Advice please?

David Smith · Post by **David Smith** » Fri Dec 09, 2011 7:01 pm

Hi,
I'm brand new to chat rooms so pls bear with me for what ever I do/say wrong!
Have just bought a Barcrest "Spiker the Biker" fruit machine. Very chuffed with it; goes nicely with the pool table and 60in1 arcade machine in the games room, otherwise known by Er-in-Charge as the conservatory for some reason or other.
Anyway,
Have cleaned up the machine and replaced nearly 70 bulbs, works fine. Just needs a touch of paint and some repair to where I drilled out the lock.
I have two questions:
I think it's set to 74% payout as there's a red gizmo with 74 stamped on it plugged into the back wall where it says "percent key"... bit of a giveaway actually. I don't want to rip friends off to the tune of 26% as it's supposed to be just a bit of fun. The instruction book mentioned a row of dipper(?) switches (or something similar) can be used instead. Is that a major thing to do? I do NOT want to risk knackering my new machine!
Second question:
There's a flat small key stuck in a lock to the right above the payout shelf. It will not come out. What does it do!
Any advice greatly appreciated
Many thanks
David
Bristol
davenikki@blueyonder.co.uk

gambogaz1 · Post by **gambogaz1** » Fri Dec 09, 2011 7:50 pm

The key thats stuck in the lock is a Refill Key, it's used to refill your hopper of coins and adjust the machine's volume.

Can't help on the % adjustment side of things.

trayhop123 · Post by **trayhop123** » Fri Dec 09, 2011 8:29 pm

i know im no help either ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, but just out of curiosity , what arcade machine you got m8? is it mame based ? ,,,,,,,,

oh and welcome to the site

mr lugsy · Post by **mr lugsy** » Fri Dec 09, 2011 8:31 pm

e-bay is the obvious place for percentage keys if nobody in the buy-sell or technical forums can help.

David Smith · Post by **David Smith** » Fri Dec 09, 2011 11:32 pm

Hi all,
Thanks for the quick replies, hopefully someone can answer my question 'How do I increase % payout rate' question later...?
OK, the refill key. As mentioned there's a key stuck in the lock; but why do I need it anyway?
To refill the hopper I just open the top and chuck a load of coins in. The key doesn't seem to come into the equation... or am I missing something pathetically obvious. I'm a new fruit machine owner don't forget!

PS trayhop123 All I can tell you is it's made by Barcrest and called "Spiker the Biker". £25 jackpot, lots of flashing lights and a clever soundtrack. No idea if it's MAME or even what MAME stands for!

I'll see if I can organise a photo on the weekend if you like.

BTW way paid £50 and found around £25 inside so I think I have a bargain. A pack of 100 lights only cost £7.50 off eBay and I had a dozen spare larger bulbs (for the buttons) with my arcade machine.
All in all I'm trez pleased with it. Shame Mrs Hitler has a completely opposite view point though...

Scott · Post by **Scott** » Sat Dec 10, 2011 12:27 am

Lol at people who sell machines with money inside

Spyder · Post by **Spyder** » Sat Dec 10, 2011 9:57 am

'variable percentage key' from ebay should let you increase the payout to about 98

while you are on ebay find a lock the same as the one with the broken key, you will need that replacing too..

tryhop is talking about your other machine, the arcade one,

MAME is a pc-emulator for arcade games, trayhop was asking if your arcade machine is Mame or a real arcade game,.. its probably real from what you have said so far

if it is a real one, you have probably heard the term 'jamma' or 'neo geo' involved in purchasing it

trayhop123 · Post by **trayhop123** » Sat Dec 10, 2011 11:20 am

yeah spyderman is right ,,,,,,,,,,,,,, im asking about your videogame

what intrigue's me the most ,,,,,,,,,, is the 60 in 1 part ???? is it mame , or is it an official jobby ,?,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, i remember some time ago selfridges were selling an official taito model for a way overpriced 1k ,,,,,,,,, and that just had around 100 taito games.

on the other hand if its mame ?

most mame systems are usually bought/sold with hundreds/thousands of games installed

mine has 3500 ,,,,,,,,,,,, however you can knock around 500 off that for region specific revision repeats and obscure japanese games .

so thats why im curious as to what yours is ,,,,,,,,,, with 60 ????

David Smith · Post by **David Smith** » Sat Dec 10, 2011 4:48 pm

Hi trayhop and Spyder, thanks for your interest and advice.

The percentage key is not actually broken although it's stuck in the lock. If I fart about with it and manage to remove it am I likely to knacker the machine? if there's any danger of that I'd rather just leave well alone...

With the key in the lock... what's it doing?

I have not searched eBay today but I guess I should be able to buy a higher percent plug in plug thingy to replace the red one that clearly has 74 stamped on it. I tried to upload a photo several times but I think I'm doing something wrong.

Onto the arcade machine: (which seems to hold more interest than my Spiker the Biker!) I'm pretty sure it's an original machine with the CRT monitor replaced by a flat screen but I could be wrong? Inside is a small printed circuit board with 60 little black chips. Evidently, according to an engineer who had a peep for me, they are the individual games, Scramble, Space Invaders, Mr Do, Dig-Dug, King Kong 1942 etc. I think they're pretty bog standard.
I know I could by all 60 games for 99p on a CD for the PC but it's not the same! takes me back to my squaddie days in pubs in the '80s. The only thing I have a problem with is the manual. It's for the wrong machine so I can't work out how to set it to free play nor make both joysticks work. It's a minor problem only though.

OK, have just realised I'd uploaded 5 photos of the percent key. Doh! Hopefully as you read this there are a couple of different pictures of the arcade machine too...

If either of you are ever in Bristol you're welcome to pop in for a coffee/pint and bash some buttons!

Captain.Tattybojangles · Sat Dec 10, 2011 6:04 pm

Your % key you have in the machine at the moment is a fixed % key. So do not go messing with the DIPswitches on the main board as it will do nothing to help. If you get a variable % key, the DIPswitches should be on the key itself.

If you're trying to remove the percentage key, it normally is screwed in, and then takes a bit of a tug before it comes out

trayhop123 · Post by **trayhop123** » Sat Dec 10, 2011 6:53 pm

yeah , cheers for the pics ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, looks like its not mame based , ,,,,,,,

David Smith · Post by **David Smith** » Sat Dec 10, 2011 7:35 pm

Hi Cpt. T
Thanks for that.
I fully understand it's all at my own risk and all that...
If you were me, would you:
Get the (physical) outside key out (somehow)
Disconect the wires going to the outside (physical) percent key
Remove the plug-in percent gizmo inside on the back wall
And replace with the multi percetnage plug-in as per the new uploaded photo. It's off ebay and only £4.75
As hammered to death already, I want to make it fun/fair for friends to play but absolutely not at the risk of rendering it a wrek!
Look forward to your reply!
Cheers,
David