Leaderboard

since I needed to repair a lot of these, remaking them was easier... I know others did do the same, but the shipping and tax to import these boards into europe makes them very expensive.

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

Cheers. Cabinet is pretty good too. I think that parts were robbed out of it in the 80s and it has stood neglected in a 1st floor store room of an arcade gathering dust since then. The arcade has been taken over by new owners (previously owned by same family for 40 odd years) and they were clearing out old stuff. It still has that arcade smell which I love

Well there's progress... She's not finished, but certainly getting there. PSU recapped and tested. MPU pretty much re-chipped due to not booting and proper rusty legs. Many thanks to Magic aka Peter Falconer for his troubleshooting. 7 of the horrid little ZTX450 transistors replaced. EPROMs acquired. Many thanks to Clo and Superbank! Reels acquired. Many thanks to Phil. Reel symbols printed and laminated. Big round buttons and lamp masks acquired. Many thanks to Dave.

It’s nice to see old threads still being helpful and added to after over a decade. i was in my 40s then and by the end of next week I will be in my 60s.👨‍🦳👴

I’ll be paying this a visit ASAP

Hello everyone, You may remember a few months ago i mentioned this project to do one day and that day has come. The machine is not working but i am working on that (ie recapped, replaced voltage regulator and checked clock etc), anyway my main confusion is with the MPU1 as i may or may not have some components missing. I am not sure if it came from manufacturing like it or they have been removed (from the back it looks like the former and the front maybe the latter. My plea for help is could someone have a look at their board and tell me the values for D1,D2,R1,R2,R3,R4,C1 and T1, i may or may not fit them, i need to trace them out properly to see where they fall in the circuit but it does seem strange. I would be forever gratefull if someone could have a look. I have attached photos so you can see what i mean. (missing components in the red box) Cheers Jim

They were designed to try and combat a high degree of fraud on S1 coin mechs. Any coin the wrong size that did not fit the cradle at the back would drop out the back,As the front reject plate of the mechs were being levered to one side to gain access to the coin switch from the front so,The metal shield over the coin switch was another anti fraud device then upgraded to the black plastic fitting which completely encapsulated the switch wire arm was another addittion.The black plastic fitting will also spit coins out the back but, As they not used in sevice,as it has been said just block that gap at the back of the unit as shown in picture.

I seem to remember being able to pinch the edges of the round cradle thing inwards for the newer 10p, so they catch and flip.... Or just use cellotape and cardboard.

Here's the meter panel diagram I put together. https://www.fruitemu.co.uk/ib/files/file/1815-mpu3-12v-meter-panel-15300-1/

I don't know this game but do the reels spin (index) when it's switched on? Most MPU3 games I've seen the reels spin on switch on and again if the door is opened or closed and if the 'test' button is pressed. If this one doesn't (at switch on anyway) I suspect the lamps sensors aren't working which may explain why you get the error with the reels disconnected. Can you confirm the 4 lamps are coming on as if not it's likely T55 has failed (BCX38). You do say emitter OK, does that mean the lamps? Bon courage.

What software did you build your board on? The realisation is great from when you used to play the games back in the day- to hitting the button to order your pcbs, tracking them hourly all the way from China and then self congratulating when you find out they actually work 😅

Hi everyone, I'm repairing a Royal Diamond MPU3. It had battery damage. I've since repaired it and replaced the components. Now I have the following problem: the 1000nf capacitors (around the white plug) are falling apart. I want to replace them, but I'm not sure which ones to use. Please advise. Greeds Wim

It's funny how the legs fall off of those liquorice allsort caps.

Hi Everyone Eden here from sunny Manchester in the UK. I've been playing fruit machines since I can remember. I'm looking to re live my youth and starting using MFME to re play some of the retro slots that I love whilst I'm not able to get to a local arcade to play them. I remember when my dad used to take me to a local working men's club and there was a £1000 jackpot club machine, I can't remember what the machine was called, but everyone used to queue to play this and even had a waitlist so people could not hog the machine all night to play it, this was in the late 1990s. Great memories.

Hey Matty. Thanks for the heads up on Tinkercad. It's brilliant, I love it. Endless possibilities, and so much easier to use than stuff like Photoshop. Cheers

I wouldn't bother fitting those components. You do have the correct values though. D1 & 2 are 1N4148, C1 is 33uF/25v and T1 is ZTX108. All it did was put a delay in the RESET and I've put a note on it saying not fitted to most boards.

Hello. Thank you CanonMan. I tested : BR1 was right but REC1 was short-circuit. I changed it and now the machine is a little less broken down 😃 When I swtch on the machine, I hear music and some seconds later (time for reset) the digital display and the coin mech light on. That's all but it's a little better. I send the proms today to my friend and I will let you know.

Thanks for your input everyone. I bent the cradle in slightly, and it worked a treat. Coins go in every time and exit through the micro switch. Easy fix for a frustrating problem

I would bet that BR1 has failed short-circuit, very common in my experience.

You are welcome, its been great watching this thread and seeing your machine come to life.

Thanks Clo. And many thanks for the ROMs. Be a pretty dull machine without them!

Looks fantastic, well done for bringing it back to life.

I’ve had this too. I actually wedged a coin partly in there to resolve the issue.

they are designed for the old bigger and weightier old 10p and 5p coins, so they pass through the weighted tip mechanism, the trick is to close the cradle on the tip mechanism so it catches the coin and tips, then adjust the gate so it bounces the right way

Well done on saving a classic, looking great

Love it! Truly an absolute classic 👌

Nice work on all aspects. you can’t beat a good restoration project and seeing what looks like a scrapper being brought back to factory condition.

That is coming on a treat! Great transformation 👏👏 and as always the guys on here come good, with their help 👌

Looking great 👍

Just a small project here as i have been having issues with my JPM Hot Pot(MPS1) The main fault was sometimes not accepting certain coins for no reason and the odd missed payout and as the fault was on and off action is needed The fault was caused by the pins in HD10(the coin interface plug) << As can be seen the pins are shot with some of them pushing in << Start the extraction one pin at a time << First pin out << some nice shiny new molex pins ready to go in << Using this way over expensive tool(about £230+vat ) << Pin in tool << First 3 done << And repeat until all pins done << to be safe i did the 50v supply that's on the same loom << fits nice and easy now and no waggling to get the plug on All Done << Machine now works 100% and flawlessly and should be good for another 30 years A small project i know but another repair procedure now worked out

Here is my Twilight Zone fully LED converted 😉

Anyone come across anywhere selling this type of T Moulding? I’ve seen it used on Maygay MMM and Bell Fruit Black Box machines(I’m sure I remember coffee tables using it) The project I’m currently working on(will post on here soon)uses this type but it’s too far gone to use. Ideally I’d prefer the original double grooved over a brand new flat chrome or gold but that’s the way I will have to go if it can’t be sourced.

£200 seems alot for 3D printing. Tinker CAD design software is free and really easy to use. If you are 50% PC able you should be able to do a 3D design easy enough (with tutorials) within a week or so. I recommend a go... so many people and companies have printers now its not specialist at all. I'd be surprised if someone wouldn't print your design out for £20 . Also a VAC former is easy to make for small mask sections. We have one at work using a cooker heating element to heat the plastic in a frame, when it's ready the frame flips over (pivot in the center) on to a box with a gauze and the mold sitting on. The box is sealed and connected to a hoover to create the vacuum.

Yes, fair point on saving the circuitry working so hard. As long as you like the look that's all that matters. Tbf I have never seen a pinball machine with LEDs on.

Re: pinball and LEDs. Agree, BUT…. …you can get ‘LED OCD’ devices that really help with this. Plus, the ‘daylight’ white colour temp of some LEDs really helps with the playfield insert colours - they’re the actual colour, not a very warm and dull version! I'm all for retro things looking original, but likewise I’ve spent a fair amount of time choosing the right LEDs for my pinball machines, then making sure they’re not too bright. They save a bit of power and are generally easier on the lamp matrix circuitry, and they last years so don’t need changing! A lot less heat too. pictures don’t really do it justice.

I agree. Same with pinball machines. LEDs look a bit too bright

Myself personally I wouldn’t put led’s in an old classic it just wouldn’t look right the fluorescent tubes give it the warm light look as it should have been ,,

others will also tell you once a 'vinegar treated' board is repaired with a soldering iron, it emits a horrible acidic smell which really isn't good for the repairers eyes or nose or anything really. if they have any sense should stop there and send the board back!, once it's been vinegar washed it never can be removed totally, acid is not good for component legs or the copper pcb. acid loves to eat copper no matter how much its been rinsed, it gets under everything and remains there, how you then test for PH neutral, or mix up a acid solution which will leave the PH neutral is not something it seems anyone does when using vinegar. I have, and never will touch any boards that have been vinegar washed, its easy to detect years later when the board goes wrong again too. its similar to saying....... i clean my cars paintwork with battery acid.

I tested the machine with another board to be certain and you are right Magik. I'm afraid I don't have a logic probe. I did a multimeter diode test which didn't help on the lamp transistors, but across the collector and emitter of T1 to T8 gave a reading of 0.6 in one direction and 1.8 in the other on all except on T3 - gave zero I did the same test on a known working board and all transistors gave the same results - give or take. I replaced this transistor T3 and the 2 lamp transistors that it connects to, T47 and T55 and it now boots, but several of the lamps are very bright and some flicker. The PSU has already been overhauled with new caps Is it now likely to be a faulty diode in a lamp holder that I guess then overloads the circuit and burns out the transistors?