Coin mechanism issues

[MaximRecoil]

The mechanism is made by Coin Mech, Inc. It rejects the coin into the coin return slot nearly every time. The strange thing is that when I test it with the door open so I can try seeing what is going on, it accepts the coin nearly every time 

Does anyone have an explanation for that? Are there any adjustments I should make?

[grantspain]

mechanical or electronic
mechanical-something pushing on the mech when the door closed
electronic-some kind of break in the wiring to the +volts or the ground

[MaximRecoil]

They are mechanical and there is nothing pushing on it when the door is closed. It is very strange. The only thing I can think of is maybe there is a slight change in "level" when the door is closed. Do coin mechanisms have to be perfectly level, or within some small window of "level" to work? That seems far-fetched to me. The other coin mechanism right beside it works fine every time whether the door is opened or closed.

[Ken Layton]

They are mechanical and there is nothing pushing on it when the door is closed. It is very strange. The only thing I can think of is maybe there is a slight change in "level" when the door is closed. Do coin mechanisms have to be perfectly level, or within some small window of "level" to work? That seems far-fetched to me. The other coin mechanism right beside it works fine every time whether the door is opened or closed.

Yes, in general ALL mechanical coins mechs must be level (front to back AND side to side) to work properly. Be sure the game cabinet is level.

Make sure the mech is clean and the cradle pivots easily and smoothly.

There are adjustments that can be made. The Coin Mech "100" series mechanical coin acceptor service & adjustments manual is posted at http://arcarc.xmission.com and it's also available to download at www.coinmech.com

[MaximRecoil]

They are mechanical and there is nothing pushing on it when the door is closed. It is very strange. The only thing I can think of is maybe there is a slight change in "level" when the door is closed. Do coin mechanisms have to be perfectly level, or within some small window of "level" to work? That seems far-fetched to me. The other coin mechanism right beside it works fine every time whether the door is opened or closed.

Yes, in general ALL mechanical coins mechs must be level (front to back AND side to side) to work properly. Be sure the game cabinet is level.

Make sure the mech is clean and the cradle pivots easily and smoothly.

There are adjustments that can be made. The Coin Mech "100" series mechanical coin acceptor service & adjustments manual is posted at http://arcarc.xmission.com and it's also available to download at www.coinmech.com

Thanks for the reply and the link to the manual. I'm not sure which, if any, of those adjustments would help. The cabinet is roughly level. I didn't fine tune it with a level or anything, but the mech right beside it works fine. They both worked fine before I installed them too, just holding them in my hand, which was in no way perfectly level. This problem is bizarre. If there is any change in level from the door being open and the door being closed (the door is not bent or warped or anything), you'd need quite the precision instrument to measure it and it would no doubt be a tiny fraction of a degree if there was any change at all.

Sometimes it does work with the door closed, but only like 1 out of 10 times at best. It works every time with the door open. It is funny, because you can open the door maybe a half an inch and it still rejects the coin into the coin return slot. But if the door is open anywhere from say, 3/4" to all the way open, it drops through and trips the microswitch every time.

I'd like to videotape it. Anyone watching would think it was a damn fine magic trick, lol.

I could open the door a half inch and say, "What we have here is a coin mechanism that will not accept coins.", and then I could demonstrate by dropping 9 or 10 quarters in there and having it reject them all. And then while I wave a magic wand and say "Abracadabra!", I'd open the door another 1/4" and then to the crowd's amazement, every single quarter I drop in gets accepted.

Where's that site or organization or guy or whatever that has the standing offer of some obscene amount of money if someone can demonstrate the "supernatural"? I have a possessed coin mech I could show them (lol).

[Ken Layton]

Take the acceptor out and set it in front of you. Now looking at the rear of it, loosen the "seperator" at the very bottom and slide it to the left about a sixteenth of an inch. Retighten the screw and try it out with coins to see if that helped. If not slide the seperator another sixteenth of an inch to the left.

[MaximRecoil]

Take the acceptor out and set it in front of you. Now looking at the rear of it, loosen the "seperator" at the very bottom and slide it to the left about a sixteenth of an inch. Retighten the screw and try it out with coins to see if that helped. If not slide the seperator another sixteenth of an inch to the left.

It doesn't have a separator . I guess that is the problem, though I don't see how that would explain it working while the door is open, but either way...

The other mech, the one that works fine has a separator. I had some spare coin mechs kicking around here somewhere that didn't work all that great that I could probably get a separator from, if I could ever find them.

Thanks for the help. I didn't know what a separator was until just now, so I didn't know to even look for it, much less adjust it.

[MaximRecoil]

Okay, I found those spare mechs and took a separator off one of them and put it on the one I was having issues with and now it works perfectly. I just dropped in $5 worth of quarters in a row with the door closed and it accepted them all.

Thanks again Ken.

[Ken Layton]

The seperator is very important. Generally a mech will never work properly without it.

[BobA]

Hey Ken

Just a note of appreciation.  You are a great asset to any board that you are on.  A wealth of knowledge and overall helpful guy.

 

[david656]

grantspain EDDIE-wina lmao classic pekabo bra lmao

[MaximRecoil]

Hey Ken

Just a note of appreciation.  You are a great asset to any board that you are on.  A wealth of knowledge and overall helpful guy.

 

I agree 100%. Ken Layton wins a BYOAC "MVP" in my book, not to mention an RGVAC and KLOV "MVP" as well. Not to say that others aren't helpful as well (I think we all try to help where we can), but we can't all be walking arcade-tech encyclopedias with 30+ years of field experience like Ken. 

grantspain EDDIE-wina lmao classic pekabo bra lmao