wheel intermittently spinning

[juco67]

the left wheel spins intermittently and the skill stops dont work.

unplugged everything and cant get it work.

any suggestions

[luckydog]

the reel may be out of aliegnment and could be rubbing on something

the bet and stop buttons may need cleaning

[ebb]

unplugged everything and cant get it work.

There may be up to 18 connections in just the the three reels and cage.

With the left reels condition I'd pull the reel cage and then the reels individually starting with the left. check connections and try.
You might want to switch the reels to isolate the problem ie step motor, wiring, board

The problems with the stop buttons may be connected to the reel.
Usually the stop board is located at the top right looking into the chassis.
from what you said it sounds like the stop board isn't getting the message the reel are running and should then activate the stop button to continue play.

Do the reels stop by themselves after 20-30 seconds of spinning?

When you activate the reels can you see any red/green LCD lights coming on inside the chassis.

Pic if possible might help.

[alstonj1]

your reel isn't getting up to speed due to a bad connection most likely and the machine wont play (light the stop buttons ) till it does . stepper motors are very reliable and seldom go bad . if you try one of the other reels in that spot it will probably have the same problem . try the suspected reel in one of the other positions if it works there it isnt the stepper . radio shack makes a contact cleaner in pen form called de- ox it works fantastic for cleaning and deoxidizeing contacts and connections its a bit pricy but it works!!!

[juco67]

I put another reels wire on the terminal (on the board) and it did the same thing to that reel

I will try the De OX on the wire connections from the motherboard to the reel board and see what happens.

last night it started working just fine, once the reel stopped limping along the skill stopp buttons lit up and it worked fine.

I turned it off last night and turned it on this morning and back to limping.

let you know how it turns out.

[ebb]

I had a belly light that would come on and off when it felt like it.
When I pulled the board I noticed one of the barrel transistors was bent back.
After moving it upright the light worked all the time.
I had another machine that looked like the previous owner had tried to change a reel light bulb without unplugging it first. They had stretch the wires and loosened the female connection on the board.
If De-Ox doesn't work check the board
Sounds like you getting close!!
Good luck!!

[slothappy144]

The stop buttons not working usually indicate a stuck button, any stuck button could cause this the usual culprit the spin knob. test buy slowly moving the spin knob.
since your reels are acting up it could be related, Or a separate issue.
more detail on what the reels are doing would help diagnose it. Noises it is (or isn't) making. lights on.

there is a diagnostic set of LED's inside case on a PCB board inside the game. open the door with the machine on, look for glowing (red) LED lights, reach around and work each button on the front one at a time, a unique LED should turn on (or off, ==problem) each time a button is pressed. if you find a button or button not lighting its led check the wiring very closly use a meter if you can't see any issue.
FYI:
I just fixed a SL with a strange right reel it would humm and stick.
I found a small break in the flat wire connector cable between the reels and the main board. so check for broken/loose wires between the reel cages and the CPU.

Good hunting

[alstonj1]

your reel stop lights will not come on until all three reels have indexed properly (are in the correct location on the reel) and reached the correct speed then the computer control will turn them on .the motor connections have to be addressed to allow the computer to see the reel is in the correct position and at the correct speed . The fact that another reel does the same thing when plugged in that slot confirms the connection is bad . a stepper motor is divided into three regions(has 3 pos feeds and a neg return ) and operates similar to a three phase motor all 3 positive feeds must be present at the correct time s for the reel to move if one is intermittent it causes a jerky motion and the motor doesnt get up to speed and the computer won't allow the machine to work (turn on the stop buttons).

[Ikaria]

Very informative! Thanks!