CoinOpCollectorForum.com

My beloved Bronze Chief (my one and only machine) jammed up this afternoon. My nephew was feeding it some quarters and when I returned to the room the handle would only pull down "so far" then it was a dead stop. I took the mechanism out of the housing and found a few things that aren't right, but I can't tell what the root cause of the jam is. This machine was working fine when I bought it last September, so I have no experience taking it apart. I'm really hoping that someone here can tell me what to look for, or where to begin in getting this thing working again.

The rightmost reel won't spin because it's being held in place by the vertical lever shown (top end and bottom end) in the first two pictures. The bottom end of that lever is pinned underneath what I called the "black plate". It looks to me like the vertical lever should be on top of the black plate, not under it.





The next picture shows that the end of the "black plate" is not all the way to the left, where it should be.



The next picture shows that a lever extending toward the jackpot mechanism is stuck out in the wrong position.



I've just included this last picture in case it provides any clues to anyone kind enough to help me with this . . .

I found this video on YouTube . . .

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V3OcHyKyFVY

and the part around 3:30 in to the video (about the dog on the handle lever) seems to have helped greatly. I don't know what caused the machine to jam (ideas welcomed) but after releasing the tension via that dog the machine seems to be working once again.

I'm not sure, but I think that the video I found was posted by our very own "Dave" ????

Words of encouragement winging across the Atlantic to help your machine's homeland.

You're absolutely spot on and worked it out for yourself the brake on reel 3 has not only not lifted but is jammed in place because its foot has travelled beneath instead of above the lever that resets it.
How or why is another issue.
I've never seen it happen before.
First of all we need to free it, and the easiest way is to reverse the cycle and let the mech run backwards so the reset lever reverses back from on top of the brake's foot.

With the mech out and facing you you need to locate the ratchet that is holding it all at that point in its cycle. When you play your machine (slowly) you can hear a steady click, click, click as you pull the handle ........ that's the little bugger! Now you have to locate it and release it so everything can run backwards to release the jam.

This ratchet is located on the right hand side towards the back between the handle and the anvil trip and is partly hidden by the large vertical spring.



Here is what you'll see because the ratchet is in operation and holding the mech against the teeth that stop it from going backwards.




First get a very thin screwdriver.

Then put some weight onto the lug which connects to the handle when it's in the case. This will take the pressure of the ratchet, using the screwdriver, lift the bottom of the ratchet clockwise up and out of the teeth holding it there.

Holding the ratchet away from the teeth with the screwdriver you can now release the pressure off the lug which connects to the handle when it's in the case, and the mech will return backwards to its starting point.

If it doesn't run backwards then the foot of the brake must be well jammed under the resetting lever so you'll need to use your third hand to pull the brake foot free.

This what the ratchet will look like when everything is back at rest.



Now that you've returned the universe back to the point of creation and the Big Bang, and you know how do this repeatedly, I suggest you now put whatever weird coinage you Americanererers use instead of pounds, shillings and pennies in it and gently pull the handle whilst watching what the deuce is occurring with that last brake.

It might have been a one off.
You might have had a stray coin in there that deflected the brake in the first place
It might have been the flux of The Earth reacting against a discombobbulating surge of Gooey stuff from the planet Brugggh.

If you have further problems please don't hesitate to buy me a Business Class return ticket so I can pop over, fix it for you and eat plate-loads of Sarsaparilla.

Best of luck
Let us know how you get on.

Badpenny
Lincoln England just down the road from where the Pilgrim Fathers left from on The Mayflower.

ps - Why do you drive on the wrong side of the road?

Brilliant ................ Having just written all of that and crashed my 'pooter twice trying to upload picture'ma'graphs I only now read your post more closely and see that you have indeed released it.

Hooray! Three cheers for you!

I think the cleverest thing you've done is put down a towel to protect the table. I forget that kind of thing and spend a lot of time with my head hung low listening to a woman detailing all of my shortcomings.

My money is on the Flux of The Earth.

Badpenny

WS65711 wrote:I found this video on YouTube . . .

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V3OcHyKyFVY

and the part around 3:30 in to the video (about the dog on the handle lever) seems to have helped greatly. I don't know what caused the machine to jam (ideas welcomed) but after releasing the tension via that dog the machine seems to be working once again.

I'm not sure, but I think that the video I found was posted by our very own "Dave" ????

Yep.

That be me.

Dave

Badpenny wrote:Brilliant ................ Having just written all of that and crashed my 'pooter twice trying to upload picture'ma'graphs I only now read your post more closely and see that you have indeed released it.

Hooray! Three cheers for you!

I think the cleverest thing you've done is put down a towel to protect the table. I forget that kind of thing and spend a lot of time with my head hung low listening to a woman detailing all of my shortcomings.

My money is on the Flux of The Earth.

Badpenny

Actually, the the towel was used to protect the mechanism. The machine has been working fine since then, so I really don't know why the jam occured in the first place. Anyway, thanks for your lengthy post with pictures (that caused your computer to crash) . . .