Hi from new owner of Aristocract Wild Aces

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mjmelb
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Hi from new owner of Aristocract Wild Aces

Post by mjmelb »

Greetings all.

After about a year of looking for a suitable machine, I've just obtained an Aristocrat Olympic Wild Aces.

The mechanism is very clean (protected by a good amount of oil and grease) with no rust. The cabinet is not so great - the stainless steel front will need to be re-plated at some point.

The chassis in mine carries an "Ainsworth Dental Co" stamping, which is an interesting reminder of the background to these fascinating machines. Mine has the little fore-aft lever that stops the red fan (which currently doesn't turn).

Can anyone point me to a blog or manual about tearing down and restoring these 3-wheel mechanisms?

The reels spin on mine, but the brake does not kick in. First problem seems to be that the clock-like mechanism mounted on the floor of the mechanism is all gummed up with old oil/grease. I'm planning to remove this and soak in a kerosene bath, then re-lubricate. However it would be good to get some advice as to whether this is a prudent technique or not. Also would be good to get some advice as to which oils to use, and which parts should be greased.

This is the first bandit that I've attempted to restore, but I have restored Teletype machines, electro-mechanical pinballs, etc. So I'm looking forward to the challenge!

MJ.
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treefrog
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Re: Hi from new owner of Aristocract Wild Aces

Post by treefrog »

Hello and welcome.

There are many similar requests for help on this site with similar issues, but you can search and find the relevant topic associated with the individual issue and am sure you will find lots of relevant info.

Also I found this old blog from someone who did a restore on a Mills Hi Top including mechanism maintenance, although different make provides useful guidance. (Caveat I have not read all parts yet)
http://www.slotrestoration.com/2010/01/ ... beginning/

In terms of your issue, common with every machine I start to work on, old grease, dirt and neglect. Operators used lot of grease on their machines to manage the heavy use and goes hard over time. Common areas needing cleaning and relubricating are:

The clock as mentioned. Can be cleaned with whatever degreaser your prefer, I use white spirits on all parts on my machines. You may get away blasting lots of wd40 onto the clock to free up, but if clogged up, needs to be taken out taken apart cleaned oiled and rebuilt. 3 in 1 oil is fine. You can take clock out on aristocrats without removing reel bundle.

Reel bundle needs to rotate freely.....if each reel not free, may need to be removed reel bundle, clean shaft and lubricate. Worse case each reel will need to be unbolted and shafts cleaned, but you then have to realign correctly.

Kicker, the sprung arm that spins the reels, needs to be free running and lubricated. If stuff, unbolt clean and lube.

Reel stops need to be free, if stiff may need to be removed cleaned and oiled....fairly easy to do

Rear operating bar needs to be free, there are two oiling points on green clamps, but I would take off one at a time clean and lubricate....

There are many other areas to look at, see how you get on and can advise further based on your progress......

No oil on slides
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coppinpr
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Re: Hi from new owner of Aristocract Wild Aces

Post by coppinpr »

As Tom says remove ALL the oil and grease (a lot of the grease will have oxidized and be causing big problems). The lightest amount of sewing machine oil on the moving parts that don't contact coins is all it ever needs. My advice is remove the clock and dismantle it to clean. This will make a huge difference (there is a post on the hint and tips section showing exactly how to do this). Arstos are all but indestructible and my guess is when you clean it it will work fine. Be sure to remove the slides and clean, but not oil. Check the springs are all good, greased up machines often put strain on the springs and stretch them.
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