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I picked up a Columbia slot (one of two) which was locked up really hard upon receipt. I've managed to get it pretty much paying and playing with two issues still remaining. On larger pays, the machine will lock up. The handle will pull part way and then jam. The vertical lever seen from the back is not all the way to the right as it should be. The payout sensing arms are locked forward, fully inserted into the reels and can not be pulled back. I can usually get it to free up and start playing again but it will occasionally still jam after a payout. Any thoughts?

The second problem (related?) is that the machine will only pay 10 on a jackpot, not 20 like its supposed to. The other payouts seem correct. eg plums will pay 14, cherries pay 3/5, oranges 10 etc. I thought if plums were on everything else would be correct. Not true?

sbmania wrote:I picked up a Columbia slot (one of two) which was locked up really hard upon receipt. I've managed to get it pretty much paying and playing with two issues still remaining. On larger pays, the machine will lock up. The handle will pull part way and then jam. The vertical lever seen from the back is not all the way to the right as it should be. The payout sensing arms are locked forward, fully inserted into the reels and can not be pulled back. I can usually get it to free up and start playing again but it will occasionally still jam after a payout. Any thoughts?

The second problem (related?) is that the machine will only pay 10 on a jackpot, not 20 like its supposed to. The other payouts seem correct. eg plums will pay 14, cherries pay 3/5, oranges 10 etc. I thought if plums were on everything else would be correct. Not true?

It's a longshot, but one time I had a problem similar to the one you describe: lower payouts came out fine, higher payouts were shorted or unreliable. The cause surprised me: I found that the bar or rail along which the payout-finger-contraption rides had gotten "sticky" with old lubricants, mostly at the left end of it, where the contraption travels to the higher payouts and jackpot. All I had to do was clean that rail-bar up, polish it a little, refresh it with a little sewing machine oil, and then the higher payouts were restored. Now, while I don't see any evidence of congealed or lumpy old lubricants on your payout finger rail, I do see what appears to be significant corrosion there. So, I suggest cleaning and polishing and re-lubing that rail, whether that corrosion is the direct cause of your trouble or not...

Sounds reasonable. I cleaned the right side of the rail (mostly) since it was easier to get to and sprayed the whole thing down with WD40. But I will make a concerted effort to hit the left side as well. I wonder if that might cause the jam I'm getting after the higher pays?

Well, I never use WD40 for that, it will soon cause problems. Like Marsonian said, clean it, polish it on a wheel, and use light sewing machine oil, or a zoom spout to reach the tight spots

Might have found the problem. The vertical lever (as seen from the back in the pic) was not going all the way to the rest position (far right from behind) at the end of a play with a larger pay. It appeared that it was binding on one side of the frame where it should end up protruding through. Bent it a bit so that it was more centered and all pay outs are now correct and the machine no longer locks up. I am cautiously optimistic that was the problem. More play will tell the tale!