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Author Topic: DIY coin mech?  (Read 9345 times)

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biktorrr

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DIY coin mech?
« on: August 26, 2008, 10:07:40 am »
I am currently finishing my cabinet. I recently bought a nice second hand coin door, but I don't have a coin mech. Buying one in the Netherlands is pretty expensive and shipping used coin mechs from the States will also cost a lot. So I was wondering if any of you guys have any experience or ideas about how to make a working coin mech...

I now have the 'return' button on the coin door wired up to my I-pac's coin input, but it would be really nice if any 'donations' would result in credits as well.

My initial attempts include a 'coin ramp' built from cardboard and two pieces of wire that connect when something falls past it, but this is hardly a sturdy solution.

any schematics/thoughts?
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shardian

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Re: DIY coin mech?
« Reply #1 on: August 26, 2008, 10:23:46 am »
They've been done before, but I would still recommend you look for a real coin mech. Do any businesses have video games near you? If so, then you still have a vending/arcade operator in your area. Find out who they are and bug them for a coin mech or two.

There are also several members on this site in your area. I'm sure one of them has a good source, or even a few spare sitting around.

biktorrr

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Re: DIY coin mech?
« Reply #2 on: August 27, 2008, 07:43:10 am »
They've been done before

Really? I have been looking like crazy, but I have yet to find any description of a DIY coin mech. If you have a link/post or something, could you post it here please?
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shardian

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Re: DIY coin mech?
« Reply #3 on: August 27, 2008, 08:04:37 am »
If you have a coin door, then you should have the credit switches on the door-they are not part of the actual mech. A coin mech is really only a coin comparator. Its main purpose is to guide the coin to the actual coin switch.

All you have to do is guide the coin from the coin slot to the credit switch. How you do that is up to you. I have heard of people using paper, cardboard, wood, metal. Whatever material you use, it just has to be a chute that gets the coin there.

ratzz

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Re: DIY coin mech?
« Reply #4 on: August 27, 2008, 08:45:03 am »
I've racked my brain about this for weeks, and cannot come up with a solution that would validate a coin as a manufactured coin mechanism would.

I ended up buying a coin mech, mostly to see how it works and see if there is any kind of DIY solution to it, but it just doesn't look like there is one - it's too mechanical and there is too much bent, welded and twisted metal in there for a DIY'er to tackle. Its a bit like trying to build a DIY monitor, it just can't be done in a build yourself kind of way.

I've also seen the other "solutions" with paper, card and other materials, but shardian is right, they are all just a chute to guide the coin past a switch, and will not validate a coin.

I'd be really interested in anyone else's solutions to this, but I would also recommend bugging and begging anyone you can.

I went to Blackpool Pleasure Beach this weekend with my family, and there must be thousands of the damn things. I thought there must be a stockpile of these things somewhere that are old / broken or just a little TLC would fix.

Good luck buddy ...

EDIT: Here is my coin mech to show you what I mean ... The microswitch fits just below where the coin goes through, but I've removed it for storage because there is a thin wire to activate a credit when the coin passes over it.
« Last Edit: August 27, 2008, 09:02:35 am by ratzz »

biktorrr

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Re: DIY coin mech?
« Reply #5 on: August 27, 2008, 09:40:58 am »
@ Shardian/ratzz:
aha, that explains a lot. My coin door does not have a single switch anywhere. (I got it dirt cheap, so someone probably removed the switch from the coin door before it got to me). Thanks for clearing that up for me, I always thought the coin mechs held the switches.

Anyway, I don't mind using cardboard chutes to guide the coins to a switch, but up till now the switch was the main problem (not reliable, will not be triggered by light coins etc.) in the contraptions I've created so far. What type of switch do you guys think would be a good replacement for my missing coin door switch?

Thanks for helping me out this much!
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brock.sampson

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Re: DIY coin mech?
« Reply #6 on: August 27, 2008, 10:08:40 am »
You need a switch like these, http://happcontrols.com/amusement/acesor/42107500.htm.  There should be a rounded slot near the bottom of the coin slot that the wire passes through and there should be mounting holes for the coin switch.
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ratzz

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Re: DIY coin mech?
« Reply #7 on: August 27, 2008, 12:51:08 pm »
You need a switch like these, http://happcontrols.com/amusement/acesor/42107500.htm.  There should be a rounded slot near the bottom of the coin slot that the wire passes through and there should be mounting holes for the coin switch.

Yep, that's pretty much what my switch looks like -- just screws on to the bottom just below where the correct coin passes through...

SavannahLion

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Re: DIY coin mech?
« Reply #8 on: August 27, 2008, 02:21:25 pm »
I ended up buying a coin mech, mostly to see how it works and see if there is any kind of DIY solution to it, but it just doesn't look like there is one - it's too mechanical and there is too much bent, welded and twisted metal in there for a DIY'er to tackle. Its a bit like trying to build a DIY monitor, it just can't be done in a build yourself kind of way.

I read someones account on coinmechs somewhere. It was an interesting paper. In this day and age, it's gotten to the point where you have to understand a little bit about metallurgy, physics, engineering and some other random bits of science. Creating a DIY solution is probably way too much of an exercise. It can be done, but the effort and money expended on such a venture would probably be better suited elsewhere.

jfunk

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Re: DIY coin mech?
« Reply #9 on: August 27, 2008, 03:10:15 pm »
Heh.  I did exactly what the other guys are saying, here.  Crafted a little plastic chute out of some leftover packaging and directed the coin from the slot to the switch.  It'll take ANYTHING you want to drop into it  :)  (Within reason...)

kelemvor

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Re: DIY coin mech?
« Reply #10 on: August 28, 2008, 06:01:36 pm »
Heh.  I did exactly what the other guys are saying, here.  Crafted a little plastic chute out of some leftover packaging and directed the coin from the slot to the switch.  It'll take ANYTHING you want to drop into it  :)  (Within reason...)

That's what I was thinking.  As long as you don't want to make a DIY one that can tell a token from a coin from a button, etc, it should be pretty simple.

biktorrr

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Re: DIY coin mech?
« Reply #11 on: September 01, 2008, 07:58:55 am »
Yeah, I'm gonna go with a microswitch with a long actuator and do the cardboard-chute thing. thanks a bunch
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protokatie

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Re: DIY coin mech?
« Reply #12 on: September 01, 2008, 05:28:29 pm »
before I bought my coin door/mech system off of thenasty, I was going to have a chute that went down to a keyboard sitting in the bottom of the cab. Over the 5 and 6 buttons I was going to have cylendars that the coin would hit, and then fall off to the sides in a bin that was over the other keys. Sounds crazy, but from my tests a quarter dropped from 2 inches would trigger the key (laptop keyboard). Try it out yourself for a lark :D

Oh well, now I actually have the real deal and see no real reason to make a ridiculous contraption....
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Re: DIY coin mech?
« Reply #13 on: September 02, 2008, 11:14:01 am »
before I bought my coin door/mech system off of thenasty, I was going to have a chute that went down to a keyboard sitting in the bottom of the cab. Over the 5 and 6 buttons I was going to have cylendars that the coin would hit, and then fall off to the sides in a bin that was over the other keys. Sounds crazy, but from my tests a quarter dropped from 2 inches would trigger the key (laptop keyboard). Try it out yourself for a lark :D

Oh well, now I actually have the real deal and see no real reason to make a ridiculous contraption....

That's funny.  Should rig up a chute and a moving keyboard like those games at Chuck E Cheese.  Tell people if they drop in a quarter and it hits the right key then they can play a game...

protokatie

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Re: DIY coin mech?
« Reply #14 on: September 02, 2008, 10:59:57 pm »
before I bought my coin door/mech system off of thenasty, I was going to have a chute that went down to a keyboard sitting in the bottom of the cab. Over the 5 and 6 buttons I was going to have cylendars that the coin would hit, and then fall off to the sides in a bin that was over the other keys. Sounds crazy, but from my tests a quarter dropped from 2 inches would trigger the key (laptop keyboard). Try it out yourself for a lark :D

Oh well, now I actually have the real deal and see no real reason to make a ridiculous contraption....

That's funny.  Should rig up a chute and a moving keyboard like those games at Chuck E Cheese.  Tell people if they drop in a quarter and it hits the right key then they can play a game...

Hmm, could be a neat idea... Maybe even have different keys give different numbers of credits... :D
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bigdog1977

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Re: DIY coin mech?
« Reply #15 on: September 03, 2008, 12:32:59 am »
before I bought my coin door/mech system off of thenasty, I was going to have a chute that went down to a keyboard sitting in the bottom of the cab. Over the 5 and 6 buttons I was going to have cylendars that the coin would hit, and then fall off to the sides in a bin that was over the other keys. Sounds crazy, but from my tests a quarter dropped from 2 inches would trigger the key (laptop keyboard). Try it out yourself for a lark :D

Oh well, now I actually have the real deal and see no real reason to make a ridiculous contraption....



That's funny.  Should rig up a chute and a moving keyboard like those games at Chuck E Cheese.  Tell people if they drop in a quarter and it hits the right key then they can play a game...

Hmm, could be a neat idea... Maybe even have different keys give different numbers of credits... :D

HAhaha thats some funny ---steaming pile of meadow muffin---! You would have to have a plexy glass window with a light so they could see where the coin hits. Hmmm. Gambling and an arcade together! I like it!!
Dern back to the drawing board!  ;D
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Akyles

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Re: DIY coin mech?
« Reply #16 on: November 29, 2008, 10:15:46 pm »
Check this out:
http://www.josepino.com/other_projects/?coin-operated_machine_II

Looks easy to build,  better than a cardboard one  ;).

vorghagen

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Re: DIY coin mech?
« Reply #17 on: November 30, 2008, 08:14:58 am »
Check this out:
http://www.josepino.com/other_projects/?coin-operated_machine_II

Looks easy to build,  better than a cardboard one  ;).

THAT is genius. Probably not too hard to hook up some kind of switch either. Bookmarked.
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