Newbie tech questions - am I screwed?

[thebrokenjoystick]

Hi all!

I just became a Pachislo owner on Saturday. I picked up two at an arcade auction. The good news: I got a really nice 100% working and awesome Beast Sapp for a great price. I love it so far.
It looks great in my gameroom: http://thebrokenjoystick.com/pictures/gameroom

The bad news - before I got the Beast, I got another Pachislo called Aladdin II that I *thought* was working (lesson learned). I got it home and open it up and it is missing the hopper and when I plug it in it makes noises and lights flash but it won't play - I assume because there is no hopper. What are the chances of me finding/buying a hopper for this thing? Is there someone or some website I can contact to try and get the hoopper? Should I even try to find one or should I just junk it/part it out and chalk it up as a loss?

I did see a post from last year where someone was fixing 5 Aladdin II machines - I PM him but haven't received an answer yet (and probably won't because it was so long ago that he posted).

Any ideas? Help!

Brian

[luckydog]

most of the vendors have parts machines and may be able to help you out.

Milt at Stealth and gaku at Bigbear come to mind right now

[Chrisdice]

If Milt or Gaku can't help try Ted at pachisloshop.com. He keeps extra parts on hand also.

[thebrokenjoystick]

Emails just sent to all three places. Thanks, all!

Nobody addressed the bigger question though - is it worth it to try and fix? I guess I should wait and see if anyone has a hopper and how much it will cost. I only paid $76 for the Aladdin and $158 (those are total cost - out the door) for them so I can't see putting much more into the Aladdin II.

Brian

[RKnarr01]

I would guess a hopper will cost around $30-35 or so. It all depends how much you really want to spend on fixing it up.

[dishpan]

Thanks thebrokenjoystick for the pictures on your web site. I enjoyed browsing them.

When I think of your handle I think of my first Atari 2600. The joysticks just kept on breaking due to the hard use that they were getting. Ah, the golden years ... when life and the games were so simple.

[Tony Junior]

Welcome Joystick! Yes, IMHO the Aladdin is worth fixing. It sounds like all you need is the hopper.

I've seen several hoppers advertised on eBay, but Milt and the guys should be able to help you.

[vespacar]

I'd say it's worth fixing, either that or you now have a new Aladdin pachi stand!!

Cheers,
James

[thebrokenjoystick]

Thanks thebrokenjoystick for the pictures on your web site. I enjoyed browsing them.

Cool - glad you liked them!

When I think of your handle I think of my first Atari 2600. The joysticks just kept on breaking due to the hard use that they were getting. Ah, the golden years ... when life and the games were so simple.

Yeah - that's similar to why I named the site TBJ - the first coin-op arcade game I ever got was a 4-player NBA Jam - http://thebrokenjoystick.com/pictures/nbajam
and when I got it home the joystick on player 1 wouldn't move left. It was "broken"! I didn't know what to do and searched the net for info and found that the switch was bad. Replaced it and it worked fine (and still does). It's funny now to think that back then I didn't know how to fix a joystick - I have fixed MUCH more than that since then

Brian

I would guess a hopper will cost around $30-35 or so. It all depends how much you really want to spend on fixing it up.

If I knew for sure that would fix it I'd probably do it. Rigth now two of the guyts asked for pics so they could figure out which hopper I need so I'll take pics today and send them to them (and post links here too so you guys can see).

Brian

[Angry_Radish]

It should be possible to jumper the wiring harness to fool it into thinking there is a hopper there, at least that way you can test out the rest of the machine, just a thought...

[thebrokenjoystick]

It should be possible to jumper the wiring harness to fool it into thinking there is a hopper there, at least that way you can test out the rest of the machine, just a thought...

I was wondering that myself - anyone happen to know what wires to jumper to do that?

[alstonj1]

I was wondering that myself - anyone happen to know what wires to jumper to do that?

wouldn't do it unless you know what your doing that harness has control voltages that run the hopper motor and the wiring for the coin sensor on the hopper (digital signal ) if you cross the wrong two puff the magic blue smoke escapes and nothing works after the magic smoke is gone . really i'd find some one near you that has a similar machine (maker)not necessarily the same machine .... and try their hopper . but most likely its your problem .....especially if some one hit a pot in the recent past and it couldn't pay out .The machine is always worth fixing unless its a pile of kindling just costs a few bucks to get parts is all . Ive resurrected quite a few of these machines recently (bought a few dozen defective machines and repaired them and sold all but 2 i used for parts). there not hard to repair if you get a few under your belt ....but don't look for any trouble shooting manuals or schematics they don't exist the Japanese don't like to share this info (guess they flunked sharing in kindergarten to busy doing exercising i guess). line up a hopper and you'll probably be in business ....Later Jeff

[thebrokenjoystick]

Here are some pics of the hopper connector.
http://thebrokenjoystick.com/pictures/aladdin2
If anyone has a hopper from an older Sammy that might work, please let me know!

BTw - anyone here live near Raleigh, NC (near me)?