we unloaded it and looked it over. He was really happy with the appearance, and we both decided to do more research online as to what may be wrong. I finally found one site with some pictures of the insides:
http://tomeckenrode.com/my_first_slot_machine_project.htm
It appears that the game we had was completely missing the MPU board! We both emailed the seller, complaining that his ad stated 'complete non working' - but we weren't able to get any money back. I felt horrible, as I was the one who handed his money over.
It was time to figure this thing out! I discovered www.newlifegames.net - which seems to be the best resource out there for slots. I signed up and posted some pictures of the machine, and my dilemma. The folks there are really nice and helpfull. I got in touch with the user FOXSSLOTS1, who was able to tell me how to figure out what program I needed for the game, then sell me an MPU board with the right program!
The board arrived today, and I put it in. At first the game wouldn't run, but using the manual that my friend bought online I was able to determine that there was a hopper jam. I discovered the hopper switch arm had been bent in a way that made the switch always closed. After readjusting the switch, everything works!
I was really expecting to have bad transistors on the I/O board, or other issues to track down. I still can't believe it was that easy! The game doesn't have a sound board, but it has a bell inside that chimes when you insert a coin and rings for several seconds whenever you win. My friend agrees with me that the bell sounds go great with the game, and a sound board isn't necessary. He'll probably end up buying a 'candle' for the top, as there's some glue up there where one used to be attached.
Considering that working games of this type sell for $600 and up in this area, I think we did pretty good for just over $350!
The only problem now is that he's going to take it home, and now I want one for myself!
Some pictures of the machine are on my site, so now there are at least two sites with pictures:
http://home.comcast.net/~dark.paladin/slot
A friend of mine saw an ad on craigslist for a non working 80's slot machine and asked if I could check it out for him as he was at work. I told him that even though I've worked on video games and pinballs, I've never even seen the inside of a slot machine. I tried to do some research online before I left, but there didn't seem to be any sites out there that show the insides of these things.
I went to the guys house and looked the game over. It looked to be in good shape, and even though I got the old 'it's probably just a fuse' line I figured it didn't look too intimidating. I gave the guy my friends money, and we loaded it up.
Later when my friend got out of work, we unloaded it and looked it over. He was really happy with the appearance, and we both decided to do more research online as to what may be wrong. I finally found one site with some pictures of the insides:
http://tomeckenrode.com/my_first_slot_machine_project.htm
It appears that the game we had was completely missing the MPU board! We both emailed the seller, complaining that his ad stated 'complete non working' - but we weren't able to get any money back. I felt horrible, as I was the one who handed his money over.
It was time to figure this thing out! I discovered www.newlifegames.net - which seems to be the best resource out there for slots. I signed up and posted some pictures of the machine, and my dilemma. The folks there are really nice and helpfull. I got in touch with the user FOXSSLOTS1, who was able to tell me how to figure out what program I needed for the game, then sell me an MPU board with the right program!
The board arrived today, and I put it in. At first the game wouldn't run, but using the manual that my friend bought online I was able to determine that there was a hopper jam. I discovered the hopper switch arm had been bent in a way that made the switch always closed. After readjusting the switch, everything works!
I was really expecting to have bad transistors on the I/O board, or other issues to track down. I still can't believe it was that easy! The game doesn't have a sound board, but it has a bell inside that chimes when you insert a coin and rings for several seconds whenever you win. My friend agrees with me that the bell sounds go great with the game, and a sound board isn't necessary. He'll probably end up buying a 'candle' for the top, as there's some glue up there where one used to be attached.
Considering that working games of this type sell for $600 and up in this area, I think we did pretty good for just over $350!
The only problem now is that he's going to take it home, and now I want one for myself!
Some pictures of the machine are on my site, so now there are at least two sites with pictures:
http://home.comcast.net/~dark.paladin/slot