How important is the transformer?

[PachiPachi]

I understand its purpose, I'm curious though, how important is it to have a strong one vs a bare minimum amp one? The reason I ask is because I have a pachislo with a smaller transformer in it, and it really hesitates sometimes to spin the reels. The lights dim as well for a second when they spin. I'm wondering if it could be the transformer, or if there is no difference. Anyone have any input on this?

[luckydog]

sometimes they will do that to let you know thats its close to a big bonus

[Chumsize]

Pretty important, I'd say... I don't think Shia LeBeouf could save the world without them. Even with Megan Fox as a motivator.

[heima]

I just spent an hour writing a very boring two-page discussion for what is happening. But at the end I fell asleep and then woke up, forgetting what I was writing about. So here is the short version.

The electrical requirements of your pachislo is not a constant. The electric "load" varies as things happen with the pachislo. The video display is one load, the motors to spin the reels is another load, the lights are another and so on. In an idle state, the load is low and a small transformer can provide just enough juice to make everything happy.

When the reels spin (particularly when they start to spin) lights flash, and other things happen, the load increases. When that happens, the transformer cannot provide enough juice and so lights dim, reels are slow to spin up, etc.

Installing a larger transformer (larger in that there are more VAs) should resolve your problem. The VAs listed on your pachislo are probably the maximum required. If you have a transformer with the same VA or a higher number, you are good to go. If you have a transformer with a lower number, then you might have problems, depending upon how low your VAs are and how often reels spin and lights flash.