How safe are pachislos?

[gwarzin]

Well, we may have the definitive answer on how safe (electrically) are pachislos?

I had a big party scheduled for Sunday night - business guests coming in from out of town. On Saturday morning I went down to the game room to find 2" of water on the floor. We had a rain storm all night and the float on the sump pump failed. I spent all day Saturday and Sunday sucking water out of the carpet with a rug shampooer.

By late Sunday the standing water was gone and you could walk on the carpet with out is squishing. But it was still very damp to the touch.

Obviously I was a little concerned. In a few hours we'd have 20 people standing on a damp carpet playing pachislo machines - all of which were ungrounded.

Figuring I couldn't afford to electrocute anyone, I used myself as a test dummy. (And I do mean dummy.) I played all the machines in my bare feet, standing on the wet carpet. Not even a tingle.

The party went on as scheduled and no one was electrocuted.

[Firewire]

Glad to hear Safety was a priority!

[luckydog]

you could have been fried!!!

i hope your life insurance payment is paid!!!!

[johntofva]

I played all the machines in my bare feet, standing on the wet carpet. Not even a tingle. The party went on as scheduled and no one was electrocuted.

Was barbecue on the menu?! :raincloud

[gwarzin]

Was barbecue on the menu?!

No. But if you want a serious answer to an obviously not serious question:

I have tried cooking steaks at previous parties. The problem is I'm busy cooking the steaks and don't have time to enjoy watching the people play the machines. So this time I picked up a Qdoba build-your-own taco bar. I highly recommend this for parties. It comes with everything you need, including the chaffing dishes and Sterno to keep everything warm.

http://www.qdoba.com/qtogo.html

BTW, we play a speed tournament at the parties. 30 minutes to play the machines as fast as you can. There's a prize for 1st, 2nd, and Last place. I even do a PowerPoint presentation before we start that explains how to play the machines and about regular and big bonus play.

[slotter]

Argh, Gary! Bad timing on the water coming in!!! Do you have your machines grounded or not? I spent a bit of time grounding all the machines in my room. Don't really think it was real necessary, but now they are grounded and I don't have to worry about it any more.

[johntofva]

That taco bar is a good idea. I will have to do that next time.

[Tulsa]

When the guests started to play, he could see their eyes light up and a shockingly good time was had by all.

[gwarzin]

Do you have your machines grounded or not?

Nope. None of them were grounded. That's why I was a little concerned. I didn't really expect anyone to get a real shock, but I thought there might be at least a little leakage current that might give you a little tingle when you touched the case. I was actually surprised when I found none at all.

[monaghj]

So have you posted the PPT someplace for us to download ?

[David Wile]

Hey folks,

If the electrical circuit you use to power your machines is controlled by a Ground Fault Interrupter (GFI), you should be protected whether the machines are grounded or not. If I am not mistaken, the National Electrical Code has for some years now required all electrical circuits in a basement to be controlled by a GFI.

Grounding these machines properly is also a good idea. One could argue that Pachinkos are comparable to "double insulated" tools, but that is not accurate. Since the Pachinkos operate on low voltage, we may tend to believe that we only need to worry about the transformer - everything past the transformer is low voltage and therefore safe. I am not too sure that is a safe assumption, however. My machines are mostly plastic and wood which does not need to be grounded, but there are parts on the front of the Pachinko which are metal and would be better if they were grounded.

The Pachislos are also made of a lot of plastic on the exterior, but there are also metal parts on it that could conduct electricity to the player. With the Pachislo, I am not sure what is low voltage and what is high voltage. Seems to me like it would be even more important to ground the Pachislos.

Grounded or not, however, if powered by a GFI controlled circuit, both Pachinkos and Pachislos should be safe to operate.

Best wishes,
Dave Wile

[slotter]

My house was built in the early 80s and it doesn't have GFI circuits downstairs.

There was a good discussion on grounding over here:

http://www.pachitalk.com/forums/showthread.php?t=3480

[johntofva]

All you have to do is go to your local hardware store and buy a GFI braker or two. It takes about five minutes to do.

[David Wile]

Hey Don,

I read the thread you just noted, and there is something there that does not seem to make sense. In the other thread, you said you measured 110 volts from the case of the machine to a ground source. To me, that would mean the case was fully energized. If you then unplugged the machine, installed a new cord that actually connected the case to the ground prong on the cord, and then plugged the cord back in a recepticle, you would have a short that would immediately trip the circuit breaker (any fuse or circuit breaker - not just a GFI).

I did not see you say anything about grounding the case and having such a short, so I am wondering what happened? Were the cases actually energized, and what did you do about it? You know I cannot get to my Pachislos right now, but I sure wish I could measure them.

Best wishes,
Dave Wile

[slotter]

Sorry, David, that was a mistake. There was residual leakage, but not 110V. At the time I first checked it I thought it was 110 (saw the needle jump and thought it was 110 ), later upon further testing, I found out it was much less.

[David Wile]

Hey Don,

That makes sense to me. I have always liked the idea of grounding things as well as using a GFI if you are in an easily grounded area such as a basement, kitchen, bath, and outdoors.

Best wishes,
Dave Wile

[gwarzin]

So have you posted the PPT someplace for us to download ?

Unfortunately, I don't think it would do anyone much good on it's own. Too many inside jokes about the audio industry and it relies on having someone (me) do the narration. If you saw it on its own, it might come off a little anti-Japanese - even though it really isn't. It just pokes fun at some of the Japanese companies in the audio business. It really was targeted to this specific audience of audio sales guys.

It uses a WWII video clip about our enemy, the Japanese - equates that to the Japanese audio companies as our enemy. And then takes off on the idea that the best way to understand the Japanese is to understand pachi. It also uses the pachinko clip from the Travel Channel. About a quarter of the way through people figure that that this wasn't really a training session, but a fun way to give them instructions on how to play the pachislos.

Also wouldn't want to post this because we are making fun of our competitors, which is OK for laughs in a private training session among friends, but not appropriate for posting on the Internet.

[Utopia1dc]

Gary-

That taco bar is an awesome idea. I too have many BBQ's and spend all the time cooking and don't get to enjoy the party. This sounds like a nice alternative for my next shin dig. There is a location about 20 minutes from me. Thanx for the info.

[PachiFool]

I'm suprised that these machines are not grounded. I would have thought the fact that they are made for public commercial use would be reason enough for the manufacturers to ground them. I've had the misfortune of playing a couple pinball machines that some previous owner had gotten into and for some reason disconnected the ground. The tingle becomes quite the jolt when a high power device (flipper or pop bumper coil) is engaged! Of course, if there's no high voltage devices perhaps they feel it is not neccessary.

Kevin

[cwstnsko]

These machines are grounded from the manufacturers! They come from Japan with a seperate ground wire that the refurbishers cut off and throw away! Japanese 100v outlets do not have a 3rd prong, so the original ground is on a seperate wire. One of the 1st things I do on my 100V machines is "restore" the proper grounding of the chassis. I can easily feel the tingle of the "leakage" on the case of every ungrounded 100v machine I touch (using the side of my face or my inner arm against the case.) I've never felt any leakage on the 24 V machines.

for my 100v machines, I get garbage disposal cords with a right angle plugs for $2.99 at Fry's electronics.