Restoration: Bally Slot machine 1090-29
Bally Slot machine Make: BallySerial number:
Las Vegas Casino: Pioneer Club downtown STOPS: A slot machine’s computer contains what is basically a digital duplication of physical reels. Before the early 1980s, the probability of hitting jackpots, and their likelihood on any give spin, was tied to how many symbols and blanks—known as “stops”—were on each physical reel. This old electro-mechanical slots had 29 stops on each reel. By logging the symbols that landed on each reel, it was possible to perform calculations that would give you the odds of a jackpot landing on a given spin.
My goal is to rebuild the slot machine not to the point where it just functions, but a complete restoration when it left the factory, everything being complete down to the last screw. Door electronic lock, meters, tower, switches, lights, etc. Before:
Issues: - number one reel is locked and will not spin
- the hopper is jammed
- the wiring is butchered
- it blows fuses
- the upper cabinet and lower cabinet need repairs
- handle pull is sluggish
- the power supply is missing a ground
- payout will not reset
- 90℅ screws are ruined
- inner door wiring is butchered, cut and spliced
- all the lights need replacement
- several switches, coils need service, cleaning, repair, full takedown
- the belly glass is chipped, the middle glass is pealing
- the coin drop is jamming
- door has issues closing, change bowl panel has issues with the door
- The key cylinders need to be serviced.
Goal: Repair all the issues, locate missing, broken parts. After:
- Number one reel was locked and would not spin, solution was service the reels, check each one, adjust the stop, service the complete reel assembly, serviced the piston assembly.
- the hopper was jammed, I found a bearing upside down, I completely took the hopper apart and replaced most of butchered screws.
- The wiring was butchered, I removed the wiring harness and removed all of the issues, I used Molex connectors, new wiring, re-soldered places that needed it, removed wiring that was 'dead'.
- It was blowing fuses, I determined that the wiring had shorts, a broken fuse was causing a 'hot spot' which I repaired, the correct fuses was installed, everything is fine.
- The upper cabinet and lower cabinet needed repairs, I cleaned, repaired, permanently attached both cabinets, I used brown caulking to finish the cabinets. I also disassembled the cabinet parts cleaning the inside using a wire brush.
- Handle pull was sluggish, I disassembled the unit, cleaning the hard grease off everything, the unit is working fine, smooth pull, no more issues.
- The power supply was missing a ground, I replaced the wiring to the wall connection, everything is new going into this slot machine.
- Payout would not reset, I serviced a couple of switches that were butchered, cleaned the unit, the unit reset once I oiled the unit, it operated by resetting back to home.
- 90℅ screws were ruined, I had to order all new screw by bulk and I replaced all of them.
- Inner door wiring was butchered, cut and spliced, I had to replace wires, re-solder the wires, new Molex connectors, new lights, florescent parts, removed all of the splices, got everything working, the coin chute was replaced.
- All the lights were replacement with NOS. The florescent parts are new.
- Several switches, coils needed service, cleaning, repair, full takedown, everything was cleaned, checked out, made sure they functioned correctly.
- The belly glass was replaced, the middle glass was replaced.
- The coin drop was jamming, I found the coin chute was incorrect, replacing it with one that worked fine, dropping coins below. The 25¢ coin drop had to be adjusted, it was out of of adjustment.
- Door had issues closing, the change bowl panel had issues with the door, I put new felt in the slot machine, the change bowl panel was disassembled, I learned the panel had swelled over the decades causing problems, I cut the panel to fit correctly, adjusted the parts, replaced screws, and after I adjusted the change bowl panel it slid into place, the door closes easily.
- The key cylinders were replaced, all three are keyed alike to one key.
This is a example of a Bally slot machine base, this is a casino model and its identical. |
