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Wow, it's been nearly 5 years since I last posted in this thread!!! Just had a batch of MMM's in to sort. Most faults on these boards get cured by swapping out all the components in the battery area including the RAM. There can also be the odd broken via and corroded tracks but easily rectified with rivets and patch wires. One board which I'd had a few weeks previously had stopped working so I knew it was going to be a nightmare. On power up it would bleep about every second, flash a few lamps and motor drives and the 7 seg would go on and off too. Sometimes, very rarely, it would go into attract mode but not credit and then again sometimes it would credit but only on one denomination of coin???? After about 3 days of head scratching I was getting nowhere although I did discover some more faults that would have affected the lamp matrix overload (if it ever ocurred). So here I am on day 4 and I've got no idea what's going on, nothing is making any sense and the fault condition varies every now and then. Now I have two different game chips, one is 4 ROM chips (Cash Drop) and the other is Roulette which is 3 chips. I always use Cash Drop as it confirms all ROM sockets are Ok. So lo and behold with 3 chips in it runs a treat..... hmmm put the four chips back in and socket 4 if I move the chip with a little touch it boots fine or fails. Out with the socket and in with a new one. Not the easiest job in the world as the solder is grey and crumbly on the top side. A slight diversion here... A method I use to extract old sockets with crumbly solder is to apply heat with the iron tip (approx 370c) to the top side of the pin and when it melts the solder on the underside use a screwdriver blade to push the pin flat to the board (ie force it upward). Of course the socket will be ruined but it's knackered anyway. I find this breaks the seal and the socket can be removed a fair bit easier. Lots of flux is essential of course and the usual caveats apply don't attempt this unless you know what you are doing. Back at the ranch... With the new socket in the chip now is a snug fit whereas before you could extract it with just your fingers and of course it boots and runs fine. Phew!

He don’t do tea either.

Yeah that’s me. Not got a clue, I just hack away 😛

Stay away from John "player" Wayne - he's one of those cowboys in sheds that they speak of!

Hi, I’m [Paul/pdiavolikis], excited to start using MFME and sharing layouts!

Many thanks for the kind offer. I've invested in a Desolder Station and it was a good investment. The socket is done...gradually working through the board now to see what else needs replacing. There's a fair bit of corrosion

Send it to me, I'll put a new socket on for you.

Any data/protocol software will have a D in it's name (like rrd03d.p1)

Changed the battery (ran some wires off the pads so the battery is away from the board), gave the board a good clean up, tilted the hopper upside down for 5 seconds, then followed Digby's advice for des pairing to coin mech (if anyone needs the des mei pairing guide it's on my other post in newer machines) and everything is now working! Unbelievable! Thanks all who have helped!

Thank you do much, ill give these a try

I bet this chap has a treasure trove of undiscovered information in his loft.😀

Cheers for the reply frank and nice to see you posting again. i love the inside stories of how things come to life and the people behind them.

Hi - here's some files for red hot roll, there's some in there that match your version - hope it helps RHR.zip

I did answer this but perhaps not as I should have.. here.

As always Frank, an absolutely riveting read.

David Mead came to join me in CS and together we repaired hundreds of SRU circuit boards and those damned Varelco(?) plugs that kept on breaking when you unplugged the board from the reel unit, what a design flaw that was. He had an absolute photographic memory and would remember details from older machines in seconds we had no need to have record kept, although he did as I remember and kept copious volumes of details. I met him in a pub a few months (years?) ago and he is still in the industry and is an engineer for one of the big companies, forgive me I know not which one. Tony Braggins went from development to HR, strange step but there you go. He spent years in that role before retiring and as far as I know became a trustee for a Nature Park. The R+D team changed massively over the years and as I have explained previously the 'cabinet populating' side of things all went a bit pear shaped prior to the introduction of the SWP's, so that will date it for 'you that know' a you may have read I was asked to take it over when on of the w@n7ers left, or should that be pushed. The software department obviously grew from the introduction of the SRU and although we started with two or three developers, eventually it went on to number at least a dozen or more as I recall. I wasn't too involved with the software team until I took over the PM role for the SWP's and then I had at least three working for/with me under the 'matrix management' project which was novel to say the least. I do remember a game we played in the software department which involved taking an eprom and placing it in the end of the Eprom packaging tube and flicking it upwards into the ceiling tiles where the legs would hopefully keep it there embedded in the fabric, of the tile. Cheers

Thanks for taking the time to have a look guys. I got the battery coming anyways, so may as well replace it, see if I can clean up some of the mess etc. and give it a go - nothing to lose really if it's a dud'n.. Don't suppose anyone would know of where to get a replacement from? Cheers.

That’s a shame. Can you see what I meant regarding the battery now? If a new battery was fitted, all that board damage is still there. boards needs repair or replace, often easier and cheaper to just replace. They aren’t expensive boards (yet)

Yeah, that's knackered. Time for a new board.

Haven't taken it off the board yet, but here's what I can see so far 😬

This is the common misconception with batteries. your board doesn’t need a battery to work, the issue is the damage done by the leaky battery to the board. its like taking a smashed up car to the car wash.

Brill, cheers Generation. Indeed, the battery looks like it might have done a leaky-poo. Ordered one off ebay and am waiting on that to come, so wasn't going to remove / do any further inspection until the new one comes.. In terms of replacing it, should it just be a swap-over, ie, there's nothing else that needs to be re-programmed or anything when it comes off the board? Assuming it'll forget running totals etc.. Thank you

Error is for payout I believe, which is why demo is ok. coukd be a few things, but I’d start by inspecting the battery area on the board for leaks. If you can, post a few high resolution pics of the area. A lot of people say “seems fine, no leak” then they post pics, and there’s very obvious damage

Hello everyone. Hoping to get some advice on a deal or no deal scorpion 5 which I picked up on Saturday with no keys, no manual.. All works in demo mode, but when it initialises it gives a error code 17. Lights all on board etc. Cheers, Al

Cheers. I have looked at this one and wondered if it was any good. I don't want to spend hundreds, but this looks like a decent half way house