13 replies to this topic

[petermiller36]

Hello all! My first post on here so please be gentle!

 

I currently have two fruit machines in my man cave. One of which is a Club Viva Mexico. That worked fine until a couple of months ago when it stopped working. Then I saw on eBay the machine I've always wanted, but advertised as not working. That is a Club Crazy Fruits. I'd love to get the Crazy Fruits machine to work and keep that in my bar. The Viva Mexico machine I will then sell for parts.

 

Here's the details on what I know (which is very little as I'm not that technical and no little about the insides of these amazing machines):

 

VIVA MEXICO: 

It's plugged in but doesn't do anything. The power supply is on with the light showing at the bottom. The main computer part of the machine (motherboard?!) is a Scorpion 4 with a single green light that comes on. Motor for coin hopper (Azkoyen) is not working. I foolishly took it apart and the cogs in the little motor fell out. The little red reel lights do not come on.

 

CRAZY FRUITS:

When I turn it on there is a repeated clicking sound. The power supply light is on. The internal motherboard (?) has a red light flashing. The green lights are on and the reel lights are on.

 

I hope that very limited information helps. I live in Stourbridge in case anyone is local and knows what they're doing and wants to have a look.

 

Thanks in advance.

[Twostroker]

Hi mate, Mexico sounds like the power supply if only one green light is on?

Not sure on Crazy fruits but it's probably the mpu board? Check closely around the battery in the center of the board...you will probably see the battery has leaked and corroded? Then check the game card...fingers crossed!

Mexico seems like a rare machine so would be a shame to break it!

I'm restoring a Club money to burn. Same scorpion 4 club machine...it had a similar problem so put a new board in and it works fine. It's pretty common for boards to go. Bout £70 for a refurbished one. Easy to change over.

[petermiller36]

Thanks for the help! Much appreciated.

I've swapped round the boards and Crazy Fruits is showing signs of life! I'm only doing it in free mode at the moment but it's far from working perfectly.

The biggest concern is that the coin hopper motor sounds like it's going a million miles an hour continuously. To avoid burn out i turned the machine off.

Additionally, when in free mode the whole machine would go dark at certain times, such as when moving around the feature board. Any ideas?

[Twostroker]

I've had lights burning dangerously bright and no lights at all off the same faulty board. I'd see what the proper experts say though mate...being an unknown machine it's hard because it could be wiring causing a board problem...or anything! Might be some otherthings you to test first. Does it come up with any error codes? Did you say if there's any corrosion around the battery...thats the cause on two of the faulty scorpion 4 mpus I've had.

[No1Stoney]

MUX ROW ERROR if lights are going off completely. But usually at that point you should see the error on the display. That is a faulty main board you have. Will be repairable but only by someone in the know. Trouble with scorpion 4 boards is the batteries leak and cause all sorts of problems around where the battery has corroded components and tracks

[petermiller36]

Thanks all. Turns out it was indeed the MPU. The one from the Viva Mexico machine has a small amount of noticeable battery leakage, hence the machine working sometimes and going blank randomly. The other board from Crazy Fruits has very clear battery damage. I've just bought a second hand Scorpion 4 board and put that into Crazy Fruits and it's working fine. 

 

So now I have three questions:

 

1) What do I do with the two damaged Scorpion boards? I can't fix them but can anyone else? Will they have resale value?

2) How do I convert the coin mechanism to the new (and annoying) £1 coin? From what I've seen online it is expensive.

3) Now that Crazy Fruits is working, I'll be looking to move on the Viva Mexico machine. It has a damaged coin hopper and obviously a faulty Scorpion board. What's the best way to sell it? eBay?

 

Thanks!

[Twostroker]

1, They can be repaired...yes but I've got no experience...ive tried fixing one with a similar problem but no joy. I ust keep it as a test board as it's just the lights on mine.
2, You can send mechs off...it depends what type of mech is in it. Google swallow amusements...he got recommended to me on here too.
3, Yeah eBay...it depends on the area and who wants the bits at the time...?

[petermiller36]

1, They can be repaired...yes but I've got no experience...ive tried fixing one with a similar problem but no joy. I ust keep it as a test board as it's just the lights on mine.
2, You can send mechs off...it depends what type of mech is in it. Google swallow amusements...he got recommended to me on here too.
3, Yeah eBay...it depends on the area and who wants the bits at the time...?

1. Thanks, I'll bare that in mind when all of this is done.

2. Great recommendation! I sent it to him and it's come back with new coin acceptance.

3. Again, I'll bare that in mind when it's all done.

 

But now the coin mechanism is back, another problem has arisen and I feel like crying. I'd just been to the bank to get £250 in new £1 coins as well! Now when I turn it on it comes with an awful alarm sound and the code REEL 1 ERR 21. I have Googled it and have swapped over reels 1 and 2 but the same error shows. Any ideas what could be wrong now? I did buy a Scorpion 4 board that was untested for £20. It initially worked and I enjoyed playing Crazy Fruits in play made.

[Twostroker]

Does it spin when it's initializing? Does it look like it's trying to find the point it wants to stop at and it can't? I've had one error where I've moved the paddle that goes through the opitcal sensor too much...probably not that if you've done nothing and swapped them over.

I've had a few other reel errors when I've taken them off to clean them so it could just be wiring. If you've changed the board recently check the wiring in the connector blocks? Other than that I don't know mate...

[petermiller36]

Yeah I've checked those. Reels of shake then settle on start up, just as they have every other time. I'm thinking it's the board as there is tiny amount of the dreaded blue powder around the battery. I'm guessing that can cause all kinds of errors to come up that aren't actually wrong with the machine?

[petermiller36]

Changed back to old Scorpion 4 board and a different error shows, so I'm assuming it's the board (again). 

 

I've seen a couple on eBay, but quite high prices. There's some on various websites for around £45-50. Can anyone recommend a trustworthy site? Or, does anyone have a board they can sell to me?

 

I now have two Scorpion 4 boards that need repairing due to battery leaks. I would be clueless on how to repair but if someone knows how to and wants to have a go then let me know and I'll send them to you for a small charge. 

[Wizard]

Try e-service:

http://www.e-service...rpion-4-mpu-que

Edited by Wizard, 19 October 2017 - 06:34 PM.

[petermiller36]

Right then, I have mostly succeeded. I sent the boards off to Maggi Electronics, but they reported back that all 3 were knackered beyond repair. They did some refurbed boards in stock, so I bought two. Both are working very well in Viva Mexico and Club Crazy Fruits. Now I have another problem. I have the new coin mechanism for the new £1 coin, however something somewhere isn't going right with it. The machine recognises 50p, 20p etc and I can play with those. However, when I play with new £1 , or fill up the machine with the new £1 coin, it doesn't recognise it. It does put that new coin in the hopper, but it just doesn't register that it's taken it if you get me. When I do a hopper dump it gives me back all the new £1 coins and tells me how many it's spat out. 

 

Any ideas??

[petermiller36]

All sorted!! It was a wiring issue which is all good now! SO happy to have a full working Club Crazy Fruits machine! Thanks all for the help.

 

As a result of this machine now working, I am looking to sell my Viva Mexico machine. It is an excellent machine but I don't have space for two. It works fully in demo mode and works in cash mode, the only problem (that I'm aware of) is that the £1 (old) hopper will need a new motor and I messed around with it and knackered it. 

 

If anyone's interested then let me know, it will be going on eBay in one week's time if no-one on here shows an interest.