ArcRevival
Well-known member
I have worked on machines by 5 Star and Smart Industries. Both seem decent. Haven't worked on any that were really bad yet. What would you say are the best and worst as far as cranes and ticket redemption games go ?
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I have heard ICE is good. I worked on a Dinoscore but only had to replace the sensor on the gun and the motor. Wasn't a big deal. What about Challenger ? How bad are those ?
As for Smart, I worked on a Candy Crane and it didn't seem that bad. At least their tech support was good.
Sorry if my reviews seem too negative or cynical. I've been
in this industry for a long time. I've worked on a LOT of
redemption equipment. A lot of games are really well built
and thought out but some companies just don't put any
thought into their design or they just don't care. Most
companies learn from their mistakes and improve their
product. Some have said what the hell we need to up our
product margin so we'll just import a load toxic Chinese
junk (if you've ever opened a container of their games
the you know what formaldehyde smells like).
So here we go, in no particular order:
5 Star (Planet Earth):
Complete and utter crap. If you've worked on a Dino
Score or Surfin' Safari then you know what I'm talking about.
Smart:
More or less crap. If you've worked on a Smartball or a
ticket center you know what I'm talking about. Remember
the photo booth with the HP inkjet printer ? And how many
hours have YOU spent trying to get that damned ticket
center to accurately count tickets ?
ICE:
Used to be a lot better. Their newer board systems aren't
nearly reliable and as easy to repair as their games from not
so long ago. Their tech support is usually pretty helpful but
shame on them for what they sell replacement Deal or No Deal
computers for $$$ !
Skeeball:
Oh why oh why did you redesign the Super Shot boards ?
Aside from that, not too bad.
Baytek:
Not bad. I've never had major problems with any of their
equipment and their tech support was always helpful.
Benchmark:
Mixed bag. Most games are pretty well designed. Schematics
would really be welcome but good luck with that. If you've
worked on a Drill-o-matic you know where I'm coming from.
Bob's Space Racers:
Pricey but really well built.
Andamiro:
Imported junk.
Lazer Tron (deceased):
Not bad. Most of their equipment was pretty reliable
and easy to repair.
Namco:
Newer stuff ok. Dishonorary mention goes to
Crappy Crab and Wackoff Gator - If you've worked on
one you know what I'm talking about.
Coastal Amusements:
Crap, Crap and more Crap.
LAI Games:
Mixed thoughts. Some of their equipment was always trouble
free but Stacker, oh Stacker. Yeah, you know where I'm coming from
if you've had one of the prize sensors go bad. Every now and then
I'd get a board in that was paying out wayyyyy too many wins. No
help from support. Here's a hint - replace the CPU and the couple of
RAM chips. It's about $15 worth of parts and solves all your problems.
And avoid like the plague:
Harry Levy, Cromptons and Bromley[/
PFFFFFTTTTT WACKOFF GATOR!
Andamiro games are ones that I generally despise working on. They always seem to have a few strange quirks to them and the manuals and operator menu screens are poorly translated to English.
I like ICE games a lot, they are usually well engineered, easy to work on and hold up well. Most of the companies that build redemption games make decent equipment but it seems like every company has that one game that is a nightmare to keep running.
Smart cranes - yuck !
They have those brass worm drives on the motors and gears on the shafts.
When a switch fails or the gantry gets stuck the motor keeps going and shreds
the corkscrew drive. You then have to kiss away $150 for a new motor and you'd
better fix the underlying problem first before installing the new one. At least
Elaut uses replaceable nylon gears on the shafts which break without destroying
the motor.
Challenger what ? The cranes ?
JD
Didn't know that about the motors. Who makes the best cranes ?
IMO, ICE makes the best quality cranes. The whole claw carriage comes out of the game easily with 1 connector and a thumbscrew. There are 8 belts throughout the whole assembly instead of the 2 in a normal crane. Everything is built much more robust than any other brand I've owned or worked on.
I usually buy Coastal Amusements cranes, even though they're cheap Chinese crap, because they pay themselves off within a couple months in the right location. I can buy 2 costal cranes and fill them with merchandise for the price of one ICE crane.
Smart is my least favorite, considering how many up/down motors I've replaced among our 5th/6th/7th gen models, and how difficult it is to replace on location.
Oh yeah - forgot about Family Fun !
Make sure you keep a stockpile of motors for the
King's Castle because they burn out every 4 months.
JD
They made a firmware update for KC that turns off the cauldron motor when nobody is playing. Call them and ask about it.
Made a HUGE difference on ours.
For the most part I agree with you on ICE cranes but the claws are difficult
to adjust for merchandise. They don't seem to have a lot of grabbing power
even when set to 100%. That actually makes a lot of operators happy but many
NJ locations are play to win and I've seen a lot of coils fry in busy locations.
Their boards are the easiest to repair, usually an occasional bad TIP 122 in
the H-Bridge.
I agree with you on Smart or Coastal. The China cranes have their
quirks but usually are surprisingly reliable.
JD
I'll look into that also.
Personal preference, but I like most of benchmark's stuff, and ICE doesn't seem to cause many problems either if it is properly grounded, but by far the worst is Lazertron, who is now bought out by so-and-so, etc. We have a Lot-O-Fun that is the biggest piece of shit ever. Had to track down one of the original engineers just to get the right settings for the stepgate that runs the motor, I swear NASA shuttles are less complicated than this tghing!