Anyone in Leeds....I need help!!

[ls14garlo]

Hi everyone...This could get long, so bear with me! I've already posted in the introduce yourself and massive thanks to coppinpr and badpenny for all your advice but it's been to no avail!

As you both know just over a week ago I bought a neglected but fully working Sega Bonanza Star(1959, type "c" I think??). I've spent a long time now stripping it and cleaning it, I haven't made any adjustments, managed to resist my curiosity, just removed parts, cleaned and replaced and learnt an awful lot whilst doing so! I've kept it totally original but it won't play by inserting coins (on 5p play, post shilling but pre new (small, modern 5p's). It plays fine if I manually draw back the lever to start the cycle and pays out correctly on any winning combinations I've had so far, sounds great and a joy to watch as it goes through its cycle. I know the problem HAS to be the escalator and I've never seen how one should work before but it looks like it's working OK unless it's in tandem with the bandit's arm.... It's a Shefras roll down escalator, the coin pin is barely touching the coin (how it should be?) and the lever end seems to be right as well after having studied various photos I think it's set up OK. One thing I've noticed is the original screw to adjust the coin pin has been snapped at some point and a new hole tapped with a new screw fitted, probably a long time ago, it's still very old. Also, there is no grub screw to rotate the rod, just a locator pin which means the rod cannot be rotated. I've noticed in another thread there should be a grub screw to be able to rotate it. When I got the machine it worked fine with coins but the chap I got it off removed the reel mechanism to make it easier to get it in the car and it hasn't worked since!!

If there's anyone in the Leeds area that wouldn't mind popping round to my house who knows their stuff to have a look and enlighten me and give it a look over, I'm interested to know if I got it at a good price, it would be much appreciated by me (and my wife, she wants the dining table back!!) please p.m. me ..... Thanks for your time everyone and hopefully someone might be able to help? I'll upload some photos to give you all a look, see what you think of my first one arm bandit!! I've just remembered as well, there's a few things I'd like to get if anyone knows where's best to go, a price badge, 5p (I made my own and mounted a 5p piece!), new "Strike a Bonanza" glass for the top box and a new glass for the jackpot tray (or transfer) for the glass and advice on which barrel locks would fit as they had to be drilled out (they were original as well, gutted!) and probably a few other things when I remember,
Cheers, Andi......

[badpenny]

I'm an hour and a half away in Lincoln if you want to pop it over.

BP

[coppinpr]

As to the light box, there were two for sale at Elephant House yesterday also they are repairable. I've done one just like this one and it worked well. The JP glass can be remade quite easily as well. There is a recent thread showing one just like yours and how to make a perfect new one.

First looks like a nice good clean machine, unusual to be running on new 5p! As to value, as we always say on here, it's worth what the buyer wants to pay. I've just bought one much like it for £150 but it needed work, which is why I wanted it. Yours could be worth £300 because it doesn't need work, which is why I wouldn't want it. There is no actual value, only what it's worth to you!

Back to the escalator.
First lets be clear on one thing. When you say it works OK if you pull the bar back, are you talking about the bar that presses on the left hang down part of the escalator?
If so, it has to be the position of the bar on the escalator that's the problem.
Put a coin in the machine, allow it to sit in front of the coin detector, hold it in that position with your right hand and see if the hanging bar on the left side is tight or moves backwards and forwards. If it moves, it's a problem.

If it's tight, repeat the process and look to see if the drop down part of the escalator is touching the bar on the mech. If it's not, then it might need to be adjusted till it does.

This is not going to be a big problem in the end.

[raj]

There are some graphics for this machine on page 2 of the Resources section of the Forum that can be downloaded and printed which may resolve your issue. I would consider using perspex instead of glass as it is much easier to work with and is not going to get hammered by arcade yobs, unless you have thuggish grandkids, that is.

[aristomatic]

Those repro Strike a Bonanza perspexes are sold at most Elephant auctions. They do a job particularly if you have no lighting in the machine. The colours can look a little lighter with the lights on the top box on but I would certainly recommend buying one till you can source an original in better condition than your current one as they don't cost a lot and saves the hassle of printing out on paper etc. It may take sometime to source a better original, but one will surface if you keep your eyes and ears out for one.

That's a nice machine and I would think another option may be to just source an original move-along escalator so you can see the coins move across in the escalator window. It may solve you having to ship the machine out to get it sorted when you may decide later to swap the Shefras anyway for a move-along anyway.

I'm sure I have one of the Strike a Bonanza plastics and probably a jackpot glass too, but listen to all the advice you get before making a decision. It was a good buy even at £260 and I would still recommend investing monies in sourcing better original top box glass at some point as well as the move-along escalator and an original lock and key as a good investment and if keeping then a very smart looking machine.

I like the 5p badge you made. You can source the chromed 5p badge off the Buckingham Windsor style series type machines. A member here may well chip in with one for sale, or Sega did do a 5/10/20 badge for some countries, very rare in the UK to source but the 5p badge would be ideal or keep your own, neat idea!

Of course you should always take any offer up for a visit to Lincoln to see BP.


gp

[ls14garlo]

Thanks Raj.... I'd looked in Resources already and couldn't find anything really relevant. Guess I must've missed that, I've seen it now thanks!... As for grandkids, we've only just got to having a 9 year old lol, suppose I'm quite young to have an interest in this sort of stuff - but it's something I always wanted!

BP, thanks for the offer but I don't fancy moving it again now it's home. We quite often go to Skeggy so I could've left it with you!

Coppinpr, I've been following Elephant House for a while and been in touch with Steve. I paid £260 for it, so I was quite pleased. They seem to be going for quite a bit more than that at the moment. I just wish there were more resources a bit closer to Leeds, I'm definitely hooked now.

There's no movement on the hanging bar, but it doesn't contact the lever that pushes back when the cycle from pulling the bandits arm starts at all, like I said on the other thread and you say as well, it's probably not really a big problem but I'm not sure how it should look if it's operating normally, photos and really clear and once the reel mech is back in it's hard to see what you're looking at. There's a little play on the bandit's arm. Is that normal? How it's working now is: put coin in, it stops just where the detector pin is; try to pull the handle, the arm that pulls the lever (with a hook on) will only travel so far because the hanging arm on the escalator hits its stop, preventing any more pull, not being able to fully depress the arm that triggers the reels? Does that make sense?.... It's difficult to explain without seeing it. I'll try to put a couple of pictures on, we may have a lightbulb moment!!

Picture one is how it is with the handle at rest and picture two of it with handle pulled, as far as it travels before it won't pull any further (unless I've pulled the lever nearest to the reels first all the way back to its own stop). I might've not put it back correctly but after plenty of studying of other people's photos, it looks right to me. It's the spring loaded lever at the top of the escalator that seems to stop the coin rolling down. What does that do?

Thanks again everyone... I bet you're all sick of me now ha ha!!

[treefrog]

Are you sure this is a 5p new type machine. Although I do have one on this coinage, the payout awards have been changed to cover the difference in coin thickness. I have played on old machines for a long time using the new 5p, but on higher payouts there is a difference.

You may find it does not jam on 6d if that is the true coinage.

[ls14garlo]

Yes treefrog they're the coins that were in it and that were being used. I can understand any confusion but I reckon it must've been converted (or just started to be used) in the 1970s to the 5p because they seem a little small for the coin tube and payout slides. It has jammed up once in the slides but I put that down to my naivety stripping it down. It pays out fine. I've got about 100 coins in the tube and 30 to play with (when I get it working!!)...

[coppinpr]

Firstly don't worry about asking questions, that is what we all do here, it's how we learn.

saga1.JPG (47.82 KiB) Viewed 2627 times

in your photo (above) the bar (1) should not be moving forward as it looks to be doing. When it does, it thinks there is no coin in the slot, so the handle won't pull. The bar (2) should hold it back if there is a coin.
I'm perhaps thinking that when you first put the mech back into the case when you got home you hit (2) and spun it slightly on its rod at point (3) where the adjustment screws are. BP, what do you think?

[coppinpr]

I agree with TF, I think this is a 6d machine that someone with no 6d coins has simply started using 5p's on. Why not put a 6d coin in and see what happens? Should be on 6d in my view, that's what it was meant to run on. It's a great coin and gives the machine a real authentic feel.

[aristomatic]

You said it pays out fine and mech works fine out of the cabinet? And it also worked fine and paid out fine when you went to collect it? Did the mech at collection and now out of the cabinet pay out correctly? E.g. 2 and 5 and 10, or did/does it pay less on the 5 and 10 wins - using the big old 5 new pence coins, that is?

Gp

[coppinpr]

I misread this, I thought it was on the new 5p

[treefrog]

Having re-read the first post, what confused me was the statement post shilling, but pre small 5p..... so old big 5p it uses, which is the same size as the "post shilling."

I have a few lite-ups on the old shilling with the correct escalator and denominator, so they do exist. So not a coin issue....

[badpenny]

As we discussed a while back coppinpr people tend to focus on end 3 as that is where the obvious adjustment screw is, however end 2 needs to be secure as well and is easily overlooked.
Don't forget you've got a steel screw bearing down on a mild steel bar against a monkey metal casting with a thread in it.
If you over-tighten which part do you think will give way? ..... yup, the monkey metal casting.

Another thing I don't understand is this chatter about 5np.
I'd have bet money it was originally on a tanner, so are we talking about the old 5np which was a shilling or the new tiny 5np which is more like 6d?
TF and Coppinpr have already mentioned this, but the clue is OP says converted back in the 70s but the coins are a bit smaller than the tube !?

70s 5np/latest 5np/tanner

And as mentioned, not only are they smaller but also fatter than a tanner.

Latest 5np/tanner

In my view it should be operating on 6d and no adjustment has been made for a smaller fatter coin.

[badpenny]

I've just blown op's photos up, and it does look as if the badge is made from an old 5np/shilling so?
I'm probably talking waffle.

[aristomatic]

I think maybe the thread has run on too quickly without a response back from the OP which may well have led to more clarity and a more constructive resolution to his issues but that's a forum sometimes, suppose better to have more than none....... Well most of the time anyway.

Anyway back to the Iceland football forums where there are loads of threads!!

[badpenny]

........ is Iceland in the same league as Tesco?

[coppinpr]

.... is Iceland in the same league as Tesco?

yes they are,Tesco were relegated two years ago

[ls14garlo]

Ha ha....I didn't realise my mentioning of the coins it uses would stir up such a debate. I'm only assuming someone would've started using the 5p that it's using in the '70s because they would've been introduced then, after decimalisation? Probably won't be a worry soon now we're leaving the EU, we'll all be back to old money anyway in a couple of years eh!! It is the 5p with the thistle on but it was always in the back of my mind that a coin other than that would've been used originally just because of the size discrepancy but I didn't know what coin. In hindsight, when I've looked at photos of machines, a lot of them do have a 6d badge on.... Am I right in thinking it's a 1959 Sega type "c" machine? I got that from the Sega Retro website(historical machines).

Back on topic.... I haven't yet had time to have another play with the escalator, but I must admit it does seem to be cheaply made and the pin adjustment screw has seen better days. It looks like it's all been adjusted within an inch of its life over the decades. I think the machine must've been used as an arcade or pub machine initially because I noticed when cleaning the reels up one of them has had two symbols covered by two cut from another strip, changing the odds in favour of the owner?

I knew what I was prepared to pay for the machine and I'm pretty happy with that but could anyone give me an idea of what I should be looking at for replacement parts. I would like to try and keep everything as original as possible so my shopping list would have to include: 1 - an escalator (true to what would be in it from new). Would it have been visible, they look great? What type would fit and how much should I be looking at? 2 - a metal price badge 6d, or whatever I need? 3- marquee glass for the top-box (or perspex replacement)? 4 -jackpot hopper glass (or perspex). 5 - which barrel locks will fit? They had to be drilled out. I still have the originals and the fitting plates. How much should I be looking at paying and will modern ones fit rather than the expense of getting originals?

I'm trying to get an electrician from work who used to work on electro-mechanical pinball machines years ago to sort out the illuminations. Once that's sorted it will really set it off! I'm pleased everyone seems to think that I've made a decent purchase and really appreciate everyone's advice, keep it coming guys!!....
Andi.

[aristomatic]

You said it pays out fine and mech works fine out of the cabinet? And it also worked fine and paid out fine when you went to collect it? Did the mech at collection and now out of the cabinet pay out correctly? E.g. 2 and 5 and 10 coins etc or did/does it pay less on the 5 and 10 wins - using the big old 5 new pence coins, that is?

If you can give a simple yes /no/don't know to this [& later questions], it would help posters understand or confirm or rule out issues and get to a resolution hopefully more quickly, more so as you are reluctant towards the option of taking machine elsewhere for assistance.

It's a nice solid machine and will, with a little help and a few parts, look and play great.

GP