Aristocrat Gold Star jackpot

[mgreef]

Hello,

I have a Gold Star, but can someone tell me or post some pics how it should be? I am not sure how these jackpots work and need to be connected...

There is a short arm on position 8 (broken or need to be?)

[badpenny]

Hi ...

Unless the mechanism is part electric and that short vertical finger is operating a micro switch at the top end then it shouldn't be like that.
What win combination does it react to? Being at that end of the rake it should be a high value one either Jackpot or 3 in The Window.

The bank on the front is triggered by the top slide retracting, it holds the JP shut. Perhaps there is a connection to that broken finger?

You'll see on the right hand side of the JP (looking from the front) a red painted lever. That locks the JP closed for maintenance purposes, so that it doesn't dump its contents all over your lap if you swing it out (it's hinged on the opposite side)

In short I guess that broken vertical finger has been put there to stop the JP from tripping ..... naughty operator.

BP

[mgreef]

the short finger has no connection , but there are 2 swithes on other levers:

the other side, it looks like this :

below are two counters, i don't know what these are counting:

other side is the electrical connection:

[gameswat]

Looking at your 2nd photo in the last post Mgreef, I can see that there was a third switch up there, the two threaded holes are just showing on the right. Plus I can see two wires ( white and grey) looped back into the red insulating loom cover. Those will be the two that went to that missing third switch. This would make sense as the earlier photo showing the bottom of the shortened last armature did not look broken, but cleanly sheared. An operator has obviously revamped this at some time!

[treefrog]

Looking at the pictures, I think these switches are just trips for the meters, which track jackpot payouts (3bars and 3 stars). The last finger is probably not used. I cannot see any horizontal fingers, I assume these have been removed for the pictures.

I have four Gold Stars and none of mine have these electronic meters, these look like operatator or reseller add-ons. I am assuming all the payouts are purely mechanical here. Do you have a payout problem?

[gameswat]

Good points, except those are mechanical trip meters!

[mgreef]

I have four Gold Stars and none of mine have these electronic meters, these look like operatator or reseller add-ons. I am assuming all the payouts are purely mechanical here. Do you have a payout problem?

Hello Treefrog,

Well, the machine is doing the standard payouts, but i cannot seem to trip the jp. Do i miss a connection somewhere or mounted the wrong way?

[aristomatic]

I agree with gameswat - the small numbered meters are just very very simple click meters, and nothing to do with any of the electrical connections in any way. They are just tripped by the movement of the mechanical levers where they are sited. The two closest together will probably show the jackpot trip numbers for bars and stars. The one on the other side, where the electrical snap connector is, will, I presume, be simply the number of plays as the reel-stop levers trip it, either moving forward or backwards as it cycles. These numbers would, I presume, help the operator see if there were any significant over or unders in his cash bag at end of the week/fair etc.

The two (previously three) micro switches would have been nothing to do with these, but would simply be tripped when the two (previously three with different reel bundle fitted maybe) jackpot symbols are on centre line. Micro-switches are then activated by either of the vertical jackpot levers and then this signal is routed via some tortuous route up to the candle light fitted at top of machine.

Possibly the mechanism was previously fitted as an attendant payout, not visible jackpot, to get the payout girl/boy to come across and pay you the money stated on a different award card on another machine.

I believe some operators retained the candle light to show jackpots being won even when there was a visible jackpot drop, so as to advertise the jackpot drop to everyone in the casino to incentivise more plays from other players.


I have yet to buy any Aristocrat with a lighting candle still attached... lots with the wiring taped up inside the top of the cabinet, but none with a candle.

Anyway, that's my tuppence for what its worth... not much these days

Like this:

[badpenny]

Well, the machine is doing the standard payouts, but i cannot seem to trip the jp. Do i miss a connection somewhere or mounted the wrong way?

I refer you to my answer earlier.......
In short I guess that broken vertical finger has been put there to stop the JP from tripping ..... naughty operator.

[treefrog]

Don't think so BP.....The two previous fingers will trip this as you can see they are solid.......This configuration is the same as my Gold Stars and the last finger is unused and has no holes in the reel discs.....probably left from another model configuration.

In the last pictures I can see the JP release lever on the inside is held back. Have you used the red locking lever to hold back the coins? Worth checking this moves back and forward freely, as this can jam. Also, as BP has stated, the slides hold the lever in place and when the JP is won, the top two slides will move in to release the JP lever. The picture of your slides show them not locked by the horizontal fingers, so they would or should release the JP in this position. Also, your Jackpot may not have the reserve feature, unless it is gummed up, as the coins are hiding this. Certainly one of the springs on the left hand side needs replacing, as it is not effective with that large loop, as seen in the picture.

Can you confirm if you have locked the lever in for the picture to stop the coins dropping out and that if unlocked the JP releases?

[mgreef]

I have tried the jp on a Mad Melon, and there the jp is paying out. The reserve is not released, but that is because of bad springs? So I do have a payout / reel spinning problem on the Gold Star... I think, after looking and setting a win on the reels, some vertical levers don't go all the way through all 3 discs. When I help the levers manually a bit, then they go through, setting off the payout slides... Even after cleaning!
The short vertical slide has no function - there is NO hole in the disc for this one.

I have cleaned almost everything and still the reels do not spin properly...

Edit:
OK, reels OK, payout is OK, jackpot payout is OK BUT, how to drop the reserve into the empty jackpot?



Thanks

[treefrog]

Funny, when I was checking one of mine, I had the same issue. I would take the coins out and see it the reserve shutters move freely when releasing, without the friction of the coins....I believe mine was sticky through lack of use, which may be your issue...If no movement at all then another issue of course

[mgreef]

Finally fixed the jp ....