Leaderboard

Relays. All relays both open and covered operate in the same way and used like a switch to control up to 3 operations at once or as required by the design of the machine,They all have 11 wiring contact positions,2 used for the relays coil ,3 for the centre moving contact arms and the last 6 for the Normally open and Normally closed contacts that are switched by the centre arms. Picture 1 of a covered relay base is showing the 11 pin contacts that push into the relay socket on the main panel,To make sure the relay can only be inserted into the base on the main panel the correct way, a key guide pin fitted to the centre of the relay corresponding with the same on the main panels relay base sockets. Pin 1 is located just to the left of the key guide,and following the pins around in a clockwork direction to pin 11.This layout is always identical so relays can be swapped and changed around without damage. Pin 2 is used for the 50Vac supply to the relay coil & pin 10 for the 0Vac to the other side of the coil. Picture 2 shows which of the centre moving contact arms are wired to pins 1,6&11 on the relay base, Applying voltage to the relay coil turns the coil centre plate into a magnet (Picture3),this will then make the top plate pull down and stick to the coil centre plate as long as the voltage is maintained at the coil.This action will move or 'switch' the centre contact arms from a connection made with the top set of contacts to the bottom set of contacts.Removing the voltage to the relay coil will release the plate and a return spring fitted to the back of the coil assembly will ensure the centre contact arms 'switch' back from the bottom set of contacts to the top set of contacts. Picture 4 shows the relays centre moving contacts arms removed for cleaning,Just remove the return spring from the back and the centre contacts can be lifted free of the assembly and held only by their wiring, dirt or carbon build up on any relay contacts will stop them from operating.The set shown in the pic are clean and should be ok in operation. Take care when cleaning these contacts and not to bend or damage them in any way as this will cause a malfunction of the relay. All three centre contacts should be straight and level to allow them all to make contact with the three top or three bottom contacts when operated. Picture 5 Shows the top and bottom contacts and relay base pin numbers they are wired to,the center moving contact arms switch between these positions when the relay coil is activated. The open relays work in an identical way with the only difference being the cover and the plug in pin section at the base,All wiring to an open relay has to be soldered direct onto the relays contacts. Relay failures will be due to (dirty,carbon build up or broken contacts most common),faulty wiring or a faulty coil. Most of the relays will run for some time without maintenance,apart from the payout relays which need a regular check as they switch 240Vac to pulse the payslides,The switching of the mains voltage makes them 'flash' across the contacts creating a build up of carbon and eventually insulates those contacts preventing them from working. Early electros that operated all components on mains 240V would need all relays and switches checked regulary and replaced.

The main Control panel, This would be the MPU in todays machine. To identify Cam timers,Relay and cam switch positions is crucial to fault finding on this panel. Faults ranging from a timer motor/gearbox jamming/failure to a single set of contacts on a relay or just one cam switch can disable the game completely. Identifying which component is at fault can take some time unless you know where to look,This is where the panel layout card (usually stuck to the inside back door)is a helpfull guide(In pic 1). This maps out the positions of all the panel components,Consisting of 4 main control timers,The Nudge/Hold selector unit,the Variator/Feature hold selector unit,38 Cam switches,26 covered Relays and 5 open relays located under the panel chassis (Pics2,3 and 4). There is however 1 more timer, the Countdown timer (Pic5) mounted on the side of the cabinet only due to lack of space left on the Control panel. Note the cam positions attached to each of the timers are shown on the diagram as eg :- On the Control timer 12------------------1.this means that cam switches 1-12 are fitted on and controlled by this timer.the first cam switch in this example cam switch 1 will always be fitted nearest the motor end.This will be the same for all timers, the lowest cam switch number will be found at the motor end of the timer.Another example :- the Nudge timer controls cam switches 22 to 27,so cam switch 22 will be found at the motor end of the Nudge timer. Athough some Timer positions on the Main Control panel may vary in different cabinet models(Club machines especially requiring more components).The main Control timer and Win timer are always situated in the same place on all control panels.Relays will also vary positions between the different games.