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Coin Slot

Issue: 1982 September 091

Coin Slot Magazine - #091 - 1982 - September [International Arcade Museum]
RESTORATION & REPAIR
By Marc Harrison
CLOCK
REBUILDING
If any one component could be con
sidered the heart of the slot machine, it
would have to the clock with its spinning
fan and whirring cogs providing the beat
of life to an otherwise mindless and
emotionless apparatus.
Much like the heart of other living
things, the clock remains in continuous
motion throughout the operational life of
the mechanism. When the clock fails
the machine stops; its service life at an
end
But premature clock failure can be prevented by a
regular schedule of cleaning and lubricating, and quite
often a complete rebuilding can resuscitate a dead
clock and restore it to a useful life.
Whether cleaning or rebuilding, the entire clock
must be removed from the machine. Further disassem
bly is accomplished by removing the three screws
holding the upper and lower bearing plates together.
Once unscrewed, the plates can be separated and the
gears and pinions lifted free. The fan and its pinion will
remain with the upper bearing plate. If the fan or the
pinion shaft is bent, you will need to remove the fan by
unsoldering it from its shaft, otherwise the assembly
can be left intact.
Clean each of the parts in solvent, paying particular
attention to globs of hardened grease adhering to gear
main gear is very important. These pawls are often
gummed up with old chassis grease and should be
operated back and forth until smooth movement is
obtained. The small extension springs attached to the
pawls must be tight enough to fully return the pawls to
the engaged position no matter how slightly they are
moved. Stretched out springs should be shortened or
replaced as necessary.
Bushings in the upper and lower bearing plates are
subject to elongation of their bores, and when so worn
can be renewed by first peening the pushing with a ball
peen hammer, and then resizing with the appropriate
diameter number drill. If any bushings tend to fall out of
the bearing plate they can be easily soldered into
place.
The shaft on which the fan spins is usually made of
music wire, making it difficult to straighten when the
runout is untrue. If you exercise patience, you can bow
a slightly sprung shaft until it holds to a satisfactory
runout. If the shaft is badly kinked or bent, then you will
want to replace it with a new shaft cut from a length
of music wire obtainable at your local hobby shop. The
old pinion and collar can be removed from the shaft by
supporting the pinion on top of almost closed vise
jaws, heating lightly with a torch, and then hitting the
shaft down through the pinion, first with a hammer and
finally with a pin punch. After removal, the pinion and
collar can be fitted to the new shaft and soldered in
place. Be certain that you locate the collar so that there
will be slight up and down movement of the shaft after
the bearing plates are screwed together.
After cleaning, inspect the individual parts for wear.
When you are satisfied with the condition of all the
components reassembly can begin. Start with the
upper bearing plate with the main shaft, ratchet wheel,
Excessive wear on the gear teeth will be quite evident,
and operating arm assembly, turning the plate so that
since the teeth will assume a rather sharp saw-toothed
configuration. As no adjustment can compensate for
the ratchet wheel and shaft are facing upwards. Apply
teeth, bushings, and especially, around the three pawls
on the main gear.
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and brass to brass or steel to steel contact must
such wear, both the worn gear and the pinion with
which it mates will have to be replaced. If you are for
tunate enough to be selecting replacement gears from
a large assortment, choose carefully, so that each gear
in the train mates with a pinion made of a different
material. That is, a brass gear should mesh with a steel
be avoided as noisy operation and accelerated wear
will ensue.
"Premature clock failure
can be prevented by
a regular schedule of
cleaning and lubricating..."
Free movement of the three ratchet pawls on the
46 International
— THE COIN
© The
Arcade SLOT
Museum
SEPTEMBER, 1982
http://www.arcade-museum.com/
Coin Slot Magazine - #091 - 1982 - September [International Arcade Museum]
petroleum jelly to both the teeth of the ratchet wheel
and its shaft, and to the teeth and pawls of the main
gear. Offer the main gear to the main shaft with the
ratchet pawls facing the ratchet wheel, and push it
gently until the pawls strike the ratchet wheel. Using a
button hook, work your way around the main gear pulling
The Zero Ohms Test, described in a previous article, is
one way to isolate such a problem. Other useful test
each of the pawls clear of the ratchet wheel. By
applying downward pressure on the main gear the
pawls will snap back against the edge of the ratchet
wheel, where they should remain until they are all
switch(es) must first be closed or shorted in some way
pulled free, when the main gear will drop home against
examples of such circuits (including one
methods will be discussed in a future article.
(NOTE: The tests just described will not work if the
"hold on" circuit contains a disabling switch(es) in
"series" with it, as noted earlier. In these cases, that
prior to performing the tests.)
This concludes the specific discussion of the
relay
the ratchet wheel. You may have to work your way
"hold
on"
circuit,
however,
other
employing the timing function) will be il
around the gear several times, as some pawls oc
lustrated when an example of circuitry performing a
casionally snap back inside the ratchet wheel.
complex game function is discussed. The only major
Apply petroleum jelly to the other two gears and
pinions, noting that one gear has a long pinion and the
difference between "hold on" circuits providing the as
surance function and the timing function is that the
other has a short pinion. You will also notice that there
are three bushed holes left, a small one for the fan
shaft and two for the pinions.
In the hold farthest from the fan shaft hole, install the
gear with the short pinion with the pinion end down
(facing the bearing plate). Next, install the gear with the
long pinion in the hole closest to the fan shaft hole, this
time with the gear end facing down. Lastly, insert the
fan shaft into the remaining hole.
Install any washers onto the main shaft as were
originally fitted, and then place the bottom bearing
plate in position taking care to see that each shaft
enters its bushing, and the three tubular spacers enter
their holes in the upper bearing plate. When the plates
are together hold them fast as you turn the assembly
over and install the three screws. Observe that each
gear and pinion turns smoothly and has slight up and
down movement. The main gear should not have so
much up and down play that the pawls are in danger of
dropping off the ratchet wheel. If there is evidence of
this peril, remove the bottom plate and install additional
shims on the main shaft.
When proper movement and play is secured, the fan
can be fitted to its shaft and soldered in place. Correct
positioning of the fan is such that the top of the fan is
flush with the fan shaft, though it is more accurate to
place the fan as close as possible to the top of the
clock without actually striking it.
Applying a few drops of light oil to each bushing will
complete the job, and you need only add a drop or two
a few times each year to keep your clock ticking new
life into your slot machine.
Pinball Troubleshooting
Continued from page 39
tests the relay will energize and remain so with nothing
latter usually employ normally closed score motor
switches as the "drop out" switch(es).
In October, Russ Jensen will continue his descriptions
of the typical circuit configurations used in games and
how they operate. He will discuss relays and their
functions, and a complex game function to tie together
what has been covered in the previous articles
Correction
In the August issue an error was made in Russ
Jensen's article "Pinball Troubleshooting, Part 6 Con
tinued." Some copy was inadvertently left out of the
second paragraph under the heading "Voltage Drop,"
first column on page 46. This paragraph should have
read:
If, on the other hand, any or all of these components
have unwanted resistance (denoted by the small "r*s"
in the boxes in Figure 4) they will produce a corre
sponding voltage drop(represented by the smalTe's").
For example, if the rollover switch had a resistance
"r(4)," it would have a corresponding voltage drop,
"e(4)," across it, equal to the current, "I," multiplied by
"r(4)." The same idea would hold true for any of the
other circuit elements by multiplying their'Ys" by "I" to
get their respective voltage drops ("e's").
We apologize to Russ and our readers for this error
and hope it has caused no inconvenience.
If you are moving...
The Coin Slot staff would like everyone to continue to
receive this interesting and informative magazine on a
timely basis. We don't want you to miss even one copy.
So if you are planning to move, please send us a
change of address notification as quickly as possible.
The Coin Slot is mailed the 20th of each month so
else happening. This means that the device that
that each issue will arrive in your mailbox sometime
should be activated by the relay (such as the pop
within the first ten days of the following month, the
.com
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never opening the "drop out"
this occurs, that
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from switch.
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device, and the relay
contact
activating
it, (bumper
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ad should be checked.)
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.
If either
above tests are performed and
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indicate the
http "hold on" circuit is not operating at all, the
bumper in our example) is not operating at all, and thus
"drop out" switch on the device activated by the relay
(and any intervening quick disconnect connectors)
should be checked until an open circuit is discovered.
SEPTEMBER, 1982
© The International Arcade Museum
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address arrives in time to be programmed into our
computer and changed on our mailing labels for the
next month's copy of The Coin Slot, we need to receive
your change of address by the 15th of the month. So if
you're planning to move in the future, don't delay. Send
us your change of address right away so that you can
look in your mailbox for your copy of The Coin Slot the
same time each month without interruption or delay.
THE COIN SLOT —47
http://www.arcade-museum.com/

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