How good are these super-cheap coin acceptors?

[ChurchOfSolipsism]

So I was randomly browsing Ebay for parts and stumbled upon these:

http://cgi.ebay.com/Electronic-CPU-MECHANICAL-MULTI-COIN-ACCEPTOR-SELECTOR-/260597602814?cmd=ViewItem&pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3cacd3d9fe

http://cgi.ebay.com/CH-Advanced-CPU-Coin-Selector-coin-Acceptor-/250593771640?cmd=ViewItem&pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3a588d8078

Usually it's not paying off to buy this cheap Chinese trash, but still the price is very tempting... does anybody have any experience with them? How do they look in real, being plastic an all?

[Beretta]

not sure about the first one, the 2nd i think i've seen before and was reportedly pretty decent about comparing coins..

iirc you stick a sample coin in and it has a micro chip that examines inserted coins to see if they match.

they look out of place for what i need.

[ChurchOfSolipsism]

Well, I'd prefer one of dem snazzy 2player coin doors that Happ sells, too, but my friend and I don't have the budget for that, so screw it, I think they look ok.
Does anybody else have any experience with them? Or do people here only buy expensive stuff?

[Don]

I think they look fine. I mean as long as they work and register coins you can always try and do them up visually with metallic paint etc. if you dont like the finished look.
Do they say what coins they accept? Dont want to find out they only work with Chinese currency or something after you get them! 

[ChurchOfSolipsism]

Not sure what "Acceptable of all worldwide Coins & Tokens." means, but I guess it has a sample coin mechanism like the second one. This was what had me wonder, 9 dollars for a coin door including the coin switch and that sample coin thingie sounds a bit too good to be true... in fact, it sounds ridiculous, considering the prices this stuff usually goes for. Anyway, I think I'll order two and see how it goes. If they're ---steaming pile of meadow muffin---, yall be the first ones to know.

[Marsupial]

is there a way to take those "sampler" coin mech and accept "any coin" for those with various different coins?

I am thinking this might be a cheap alternative to coin doors and still keep a somewhat classy look.

But I think their outsides are made of plastic.

[drventure]

For nine bucks, I'd say go for it. That's not much to loose.

Even if it's a plastic front, you could always refinish that in some fashion.

[Beretta]

Well, I'd prefer one of dem snazzy 2player coin doors that Happ sells, too, but my friend and I don't have the budget for that, so screw it, I think they look ok.
Does anybody else have any experience with them? Or do people here only buy expensive stuff?

lol.. man there ain't nothing wrong with that.. they just look like they've belong on a gumball machine or something.

i dont have a problem with them being made of plastic the style just is'nt what you would expect on a arcade cab.

i know you're on a budget if you could stretch that a little you could probably have gotten a used door for 15-25, plus another 5-10 for sanding/repaint.. maybe less.

but let us know how they work, i heard they're not to bad other then the style i think they'll work for your purpose.

EDIT: i take that back i have no idea what the hell you're building ( i just assumed arcade cab) i think these would look ok on a bartop, wallmount, or maybe a cocktail.

[Blanka]

O boy they are fugly! Even if they are 9 bucks. Either you pay zip, nada, noppes, and have no coin (it's illegal to use them for profit anyway, and for personal play I would not want to drop in a coin every play), or pay double and have the decent looking stainless minimalist ones from Jan Fleck for example.

[Marsupial]

it is part of the arcade experience to put coins in the machine, profit or not. I woudln't want a machine that doesn't require me to put in some coins even if I know I can open the door and get them back for more games.

that's just me.

I am wondering how good these doors are, for 2 coins they almost compare in price:
http://www.arcadeemulator.net/cgi-bin/shop/cp-app.cgi?usr=51F1669456&rnd=3458558&rrc=N&affl=&cip=&act=&aff=&pg=prod&ref=Small+Door+and+Frame+Assembly+&cat=Coin+Doors&catstr=HOME:Coin+Doors

[BobA]

It says they give the look of a real coin door.   Something tells me that for the price they may not be functional.  Just a guess, you would have to ask if they can mount real coin mechs and be fully functional.

[XCVG]

IIRC that dual coin door is fake- it has no way to mount mechs and is pretty much just the door part of a real coin door.

[Beretta]

ya im almost sure that door is for appearance only.

i also agree that inserting the quarter/token is part of the exp, but not everyone agrees with that.

[Marsupial]

I remember having a set ammount of money to spend at the arcades while my parents were playing their bowling league, being intelligent on how to spend them was part of the experience. That was at the time of Pacman JR and Spy Hunter.

Later in life, with my own money, it was to not spend in the wrong machines and trying to not spend too much. The 90s and early 2000s games were quite different, and games were no longer 1 coin... lol.
Again, pulling coins from your pockets and putting them in the machine for a continue was part of the experience.


I don't want a full blown coin mecanism, have no real use for that. But I'd be happy if I can manage to have a switch to activate by passing a coin to the coinslot somehow; if there's ANY way to arrange those on-the-cheap doors, I'd be all set.

Short of that, I'll look on eBay I guess.

[Beretta]

i've seen large lit buttons that look like coin slots.. i think GGG sells them.. you could mount one on the front of the cab and hit it when you want a credit.

for me one thing i dont like about that idea or having the game run on free play is.

it's way to easy in mame to just mush your way though a lot of games.. winning by shear determination.
i like ti limit the amount of credits i spend trying to beat a game.. otherwise i think it takes a lot of fun out of it.
like you said as a kid you only had so many token/quarters you had to spend wisely.. and you fought tooth and nail making sure you stretched every credit.

when i get mine done i plan on only allowing so many credits per game.. after that you pick something else or start over, in the arcades i RARELY seen the ending of a game unless i dumped all days worth of credits in to it.

but thats just me, i dont like to win because of volume.

[Marsupial]

i have contacted them about the small doors, the slots are not really slot. however, the door open.

Not good ennough for me, nor are the lookalike coinslot buttons.



for me it is not an arcade game if you don't have to put in some quarters.

[soup]

I'm pretty sure I have a pair (the second ones advertised) fitted to my cab. I couldn't afford a proper coin door, or even a second hand one (as rare as they are here), so I ended up making my own coin door and fitting two of these kinda-cheaply-looking and not-all-too-original coin acceptors.
I'm still trying to work out if there constructed of plastic or metal as it has that false chrome look yet are pretty weighty and don't seem to flake or scratch easily. I basically have a $1 coin in the left one and a 20c piece in the other and seem to work pretty well. Everything works as advertised (accepting only coin of same type in the guide, rejects coins etc). They are usually advertised here on eBay for ~$25 (I did get mine for less) mark so not sure if they are the same (although we do get ripped here in Aus...)

[Herk]

Hi,

     I just picked one these up from kijiji for free, brand new in box, never used, yay me.  It is the style of the second link but it seems to have a silver metal face, not plastic, sort of like a "white metal".  It is made in Taiwan with the name "S.G" stamped inside.  The wire diagram is stamped on the plastic in English, not Engrish.

Herk

[ChurchOfSolipsism]

Went ahead and ordered two. The front plate seems to be made from plastic, but I kinda like their look. Again, not as cool as a big Happ Coindoor, but then again, the cab we build will be a Western style - Candy Cab - hybrid, so I don't think they will look too much out of place. It's gonna be a couple of months though before these will be built into the cab... I'll revive the thread then. Agree on the adding coins is part of the arcade experience thing. It would have been simple to just add a coin button but this time we wanted to go all the way.

Btw, arcadeshop.de has added them, too, only for three times the price (which I can understand). I don't think they would sell bad quality products...

[Kevin Mullins]

is there a way to take those "sampler" coin mech and accept "any coin" for those with various different coins?

Just an FYI -

Those mechs are typically called "coin comparators", meaning there is a "sample" coin that is physically placed in the mech and left in there, in which the mech will compare each coin that is dropped through the slot to either determine whether it accepts or rejects it. (i.e. it compares the dropped coin to your sample)
The yellow plastic coin that comes with them can be removed. The piece that holds it is simply spring loaded and you lift it up and place whatever coin you wish to be your new "sample" in it's place.

I've seen a lot of these on different redemption style games.

[Ken Layton]

The coin mechs in the ebay listing work great on Nintendo coin doors like on Donkey Kong. The mechs can be ordered with either a zinc diecast metal front plate (desireable) or a plastic front plate. Remember, these mechs need a source of power (generally operate on 12 volts DC). Some have an output to drive a 12 volt coin counter meter directly, too.

The ones I have seen have been quite reliable and they do a pretty good job of kicking out slugs, foreign coins, and other undesireable coins provided you have a good condition sample coin.