Fun Chicken Club

[Mtkst19]

And she is all done. Will grab pics of it on location next week. It will make its debut at an art show where there is mystery art and prizes/gift cards in the eggs. Proceeds go to the non profit. Afterwards it will be out on location at a brewery.

 

[PeckMaster5000]

Hi all,

This is my first post here. I've really enjoyed reading through your posts about the Fun Chicken—a friend of mine recently picked one up, and it brought back some great memories. We used to play this very machine as kids in a small movie theater in the Poconos.

I'm trying to get the machine working again, but I haven't had any luck yet. I'm still troubleshooting. Tonight I went to where it's stored and removed the guts so I could work on them at home. While examining the wiring—and thanks to a wiring diagram someone posted here—I realized the photocell is missing. I noticed a few loose wires and couldn't figure out what they were for until I saw the diagram. That cleared it up.

The main board I'm working with is labeled HEN1 ASSEMBLY Rev. B, dated 3-15-81. I've already replaced all the electrolytic caps, the 5MΩ trimpot, and all the glass diodes, but the game still isn't functioning. I'm planning to test all the resistors next.

So I have a couple of questions:

1. Can the machine operate without the photocell?
2. If not, does anyone know what part was originally used? Is there a part number or a modern replacement?
3. Have you seen a schematic for this specific revision of the board?

I've been searching eBay and other online sources but haven't had any luck so far. Any advice or insight would be greatly appreciated. I'm really glad this forum exists—thanks for keeping this info alive!

Thanks,

Troy

 

[PeckMaster5000]

I haven't seen anything like this out there, so I decided to make one. This is the board from my friend's Fun Chicken machine, with all the components labeled. I've replaced many of these parts—some are obsolete, but replacements are still available. I wanted to show the board as it was originally built, in the hope that it helps someone out there with their own repair or restoration.

I'd be really interested to see if other boards are the same or have differences. If you spot any mistakes or have insights, please let me know. Thanks!

 

[Mtkst19]

Chicken will not work w/o the optoboard. The motor to spin the chicken is run through this board. Without it- you dont
have anything going to 1 side of the motor.

Motor has 2 red wires. 1 from the distribution panel- other from opto board. Opto board has 2 inputs from coin mech as well as 12v/gnd from main board


to "dumb" this down. coin mech triggers a relay on opto board. Relay turns on motor. Motor is turned off when egg drops breaks opto beam.

In my instance- relay was bad on opto board- so moved it off the opto board and used amazon sourced relay board.

 

[PeckMaster5000]

Thanks so much for the reply! I'm somewhat familiar with how the circuit works, but I appreciate the explainer. Sadly, I've learned since my last post that won't function without the photocell, as you say. I'm really disappointed mine is missing. I'm currently working with an engineer on Fiverr to design a replacement.

Right now, the only reference we have is the photo from this thread. It's helpful, but it only shows the component side. It's been tough trying to recreate the board without seeing the underside.

If you happen to have a photo of the bottom of the board, a parts list, or both, that would be incredibly helpful. We'd really appreciate anything you're able to share!

 

[Mtkst19]

I have 0 opto board pics which is odd.
Electronically, I had to sort out the blown motor, fuse issue and opto relay. Could of swore I had pics/video of me doing the electronic work on bench. As I had the opto board mounted in a panavise

Go to post 322- there is a pdf of a different style chicken machine. It uses a microswitch vs opto switch to turn off motor. This would be the "easiest' way to get you operational. Simple pinball/arcade microswitch with wire that egg hits to turn off.

As for opto board- machine is no where near me. Next time I have to service it I'll pull apart and take pics of top/bottom.

 

[PeckMaster5000]

I have 0 opto board pics which is odd.
Electronically, I had to sort out the blown motor, fuse issue and opto relay. Could of swore I had pics/video of me doing the electronic work on bench. As I had the opto board mounted in a panavise

Go to post 322- there is a pdf of a different style chicken machine. It uses a microswitch vs opto switch to turn off motor. This would be the "easiest' way to get you operational. Simple pinball/arcade microswitch with wire that egg hits to turn off.

As for opto board- machine is no where near me. Next time I have to service it I'll pull apart and take pics of top/bottom.

Thank you! It's too bad you don't have any pictures of it but I appreciate your offer to take pictures the next time you see it. I think I'll have to go with the mechanical switch for now. My engineer had shared that PDF with me. I was just hoping to recreate the original if possible. Turns out I can't, so we're going with the mechanical option for now. I just have to figure out how to make the mechanical part. Joy.

Will this work?

Digi-Key switch

Maybe someone else following this thread has pictures of the photocell board and will see this post. I can only hope!

 

[SHADOWMOSES]

Just picked up this egg factory, never seen one like this before, it's fun and has a chicken, hehehe, so I guess I'm in the club

 

[bottlejunkie]

…

 

[Bebopboom]

Guess I'm joining the fun chicken club but with Polly the patriot. Found it this morning at flea market.

 

[bottlejunkie]

Does it work?

 

[Bebopboom]

Does it work?

According to the guy it does and says Polly wanna cracker when u put a quarter in

 

[SHADOWMOSES]

That's awsome

 

[Bebopboom]

Guess I'm joining the fun chicken club but with Polly the patriot. Found it this morning at flea market.

So I got home and was poking around and opened the back of that patriot who had Velcro holding him closed and inside is this metal bird with wings that look like they move under power and the date and number 46.

 

[GeorgeGlass]

Hey everyone
Not sure if this is a Canadian thing but I have a chicken machine called lucky eggs
The plexi door was damaged but I had the art scanned and reprinted and put in a new piece of plexi
See pics
So I have artwork that is for sale
This one is sized- see pics for measurements
But I can print to any size in case anyone wants one.
$75 usd shipped
I ship from the US
Message me if interested

 

[Talsivar]

That's really

Hey everyone
Not sure if this is a Canadian thing but I have a chicken machine called lucky eggs
The plexi door was damaged but I had the art scanned and reprinted and put in a new piece of plexi
See pics
So I have artwork that is for sale
This one is sized- see pics for measurements
But I can print to any size in case anyone wants one.
$75 usd shipped
I ship from the US
Message me if interested

What about the inside art that was printed on thick paper?

 

[Talsivar]

So I got home and was poking around and opened the back of that patriot who had Velcro holding him closed and inside is this metal bird with wings that look like they move under power and the date and number 46.

I really want to see a video of that working! Nice find!

 

[GeorgeGlass]

That's really
What about the inside art that was printed on thick paper?

Hmm didn't do that artwork but could look into it

 

[Bebopboom]

I really want to see a video of that working! Nice find!

Here is a link to a video of him

Watch unnamed | Streamable

Watch "unnamed" on Streamable.

streamable.com