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Coin Mechs - How standard are they?

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GregorDV:

My understanding (from my kvetching on these boards) is that for the last 25 years or so, there have been one or two interchangable styles, and I just picked poorly when I was purchasing.  So - if you have the old mechs, take some photos and post them here to get a consensus from people smarter than me, or send them to a vendor and ask if they have something compatible.

92greenyj:

Yeah most of the actual coin mechanisms are interchangeable. they really haven't changed much apart from the materials they are made out of. In my work arcade I got ahold of this Harvard Standard Metal typer machine from like the 70's. the metal coin mechanism in it wasn't working with quarters (think it was set up for nickles or something). Since we are using a debit card system on our arcade games, I have a ton of plastic coin mechanisms laying around from our arcade games. So I just grabbed a brand new, plastic mechanism and dropped it right in place of the original and it worked like a charm. Happ sells new plastic ones for about $10 each I think.

nitz:

I found what I figured was a good deal on ebay - lot of 5 new Suzo Happ metal coin mechs for about $30 shipped so I went ahead and bought 'em. I would think anything Happ sells should be pretty common, so maybe I have a good chance of making these work with my door. There have got to be a lot of old machines out there that have had their mechs replaced, so I imagine a common mech should be at least somewhat interchangable, and hearing someone who works at an arcade say they're mostly interchangable makes me feel good about it.

And if they're no good for me, I can likely resell them at some point and get most or all of my money back.

92greenyj:

yeah the basic design really hasnt changed. apart from the materials they are made from. If you look at the actaul mechanism there are two small tabs, one per side, that slip into the holder on the coin door. It makes sense for the mechanism itself to be all the same for easy swapping between quarters, tokens, etc. its more cost effective for everyone that way. the tabs on the ones you ordered will more than likely match the ones on your coin door. And I actually manage and run the arcade i work at as well as maintain and fix all the games.

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