Help needed restoring a slot machine topper

[joeyanyc]

Hey gang, I picked up a few toppers that I want to restore. Unfortunately, I don't have the slot machines that they go to, however they are hard to get so I grabbed them when I saw them.

Anyway, I would like to know how to light them up to see what bulbs needs to be replaced. I don't know a thing about these, so I will post a few photos and see what you can come up with. If you need any more specifics, ask and I will see what I can read from the boards on this.

Keep in mind, I'm a total newbie...so thanks in advance. Here's my first topper to restore.

 

[(*steve*)]

What's a "topper"?

 

[joeyanyc]

They are the top parts of the slot machines. They are normally powered by connecting to the slot machine. I want to be able to power mine without the slot machine.

 

[(*steve*)]

Doh! I was thinking pinball for some reason.

 

[JimW]

Never done slot machines. But more than one pinball machine and a few antique ones. Can't be too difficult. First thing is to become a expert searcher on Google, amazing what you can find in the way of schematics and info.

But if you want to brute force it, here goes:
- Remove one of the lamp holders and see what is inside. Light bulb or an LED? If it is a light bulb, figure out the voltage by using a variable power supply or a few 1.5 volt D cells in series. Most likely 6.3V.
- Trace the connections from the open lamp socket back to your connector. You should find two connections (one for the hot and one for ground).
- Put the lamp back in and apply power to the two wires you identified. See how many lamps light up.
- Pick one that didn't light up and repeat the previous 2 steps. Probably will have the same common wire and a different hot wire. A lot of back panels have groups of light bulbs that operate as a set. Identify all the sets and you are good.

Note that if you have an LED back panel you will need to worry about a few more things, but based on your picture I am betting on light bulbs. Hopefully all of the control circuitry is elsewhere and your panel is just bulbs. If so, this should work.

JimW

 

[JimW]

Sorry, a bit more info.

Use a voltmeter to trace the lamp connections back to your socket. Use the Ohms scale and look for dead shorts.

The problem is a with a lot of lamps in parallel, the filament resistance starts looking like a dead short. You might need to experiment a bit.

Jim