14 replies to this topic

[james2k2]

Hi All,
I have just got the Pac Man Plus machine i mentioned earlier and it seems to be stuck in its Refill mode. Upon switching on it completes all it's ROM and Sound checks and then it displays '1 Pound 125.00'. Pressing the Start button goes through the various Refill options as shown in the Manual. The machine also has the 'CASH FULL' lamp lit, does this all mean anything. How can i fix this problem?

The mainboard is brand new.

Kind regards,
James

[Bencrest]

Hi All,
I have just got the Pac Man Plus machine i mentioned earlier and it seems to be stuck in its Refill mode. Upon switching on it completes all it's ROM and Sound checks and then it displays '1 Pound 125.00'. Pressing the Start button goes through the various Refill options as shown in the Manual. The machine also has the 'CASH FULL' lamp lit, does this all mean anything. How can i fix this problem?

The mainboard is brand new.

Kind regards,
James

Sounds like the refill switch is jammed on... weird.

Can't remember where the refill switch is on these cabinets... somewhere on the outside of the cabinet there will be an obvious keyhole which isn't for a door - it normally takes a locker type key (typically an 8700(0) key), although this is rarely changed for another sort.

Anyway, that keyhole is actually a switch, and when you insert and turn the key, you make an electrical circuit along the two pin like contacts mounted on the back of the key switch assembly.

The problem you have suggests either that :

a) The physical switch inside the refill key lock assembly has failed and is stuck on, or
There is a short circuit somewhere between the lock assembly and the mainboard - perhaps even as simple as wires crossing the two contacts on the back of the lock assembly.

If you need more help, let us know because it's midnight, I've been drinking, and probably make no sense

To be honest though, it sounds to me like a really simple (free?) repair, so I'd not worry about it.

If you remove the wires which should be fitted with connectors, and plug straight onto the back of the lock assembly - assuming the wires don't touch, the refill display should be off. If they touch, the REFILL display should show up. Assuming that happens, then the wiring is OK and presumably the switch is at fault - a couple of quid for a new lock/switch assembly and you are sorted.

If you really don't plan on using the switch from the outside, the free repair would be to keep both of the wires well insulated to avoid them shorting on anything - and then if you needed to use the REFILL menu (for volume, e.t.c.) just remove the insulation, touch both wires, use the menu, then reinsulate the terminals.

[lincs1]

if the refill key switch is naff u can bypass it by pulling the 2 wires of the switch

pacman plus is housed in the smiley cabinet ben

[james2k2]

I've tested the switch with a multi meter and have also tested the wires are not shorting. Any other ideas?

[Bencrest]

if the refill key switch is naff u can bypass it by pulling the 2 wires of the switch

pacman plus is housed in the smiley cabinet ben

I thought it was the Smiley cabinet, but didn't want to say for sure. I hate posting things that later turn out to be wrong

As for just pulling the wires off... yeah, but I'd say (as in my above post) to make sure they are insulated (with a bit of tape or whatever) just to stop them from shorting out against themselves, or any other metal in the cabinet.

I've tested the switch with a multi meter and have also tested the wires are not shorting. Any other ideas?

Now that's got me a bit stumped. It's one of those 'if I had the machine here I could probably sort it' type things.

Still, I'll have a sleep on it, and there are plenty of others on here with more experience than me that might be able to help!

[james2k2]

i know your all sleeping now but i have some more information. It turns out the machine does seem to know when the refill key is turned. If you switch on with key turned it shows an 8.2 on the alpha during start up. Otherwise it shows the normal stuff. Could there be any other switches that could be causing the fault? Also i got it to accept a pound coin in refill but now i can't get it back.

[james2k2]

Another update: I have now managed to get it to do a hopper dump and it then proceeds to tell me 'SHORT BY 124.00'. I did expect this. I tried doing a refloat to reset to what it thinks should be in the hopper and what actually is in the hopper and this didn't work either! It still thinks that there should be £125 in there... So! I then re-fed the same pounds into the hopper as it was doing the dump until £125 was reached and i then got 'DUMP OK' I was happy thinking i could lock up and reset the machine only to get back to '1 POUND £125.00' and then pressing start leads me to the damned Refill menu. The refill key works as mentioned before so i'm stumped as to what the problem is.

[ForYouToEnvy]

Does the machine reset when you open/close the door? Could be the door switch that is faulty/out of position

Same for the cashbox door, does that reset the machine when opened then closed?

If this is a machine for home use i would suggest disconecting all the door switches to see if it cures your prob

[james2k2]

Yes, the machine does reset upon opening and closing a door. I have managed to get it into Test mode and test everything, turns out that the Stop button doesn't work and one of the Collect buttons on the game board doesn't work but all the door switches work and give a strobe and data output on the alpha.

[james2k2]

Some more information! I have now gotten the machine into a kind of self-play test mode where it will simply just play itself continuously and this proves the game board is functioning properly. I have done a full button/switch test and everything except the buttons i listed earlier are functioning.

[james2k2]

IT WORKS! I have managed to fix it, woo! When i decided to give fixing the buttons a bash, it turns out that some moppet in the past wired up a lamp ring to a switch and a switch to a lamp, oh dear oh dear. swapped wires over, all buttons working and da dah! I think that this wiring error could have broken one of the lamp outputs though as there is just 1 set of about 10 lamps that aren't working - i can play without those though. Thanks for all your reply's! For anybody with a similar issue... check your wiring!

[Bencrest]

That's just what I was going to recommend after I remembered something similar being done to an Adders and Ladders sit-down we had at work, in this case the machine randomly went into auto-play due to that switch being affected.

Glad you got it sorted, it's surprising how much you can learn just from getting stuck in

[james2k2]

Again, thanks for everybodies replies in this thread and the other two. I have now got everything working! All lights, all buttons, all coins. Just one final question - how can i set the float correctly? I have tried two different ways: 1) Using test coin flow and dumping the hopper then putting the money back in and it then says 'Float £xxx.xx' I then press the 1st hold button to confirm. 2) Opening doors and doing hopper dump then replacing coins back. The problem is that the machine thinks there is a £125.00 float in there still because when i do a dump it will says 'Short by £xxx.xx'. However, when i turn the Refill key the display does say '1 Pound £xxx.xx' (showing the amount i've put in there as a float) Also, the Cash Full light is always lit when clearly i haven't got a full hopper.

Kind regards

[Bencrest]

The problem is that the machine thinks there is a £125.00 float in there still because when i do a dump it will says 'Short by £xxx.xx'. However, when i turn the Refill key the display does say '1 Pound £xxx.xx' (showing the amount i've put in there as a float) Also, the Cash Full light is always lit when clearly i haven't got a full hopper.

Kind regards

Pretty sure those machines will *always* say 'short by XXX', IIRC it's just to that if you want to fully float it after a dump, you know how much to put in.

Cash Full was a scam, I'm pretty sure it's only the opposite of a Cash Low (CL) light - it was to trick punters into thinking a machine was worth playing. I'm pretty sure that Cash Full only means '£20 or more in the hopper', whereas Cash Low used to mean '£19 or less in the hopper'.

You won't find it on modern machines, it was basically banned.

Cash Low was there for the operator to see that a machine needed refloating (which is fair, and could be used to player advantage I guess) whereas Cash Full only served one purpose - to make the player believe the machine was 'full', and therefore willing to pay out.

[james2k2]

Strange. the light is on even though there is only a single quid in there. Oh well it will sort itself out as i put more in it. Cheers Ben