Sega Windsor series bandits

[horiane]

Hello all and thanks for your forum. I’m french and my english is not very good sometimes.

Well, I come to you because I just buy 2 sega slot machines (you can see the models on photos) and both of them have problems but not the same ones. I explain :
- The machine Mad Money works pretty well : the arm is not too hard, the wheels turn well but it has a payout problem. Only the cherry payout is right (two 5p for 1 cherry and 5 -sometimes- for 2).
But there are mistakes : the machine pays 10 for exemple for 2 oranges and a plum or a lemon instead of 2 oranges and a bar (nothing for that combination) and for some other combinations, it’s often 2 coins.
- For the second machine, the Crazy Bells, the payout is ok but the arm is hard as if there was a hard spot. I try to know where it is but I found nothing. However it makes the wheels turn. And it's not the right reel strips.

Well I tried to reverse the slides of the 2 machines but nothing changed. Same payout problem on the Mad Money and ok for the other machine. Conclusion, the problem is not the slides or the coins.
Is it possible that the problem come from the wheels or the vertical fingers order or timing or other things I have no idea ?

And last question : what is the fonction of the switches on these machines ? (see photos)

Thank you in advance for your answers.

[badpenny]

Hello Mon Brave and welcome to our site.

Your pay out issues ....
Are you using the right coins? They should be the old shilling and not the new 5np coin which is much smaller.
You may have excess dry grease which is stopping fingers and slides
There might be a coin jam in the slides
If you line up a winning combination do the vertical fingers go all the way through the discs without hesitation?
Are all of the vertical fingers connecting to horizontal fingers behind the slides, non missing?
If every winning combination can not be accessed by a vertical finger then either the reels are wrong or more likely the strips have been rotated. Perhaps only slightly.
The slides should have no grease or lubrication at all.

As for the switches etc. You have an electric coin acceptor. The two switches power the solenoid on the other side which enables the handle to engage and then disengage it after the play until the next coin enters.
Incidentally the handle engaging mechanism the solenoid effects is adjustable and may cure your hard spot, but only tamper with that as a last result and always mark where it was before you move it. You might jam the machine up completely if you move it anymore than a mm.

Don't worry, it can all be fixed no matter what the problem and we shall still talk to you after Brexit

Ask more questions as you need to.

BP

[horiane]

Thanks for your answer.
I bought coins on ebay : old 5p. I think they are the right ones. In the machine there was a lot of 1 franc. I suppose they used them to play but I prefered buying 5p.
I cleaned the slides of the 2 machines and they have no more grease or oil but I must verify the fingers.

For the hard spot, where can I adjust the solenoid effects (one of the circles on the photo) ?

[badpenny]

You've spotted it, it's the top nut you've circled in red.
I can't stress enough the need to mark its trunk against the holder before you move it, and to only move it a fraction at a time. The further out you set it the longer the pull on the handle (until the mech jams without firing) the further in the shorter the pull (until the mech fires without having reset itself properly)
Before you do that though get the handle to the hard spot and then rock the handle to check if you can see friction elsewhere. Perhaps the kicker that sets the reels spinning is jamming or the slide reset links.

BP

[horiane]

Ok, I'll try that as a last resort. I'll continue to search something else before. I've one or two ideas to test.

[banditboy67]

Nice machines, just bought one very similar but mine hasn't got the jackpot feature...
Always fancied one with the jackpot but never see them for sale over here..

[coppinpr]

Everything BP has said is (of course) right. One thing he might not have made clear is (and it really is a last resort): if you loosen the bolt to adjust the timing it might not in itself adjust the problem. Usually with the bolt loose you will need to move the part shown in yellow in the photo below. You must then retighten the bolt. Do not run the machine with that bolt loose. As BP says, you must mark the original position and only move it in very tiny amounts. I've had several of these but never needed to make this adjustment. It's possible the bolt does adjust the bar. Can you confirm BP?

The payout problem can, as already said, be many things, but because of what you said about the wrong reel strips on the other machine I'd test out the reel strip positions on the non paying machine first. Because you have identified the failure to pay on orange, orange, bar, but it does pay on orange, orange, lemon, that's a good place to start.

Set the reels at orange, orange, bar and look to see if the vertical fingers go through ALL THREE payout plates. If they only go through two, then the reel strips cannot be quite right. If they do and it doesn't pay, then we have eliminated that possible cause at least.

windsor help.jpg (52.12 KiB) Viewed 6787 times

I'm not sure if you know the best way to set a payout for testing. If not, use this method:
Cycle the machine outside of the case; as soon as it fires up block the timing fan with a cloth; set the reels to the desired position; lightly hold them in place and remove the cloth allowing the machine to finish its cycle.

[horiane]

Thanks.

For the moment, I won't touch the nut to adjust the handle. After both of you said, it's too much risky to try for now.

For the payout, I'm going to test what you propose with the reels and vertical fingers.

I'll let you know if there is progress (or not )

[coppinpr]

You said the reel strips on the crazy bells are wrong. As the two machines are identical except for the belly glass on the Crazy Bells, I'm guessing the only thing wrong with the reel strips is you have Alfred E. Newman faces instead of "£". Simple overlays will fix that problem. If that's the case let me know the size of the face and the number needed and I'll make the "£" for you if you dont have the resources to do it. (I make a lot of payout cards and the like).

What are the strange payouts listed on the top glass under the words "pay line"?

[coppinpr]

I started fooling with the art work while waiting for the take away curry to arrive and came up with these