Pace Mech Removed - First Problems

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Pace Mech Removed - First Problems

Postby Mechanik » Sat Jul 01, 2017 7:12 pm

First off, let me apologize to member "mechanic" for grabbing a similar ID. I didn't come across "mechanic" until some searches yesterday. If you're offended, let me know and I'll create a new one.

Anyway, I got the mech out of the case and gave it a once-over, then dove into the problem of inconsistent cherry payouts. For this post, I'll try to stick with ID and payout.

ID: Cast into the base is Made in USA M100X. I assume this can be used to ID the mech, but I haven't had any luck finding that on the internet or on this site. Any ideas?
FullSizeRender.jpg
Model?


The serial number tag is unreadable except for "Bell". A lot of the label is missing. The serial number area has faint red or purple markings, but I haven't been able to make out a single character yet. I'm going to try some photography tricks to see if any part of it is recoverable. There's another serial number/part number on the vertical frame on the right side of the machine: F1264.

So, on to the payout problem. A single cherry on the left reel should pay 3, but occasionally pays 5. This photo shows the payout line:
payout line.jpg
Payout Line - One Cherry

Now the fingers:
IMG_3308.JPG
Vertical Payout Fingers

Red is finger #1 and blue is finger #2. They are both inserted through the same Cherry hole. I can't get a good photo of the bottom end where these push on the horizontal fingers (I think these are called something else, but I'm stuck on fingers, today). However, it looks like #1 activates the 3 and 5 coin payouts on all four disks, and #2 triggers and adds in the 5 coin and all slides payouts (total of 10 and 20 coins). 20 coins are paid when all slides are triggered on this machine.

The horizontal payout fingers show a potential problem but I don't think this is the 3/5 payout problem:
FullSizeRender (1).jpg
Horizontal Payout

It doesn't show up well in this photo, but #2 is moved outwards towards the camera and is bent slightly down. It should not move at all with a single cherry. Sometimes it moves out of the way, other times it does not. It's also bent slightly down and there is a wear mark where it contacts payout slide #1 (yellow). Should I bend it up a little?

One other possible complication is that the #1 payout disk is badly bent.
IMG_3303.JPG
Bent #1 Disk

This disk is bent enough that someone widened the cherry payout hole so that both finger #1 and #2 could go through. The disk is also contacting the axle/pivot point on the the kicker, which is probably why reel#1 is so slow. But even with that, I still don't see how payout slide #2 is getting released on a single cherry. There are only 2 cherries on reel number 1 and I've cycled the mech multiple times on each and haven't been able to document the problem while the mech is out of the case. My best guess is that vertical #1 is pushing horizontal finger #2 just a little bit, when it should not. Can I bend it? Is the spring weak?

What can I test or try to figure this out?

Thanks in advance. I'm a newbie, please be kind....
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Re: Pace Mech Removed - First Problems

Postby Mechanik » Wed Jul 05, 2017 7:08 pm

Crickets....

I've decided that the double-wide Cherry hole in the disk is normal. Otherwise, the second cherry disk/payout finger would not fit through all the disks. You need finger #2 to reach through disk #4 (reel#4) to get the 20 coin cherry payout. Since I can't find anything on the internet, I'm guessing that finding a replacement for the bent, double-holed disk #1 is going to be a problem. What are some good sources for parts? eBay turns up nothing. Can I just take the disk out and beat it with a hammer?

I also tried all the winning combinations to figure out the action for all 7 disk fingers. Disk finger #6 is missing a spring but it looks looks like its supposed to activate when the jackpot comes up. As it stands now, the top 4 payouts ($37.50 and $1000), pay out 20 coins by releasing all payout slides. I assume that the $1000 jackpot is supposed to pay out something and light up the (missing) candle. Based on some rough measuring, it looks like a full payout tube could hold about $37.50 which would completely cover top non-jackpot payouts, however, they only pay $5 now. I'm not sure whether there is supposed to be a mechanism to dump the entire tube, or whether everything over 20 coins required an attendant. Any insights?

All this leads me to want to try to reconstruct the electronics. I'm missing out on the jackpot fun! There are only 2 pieces of electronics in the cabinet and none on the mechanism. Any sources for 1950-1960-ish repair manuals?
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Re: Pace Mech Removed - First Problems

Postby mechanic » Thu Jul 06, 2017 5:22 pm

Mechanik wrote:First off, let me apologize to member "mechanic" for grabbing a similar ID. I didn't come across "mechanic" until some searches yesterday. If you're offended, let me know and I'll create a new one.

Anyway, I got the mech out of the case and gave it a once-over, then dove into the problem of inconsistent cherry payouts. For this post, I'll try to stick with ID and payout.

ID: Cast into the base is Made in USA M100X. I assume this can be used to ID the mech, but I haven't had any luck finding that on the internet or on this site. Any ideas?
FullSizeRender.jpg


The serial number tag is unreadable except for "Bell". A lot of the label is missing. The serial number area has faint red or purple markings, but I haven't been able to make out a single character yet. I'm going to try some photography tricks to see if any part of it is recoverable. There's another serial number/part number on the vertical frame on the right side of the machine: F1264.



Don't sweat it !!! Two mechanic /ks are better than one!!!! LOL
So, on to the payout problem. A single cherry on the left reel should pay 3, but occasionally pays 5. This photo shows the payout line:
payout line.jpg

Now the fingers:
IMG_3308.JPG

Red is finger #1 and blue is finger #2. They are both inserted through the same Cherry hole. I can't get a good photo of the bottom end where these push on the horizontal fingers (I think these are called something else, but I'm stuck on fingers, today). However, it looks like #1 activates the 3 and 5 coin payouts on all four disks, and #2 triggers and adds in the 5 coin and all slides payouts (total of 10 and 20 coins). 20 coins are paid when all slides are triggered on this machine.

The horizontal payout fingers show a potential problem but I don't think this is the 3/5 payout problem:
FullSizeRender (1).jpg

It doesn't show up well in this photo, but #2 is moved outwards towards the camera and is bent slightly down. It should not move at all with a single cherry. Sometimes it moves out of the way, other times it does not. It's also bent slightly down and there is a wear mark where it contacts payout slide #1 (yellow). Should I bend it up a little?

One other possible complication is that the #1 payout disk is badly bent.
IMG_3303.JPG

This disk is bent enough that someone widened the cherry payout hole so that both finger #1 and #2 could go through. The disk is also contacting the axle/pivot point on the the kicker, which is probably why reel#1 is so slow. But even with that, I still don't see how payout slide #2 is getting released on a single cherry. There are only 2 cherries on reel number 1 and I've cycled the mech multiple times on each and haven't been able to document the problem while the mech is out of the case. My best guess is that vertical #1 is pushing horizontal finger #2 just a little bit, when it should not. Can I bend it? Is the spring weak?

What can I test or try to figure this out?

Thanks in advance. I'm a newbie, please be kind....
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Re: Pace Mech Removed - First Problems

Postby marsonion » Thu Jul 06, 2017 6:48 pm

Was reluctant to post here because I wasn't confident that my story would be helpful or merely confusing:

The first vintage slot machine I ever got was a 5c Pace open-front from the Primadonna Club. Worked fine, except it would occasionally pay out on really weird combinations or oranges and plums and bars and bells. I had noticed that the payout wheels looked sort of "wobbly," but didn't know enough then to delve into any mechanical problems; at the time, I was convinced that the symbol order was off, and tried to work that out logically, on paper. Naturally, I couldn't. Finally, I learned to cycle the mech outside the cabinet (duh) and watched what was actually occurring... turns out, not only was the third-reel payout wheel loosely wobbling off its axis a little, but the vertical fingers were bent a little inward, and travelling diagonally in such a way that they were penetrating the adjacent inner holes on that wobbly 3rd payout wheel! Thus, some orange-orange-plum and bell-bell-bar combos were making payouts; the third payout wheel was so loose it would get knocked back a little by the payout fingers, sometimes far enough to reveal the next-hole-down for the aggressive vertical finger. I ended up pulling the reel bundle (when I finally figured out how), securing the payout wheels, and tweaking the vertical finger probes a little to fix the payout. There's been no problems with our Pace Primadonna since. I was so proud of myself that I went on to buy about 25 more vintage slots. :shock:

Now, I see you've got at least one really cockeyed-looking payout wheel there. You might want to have a look at how the vertical fingers are interacting with it, and take some corrective action on that account. Again, not at all sure this is your problem (it's your first payout wheel that's off, whereas mine was the third) but I think it's worth a look.
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Re: Pace Mech Removed - First Problems

Postby Mechanik » Fri Jul 07, 2017 6:44 pm

Thanks, mechanic!

marsonion: Thanks for the post. It was little confusing on the first read, but I got it the second time around.

Your description makes me wonder if the cherry finger(s) make contact with the edges of the payout hole due to the warped disk. When I get a 1-cherry payout, the reel jumps up .25 inch or so. Backwards. I'm going to look closely at the fingers and see if I can see anything. If finger #2 is contacting finger #1, maybe after #2 hits the edge of the hole and bends a little, that could push #1 forward enough to trigger the extra 2-coin payout slide.
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