Leaderboard

Just recently I've had a fair bit of PC92 work coming in and with lots of new avenues I've never been down before. As always I love a challenge with a tech that I thought I knew all about but obviously didn't. As most folks are aware the Procon tech morphed from the early PCL right up to quite a few versions of PC92 and the multitude of mods inbetween is extensive! It's well known that no documentation for PC92 exists in the wild (although I bet someone is hanging on to a copy!) so the only thing to do is to try and capture all the differences and get them documented. I have collated most, but certainly not all, the differences between the released diagrams and the later versions. These I will upload soon once they are double checked. Most functions are easy to work out but I have found there are some tricky ones. The first one I came across was Theme Park which on the bench would always fire up a stake % key error (402). This could be bypassed by activating certain switch connections on the matrix. I was expecting the normal stake key board to be fitted but on the machine in question there wasn't one? This issue is still outstanding but I'm sure there's a silly reason why the key isn't fitted? The second one involves Chico and this one had me going for a bit. This game has a 4x20 VFD but it's not driven off of the VFD port on the board, maybe it wasn't fast enough, cleverer folks than me on here will probably know. In this case the VFD is driven from the 14 way DIL socket which has a feed from the SIO chip. Another thing to note is the VFD gets its 5v supply from a separate Display PSU board which is powered from a 12v feed from the same 14 way socket. This little board also has a transistor on it which reduces the 20v P2P waveform to TTL levels for the VFD. I have to say all credit goes to Magik as this was all gleaned from a PC92 video he did about a year ago where he came across this for the first time. Had his head scratching too. I will post the diagram for this board shortly. Another thing with the 14 way is it needs a link between pins 3 - 13.

Hi gang. Has anyone got a 38mm diameter Bell fruit reel washer that they could spare please? I've stripped down the reels and one of the washers has the tab that locks into the shaft missing 😞

If it's a solenoid sticking then the plunger and the inner sleeve of the solenoid will need cleaning but no oil needed, Check the small hole in the top of the solenoid is clear and not blocked.. Also check the lift arm which is attached to the reel solenoid plunger via a metal link, It has a brass bush and secured to the shaft with a metal clip, you can remove it and apply a small amount of grease to the shaft then refit the lift arm as it needs to be free and not sticking.... If it's the reel drum sticking then it will probably need a reel strip down. Each reel has a clutch which grips the reel drum to spin or nudge the reels, it also slips to reduce the torque on the reel motor allowing it to turn freely when the reels are held in position. The clutches are made of a leather disc which is normally soaked in oil, I use Neatsfoot oil for leather, They dry out over time and causes the reels to stick or slow to start or not spin at all. I soak clutch washers in a jar with oil for at a good 24 hours, the longer the better to allow the leather to soak up the oil, When you rebuild the reel mech, you do not need to refit the clutch washers dripping in oil but dab off the excess. Also while the reels are stripped apply a thin covering of grease to the main reel drive shaft which will lubricate the reel drum bushes so they spin freely too.