Coin Door Hookup

[deepblue]

I just got a used coin door from a vendor on eBay, and have been toying with the idea of making it a "working" coin mechanism. I'm still new to the game a bit, and was curious if anyone was able to tell from this wiring view what I need to do in order to make it operable:



I get that I somehow need to connect a lead to the keyboard encoder that maps to "insert coin"...but can anyone give me some advice on which lead that is? Do I need to power the coin door?

Thanks.

[GAJoe]

There are two microswitches that need to be hooked up.  I've circled them in red in your picture:



There are normally three terminals on the switch.  A ground, a normally open (NO), and a normally closed (NC).  You want to wire the grounds to each other and then ground them to your encoder, and wire the NO terminals to the coin 1 and coin 2 buttons of your encoder.

If you're familiar already with wiring up pushbuttons or joysticks, the microswitches on the coin door work exactly the same way.

[deepblue]

Perfect - Thanks....!!

[GAJoe]

I probably didn't make that very clear.  Just in case, let me clarify.

Take either switch, whichever you want to be player 1 coin slot, and wire its ground terminal to the ground on your encoder and wire its NO terminal to the coin 1 key on your encoder.  Then do the same thing with the other switch, only wire its NO terminal to the coin 2 key.  You can tie the grounds to each other and then to the encoder, or you can wire them separately, it's a matter of preference really, just so long as everything is grounded to complete the circuit.

[deepblue]

I got it - I didn't realize those were microswitches on the coin door...the wiring is the same as a normal microswitch then!

Now I just need to restore the door....

[GAJoe]

Now I just need to restore the door....

Depending on the kind of shape the door's in, you might find some useful tips from Csa's ordeal with coin door restoration:  http://www.csa3d.com/galaxian_coindoor.php#RestorationBegins

I followed his tip about using a dremel tool (in my case a steel wheel bit for my drill) to grind all the old paint off the door.  It took me about 30 minutes to achieve something I'd spent hours off and on for five years trying to do with steel wool, sand paper, and mineral spirits.

[deepblue]

Thanks - I appreciate the tips. The front of the door isnt in too bad of shape, but there's some rust and other scratches, so grinding it down to bare metal might be a good idea. The bigger problem I have is the plastic around one of the returns is cracked and pushed out of shape, so I think I'm going to need to break some of it off and Bondo a new surround on it. I didn't really notice this in the eBay listing, you can faintly see it on the bottom left:



I know I could have bought a new one, etc., but for me restoration is half the fun...I love a challenge!

[GAJoe]

Lizard Lick has replacement coin reject bezels.  Not sure if they'd match your exact door, though.  http://www.lizardlickamusements.com//pages/coin_doors_parts.shtml

[deepblue]

Wow - I had no idea...hehe. I'll see if I can get the measurements! Thanks again.