It’s very likely that you have seen and played a slot machine at least once. Over time these gaming machines have become increasingly sophisticated and have moved well beyond the somewhat clunky and now seldom seen “one-armed bandits”.
Visit a casino today and the slot machine cabinets will vary widely in size and have a blinding array of blinking, flashing lights accompanied by a wall of sound – with any number of popular themes. All of that has to be powered – which means extensive wiring that has to be protected from abrasion and its possible dangerous after effects.
Not All Slots are Equal
Slot machines are usually divided into two groups, Class II and Class III that are subject to different and complex regulatory constraints. However broadly, class 3 slot machines come under greater scrutiny than Class 2 because they have far more features -some would say complexity- that necessitate higher levels of wiring.
The wide range of slot machine regulation focuses strongly on safety because fire and smoke are extremely dangerous in the busy public settings you find slot machines. A cabinet fire brings up not just risk to staff and gamblers but the aftermath inevitably brings with it a whole raft of liability issues and regulatory inspections. And it obviously hurts the business as it stops revenue from being generated.
Two key standards for slot machines are related to flame smoke and toxicity – UL 94 and UL 22
– UL 94 is a well-recognized standard for flammability qualification
UL 94, the standard for the safety of flammability of plastic materials is a plastics flammability standard released by Underwriters Laboratories that indicates the material’s tendency to either extinguish or spread the flame once the material has been ignited. UL-94 is now harmonized with IEC 60695-11-10 and 60695-11-20 and ISO 9772 and 9773.
– UL 22 covers electric, commercial gaming machines within the National Electrical Code, NFPA 70. It has several layers:
- UL 22-16 Internal Wiring
- UL 22-30 Protection against fire risk, Electric Shock, or Injury to Persons
- UL 22-30.2 Sharp edges
- UL 22-30.4 Protection of maintenance and service personnel
The attached photograph shows a wire pass-through from the top cabinet to the bottom cabinet, you can see that the wires could easily abrade against the metal edge.
This pass-through requires a UL94 V-0 /UL 22 compliant grommet such as the Spring-Fast® BL series shown in the image below. It protects the internal wiring and also maintenance and service personnel.
The image is taken from a different angle and closer in for clarity.
UL 22 and UL94 V-0 Flammability Compliant Products Offered By DTi
- Spring-Fast Wire Protection Grommet Edging
- Protect-Fast Braided Wrap and Sleeving
- Fast-Drop Bend Radius Control modules
The core DTi products are described briefly below:
Spring-Fast Wire Protection Grommet Edging
- Spring-Fast in all series has a stainless steel substrate for excellent retention strength.
- Encapsulated in flexible nylon, for superior abrasion protection, chemical resistance, and multi-axis flexibility.
- The steel core has castles that create a gripping force and powerful edge retention without any adhesive.
Find out more about Spring-Fast grommet edging
Protect-Fast™ Braided Sleeving and Wrap
- Protect-Fast efficiently protects wires, wire harnesses, bundles of cable or hoses from abrasion and cutting.
- It is a tough, lightweight containment and protection solution for easier troubleshooting and refitting easier.
- DTi has both General Use and Advanced Use products to suit your application
Find out more about Protect-Fast Braided Sleeving and Wrap
Fast-Drop Cable Waterfall/Radius Control Modules (RCMs)
- Designed to meet the bend radius per BICSI recommendations to provide consistently reliable data transmission.
- Its clip system design gives fast application in rack retrofits and new wiring-ready rack systems.
- It is NEBS compliant with GR63 CORE requirements.
Find out more about Fast-Drop Cable Waterfall
Why not see for yourself? Request free samples here
