Expert: Rodger Knutson - 4/1/2010

Question
I ran accross a Bally E-2000 slot machine in of all places a trailer store.  Someone is selling the machine to then donate the money to their church, which I think is pretty cool.  I am interested in the machine, but don't know much about slot machines.  I have a basement game room and a slot machine seems like it would be a great addition, especially if I can do it and help out a local church at the same time.  Anyway, when I went to look at the machine it was not working, it was showing an error of 50.0.000 and flashing back and forth to 50.0.006  and the tilt light was on. The gentelman at the store said the machine was working fine and then someone hit a jackpot larger than the number of coins available in the machine to pay out.  I am going back to meet the owner of the machine Saturday morning and it sounds like it is a "quick fix" if you know what to do.  My question is, should I be nervous about this or is it truly a common issue when the machine runs out of coins.  I am an engineer by profession and fancy myself fairly handy, but I am smart enough to know when I am ignorant to a topic, and when I opened up the cabinet to look inside it was clear that there is a whole lot going on in there and troubleshooting doesn't seem to be a weekenders type job.  So, main question is if I get there on Saturday and the owner seems to be able to quickly "fix" the machine, what is it worth and what is the typical maintenance like on a machine like this?  I was told the price is $400, but that was before we discovered it was potentially not working.  The cabinet is in what I would call good/average condition, the glass is not scratched or having paint fall off, the chrome is a little aged, but nothing some steel wool wouldn't take care of, there is no special theme to the game, just a big 25c graphic on the lower glass and the big upper glass with the payout tables.  Should I bye this machine or should I walk away?  Thanks for your advice.

Answer
Hi Rob,

The good news is that there are manuals available for this game that covers the error codes and tells you what they mean and how to fix the problem. You can find manuals at:

http://jackpot7.freeyellow.com/page21.html

The code 50.0.006 means several things, the 50 tells me that the machines door has been opened since last play, the dots tell me that the machines power has been turned off since last play, the 006 tells me that it has paid out 6 coins so far for the last play which was a win. I think without looking at a manual a code 33 is a hopper empty code but if the door has been opened since the tilt happened, this code my not be available for you to see. Always read the error codes first before opening the door on these machines, as the error code can go away. To reset a hopper empty code, look down on the payout coin hopper, on top of the circuit board on the hopper are two red buttons, one is a reset and the other is a test button. Leave the test switch alone unless you have a manual. Just push down the reset button after putting some coins in the hopper for a second or two, and then right away close and lock the door, and after a few seconds this machine will finish it's payout.

As for value, at $400.00 is most likely a very good deal!!

Sorry for the delay in answering your question, the allexperts site has a problem and is not sending me pending questions notifications, so I don't know when someone is trying to ask me something. I hope this problem gets fixed very soon!

Thank you

Sincerely

Rodger Knutson
http://www.coinslots.com