Coin Mechs - How standard are they?

[nitz]

Thinking of putting real coin mechs in my cab. I've got a coin door. I'm clueless about how these things attach/operate. My machine was a Robotron, more or less destroyed when I got it, really nothing "Robotron" left about it, but I think the coin door is the original one.

So if I buy Happ coin mechs, do you think I'd be able to attach and use them? What about those coin mechs from Hong Kong on ebay that were discussed in a thread here a few weeks ago?

I don't want to end up with something that I'm not able to fit/attach to my coin door. I'm tempted to just make a cardboard chute to guide a coin to a switch (I know that won't reject slugs but it's not like I'm actually charging people to play - I just want the realism ) but I'm thinking that may be too flimsy/unreliable so a real mech would be better.

Sorry if this is a silly question, but I've never actually seen a coin mech in person other than the badly damaged ones that came with my cab. Thanks guys!

[bkenobi]

Describe "badly damaged".  If they are ugly, that's one thing (1 can of primer + 1 can of rustoleum hammered finish = new coin door).  If they are physically damaged, you might be able to straighten them enough to look good after painting.  If they are broken/missing parts, you might want to consider getting something different.  Considering that coin mechs are not required in any way to play games, it's not necessarily the best place to put money (unless everything else is finished first).

Just my opinion though.   

[nitz]

They were just a mess of metal. I examined them and couldn't figure out how they would ever work so I'm thinking missing parts/badly damaged. In any case, I've already discarded them. Good deals come up on ebay sometimes, so it just didn't seem worth fighting with something that's likely broken beyond repair anyway to save maybe $20 or $30.

I did repaint the coin door. That was in ok shape and looks fine. It's just the actual mechs I need.

Yeah, I hear ya about the money - heh my project ended up costing more than I thought it would. But I want to do things the way I want regardless of price (within reason of course). I kinda cheaped out on my first version of maming this thing, and it felt it and showed it. I wanna do things up nice this time.

Thanks for the input.

[GregorDV]

Not as much as I would have liked.  I had to jury-rig my replacement coin mechs into the coin door I picked up because the mounting hardware was just a _bit_ different: http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=101101.msg1069251#msg1069251

They're close, and I think they'll work with enough Dremel Love, but I was a bit disappointed.

[nitz]

I see, thanks. So I'm probably not going to get anything that will fit my door exactly then. Hmmm, thinking I'll try to find some mechs really cheap and just force them on there as best I can. If that fails, I'll just rig up a carboard chute to guide a coin to a switch.

Thanks again guys!

[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.