All Activity

Also when you fit a new display I would be slightly suspect of the exsisting lamp board. It shouldn't damage the new alpha display but if the new one doesn't work swap out the lamp board next.

Hi All, looking for assistance with a few of my older chipped Barcrest machines.

yes once the displays go dead it is too late to change the caps, the transformers on the epoch displays seem to fail the most. my advice is to get hold of a working one then right away change all the surface mount capacitors on it while it still works!

I have had 3 of these fail for a simpsons epoch, I tried changing the caps on 2 of them but no go! Ended up buying another one, I have a box full of displays but none were the samsung one's

Bad news, I started to unwrap the transformer, and as I got deeper, the copper wire was completely black and discolored. The insulation lacquer melted, so the transformer is definitely dead.

yeah fuses are there for a reason, I seen it all the time people think they know better and short fuses out with wire, it never ends well! you cannot check the transformer for shorted turns with a ohms meter

Thanks for the help! That makes perfect sense. It’s a shame someone bridged the fuse instead of just replacing the dried-out capacitors. Since there are no burn marks on the board, I will check the transformer with a multimeter next time. If it survived, I will buy new caps, a proper 1A fuse, and a new transistor. Thanks again for the useful info!

sometimes the transformer survives, but seeing as the fuse has been bridged by a wire I would say it is unlikely to survive due to the high current flow. the normal sequence of events is... capacitors age causing the frequency of the oscillator to decrease, this allows more current to pass through the transistor and transformer, this causes them to get hot! eventually the transistor gets thermal runaway and goes short! that's why the capacitors should always be changed on a working display as they are now old and degraded.

Apart from the exploded transistor, there is absolutely no other visible damage, burn marks, or anything else on the board that looks heat-damaged. The transformer and the traces look physically perfect.

Thanks for the info! I looked closely at the display board and found that the 1A fuse was blown and someone had bypassed/bridged it with a wire. As a result, the inverter transistor (C3303) has literally blown apart. My question is: do you think the inverter transformer (chopper coil) could have survived this direct short circuit, or is it likely toast and not worth bothering with anymore? Should I try replacing the C3303 transistor and the caps, or is the shorted transformer usually a death sentence for these Samsung VFDs once the fuse is bypassed? Thanks!

just change all the surface mount capacitors on it, if your unlucky the transistor on it will be blown and sometimes the transformer goes short circuit, it just depends if you have caught it in time, the best time to catch the displays is when they get a bit dim. once they go dead it is a different story. usually people just buy another off ebay and hope

Hi everyone, I am opening a new topic because I need some technical help and repair advice regarding a dead VFD display module from a Maygay Epoch machine (Super Turbo Fruits). The display module is a Samsung 16L102DA4 Rev D (16-character, single-line VFD). Right now, it is completely dead and does not light up at all. I would really appreciate any help with the following: Does anyone have a datasheet, schematic, or pinout diagram for this specific Samsung module? What are the standard voltages I should check on the pins? (Filament voltage, logic VCC, anode voltage, etc.) What are the most common failure points on these specific Samsung VFD boards? Are there any notorious capacitors or voltage converters that usually die? Any documentation, pinout info, or troubleshooting tips would be a huge lifesaver to get this display back to life! Thanks in advance for your help!

Hi all, My names Dave. I've been messing around with old fruit machines and emulation for a while, and I've recently started working on my own emulator as a bit of a side project. I've recently finished working through MPU3/4/5 and Scorpion 1/2/4/5, and now current working on Scorpion 6 (currently seeming like a endless task) Joining to have a look through some of the old posts and hopefully contribute anything useful I come across. Cheers, Dave

Hi all, My names Dave. I've been messing around with old fruit machines and emulation for a while, and I've recently started working on my own emulator as a bit of a side project. I've recently finished working through MPU3/4/5 and Scorpion 1/2/4/5, and now current working on Scorpion 6 (currently seeming like a endless task) Joining to have a look through some of the old posts and hopefully contribute anything useful I come across. Cheers, Dave

There were 2 machines, 1 called 'High Spirits' by Empire Games and 1 called 'Hi Spirits' by Global Games.

Yes that was the issue! The tubes to coin box are not great one of the brackets is missing for the top of the 5p tube! thanks Ronnie

Thanks Ron I pulled it out and sure enough all the 10p coins were chocked up in the manifold, not tried it yet but hopefully that was the issue, will report back thanks Ronnie

Thanks for the replies all. I actually got myself locked out of the site with EX0 errors ever since my first post but have figured out the (Rather odd) issue now. Yes that is the 'sure thing' i am on about. Nice to just hear the music again. Win series was what i was thinking of for the route. If that 'test pilot' was in a mablethorpe arcade (Probably Jacksons or The Spot) i have probably played that very machine. No, was definitely high spirits or maybe hi-spirits. Big Ghoulies is definitely later. The one i am thinking about i was definitely playing in 1992/93. The hunt continues!

Hi Ronnie, Check all your coin switches first for most likely held down with a coin, A switch sticking or if one switch has gone open circuit. They are all wired in series from the token switch first then 10p then 5p last in the circuit. If That if circuit broken IE the coin switch wire is held down or has not returned to rest position will not allow machine to start. If when switched off then back on and the machine is in credit then It does sound like a coin switch problem.

Just plugged this in after a long time ! It worked fine first few goes but I got a 10p win and 3 holds but on the 3rd hold it would not start! Tried unplugging but it’s stuck in credit and no start, probably on for our Ron 😀 thanks Ronnie

Hi has anyone got a pdf file or a link please for a jpm mps2 big banker manual many thanks in advance

No worries, just nice to have a reply. I'm sure there must be some folks out there with this machine? Of course a full diagram would also be handy as I only have a single page which is low res so difficult to read.

No idea, which is of no help to you at all, but one thing i did learn after reading the mpu3 test sheets that Richie uploaded is that the 50p out and token refill meter are 50 volt and the rest are 12 volt with the meter sense on the 12 volt. (never realised that). Just shows how often you have or realise you have a meter fault.

Seriously impressive. Well done 👏🏻

Hi all, This should be an easy one if anyone has this machine. From what I can glean from a low res wiring picture I found, this game should have 12v meters with the violet connector which allows it to do a meter sense on the little circuit board it plugs in to. I've come across a version which appears to have 50v meters from what I can see from a picture of the machine. So, were there two versions, in which case why does it sometimes throw up a meter error on the alpha as there's no way as far as I'm aware there's any sensing of the meters on 50v?