Seven League reel spin issue

[mast3r]

Hello! I just picked up this machine yesterday for only $40 with a bunch of tokens (was it worth it?!). The guy plugged it in and was showing me what it does. It spins not does not respond to the stop buttons. He said it will usually stop on its own not it takes a while, or else sometimes he has to unplug it. While watching I seen it stop two different times not it took probably 15-20 seconds to do so. It did register a win and have the credits, so there's that.

I've noticed a lot of talk about this issue and how common it is, but I haven't seen anyone say there's actually stops on its own. I will say this, it's very dirty inside and out. There's a buildup of dust settled inside. This leads me to believe it's dirty sensors or something like that. The guy was convinced it's a bad capacitor, but I don't know. I do have a multimeter I can check caps with. I repair LCD TV's so I should be able to fix that IF it's the case, but I'm leaning towards dirty sensors.

Attached are photos of the machine including the reel stop board.

[bjab]

Silly question , but did you check the small fuse on the stop reel board ? Wires, plugs and plug pins look OK ?
Spin lever on inside of door has a sensor ? Yes...It all need cleaned.

[mast3r]

Silly question , but did you check the small fuse on the stop reel board ? Wires, plugs and plug pins look OK ?
Spin lever on inside of door has a sensor ? Yes...It all need cleaned.

Thanks for the reply! I have not done anything with it yet except open the door. I was thinking about that fuse though. I will check that today. Is it normal that it would stop spinning on its own?

[bjab]

yes..they time out after 45 seconds or so

[mast3r]

yes..they time out after 45 seconds or so

I checked the fuse and it is blown. I'm guessing it's not as simple as replacing it because something likely caused it to blow. It says 1A on it but not voltage. Is it 125v?

[bjab]

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07S96VTJR...d_asin_title_1

[mast3r]

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07S96VTJR...d_asin_title_1

I found one in my collection. Probably should check the components on the board first though because I don't imagine it just blew on its own.

On LCD tvs you can use a test light on place of the fuse to check for open circuits. I just connect the wires of an old lamp with a 40w bulb to the terminals of the fuse. I'll probably do this first just to see if the circuit is open.

[bjab]

Just try another fuse first. It could have just been that fuse had a weak spot on the tiny wire inside of it or something from moving the machine , jolted it, or lifting it, caused it to blow when it was powered up again.
Fuses are pretty cheap and if it blows, you're going to need another one for it, once you solve the problem. Nice to have spares on hand anyway.
Keep us posted on what you find out.

[mast3r]

Just try another fuse first. It could have just been that fuse had a weak spot on the tiny wire inside of it or something from moving the machine , jolted it, or lifting it, caused it to blow when it was powered up again.
Fuses are pretty cheap and if it blows, you're going to need another one for it, once you solve the problem. Nice to have spares on hand anyway.
Keep us posted on what you find out.

I'm pretty certain it was blown by voltage because the filament is burnt to the glass. I read several other threads about this issue and watched a few YouTube videos and I'm certain it's going to be the C10 capacitor. It's apparently pretty common on this machine (same hardware but different game themes). I'm going to take the cap off and see if it will work with the new first after. Apparently the boats works fine without the capacitor because it's just for frequency fluctuations.

[bjab]

So you're thinking it's the C10 ( little BB size brown cap ) ? I think someone also mentioned replacing C9 (light blue) at the same time. Post a link to those videos you're talking about.

[mast3r]

So you're thinking it's the C10 ( little BB size brown cap ) ? I think someone also mentioned replacing C9 (light blue) at the same time. Post a link to those videos you're talking about.

Yes I think it's C10.

Here is the video. This machine is identical to mine except it's Pink Panther. The boards are the same though:

https://youtu.be/9ctS4Op5Uiw?si=Q2iZFgGebrt4vGxH

Also, here is the thread on which they were discussing the capacitor and how it is not technically needed and the machine will work without it:

https://www.pachitalk.com/forums/sho...l=1#post616093

I will still try to find a replacement for it, but in the meantime I'll just remove it and make sure everything works as it should.

Btw, the video description says the capacitor is 1uf 50v radial dipped.

[mast3r]

After a visual inspection I can confirm C10 is bad. PXL_20250210_233758154.jpg

[bjab]

yep...it's blown. I just order some in case I ever need one. Suppose to be here tomorrow. Amazon.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07PPWF7ZH...fed_asin_title

[mast3r]

I followed your link and ordered some as well. Thanks!

[bjab]

20250211_125343.jpg
They came today.

[mast3r]

I just desoldered C10 and reels 2 and 3 are stopping when I press the buttons, but reel 1 will not. It times out. I cleaned the opti sensor and I can see on the diagnostic board that it IS working as it reads when the qtip is in front of it. I'm not sure if it's because the capacitor is gone, but I don't think so. I'm wondering if the button is bad or dirty. I didn't want to start pulling that board off to check it until I got some input here.

Also, my lower lights are flickering on and off. I'm assuming the 2 little tubes inside the door are starters for the light? Maybe they need to be replaced? I did swap them and it made no difference. The first one blinks on and off not the second one does not light up at all, even after I swapped them.

My replacements capacitors aren't coming until tomorrow.

[mast3r]

When I watch the diagnostic board and press the buttons I can see that 2 and 3 light up, but sometimes 3 doesn't work either. If I switch the wires around all buttons will work properly when plugged into the second plug. So I know it's not the buttons themselves, but rather something with the logic board maybe.

[bjab]

Those 2 things in your last picture look burnt to me or they sure look dark. The one on the left has a purple arc or something in it. ( it could be a reflection from another light though.) If you click on the picture 3 times it zooms in really close and you can see it. I have no idea what they are for. Do the screw in ? I guess you'll know more when you get the caps today to replace C10 with. The 3 button panel is easy to remove and, not sure if yours does, but mine had a sensor for each button, Each button has a flat tab that moves down between the sensor when the button is pushed in. I'm not sure but I'm thinking that the button sensors are like an "electric eye switch" and are normally closed (NC) until the plastic tab on the button passes thru it and then it blocks the "electric eye or sensor) and opens the circuit making it normally open (NO) . This seems backwards to me but the tab is plastic and does not touch the sensor at all .I'm not sure if all machine stop buttons are like this, I'm just thinking about the one I took apart to clean. Be very careful if you clean the sensors, as you can damage them. I think there was a post about that somewhere. If anyone else wants to verify if I'm correect or not, please do so. keep us posted on what the new cap for C10 does.

[mast3r]

The one cylinder is lit up purple. I believe they are starters just like you'd find in florescent ballasts. They DO screw in like light bulbs.

My stop buttons are different from what you describe. Mine are simple push buttons with wires that run to the board. My Spin lever has the sensor you described, but not the stop buttons.

[bjab]

Yeah..starters maybe. Ok so no button sensors....can you check the continuity of the wires for buttons 1 and 3 going to the board...or check for a cold solder joint? I'm just thinking of simple things before heading into the logic part.