How Long Will the Battery Back-Up Last?

Power was out for over 40 minutes at the Mandalay Bay recently. I was wondering how long the battery back up in each machine lasts? How long can you wait if you hit a jackpot, before the memory of your win is irretrievably lost?

Probably have generators

Games that comply with GLI-11, basically all of them, have a 30-day battery backup.

Mostly back up battery power will last up to 30 minutes to 1 hour before it runs out. Most casino operators must have a stand by generator set for unexpected power failures. But if your casino totally lost power including the back up batteries all your gains will be gone in the wind.

Quote: Casinodepositor

Mostly back up battery power will last up to 30 minutes to 1 hour before it runs out. Most casino operators must have a stand by generator set for unexpected power failures. But if your casino totally lost power including the back up batteries all your gains will be gone in the wind.

I don't know of any casinos that have their games hooked up to battery backup. Most of the bigger casinos use generators and many smaller ones the machines just power off.

Considering how long non-volatile memory has been available and at the very low prices they're at, I'd be shocked to learn that slot machine don't have it and that you'd lose your credits when the power goes out.

Oh, sure, the battery may keep the game going for a while, and eventually run out so the machine shuts down. But once power is restored, your remaining credits should appear as well.

And if they don't have a battery? Ok. It's lights out for a few seconds while the generator starts up, then wait a minute for the machine to reboot. Then, it's back to business.

Some these new fangled machines take forever to reboot.

Quote: Ibeatyouraces

Some these new fangled machines take forever to reboot.

I remember one game that took about 25 minutes to boot.

Quote: Ayecarumba

Power was out for over 40 minutes at the Mandalay Bay recently. I was wondering how long the battery back up in each machine lasts? How long can you wait if you hit a jackpot, before the memory of your win is irretrievably lost?

The machines use non-volatile storage, not battery backed storage.

Quote: DRich

I don't know of any casinos that have their games hooked up to battery backup. Most of the bigger casinos use generators and many smaller ones the machines just power off.

What I mean is every machine has a back up battery in case theirs a power interruption. Power generators will take a few seconds to power on. Backup battery power is also used for emergency purposes in case power generators shut downs player would have a time to cashout any winning he made on the machine.

Quote: Casinodepositor

What I mean is every machine has a back up battery in case theirs a power interruption. Power generators will take a few seconds to power on. Backup battery power is also used for emergency purposes in case power generators shut downs player would have a time to cashout any winning he made on the machine.

No, they do not have a power source that keeps the machine powered on. If the power goes out, and there is no generator, the machine powers off. You will have to wait for the power to be restored before you can cash out. The machine will remember the credits you had and the last few games played, The batteries that keep the NVRAM usually last many years but they will not allow a cashout.

I am deducing from the rules (see below) that a machine has to evaluate and then record the game you were going to play shortly after you press the button, the RNG has been chosen and the result determined. It then probably writes the result to memory/disk. I'm not sure what happens if there is an external progressive and a central server involved.

The rules in the UK ( http://www.gamblingcommission.gov.uk/pdf/machine%20standards%20category%20a%20and%20b1%20june%202012%20revision%202.pdf ) suggest on p8-p10 cover that the machine keeps the last five games (including bonus rounds in their entirety) including the current game if incomplete. It also mentioned the 30 days rule on battery back-up and maintaining data - but it is technically possible to write data to a device, flush the buffers (i.e. commit the data) where the disk drive only works off the mains. The game "happened" if the data is on the disk, otherwise it didn't.

I can't think why the manufacturers wouldn't incorporate these designs into all geographies.

A jackpot win gets relayed to a central spot immediately upon happening. It would be stored there.. you will never lose a jackpot because of a power outage.

A battery in each slot is expensive and a maintenance problem as well as causing interference (x-level harmonics) in the transformers (NOT CMOS that's different). If the power goes out then these facilities will/should have an array of batteries to keep the system up for no more than 10-15 minutes. However this is just for transition. The batteries are designed to take the load instantaneously for around 10-15 seconds (of the WHOLE facility) while the generators fire up and the load transfers to total generator power. What items are on the generators or not is their call. The fact is that some places still do not have generators because they are frugal and cheap. These joints will drop a box over all the table money in about 2.5 seconds before you even know what happened. You do not want to be there with $1000s when this happens. There are emergency lights on battery.
The Static Dynamic RAM in a slot will hold its memory without power so everything the unit was doing can begin again. The RNG may or may not reset. Id guess after a power outage your current roll is either cancelled or gone. Points remain. Jackpot during power outage? Don't be in a sawdust joint and your fine.

That is what I am trying to tell. They need to keep the machine running for a couple of minutes before resorting to a power generator. If a power failure happens and machine suddenly shutdown it might cause a program error or even broke its system board.

I guess that is because the program takes time to run. Also possible to it has difficulties connecting to the network. Remember all those machines programs are network dependent.

it would be more expensive for a casino if a machine fails or broke due to power failure. Aside form a lost in potential revenue it would be also expensive to repair it. Also power failure can damage the machine system.

I'm not a technical computer whiz, but I do have an IGT Game King that was manufactured in 1998, and I just recently had to change the watch-type battery on the main board. This battery retains the information about money/credits on the machine. The machine also has play history, so you can go to the Administrator page and see the previous hands/spins.

I've got to believe that newer machines have a similar system, so that if a player hits a jackpot, it's recorded. If the power goes out, the machine has the play history and credits stored in memory. And even if you leave the machine, you're probably recorded on video somewhere as the person who was playing the machine at the time of the jackpot.

Yes that is true that every play you made will have a history. It is part of the program that the makers try to look at when something weird happens. But what I'm trying to tell is more on machines hardware. If the hardware fails then how can they operate. Investing on backup power supplies is nothing for casino operators compare to the lost of potential revenues.

Quote: Casinodepositor

But what I'm trying to tell is more on machines hardware. If the hardware fails then how can they operate.

Just like when your car breaks down, you fix or replace the component that failed. Sure, the machine may be down a day or so but there is nothing magical about a slot machine. Newer ones today they are just computers running Linux or Windows with hard drives and memory. Really not much different than your computer.