Leaderboard

Hi chaps, and chapesses. As I get MPU3's in various states of damage one of the most usual things is the cart holder is either missing or broken. As everyone knows without the holder intermittent faults abound due to vibration. Trying to find spare carts is more or less impossible so I thought I'd have a go at knocking up a 3D version. Here's the 2nd attempt, the 1st one the mounting holes spacing were about a 1mm out. I can probably use it but wanted a good one straight off the printer. Having said that it does need a little filing to ease the connector in but everything lines up which is the main objective. I will install it this afternoon and report back but so far all looks good. The rough bits on the bottom are where the supports have to go to enable the raised bit which takes the metal brackets. I cut those off with a small chisel. If there's any interest I'll post the STL file so you can print your own or if you want to improve it. All I ask is you post it back here so I can use it as well.

funny you should say that. oddly enough I got a Winsprint(none runner from Sheffield)off eBay last year for £50 buy it now(I said to the my other half that it felt like going back 15 - 20 years). cabinet was mint too and as it was an original Frog IT(with the 20p tube) it’s now been returned to its original state. I take your point though, this was definitely a lucky one off plus I had to check twice as I couldn’t believe the price along with I not being snapped up. getting that feeling when you are driving away from the collection site with a classic in the back of the van). I haven’t had that feeling in over a decade.

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!

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

Big thanks to Superbank and Clo. EPROMs have been burned and have arrived. I've tried them and they work! One step closer to reviving this Nudge Double Up 😀

Some nice old stuff in there https://youtu.be/hvkpFJ3_D7k?si=95EFY-tkn9fU33z0

Mostly together now,need to put drive chain on and make a few adjustments. This is what it looks like.

Good afternoon everyone. No-one seems to have posted in this section for nearly six months, so I thought I would. My brother moved house last year, and one of the boxes he found in his garage contained a lot of my paperwork, including, amongst other things, my 'O' level certificates from the dim and distant past. The box probably came from my parents' loft when we cleared it. Anyway, I discovered a folder full of Bell Fruit paperwork from when I worked there in the early '80s. There are various documents about fault finding MPUs (black box), adjusting coin mechs, cams and microswitches (electro) as well as schematics for Super Nudge Gambler, Nudge Gambler Mk3, Firecracker, 21 Up Mk2, Plus Ten Mk2 and Hot Dog. There's also a map showing how to find/access the factory in Leengate, a 'boozy guide' to Nottingham and information for the Hotel Talsta, which is where I stayed when attending my Grade 4 training/exam in 1981. I'm hoping the Nudge Gambler Mk3 schematic will suit my recently acquired Nudge Punter. I will try to scan the documents in the not too distant future - a job for a rainy afternoon. I'm not sure what I can do with the schematics, as they're a bit big for my scanner.

Picked this up. Needs quite a bit of work but should come out ok. Anyone got any stories of this machine? It’s made nearly 48k profit! Managed to find a board out of the old stock room 😎

I now have some reels and a display. Many thanks to Phil1974. He is your top man for sru bits...

Sorry nick I forgot to post this. just to finish off the thread that bargains are rare but they our out there(I was lucky this time and hopefully another member will stumble across one in the near future).

I've repaired a few Sp.Ace boards. They aren't too bad to work on with light battery damage. Although you do have to remove all the components. Including the box connectors. The ASIC chip seems to have really weak pins aswell,you don't get many chances removing then.

Thanks for the heads up @Player @KonixI wrote the software for Inquizitor and some of the other games as well as developing the various versions of viper/cobra/cyclone hardware. I have a Viper board which I think works. Also an Inquizitor disk but it seems to be unreadable. A don’t know if it can be cleaned up or if there’s anything which can be done ? All of the Viper/Cobra games which we have software for are emulated in MAME. I might have schematics and a manual for the Flare chipset somewhere. Feel free to ask whatever, I’ll help if I can.

Here is a quick vid.the missus can't get past first hole. 20241229_211930.mp4

Here it is done,now for the final touches.so I've got to strip it all now.

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

I assume this is the Data I/O 22? If so did you know a guy called Mike DiBattista has written a Windows program to talk to all the Data I/O programmers and very good it is too. I use it all the time with my 29B. It's a free download from the groups.io forum DataioEPROM but you'll need to sign up first. Hope that's useful.

Working !! The new board arrived and when I took the old board out I realised one of the new chips was only connected one side !!! Put them in correctly and all working and know sec fault too !

Nice one pete and yeah phil does help out with rare bits .

I bought off a fellow cowboy. I wish I could afford to buy off licensed sellers for peace of mind with full after market service 😉

Cowboys in sheds know a lot more than certain licenced sellers

My last visit was great. I did a tour video to update you all.

easy one

Found this. Wish I had a time machine...

Here is a photo, sorry it is not the best but i have not long moved house and currently building a new garage / workshop so everything that should be in there is crammed into the house ( even a petrol suffolk punch lawnmower under the stairs) 🤣

I thought I'd revive this one with a quick update. I patched the big cutout in the 10p tube with a 3D printed slotted plate, now she's fully back on old coins again.

Well I dunno I don’t think that’s a lot, they was everywhere 87/88/89 started to disappear around 1990 if you caught them after somebody had copped and you were after a jackpot you could do your nuts!! Or be strimming for hours..

I don’t see any negatives at all with redrose bowl, the owner is a collector and enthusiast that goes back decades,you won’t be seeing Hollywood bowl getting line ups etc etc to amuse yourself while the rest of your family kids /grandkids are bowling id happily go and lose £30 on a weekly basis if I lived up that way…

Looking like a machine now,but still lots to do.

They are holding up very well thanks being switched on 14 hours a day. There is now in full working order Line Up Frog Hop Adders and Ladders High Lights Exchange Unlimited Fire Cracker All working fine on new coins and getting reasonably used. Cash or Nudge not in the line yet but is fully working with a slight lamp fault Not about making money just good to see them for play and many people love them just for the memories they brought to them when they were younger

Well, she lives. Couple of teething problems with the coin mechs, need to get some starters for the fluorescent tubes. Payout is temporarily disconnected. Finally fitted the test switch (many many thanks Nick for your generous donation to this project). It's taken a few weeks, but I love it 20251017_182306.mp4

Hi I just manage to gett this up and working. Just wonder if was also used in UK. I belive it is the only backgammon ever made on a machine. Cant win money on this type ( but Cost. Money ) its only for play 2 player or against cpu, for high points. Snapchat-1701319154.mp4

basically if you don't have the gear then don't attempt it. low heat so as not to lift the tracks, never apply heat for more than a few seconds even with a proper temperature controlled soldering iron, and NEVER EVER EVER attempt to prise the socket out with a screwdriver! if it doesn't come out with finger pressure then its not completely DE soldered. there is no shortcut, anything that goes wrong like pulling away tracks, or pulling out the through hole insides WILL result in tones more hours in corrective action which takes skill to do. here is a video I did 9 years ago with the tools you are suggesting to do it.

Spot on, looking forward to seeing the finished article! 👌

New into the “Johncade” showroom. Been abused as was stored in a shed. Will be bringer her back to her former glory using my cowboy techniques.

New document added - Bell Fruit Microprocessor - TECH DOCS - The MPU Mecca Bell Fruit Microprocessor (Black Box) System outline, fault finding, etc.

Here are the Eproms for you 🙂 Nudge Double Up Roms.zip

I've just realised, I forgot to post the sound ROM for the Rol-a-top. So here it is. Cheers, Paul M27C4001@DIP32.BIN

Cabaret 144 jackpot😂😂😂

Yep, it does make it an MPU2. They obviously made these before the MPU2 was released to give the extra functionality, and then developed it into the MPU2. Managed to get it working today.

There's still the odd bargain out there, you just gotta keep an eye out. And be prepared to travel if you see something that you like. Unfortunately the days of picking up Win Sprint for £100 in Loot are long gone!

Hey Baz, these any good for you? If not then let me know and i can scan them in at work tomorrow in PDF.

£50, be worth 5k when it's done

I am the chap who bought this, I paid significantly less than the £150 advertised price, I partly went to get this machine as it was only 15 minutes away. The issue was the cog that sits on the variator was missing, I had to replace the whole variator unit. I have played this game for around 6 hours now and I can say it is not my favourite. I have had 1 token win in this entire time and I am illogically trying to force token wins with the holds I choose, on the flip side I have had the 20p win repeat at least 8 times. The meters also show through its lifetime it is sitting just above 81% RTP which is a fair game. I almost certainly will offer this machine back out to the community at some point. Now I have managed to sort the issue out and can use Mecca I am excited to read all of the forum, My aim is by the end of this year to be able to perform a full service on a electro to a good standard.

Wheels and bearings in,motor and clutch now mounted.playfield artwork ready.soon be putting electrics in.

Moving on.i now have my metal parts.been working on cabinet today.now being assembled. Hole is now cut for top sign and mounted playfield to front pannel to make sure it fits.wheels assembled onto drive shafts.lo5s to do.

Made the brackets to mount ball tracks and playfeild surround is on with inlaid lights to illuminate playfield. Getting wood for cabinet Tuesday and coloured discs for wheels.i can make front of cabinet and measure for glass front then I'm stuck till all my metal bits are done.jjust to add its 8mm pitch chain not 3/8. I've had that many measurements and bits in my head I got mixed up.

Hi guys,I've decided to build myself another conveyor,I'm currently searching for the bits and have some already.i made 5 in 2010 but rarely come up for sale.this is scratch built Inc cabinet and even make my own payout mech.so who is interested in a thread following the build of this.