Mr. Vend Wheel of Love -no sound- general electronic advice needed

Atomicbombtoys

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I'm looking for some advice and it would apply to any solid state amusement game, I reckon. I have a Mr. Vend Wheel of Love quarter machine. You touch two sensors and the wheel spins and when it stops a light comes on and shows your virility ability. It sits on a shelf in my shop and usually you can't tell it's on as it's silent and nothing moves. After sitting for over 6 months, it started talking in a sultry female voice, inviting me to play. Literally it sat for several months with no sound. Then after a few days, it went silent again. I want to hear her call me again. I've become deeply attached to that voice but I've forgotten what she sounds like after so long.
The machine is very clean inside and has some IC chips that I reseated to no avail. Everything else seems to work properly after a quarter is inserted. I'm stumped as to what could cause this machine to activate its' voice for a few days and then just as fast, go bad again. Does anyone have any advice as to anything I can try that is not too involving of electronic skill? I don't think it's worth shipping off and seeing if it can be repaired. But now that I know it talks, it bothers me that it doesn't. Please help reunite to me girl!
 
Bad caps can do that.

Bad connections can do that.

Did the place you have it get warmer or colder when it was talking? That can cause a cold solder joint to work for a bit.
 
Okay, I didn't know that about capacitors and solder joints. I will inspect it with a magnifier and maybe I can find a suspicious area. I can't find much information online and I guess a technician might could see the circuit board and know where audio areas are located to narrow it down. You may have heard of Mr. Carlson's Lab on Youtube. He's a Canadian genius with videos and even though me and my fellow laymen can't follow him, it's still fascinating. If you're an electronics guy, maybe give a minute to check him out. Nice guy with an incredible knowledge and always fixing old stuff
Thanks for your advice and time. If I don't get anywhere, maybe I can post a picture of the innards for the chance someone like you might can point me to where to look closer. I've repaired a lot of electromechanical stuff like pinballs and old jukeboxes. I've also studied electronics on my own but so far it hasn't clicked. Messed up a couple of old radios trying! I am stubborn so I'm gonna stick with this fight awhile. I appreciate you giving me those ideas. I have three different old Mr. Vend machines. They sure made a lot money according to the coin counters inside them.
I'll repost if I get it fixed in celebration.
 
Look at the chips you reseated.

Are the legs kind of white?

Look at the sockets - same question.

Old games weren't expected to go 40 or 50 years (usually around 2 to 4) and they tended to use cheap sockets. The chip legs and sockets corrode due to moisture, and you build up resistance that can kill TTL logic.

You have to carefully clean the legs. I use a flex file (used on pinball machines) or a fiberglass pen. For the sockets, you just replace them with new.
Treat the chip legs with DeOxit, and install in the new socket.

Be careful desoldering - use good equipment. Some games have "vias" between the top and bottom of the board, and you can damage those using the wrong soldering iron.
 
Sometimes a bad relationship will make the girl stop talking to you. Possibly if she's not being paid enough attention to. Either way, it sounds like it's gonna take a fair amount of your time, attention and perhaps even your wallet to get back on her good side and get her to pay you some more attention. Neglect those efforts, and she just might not speak to you ever again...
 
Look at the header pins that connect the PCB to the harness.

I'd suggest you re-flow any pins, and clean the connection pins with a flex file or crocus cloth or emery cloth.
 
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