Hi everyone. I'm working on fixing up a 1960 Pace $.25 4-reel and it comes up with payouts far too often. The payouts are legitimate in that the symbols align properly on each payout. I've tested it and every $6 put into it empties the payout tube.
The machine was a gift, purchased from Harrah's in the late 80's. It was severely damaged, missing the base, coin path is modified, extensive brazing on the worn or broken cast iron components. When I got it, the handle did not move. I opened it up (front opening), removed the loose coins and other debris, sprayed it down with WD-40 (and yes, I now know that wasn't the best idea), wiped an cleaned as best I could, and it seemed to be working.
At this time payout seemed normal in that in that the payout tube would fill up and you could easily drop in $5 without a single cherry. After that i did some touchup painting and I also installed some beautiful warm yellow LED's to substitute for the missing wiring, switches, and bulbs. After buttoning that up, I started noticing the increased payouts. Other than a statistically impossible winning streak, I don't see how this could happen.
I'll post a separate thread on some other issues, including figuring out how to get the mechanism out of the case, but in the meantime, let me know if you have any ideas.