Centipede coin mechs...does machine have to be ON to accept coins???

[ArtMAME]

I was testing the coin door on my Centipede project after I put some US 25c coin mechs in it... the quarter just gets rejected and ends up in the coin return... does it on both slots...actually, only does it in the right coin slot... my quarter got stuck in the left coin mech...  ... darn!!!
It won't gimme my  quarter back... now I am out 25 cents... ...

But seriously folks...

I was looking at Al's Arcade page at his Centipede restoration, and he mentioned something about 12V getting  to the coin door for the coin rejector coils. 

I was wondering if those coils have to be energized for the mechs to accept coins...
Seems logical to me...    ...my machine is not wired for power yet so I cannot test this theory right now...

Any advice would be appreciated. 

[FunWithFire]

Coin doors do not need to be powered to accept the coin, you only need to be powered to register the credit. Make sure your coin doors have coin mechanisms and not token mechanisms. On a token mech a quarter would not work.

[Ken Layton]

Atari originally had Coin Acceptors (a.k.a. "Coinco") brand coin doors installed on Centipede uprights. These doors were equipped with the optional "coin lockout coils". These blockout any coins inserted when the power is off. Game must be powered on and fully booted up before these coils energize to accept coins. Once the game is booted up they stay on all the time the machine power is on. Atari custom ordered 10 volt DC lockout coils (they had to be different than other game manufacturers) for all their games at the time. Even the coin counting meter was for use on 10 volts DC. You can connect the 10 volt DC lockout coils to 12 volts DC and they'll be perfectly fine. These coils also have a protection diode wired across the coil itself so when wiring to a power source, the banded end (cathode) of the diode goes to +12 or +10 volts DC. The NON-banded end (anode) of the diode goes to ground or com of the power supply.

[ArtMAME]

I finally got my Centipede playable  using a Centipede-to-JAMMA adapter... It is on free play right now.  I still need to neaten up the loom and do some cosmetic work on the cab... but otherwise, it is playing great.

Thanks for the tip Ken...

[Paladin]

If you get a converted Atari cab with the original coin door, you'll sometimes see the coils have a plastic tie-wrap holding the coils.

 I remember powering on a Space Duel for the first time and hearing a clicking sound from the coin door - I thought something fried, but it was just the coils activating.