Aristocrat Hoots Mon/Quadreel/Quartette

[glittering-prize67]

Topic merged & image sizes reduced - Site Admin.

Pics if they load. Need a 5p play sign and what should be in the recess just above the reject coin return cup.
Any more pics needed, let me know.

[treefrog]

Well after re-buying another Hoots Mon at the previous Coventry, I have only now just got around to plugging in and trying and too my surprise is works perfectly......

What has really thrown me though, was that having paid £160 for it with original Aristocrat stand and in nice condition, whereas I sold mine a year earlier for £200. Even more strange was to see my old machine in the same auction, but minus it's stand and some of the plastic frontage damaged. Even more strange this machine made £380........very odd ......still I am happy

[aristomatic]

Great machines those Aristocrat hopper machines, when they are working. I had one and it was great fun but was warned to move it on ....so I did......

If Glittering wants a 5p badge, I am sure I could dig one out of a drawer somewhere. Let me know if you have sorted one out for yourself yet.

GP

[glittering-prize67]

Many thanks for your kind offer but I have moved it on. And I still have too many but just don't have the heart to part with them.

[aristomatic]

No problem.

Seems Hoots Mon are always moving on.

[morgs]

Topic merged - Site Admin.

Hi all,
I've searched around the site and come across some very helpful information, but I'm filled with newbie questions. I'm curious if anyone has any info on this machine as I can find nothing.

This was given to me by my Dad's friend around twenty years ago and hadn't been used for about the last ten years. Though it's in pretty good condition, I decided recently it was neglected for too long and give it some maintenance.

I've got it working fine mechanically, but there's something wrong with the electrics. It runs with a hopper, but it no longer pays. It has old, very hefty wiring throughout it which I can't see anything obviously wrong. Any suggestions on where to start with troubleshooting? I've also been considering getting it completely rewired, does anyone have any resources/schematics/advice on the best way to go about this? I can post more pictures if need be.

Cheers,
Morgs

[gameswat]

Hi, other than looking for a blown fuse, dodgy connection, dry solder joint, broken wire or non functioning micro switch - I'd suggest you find an old time slot or coin-op repairer in your area who knows these. This machine is close to 40 years old so the chances are highly likely that some of those early electronic boards have issues. The wiring doesn't need to be replaced unless it's rotting away or corroding and this isn't old enough for that yet. But some of the circuit board components may need replacing by an expert. If you search the net you may just find some wiring schematics for this model or similiar. I've never seen any myself in aust, but I'm on the west cost and these machines were never operated here, only turn up randomly as collectables. And I was told that not so long ago Aristo threw away all the old paper they'd kept themselves. I always keep away from these older machines with electronics as they tend to always be a right royal pain in the arse! But since you own this free of charge it's worth investing some time and cash to get it working again. Good luck.

[badpenny]

Hi welcome to The Forum ....

I have had a little experience with these (both good and bad) .......

I've just spotted Gameswat has beaten me to it, I was only going to recommend checking all of the fuses and that the relays in the top are well seated. Gameswat has gone one further and by suggesting you find a retired engineer from those days ...... he speaks sense and should be listened to. There may be others along later who can offer some gems. Good luck!

[morgs]

Thanks gents,

I'll have a scratch around and make sure everything is connected and seated properly. I'll definitely do some searching for someone who has had experience with these as my knowledge of electronics is very limited.

Gameswat, any idea of exactly what year these were manufactured?

Badpenny, may I ask about your experiences with these machines?

[gameswat]

Hi Morgs, probably dates around 1976 or '77. Models with hoppers are desirable as they can spit out hundreds of coins as opposed to the older models with a limit of 20, plus mechanical jackpot (not allowed in Aust clubs though), and anything above that hand paid by an attendant. But the hopper models I really like are the all electo-mechanical hopper versions that were fazed out just before yours were brought in.

[badpenny]

I've worked on two with the hopper payout.
One was a total dead loss as the gubbins in the top box (if I remember correctly) had lost three of its relays. Not the end of the world, but there was other infrastructure missing, including capacitors that were joined to nothing and numerous spaces where brackets had obviously once lived and probably supported switches and relays.

The other was more successful in so much as every fuse had gone, and after replacing a couple of melted internal plugs, it all just needed connecting up and a severe talking to.
I think the biggest fear with these is bits get removed either to get another one back on the road, or for testing, and then not replaced.
BP

[treefrog]

I have a few of the Aristocrat hopper machines, working and non working.....you stated it was working until about 10 years ago whn not used for some time, I would suspect then this is unlikely to be a major issue and checking connectors and fuses is the first place to start, especially the connector that attaches to the hopper you need to disconnect when pulling out. A common problem here is people forget to slowly pull out and unplug and just pull out yanking the plug, could be a simple connector issue. As I mentioned on a similar thread on the Hoots Mon Hopper issue, there is also a cut-out on these machines when jammed.

Your machine looks nice and an odd mixture of Kingsway, Nevada and Grosvenor. Unless Aussie distributed machines were made differently, it could be a mixture of these. Also what is on the left side as I see a shelf extension to the cabinet?

[aristomatic]

the shelf is for the electromechanical repair mans toolkit to sit on.....

[morgs]

Cheers all for all the info and feedback. I've given it a good run today making sure everything was seated and it appears to be the hopper itself. Sometimes it won't engage on a win, sometimes it'll pay the correct amount and sometimes the incorrect amount, and the payout meter on the front doesn't flip past 1. Does anyone have the last few pages of the Regal manual by chance? The copy in Resources is missing the last 5 pages regarding the hopper. I thought it may be helpful. Thanks Treefrog, I'll definitely check out that Hoots Mon thread, and on the left is (what I assume to be) a shelf for a beer, ashtray etc., as the machine was collected from a golf club that closed down in the early-mid '80s. Also on the back of the shelf there's a switch which seems to have been used to turn the power on and off in a daisy chained row of machines.

A few more newbie questions if I could. I was curious as to what some of the electrical components actually do.
This green mystery button?
edit: After poking around with a multimeter it appears to be connected to both the hopper and the top chip board, still stumped as to what it does though.

My wild guess was that it is to open the slot for the coins to drop into the bottom tray rather than the hopper. Am I way off on this one?
edit: It appears I was, it seems once the "In" counter (next to the green mystery button) reaches a certain number, this slot should open.

These fingers in the bottom with the two thin springs push toward the clock and engage the switches halfway along the side of the machine. What are they for and what triggers them?
edit: They are triggered by the bottom of the payout fingers pivoting into them. One for four A's, the other for four J's,Q's or K's. Still unsure as to what they are supposed trigger. I first thought 'the tune' as stated on the front panel, but found no signs of anything that should be audible.

And these ones on the opposite side have me completely stumped.
edit: Could be to tell the chipboard the mech has reset..?

[daveslot]

It seems I have burnt out a relay on mine, I don't know how. It's marked ad-32a1. Are these available anywhere?
Also, what does the red switch do, the one that's in the front left of the top box? It has a white button on it. I can do a pic if required.

[treefrog]

Dave, I have a few of these or similar variants, but all in storage, so I can't look at this time. I may break one as the chrome is shot with some other issues, which may come in handy for spares. Will let you know.

[bandito]

Topic merged - Site Admin.

Hi guys, I'm having problems with the payouts on my hoots mon bandit. It wasn't paying out properly when I got it. I have checked all payout micro switches and all seem fine. I think the problem is with the payout pins as shown in the picture. If someone has a working machine with correct payouts would they be kind enough to post a picture similar to mine so I can compare the order of those pins. Thanks.

[treefrog]

I did check one of mine and the pins look correct, although I had a bad picture I took, but they do look the same....

[gameswat]

Ahhh, if this is one of those mid to late '70s hopper models with early electronics then good luck. I just had one in to service for a friend and wasted a huge amount of time and never got it truly sorted. Not one tech friend in Perth wanted to know about it! You'd think there would be circuit diagrams available in Aust, but there aren't. I tried and came up with absolutely nothing that would help. Machine would occasionally payout the wrong amounts on jackpots, but like 50 instead of 40, always to rounded numbers. Biggest issue was sometimes not making the full payouts on large amounts, which if that happened would stop any future payouts of any kind when you kept playing. But I found a button inside on the top lhd which a service man could push to complete any unfinished payouts. So after exhausting every other attempt, I ended up having to move that service wiring to a new button mounted in a formally blanked off hole on the outside of the front door. I then made a decal to go just below the button into a vacant casting telling you to push for incomplete payouts. Actually fixed the incomplete payout issues - just in a rather crude way.

[coppinpr]

It sounds from what GS says that the makers had a problem with this from the start and fitted what amounts to a reset button to get round it.