Coin Mechs make my face look like this: :(

hindered

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So, I have an Olympia-made cab that I've converted to a 60 in 1 for my personal collection. The area the coin mechs fit into on the coin door is a little bit too narrow to hold my plastic .900 mechs, so I filed parts of the edge of the mechs down just a touch with a grinding wheel so they fit. The mechs work fine when not installed, they also work fine when installed with the coin door open. However, when I close the coin door, the left mech always rejects the token.

The coin door is a bit warped so I need to kind of jam it in to get it to close, which makes me think the mech is leaning back/to one side just enough when the door is closed to make it not work properly. Anything I can do about this?
 
I had the exact same problem on a game I had on location. The left coin slot would jam, but never the right. When I had the door open, I could drop a quarter in it and it worked fine. Shut the door, and the quarter always got stuck.

The problem? The wires leading to the coin switches exit to that side, and when the door was shut, the wires pressed against the side of the coin mech, causing the little levered cradle to hang up, and the quarter would jam.

The solution was to simply tie up the wire bundle better to keep it out of the mech.

-Ian
 
Ah. Well, then it's not the wires :)

Can you tell where the coin is getting stuck? Does it fall out when you open the door, or remain stuck? I've seen some doors that were bent such that when you put a quarter in the slot, it would lodge on the top of the coin mechanism and not even go in. Or, does the token simply fall through the mech and wind up in the coin return? Sometimes this can be caused by the coin rolling through too slowly - or even if the mech isn't level.

Also, since these are plastic mechs, carefully inspect to make sure that they're not being stressed - sand a bit more off the edge if you need to. If they get bent or pressed too hard they malfunction. Verify that nothing is touching or pressing against the front of the mechanisms. Also, make sure that the screws holding the mechanisms in place aren't so long as to enter into the mech and mess with the coin path.

-Ian
 
Ahh, I need to clarify -- it's not jamming -- it's rejecting the token. It comes out the rejected coin slot no problem. I can reproduce this when the mech is not installed -- if I hold it level and plumb in my hand, it works perfect. If I lean the mech to the side, or to the back, the coin gets rejected.

Another issue I'm having in this cab is with the reject button. Most of the time when I push it in, it remains stuck in unless I give the cab a whack. Never run into this on one of my own games (although plenty of times in the wild). What can I do about this?
 
Ahh, I need to clarify -- it's not jamming -- it's rejecting the token. It comes out the rejected coin slot no problem. I can reproduce this when the mech is not installed -- if I hold it level and plumb in my hand, it works perfect. If I lean the mech to the side, or to the back, the coin gets rejected.
Ah. Well. There's your problem. Bend the coin door back into shape so it holds the mech level.

Also, are these used mechs? As the coin mechanisms get old, especially those brown plastic ones, the coin path gets dirty and sticky from all the crud that is on the money. Flip open the mech and scrub the coin path with cleaner - soapy water or Windex. As the coin path gets dirty, it puts more drag on the coin as it goes through, slowing it down. It'll be a lot worse if the mech is not perfectly level.

Another issue I'm having in this cab is with the reject button. Most of the time when I push it in, it remains stuck in unless I give the cab a whack. Never run into this on one of my own games (although plenty of times in the wild). What can I do about this?

Usually I see this when the coin mechs themselves are dirty and gummed up - the spring in the coin mech is supposed to push the lever up that kicks the button back out. If the mech is rusty or dirty, or the spring is damaged, it won't. I don't know what kind of door you have, but some are worse than others. If the mechs are OK, then take the coin reject button assembly apart and clean it. They get dirty and rusty and bind up. The over/under type doors can be pretty bad with this, as crud gets into that red plastic pushbutton area. Or, on the Midway doors with the metal buttons, the buttons corrode and rust. A good cleaning and a little lubrication at the joints of the moving parts will free it up.

-Ian
 
Forgot about this thread -- the problem coin mech was missing a piece. I ended up taking the two out of another cab that are super forgiving and put them into the 60 in 1.. I then put two new ones into the other cab and tossed the one missing a piece back into the box for later repair. Problem solved.
 
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