Who has the biggest coin door?

[jasonbar]

I seek the largest coin door available for purchase, used or new, but preferably in decent shape if used. At a glance, pinball doors appear to be generally bigger than arcade doors.

I want to see if a good-sized coin door allows for wide enough access to pass my extraneous specialized occasional-use clamp-on controllers into & out of my cabinet without having to slide it forward to remove the rear door of the cab to get to its contents. If I can find a big enough coin door, that's cleaner than me cutting out & hinging a portion of the cabinet wall, hack-style...

Thanks,
-Jason

[PL1]

Pinball coin doors appear to be about 12" w x 10" h.

Search Amazon for "hinged access door" or "access door".

Lots of sizes/styles to choose from like this 24" x 24" door.

The only downside is that you will probably need to paint the door since it looks like most come in white or stainless steel.   


Scott

[Nephasth]

My coin door is so big, it has its own coin door. And even my coin door's coin door is bigger than your coin door.

[PL1]

That sounds like the voice of insecurity, Neph.   

Who are you trying to convince?   

Let's not turn this into a  *coin door*  measuring contest.   


Scott

[Nephasth]

...

Well, on a related note, I've been shoving my quarter in some slots lately.

 

[CoryBee]

[BadMouth]

http://www.quarterarcade.com/Game.aspx/10147?c=&m=0

Not sure if each section is any bigger than a pinball door, but if the parts fit you'll have two places to put them.

[JDFan]

I want to see if a good-sized coin door allows for wide enough access to pass my extraneous specialized occasional-use clamp-on controllers into & out of my cabinet without having to slide it forward to remove the rear door of the cab to get to its contents.

Maybe use a piano hinge on one side of the entire front bottom panel and have the entire panel along with the coin door swing open for access.

[yotsuya]

...

Well, on a related note, I've been shoving my quarter in some slots lately.

 

Oh, so you HAVE shown her your Grand Lizard.... 

[Nephasth]

...

Well, on a related note, I've been shoving my quarter in some slots lately.

 

Oh, so you HAVE shown her your Grand Lizard.... 

 

Grand Lizard is on free play.

[paigeoliver]

I have this one available it is a little bigger then the current crop of Happ doors.

http://collectedit.com/shops/arcade/coin-door-double-entry-11x13-sega-gremlin-arcade-247

[michelevit]

its on this cab...

[Malenko]

oh snap, million dollar idea....


FRENCH COIN DOORS! , then you can put 2 giant coin doors side by side, french door style!
??

PROFIT!

[ChanceKJ]

.

[jasonbar]

Howdy-

Life got in the way. Back on this now. Love the responses, you guys. :]

OK, so I now have 4 rarely-used specialty controllers that I want to store inside my cabinet, pull out for occasional use, & then store again (Star Wars yoke, Virtual On twin button sticks, 2nd trackball, steering wheel/pedals).

My goal is to be able to access these all through a mongo coin door, rather than pulling my machine out from its back-against-the-wall-gangster-at-dinner, opening the giant back door, getting the controller, closing the door, pushing the machine back, opening the coin door, plugging in the controller...well, you get the idea...

So, my old coin door (bad picture attached) is about 13.75" W x 12" H (measuring the exposed outer flange on the front of the cab).

After browsing Happ's store, I found 2 the 2 biggest coin door assemblies, which I could install by enlarging the cutout hole in my cabinet front panel:


2-entry over/under: http://na.suzohapp.com/all_catalogs/coin_doors/40-0946-20
Entropy Triple Door: http://na.suzohapp.com/all_catalogs/coin_doors/40-0406-25


Alas, these do have multiple doors & therefore a frame member that crosses the opening, shrinking the effective pass-through area.

But, I'm leaning towards the 2-entry over/under, because it looks as if I can cut out that central cross member & the 2 doors' locks will still latch fine (not so w/ the Entropy Triple Door). I know this will leave an air gap between the doors, but I can probably just cut out that cross member & attach it to one of the 2 doors & make sure I remember to open the other door first when going in.


My couple of questions that have yet gone unanswered in my e-mail & voicemail to Happ, if anybody has experience with 40-0946-20:

1: What are the height & width of the outer exposed flange?

2: What are the height & width of the hole required to be cut in the arcade game?

3: How is this door attached to the arcade game? Most of the doors seem to have holes in their outer flange to accept carriage bolts & backing nuts on the inside of the game, but this door's flange has no holes.
    Note that I think I figured out the answer to this question--there seems to be a little rectangular clip at each screw location that will clamp on the inside face of the cabinet front panel.


Thanks,
-Jason

[keilmillerjr]

My coin door is so big, it has its own coin door. And even my coin door's coin door is bigger than your coin door.

On a serious note, the happ over under coin door is not as large as you think. And you would have to cut the lower "box" out to access inside the machine. Could you make a square tunnel going through each side panel as a cubby to keep your items? Seems like a better option as I wouldn't want anyone going inside my machine, and I wouldn't want to open it every time some one wants a Nintendo controller to plug in or some thing.

[Ken Layton]

Happ Controls sells some "access" doors in their coin door line:

http://na.suzohapp.com/amusement_products/coin_doors/42-7050-00

http://na.suzohapp.com/amusement_products/coin_doors/42-1150-00

http://na.suzohapp.com/amusement_products/coin_doors/40-0067-00

[the_gamer]

I always thought the "who has the bigger dick"-contest between arcaders is who has better/more machines or the games with not so usual controls and a larger game room.
 
Now it is all reduced to the size of the coin door? This hurts my feelings 

[jasonbar]

Thanks, Keil & Ken. I wish I could get a hard number on the over-under, more than "not as large as you think." Since I'm striking out getting help from Happ, I'll try to take pictures of my door & compare it against the over-under & try to scale them the same by overlaying the coin insert & coin return rectangles. That should give me a decent idea of its size.

Keil, I'm not sure what you mean by a square tunnel through each side panel. If you're referring to the cabinet, then those will be hard to access, disrupt the side art, & because of the PC & other existing cab internals, still access the same volume that a front panel would access. I rarely have company on my machine, & I rarely use these extra controllers, so no worry about annoying frequent access headaches.


I pulled out my 4 occasional-use controllers & took rough measurements of their outer envelopes:
P2 Trackball (X-Arcade w/ different feet & red T-molding): 17" x 11" x 6"
Virtual On Sega Saturn Twin Stick w/ custom cable: 16" x 13" x 9"
Logitech Steering Wheel (w/ custom center hub & power override switch on force feedback) & Pedals: 14" x 10" x 10" & 13" x 7" x 10"
SWYM (Star Wars Yoke Mount): 14" x 10" x 6"


So, Ken, I did look at those 3 doors to which you linked, & the 2 skinny ones won't really accept any 1 of those controllers without some gyrations. The 3rd one, the blank pinball door, seems to be a size match for my current door, while the over-under that I'm eyeing looks to be bigger, especially if I can combine the over with the under. As a little bonus, if I extend my current coin door cutout left & down, it might absorb a simple blanking plate that I installed to cover big rough coin door lock bar holes that were in the cab when I bought it.

Thanks,
-Jason

[Generic Eric]

Picture this:

The entirety of the front of your cabinet is something that can be opened.   Imagine that your normal sized coin door stays in place, but when you unlock one particular lock, you can open the whole thing, but the coin door stays where it is, as if your coin door has a bezel over it.

[jasonbar]

Already pictured & shot down, but a totally cool idea nonetheless, especially if items were hanging on hooks on the inside of the front panel & they were displayed at your feet when opened! :]

I worry about a few things:

1 - Fit & finish--I know I won't cut straight & that there will be seams & not know how to address them cleanly. I'd rather buy some door with some flange that will cover my handiwork.
2 - Mess. I'm going to probably do cutting in situ, w/ my PC & all installed in the cab--the less cutting, the better. Yah, the shop vac will be front & center while cutting/filing!
3 - Possible weakening of the big fat cab by turning most of the front into a hinged door.

Thanks for the ideas & input!
-Jason

[keilmillerjr]

It sounds like you have too much stuff in the way inside, and a lot of large items to store. Honestly, your best option might be to build some sort of separate companion to hold your stuff. Like a table or mini-bar with storage underneath.

[Generic Eric]

It sounds like you have too much stuff in the way inside, and a lot of large items to store.

I concur.  Put that stuff on a shelf. 

[matt4949]

HaHaHaHaHaHaHeeHeeHeeHeeHeeHoHoHoHo

[PL1]

Since all coin doors appear to be too small, consider going back to the first reply in the thread.

Why not use that 2' x 2' access door (or similar) and mount a normal coin door on it?




Scott

[jasonbar]

Thanks for the input--my mind is made up. I'll show pics after I execute installation of a bigger coin door.

So there. ;P

Thanks,
-Jason

[keilmillerjr]

The meme I made was so awesome, it got reposted. 

[jasonbar]

I heard back from Happ. Hooray. Part of the delay was due to my switching cell phone carriers & not knowing that they'd called for a few days, so let this hereby at least partially clear Happ's customer service record. :]

Happ's excellent & detailed drawing for the over-under coin door is attached.

The outer flange measures 13.63" W x 17.19" H. This over-under door's pass-through hole size, if I combine both doors, is 12.4" W x 15.9" H, which will gain me about 5.5" more of H in my pass-through than I currently have.

I can currently barely & awkwardly pass all of my temporary clamp-on controllers through my coin door--it's just awkward, requires wiggly weaseling, & a bit painful.

Thanks,
-Jason

[jasonbar]

Well, it took 5 months, but I finally got around to it...

Tornado Terry once again came through with a good price on a Happ order, as well as coming through with what appears to be an oddball unstocked Happ item.

For those who have normal attention spans, I essentially wanted a bigger pass-through in the front of my cab through which I could insert & remove my 4 rarely used specialty controllers, without needing external storage or needing to scooch the game out to access the back panel, also allowing me to keep all USB items always plugged in so that their IDs don't get fudged up.

I got this: http://na.suzohapp.com/all_catalogs/coin_doors/40-0946-00

And, to turn 2 small doors into 1 big door, I did this:

1 - Looks stock, no?

2 - What's that line on the frame at the left?

3 - And on the right?

4 - Hey, how do the doors swing out together, along w/ the middle frame member?

5 - What a capacious pass-through!

6 - Screw

7 - 3 more screws. 4 total. Nuts too. And washers. Washers not only under screw head & under nut, but as shims between doors & center bar to act as shims & to keep the doors parallel & spaced properly.

8 - Detail of slit by hinge.


Cutting was awkward. I used a hacksaw blade & my fingers. I couldn't use the hacksaw handle or a jab saw handle b/c of clearance. Good thing I had a brand new blade & that the frame is aluminum, not steel. I cut pretty straight. Pretty straight. Then a few relatively carefully marked & not-too-diagonally-drilled holes, some fasteners, & some Rust-Oleum black hammered paint to cover the cuts (but it's more of a steel gray than black...eh, close enough--doesn't really show anyway).


Thanks,
-Jason

[AzureKnight]

So do all the controllers fit through there?  I'd hate to hear they didn't.

[jasonbar]

Well, it took me 5 months to cut 2 slots, drill 16 holes, screw some screws, & paint 2 square inches.

I'll get back to you in another 5 month with an update. :]

I did some rough measurements & think it will work out fine.

Actually, my brother is great with woodworking. I'm going to have him help me mount the door & figure out in-cab controller storage during his next visit, so I hope to have it squared away much sooner than 5 months... :]

Thanks,
-Jason

[jasonbar]

DOOOOONE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Coin door installed. It was the same width as my old one, so I had only to cut down to extend the hole down...
and temporarily undo some wires that I didn't want to cut...
and clean up lots of sawdust...
and put a little wood filler in 2 places...
and repaint the Rust-Oleum hammered black paint around some spots (the outer flange on this door sticks out less than that on the old door) & re-attach my monitor controls to the new door...
and wire the 5V & GND wires to the 4 LEDs in the coin return slots...
and then finally add the kick panel art that I've had in my hands for just over a year, waiting for this moment...
and then trim the kick panel art so it wouldn't overlap the coin door...
and then do some barrel lock swaps so that my cab's back panel & coin door both use the same key & that I have a dummy impotent lock filling the hole on the bottom coin door...
that's all...

All controls fit handily through the door.

Now, I need to mount them in the cab in a semi-accessible, semi-protected fashion. I bought a set of garage hooks (rubberized big hoopy hooks) the other day--those should help. You can see my SWYM Star Wars yoke peeking out on the right--that will probably be shifted.


Thanks,
-Jason

[jasonbar]

Shoehorned!

Mouse 1: CP central trackball
Mouse 2: X-Arcade removable trackball
Mouse 3: Push-pull spinner
Mouse 4: Aimtrak gun 1
Mouse 5: Aimtrak gun 2
Mouse 6: Non-push-pull spinner

J1: Permanent analog stick
J2: Steering wheel
J3: Star Wars yoke


Did a few tests--assigned controls to games, rebooted, checked controls, etc. Seem to be sticking...as long as nothing comes unplugged in there...

-Jason