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Hi guys, I’m a newbie. I bought two old one arm bandits in bad condition and am restoring them (first time doing this). They are an Aristocrat Bingo Clickety Click. I’ve got one working perfect, but this other one the reels spin but number 1 stops, then 2 and 3 stop together slowly. I’ve cleaned all the inside and pay slides including new springs but not removed the reel bundle (bit unsure in case I can’t get it back together!) I put a cloth over the fan and let the reels run. The first one runs free but the other two are really stiff. Any help much appreciated thanks.
Davie

Hi, welcome to the forum.

I guess you're going to have to slide the reel assembly out and clean the axle. It's probably blocked with dry grease.
It's easier than you probably think, take a deep breath and leap in.
At least you've got another one to use for comparison.

BP

Hi badpenny do I have to take the reels off the spindal or can I clean it easily enough and is there any tips you can give me taking it off thanks

Have a butchers at Rebuilding a Reel Bundle in Tips & Tricks.

Thanks for that great information from great people on this forum luv it

Hi guys after restoring one machine to the next was a bit daunting thinking about taking apart the reels and pay slides and replacing springs but found this site and found a real badpenny !!! But this one wasn’t bad at all he guided me thro the worst bits of doing it and bits were a struggle but he said never give up ,I wasn’t any way this wasn’t going to defeat me and thro tinkering and reels out and in so many times all in bits then putting it back together putting it in the mech for it just to be the same !!! So out and stripped again thinking what can I do now to it ,every one uses oil 3 in one wd40 I had an idea years ago when I was putting oil in my car and on the shelf in the garage was slick50 !! Supose to be slippery than ice so took it up and put it in between the reels weather that was the right thing to do I didn’t know ,badpenny said look at the back Maby the stop is staying on longer than should be and not allowing the kicker to give a gd pelt ,as I was looking I thot I’d get it a turn over and boom the reels spun really fast and bang bang bang wow it’s all working all the late nights after work finally got it working I’ll post pics up once I know how to as this side of thing computer wise I’m hopeless but all the best Davie

Doesn't it feel good when a plan comes together ..... and you did it yourself?

BP

This is the machines at the start of my journey

More pics

Well that's the first one done. The chrome that you see isn't actual chrome as they were wanting £700 to chrome these parts so I hunted the internet to best thing to chrome, and an American company do a powder coat as close to chrome as you can get, so I bought that, took it to my local powder coat place, and they did that but sorry I had to send them away to get de-chromed which companies were wanting £300 pound just to take it off !!! I got a place that done it for £60!! Yes, all my hunting the internet paid off, then comes another big bit - the decals. Some were missing, and the others were poor, so I had to redo the lot. I googled the machine and got a pic of what it was like, and drew it out myself, and estimated sizes by measuring the machine itself. Not cheap, but I got the best price as once the designer does your decal if I wanted to order it again as I did because I have two identical machines - yeh, rust as well! And you're not paying for the designer, it's just a copy the second time, but if anyone wants to know anything, just send me a message. More than willing to help.

All the best guys. Hope you like the pics.
Davie

Well done The chrome or metal finish looks good. One thing I keep forgetting to do is a before picture on any machine I work on....

I have a few of these, one is the Esprit version with slightly narrower cabinet and two Elites. I am hoping to make one good as I have a few bits missing like coin tray.....so will spend up probably with a spare cabinet.

All the ones I have seen and have, the award belly glass was not screen printed, but a plastic sheet stuck inside.

Hi mate,
Yes, these had a bit of plastic inside on the award belly. As I said, I hunted for the same machine on the internet and took sizes of what it looked like, then got a window decal made and seems to have came out well. I spent a few bob on the first one but, as the other one is the same, the decals ended up cheap as I was just getting copies of what I had designed. I was having issues with the reels being slow, so dismantled all the reels. There wasn’t any grease as such. Put them back, but still slow. Badpenny said if I had brakes take them off, but they were already off, then after about a week dithering about with it all of a sudden the reels were banging round stopping like bang bang bang. II thought, 'great - sorted, nothing wrong with the reels', then went in later and they were back slow again. Not as slow as they were, but reel one stops, two stops, then three just as two stops so does three, so bit bewildered how this has happened. Been speaking to and forth with Jeremy on this. Any of your Elites done anything similar mate?
Davie

Can you do a video of the issue, sometimes easier than describing.....

Slow reel bundles can relate to a number of issues including:

1) kicker does not engage properly, or a weak spring or damaged head, so not kicking reel bundle properly

2) grease, grime dirt etc affecting spinning smoothly

3) something blocking reels rotation, including a timing issue, so fingers or reel stops engaging at the wrong point

4) overtightened securing nuts, which can restrict bundle, or under tightened, meaning the bundle can move and interfere with other parts

5) bent main steel shaft. I have had this on an Aristocrat and it took me ages to work out why the reels were slow

6) damaged reel shaft splines (usually made of brass/copper). If worn or damaged, bent, dented etc., it can run badly

Plus probably more issues that will come to mind....
Reels not spinning correctly

This is where the kicker is kicking from. Do you think this is the result of the slow reels? If so, how can I fix this?
Thanks, Davie

I think it's time to tamper with the one thing we didn't want to fiddle with.
It's Dog & Anvil time!!
There's a lot written about it on here.
If you click here .....
..... you'll see we've had to address this more than a few times in the past.
Please read up on it, because if you don't fully understand/follow the instructions you'll be back here telling us sorry tales of your mech now being seized up and you can't release it.

BP

badpenny wrote: ↑Sun Dec 06, 2020 3:51 pm
It's Dog & Anvil time!!
BP

Great! Mine's a pint please

Having got a bit bored with being locked away I decided to take a punt on a Bandit (always previously had Allwins) and saw an Aristocrat which was one of the Bandits you guys kindly recommended as a good starter machine. Anyway it seems fine and in good overall condition but as seems to be common, the reels run slowly -more like they need a kick rather than gunked up as they run freely when I stop the fan part way through a cycle but only run for a few turns when I let it complete a normal handle pull- so I've tried reading all the hints and tips on the forum and am about to have a go at removing the reel bundle so I can start by giving all the bits a good clean and a drop of light oil (apart from anything near the coins!) where needed.

What I need to be sure of is what to undo and what not to, to remove the reels (and put them back again) without mucking up the machine. There are 2 screws as marked on the pics (top blue, and red arrow), but also a circlip (bottom blue arrow) and 2 nuts (green arrow). Do either or all of these need removing please? Also I saw on a you-tube video someone saying the brakes should be disconnected before removing the reel bundle but that was on a Mills. Is there anything on the Aristocrat that similarly needs removing or slackening to get the reels out?

Apologies for the basic questions but I'd rather embarrass myself with silly questions than end up with bits I can't reassemble

Many thanks
Brian

The red screw is just to tighten the rod, so just loosen slightly and undo the two nuts to remove.

Might be worth checking the kicker once the bundle is out, common issue on aristocrats is old grease gunking them up

Thanks for your help, Treefrog. Just to check, does that mean the screw and circlip (blue arrows) the opposite end need loosening/removing respectively? I ask as I tend to have not a lot of luck with circlips that tend to spring off into a dark corner of my garage