Coin Doors and Mechs Question...

[timjpriebe]

I'm considering adding a coin door and mech to my arcade, but I don't really know much about them. How do I know if a given coin door will fit a given coin mech? And will all arcade maching coin mechs work with my IPAC?

[Stingray]

As far as compatability with an iPac goes that's not a problem. The signal is not sent by anything in the mech, it's sent by a simple switch that the coin hits when exiting the mech. The mech only determines if you have inserted the correct coin or not. As far as I know mechs are universal. Any mech will fit any coin door.

-S

[mp2526]

Thats correct, pretty much any mech will fit any door.  The bigger question is getting the right mech for the type of coin you plan on using.

[Thenasty]

if you want a coin mech that will accept 1-5-10-25 cents and the Dollar Coins and Tokens of any size that fits the coin entry, check the "Ultimate Coin Mech" here

http://www.arcadecontrols.org/yabbse/index.php?board=2;action=display;threadid=19200

[timjpriebe]

if you want a coin mech that will accept 1-5-10-25 cents and the Dollar Coins and Tokens of any size that fits the coin entry, check the "Ultimate Coin Mech" here

http://www.arcadecontrols.org/yabbse/index.php?board=2;action=display;threadid=19200

So can it accept any kind of coin without having to modify it at all? If so, I'd love one! Do you happen to have a coin door I could buy off you too?

[Thenasty]

Yes its already modified to accept them all, just pop it in.

what type of coin door are you looking for ? There are different kinds. Check Happs to see what fits you.

[timjpriebe]

I'm looking for something like the one on the left in this picture:



Two coins, with those type of coin return buttons. Would I need two coin mechs, then?

[Thenasty]

yes you need 2 coin mechs for this type of door. Some doors have 4 entries so it needs 4 mechs.

[Ken Layton]

Thats correct, pretty much any mech will fit any door.  


If the door was manufactured after 1996 that statement would be true. The A.M.O.A. standards adopted in 1996 state that any mech should fit any manufacturers' door.

 Before 1995 it was a free-for-all. Some mechs just did not fit some makes/models of coin doors. Coin Controls doors immediately come to mind. Coin Controls coin mechs before 1995 had a 'shovel' type extension at the top entry of the mech and fit the Coin Controls doors best because the coin ramp had a cutout area at the top of where the coin exits the ramp and starts to enter the coin mech. If you put another manufacturers' coin mech in that door every so often the coins would fall out that area and completely miss going into the coin mech! That robbed the player then the player gets mad and proceeds to bash the coin door. That also explains when you find a bunch of coins on the bottom interior of the game. Coin Controls doors made before 1991 were made to metric standards and used metric hardware.

Similar thing on Midway (a.k.a. Pacman) doors. Midway added an "anti-penny flipping" device to the coin mech mounting bracket (a.k.a. 'saddle'). Generally these doors work best with metal Coin Mech brand units (that's what was originally supplied anyway). Later tan plastic Coinco (a.k.a. Coin Acceptors, Inc.) units will fit this door, but the earlier ones would not because they lacked a certain hole on the backside of the mech to clear that anti-penny flipping device.

[Thenasty]

Similar thing on Midway (a.k.a. Pacman) doors. Midway added an "anti-penny flipping" device to the coin mech mounting bracket (a.k.a. 'saddle').

Even this trick Midway found a way to fix it ? I use to do this in Pacman/Ms.Pacman in a Bowling alley. I got so good at it and it only takes me one try and BINGO one credit  . But then later on, it feels like the coin mech was very loose and I could not get any penny in, I decided to go with the QUARTER on a String trick and BINGO, it went right in and got myself 99 credits in w/one coin  

I guess this is when they found the fix for Anti Stringing device, which they installed a CUTTER so when you pull up the string it gets cut  . Oh well those were the days....Now I just open up the Coin Door and push the coin switch to get credits  

[Ken Layton]

Yes, Midway issued a service bulletin around 1981 announcing this refit kit to prevent penny flipping up the coin return to get free (or almost free) credits.  This was put into production on all Midway doors starting with Ms. Pacman. At that time Coin Mech also introduced the string cutter option on their line of coin chutes.

[quarterstringer]

I use to do this in Pacman/Ms.Pacman in a Bowling alley. I got so good at it and it only takes me one try and BINGO one credit  . But then later on, it feels like the coin mech was very loose and I could not get any penny in, I decided to go with the QUARTER on a String trick and BINGO, it went right in and got myself 99 credits in w/one coin  

I remember those tricks, did you ever shuffle your feet on the carpet and strike the coin door with a quarter to get free games. I can't remember which game those were, maybe Galaga, but you knew which ones it worked on because of all the scratches on the coin doors.

[Ken Layton]

That static electricity problem is why the manufacturers started using big, heavy ground straps to the coin door , monitor frame, and control panel.

[Stingray]

did you ever shuffle your feet on the carpet and strike the coin door with a quarter to get free games. I can't remember which game those were, maybe Galaga, but you knew which ones it worked on because of all the scratches on the coin doors.

HAHAHAHHA! I totally forgot about that! The little arcade across the street from my high school actually ripped out their carpet after this trick became well known.  

-S