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Randy Fromm's

Slot Tech Magazine

EditorRandy Fromm

Technical WritersVic Fortenbach, HenryKollar, Chuck Lentine, PatPorath

Slot Tech Magazine is publishedmonthly bySlot Tech Magazine401 W. Lexington #777El Cajon, CA 92022tel.619.838.7111 fax.619.315.0410e-mail [email protected] the website at slot-techs.com

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Copyright 2015 under the UniversalCopyright Convention. All rights re-served.

Slot Tech Magazine Editorial

-EditorialPage 4-Tilt!Page 10-Slot Tech Training in Illinois & OklahomaPage 12-Understanding Opto DevicesPage 17-Invitation to Attend TechFest 32Page 18-Subscription Information

Randy Fromm

Publisher-Slot Tech Magazine

Dear Friends of Slot Tech Magazine,

Tilt!Tilt!Tilt!Tilt!Tilt! There is a plethora of errors that might occur in aslot machine. You could have a printer error. The touchscreen might not be communicating with the game’s CPU.You might have some sort of voltage “issue” or even amemory problem (the machine, not your own self). In gen-eral, conditions such as these are referred to as “tilts.”Some are “soft tilts” that allow the game to continue oper-ating. Others are “hard tilts” that stop the machine dead inits tracks.

Fortunately for us, the machine can and often will diag-nose these conditions and give us a heads-up on the na-ture of the problem. This month, veteran slot tech VicFortenbach gives us the rundown on some IGT tilts andwhat they mean. Vic’s contribution begins on page four.

By the way, the term “tilt” (for those ofyou who may be unaware) comes fromthe invention by Harry Williams (thefounder of Williams pinball. You know itas WMS now) of the “plumb bob” mecha-nism in 1932. The idea was to stoppeople from moving the machine in orderto influence the movement of the steelball on the playfield. The TILT mecha-nism solved this problem. The plumb bobtilt has a metal rod with a cone-shaped,lead weight on it. Surrounding theweight is a metal bracket with a hole init. The unit acts as a simple switch contact. If the tilt bobmakes contact with the collar, the machine shuts down.As the story goes, it was a pinball player whocoined the phrase, exclaiming that the machinehad gone dark because he had “tilted” it and thename stuck, now to mean “error condition” whenapplied to a modern slot machine that could, argu-ably, operate on its side.

December 2015Slot Tech Magazine

Slot Tech Feature Article

IGT Error Messages Demystified

By Vic Fortenbach

You’re on the casinofloor having justfinished a repair

when you spot a candlelight flashing on top of amachine nearby. Immedi-ately, you start to think“does that flashing lightindicate a simple problem,like the printer paper beingout or could it be some-thing more serious?”

As you get closer to themachine, you can see inthe center of the videoscreen is a box graphic withtext. Reading the text youknow this problem is notjust a simple paper outmessage; it’s more in-depth. It’s the dreaded“board monitor tilt error”message. As slot machinesget more and more ad-vanced, so do the errormessages. The board moni-tor tilt is just one of theseadvanced error messages or“tilts” as they are some-times called. This type oftilt is called a hard tilt,since the game is it’s notplayable. Hard tilts indicatesomething is wrong andneeds to be corrected orthings could get worse.

Temporarily relief from aboard monitor tilt is avail-able; the remedy is listed inthe error message text boxon the screen. Just openand close the main door.However, opening andclosing the main door willsimply clear the screen andallow game play. It’s only atemporary fix (since theerror is still there) it’s justnot on the screen.

The board monitor tilt is allabout the internal systemmonitoring of the slot ma-chine and has nothing todo with the LCD monitoritself. This board monitortilt message will display onall IGT AVP slot machines

with a brain box. The tilt isbetter explained with addi-tional text on the screenonce you open the maindoor or key the machineover. On an IGT G23 cabi-net there are six voltages,three temperatures, onefan that has the RPM moni-tored and three batteriesthat also have monitoredpreset settings. If any oneof these preset settingsgoes too high or too low, itwill trigger a board monitortilt.

The six voltages that aremonitored have names:NBVCC is the voltage forthe Northbridge chip on themotherboard. This chip’s

Slot Tech MagazineDecember 2015


function includes the com-munication between theRAM, video and the CPUchip on the machinemotherboard inside thebrain box. This NBVCC outof range voltage is not acommon tilt. Repairs tocorrect this tilt includereplacement of the RAM onthe motherboard or themother board itself. TheVCORE1 voltage is anotherof the monitored voltages.This voltage is used for theCPU chip. If this voltage isout of range (mainly toohigh over a long period oftime) the CPU chip will self-destruct.

The standard +5, +12 and+3.3 voltages are also moni-tored and used on themother board. These volt-ages are created on theswitching power supplyboard located on top or sideof the brain box. The size ofthis board is about fiveinches square and is easyto spot with you open themain door. There are threesurface mounted capacitorslocated on this board thattend to dry out over timerequiring replacement.Since these capacitors dryout, the voltage output fromthis board cannot be regu-lated properly thus causingreboots and/or board moni-tor tilts. Another remedy tocorrecting voltage boardmonitor tilts is simplyreseating the 24 pin whiteconnector originating fromthe power supply board andconnecting on the outsideof the brain box. Youshould also reseat the

opposite end of this con-nector and harness that islocated inside the brain boxon the mother board. IGT issued a customernotification number regard-ing this connector harness.Its number is CN4790B.You can look up this CN onthe IGT website,www.igt.com. You may needto set up an account foraccess to this and other IGTinformation. This CN dealtwith a voltage fluctuationissue that occurred on thismulti-pin harness on IGTmachines with a brain box.This CN was issued in 2011so it may not be applicableto newer machines.

The VBAT is the battery ofthe CMOS chip that storesthe setup information usedby the machine to boot upthe game. This CMOS chipconfiguration is used on allpersonal computers as wellas IGT slot machinemotherboards. The CMOSchip holds the setup infor-

mation used to boot up themotherboard. Some ofthese settings include thehard drive and memory sizeof the machine. This CMOSchip requires a battery tokeep its memory when themachine is turned off. A lowor dead CMOS battery willcause the chip to lose itsmemory and the slot ma-chine to not boot up. TheCMOS battery is a small,flat, coin-sized battery in abattery holder on themother board, part numberCR2032. This is a commonbattery, with a nominalvoltage of about 3.10 volts.If this battery voltage goestoo low (about 2.99 volts)the machine would triggera board monitor tilt. Thistilt is rare and only seenwhen the machine hasbeen powered down for anextended time. Normally,slot machines are poweredup 24 hours a day so thisbattery is never really used(but it still needs to beinstalled) and should last


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more than five years. Onceyou replace this battery,you do not need to resetany of the motherboardoptions or complete a RAMclear since are all of theneeded information is pre-set or defaulted and self-loading.

Three temperatures arealso monitored on themother board: CPU, GPUand the Northbridge chips.When the CPU temperatureexceeds its average presetlevel it usually means dirthas accumulated on thesmall fan as well as theheat sink. Cleaning theheat sink of dirt and replac-ing the fan will allow coolair to circulate to bring theCPU chip back to the nor-mal temperature range. It’sa good idea to replace theheat sink paste that isbetween the CPU chip andthe heat sink. This pastetends to dry out limitingthe heat transfer to prop-erly cool the CPU chip. TheGPU and Northbridge chipsdo not have fans to coolthem, but they do haveheat sinks attached tothem. Cleaning and replac-ing the heat sink pasteshould bring down a boardmonitor tilt cause by heaton these two chips.

There are three additionalbatteries that are moni-tored and located withinthe slot machine cabinet:The Telltale, NVRAM1 andNVRAM2 batteries do nothave monitored voltages butrather a normal or too lowof an output range. The

telltale battery is actuallythree rechargeable batter-ies in a shrink wrap pack-aging. These batteries areeasily replaced by justcutting the tie wrap thatholds them to thebackplane. A small connec-tor connects the batterypack to the backplaneboard.

The NVRAM1 and NVRAM2batteries are located on theinterface board that isplugged into themotherboard. The interfaceboard connects to the rib-bon cable that comes fromthe backplane board. TheNVRAM1 battery is farthestfrom the ribbon cable andthe NVRAM2 battery is theclosest. When you replaceone or both of these batter-ies, you will have to do amachine RAM clear.

The last remaining moni-tored tilt that is on the IGTAVP machines is the CPUfan speed. This fan is lo-

cated on the heat sinkattached to the CPU chipinside the brain box. Thisfan is a 5 volt fan with athird wire which is con-nected to a tachometercontained within the fanassembly. This tachometerreports back to the motherboard how fast the fan isturning. If this fan starts toturn too slow (usuallycaused by dirt in the fanbearings) the CPU will gettoo hot, which is not a goodthing. Once the fan fails toturn fast enough, a boardmonitor tilt is generated.Cleaning the fan bearingsmight buy you some time,but since you have thebrain box open, you mightas well as replace it.

Another type of tilt or errormessage that tends to popup on the IGT AVP ma-chines is an error or tiltwhich I referred to as thered screen of death or non-recoverable tilt.


This tilt is caused by quickfluctuations by any of thepower voltages, batteries orfans previously mentioned.These quick fluctuationswill fill up the slot ma-chines safe storage memoryarea. The safe storagememory size is only 8K,once the safe storage is full,the system will generatethe red screen. Keying overthe machine will clear thesafe storage, but you willhave to re-option the ma-chine since the “no gameenabled” message will bedisplayed. If the voltage orfan continues to fluctuate,the red screen will appearagain, causing more head-aches. To actually look atwhat the system is report-ing for the voltage, tem-peratures, batteries and fanspeed settings, enter theself-test screen of the ma-chine, touch support andthen diagnostic and finallythe system monitor icon.These four screens list all ofthe voltages, fan speed,temps and batteries listedin this article. The averagesand the triggers for theboard monitor tilt do varybetween IGT AVP cabinetsso a preset voltage on a G23cabinet may not be thesame for a Trimline cabinetwith a 2.5 brain box.

Thanks to Shawn E fromthe IGT forums for detailingsome of the board monitortilt text used in this article.

- Vic Fortenbach - Vic Fortenbach - Vic Fortenbach - Vic Fortenbach - Vic Fortenbachvfortenbach@slot-vfortenbach@slot-vfortenbach@slot-vfortenbach@slot-vfortenbach@slot-

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Slot Tech Events-Slot Tech Training in Illinois & Oklahoma

We have a lot of “hands-on” training during the four-dayclass. One of our hands-on labs is a semiconductortesting lab.

One of our labs is a construction lab. Here is “Oat”building his “Decision Maker” project. In the foregroundyou see the “Two-Tone Siren” which he had alreadycompleted.

Chicago is one of my most favorite cities in theworld. As many Slot Tech Magazine readers are

aware, before I joined the casino industry, I was a“pinball mechanic” and the global hub of pinballmanufacturers was Chicago, Illinois. Bally madepinball machines. WMS (then known as “Williams,”the company formed by Harry Williams, inventor ofthe plumb-bob “tilt” mechanism found in pinballmachines) made pinball machines. There wereothers as well, all located in Chicago where we heldour yearly trade show at the venerable ConradHilton Hotel.

Flash forward to 2015 when I was pleased to returnto Chicago for training at the Rivers Casino (lo-cated near O’Hare airport) for a week of technicaltraining for their slot techs. This was my “stan-dard” tech class where we cover component-levelrepair of power supplies and LCD monitors. Acouple of weeks later, I made my way out to Okla-homa for another week of training at the IndigoSky casino in Wyandotte, Oklahoma, located righton the border with Missouri. Both casinos weresuper nice with around 1200 machines in each.


Slot Tech Feature Article


You are invitedto attend

Caribbean RegionalSlot Tech TrainingJanuary 12-15, 2016

See the website at slot-techs.com for acomplete schedule and an enrollment form.

LCD Monitor RepairPower Supply RepairNO PREVIOUS KNOWLEDGE REQUIRED


Thank you foryour support of

Slot Tech Magazinethis past year.


Invitation to Attend TechFest 32TechFest returns to Mystic Lake Casino Hotel

May 24-26, 2016

Tuesday, May 24, 2016

9:00 am - 12:00pmElectronic Components andComponent TestingPresented by Randy Fromm

Electronics repair is actually prettyeasy, once you know how to test thecomponents. It often doesn't matter ifyou know anything at all about howsomething actually works in order tofix it. You just look for bad parts andreplace them. This seminar covers allof the discrete components commonlyfound in electronic gaming machines.We'll look at how they work, how theyfail, and how to test them as accu-rately, inexpensively and safely aspossible. Each attendee receives adigital multimeter and sample compo-nents, theirs to keep following Tech-Fest.

1:15pm - 3:15pmJCM Bill Validators

JCM is a huge player in the gamingindustry. This session covers UBAtroubleshooting and configuration aswell as iVIZION. This presentation willbe given by JCM's Dan Petersen.

3:30pm - 5:30pmFutureLogic Troubleshooting

FutureLogic printers have been amainstay of the industry since TITOwas born. They are easy to configureand to troubleshoot. This seminar willbe presented by Dan Petersen.

Wednesday, May 25, 2016

9:00 am - 12:00pmLCD Monitor RepairPresented by Randy Fromm

LCD monitor repair is easy. This isthe first of two presentations on LCDmonitor repair at TechFest. Duringthis seminar, we will cover the theoryof operation of LCD monitors andyou'll see just how simple they reallyare. We will also cover circuitanalysis of the electronics with anemphasis on what fails and how itcan be repaired in any casino's techshop.

1:15pm - 3:15pmTouchscreensPresented by 3M Touch Systems

Touchscreens rule the casino world.This presentation will introduce youto touch technologies and how theywork. Troubleshooting and repairtechniques will be presented.Everyone will receive diagnosticprograms as well.

3:30pm - 8:00pmComponent Removal and ReplacementPresented by HAKKO

Soldering skills are the mostimportant skills a technician canposess. It doesn't do any good to beable to diagnose a failed componentif you can't remove it and replace itproperly and it's no good trying towork on modern, surface-mountcomponents without the properequipment. This exciting newseminar will present the latest insoldering techniques and reworkequipment. A special "Hands-OnAfter Hours" session will allowextended time for everyone to try outthe gear themselves.

Thursday, May 26, 2016

9:00 am - 12:00pmCeronix LCD Monitor RepairPresented by Ceronix

Although it can be argued that all LCDmonitors are more-or-less the same, it'snice to get the inside track on specificmonitors from the manufacturers them-selves.

This is a "hands-on" session whereeveryone will have the opportunity to tear-down and rebuild an LCD panel as well astroubleshooting actual failures on LCDmonitors in a "power-on" lab where youwill actually make repairs. This is themost fun thing we do at TechFest.

1:15pm - 3:15pmTransact Technologies Ticket Printers

Transact Technologies presents servicingand troubleshooting Transact brand,thermal ticket printers. These units aresimple to understand and troubleshoot,once you know how they're put together.We have covered these printers exten-sively in Slot Tech Magazine. This is yourchance to ask questions of the expert.

tel.619.838.7111 [email protected]

Schedule of EventsEvents subject to change

For complete details & enrollment form, visit the website at slot-techs.com

Plan now to attend.

Visit the website at slot-techs.com for “Early Bird”discount of $100/person.

Attention Slot Techs and Slot Managers!

Subscriptions & Back IssuesWhy back issues of Slot Tech Magazine areWhy back issues of Slot Tech Magazine areWhy back issues of Slot Tech Magazine areWhy back issues of Slot Tech Magazine areWhy back issues of Slot Tech Magazine areimportant to own . . .important to own . . .important to own . . .important to own . . .important to own . . .

Slot Tech Magazine is strictly technical. As such, the magazine's contents are not timecritical. The repair information and technical data contained in past issues is just as valid

today as it was the day it was published.

Additionally, current and future articles more-or-less assume that readers are already familiarwith what has been covered in past issues. This editorial policy assures that Slot TechMagazine's contributing writers are not limited to "writing down" to the level of a novicetechnician but are free to continue to produce the most comprehensive technical articles inthe gaming industry.

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“OK. You asked and I listened. My new tech class eliminates obsolete CRTmonitor repair and the associated monitor repair lab. In just four or five days,your slot techs can learn to repair Power Supplies, LCD Monitors, TicketPrinters, Bill Validators and more. It’s easy and it’s fun.“- Randy Fromm

“I can help you bring down thecost of casino electronics repairs”

tel.619.838.7111 fax.619.315.0410

Randy Fromm

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