The only reason these machines are in this excellent condition is b/c they never worked from the start and no could economically repair them. From first inspection I can tell people were either trying to fix it, or wreck it depending upon who.
Its apparent to me after countless hours of examination and repair, that either this machine, or a last group of machines, were intentionally sabatoged for some unknown reason(s). Even though every part and wire looks ok at first inspectors blush, upon closer examination just about each and every part was actually non functional and was in need of a slight or major modification to work at all.
So checking that each part works individually first, and then going on to check that each section works properly, is my approach to repairing this machine. I can foresee a fair amount of rewiring going forward, and it could be years rather than months before the machine works as it should, or works in some entertaining fashion enough to complete the project. The date is Aug 12 2024
There is a bit of luck involved when investing time into these mechanical machines, the luck that someone before you 1/2 knew what they were doing when constructing it , and the luck you have in determining weather or not something can be made of the machine in question.
So the deeper I dig into this machine, the more uncertainty I find of its design, objective, and just what type of person would invest in creating this wire intensive contraption. It has skilled expensive machined parts that were added after a defect was found. These were not ordered to be made as there intended use of, but rather made off hours by some skilled workers who had access to the machinery and perhaps an interest in the machines profits.
But the problem was intent, and skill. The intent to decieve by adding unnecessary gagets, and lack of skill in design leading to some of the expensive add ons. I found that coins after all was said and done, still would not make the 90 degree turn needed to consistantly operate the machine properly. I determined that only from the top could the coin then drop into the slot needed to activate the number. So I set out to remove any unnecessary parts and should I make something of the machine will fill in the holes afterwards, a second consideration is removing any un needed wiring, I have already removed dead wires, ones that lead to no where, and the more of these wires I can find and remove in the process, the fewer wires I will have to comb through to get the machine rewired correctly.
I have 2 starting number coils that do not activate, but I suspect the switches first and have ordered some of those, and I will have to add on a chute to accept the 7 individual coins, after I have surgically inserted the coin opening on the top of the machine.
Going back to the luck involved with gambling on fixing these machines, it always helps to know how the machine works, and this initially I had no club.
Driving back home with it on its back, the vacuum created from the automobile sucked out the plastic numbers and when I got home 4 of them were missing, 2 numbers and 2 large spots. This could have killed the potential of the machine as the large ones provided clues as to how the machine was supposed to work, it wasn't until I got it in the house and began taking it apart that I saw 2 of the plastic disks had reentered the machine through the vacuum of the payout opening and had got stuck inside the machine not able to find a way out, this luck proved to be valuable and is still being used in a rewiring design.
So before I go any further with the unnecessary wiring, i'm going to complete the individual start up lights and coin mechanisms and continue to concentrate on advancing the working and paying functions of the machine and reducing the unnecessary wiring secondary, this could take a short while.