Coin slot inhibitor

uriahsky

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I remember seeing this thing that you can put into a coin slot to prevent people from putting quarters into the slot. It was used to show people that the game was not working and it could only be removed by the operator. It looked like it was metal and somehow locked itself in the slot. Is anyone aware of anything like this? I could use it because when a slot is down or game is down we get so many people who can't seem to figure it out even though the game is unplugged, with a big sign on it, turned around, etc. Is something like this still out there?
Thanks
Russ
 
I've never seen such a thing that was not homemade.

Most ops would just toss a short drywall or 'close enough' sized sheet metal screw in the slot.
 
Most ops would just toss a short drywall or 'close enough' sized sheet metal screw in the slot.

To which people would spend 10 minutes unscrewing it, put a quarter in the slot, then come up to the counter and complain that a machine took their money.

I saw you take out that screw... it was there for a reason... don't lie to me! No, I'm not giving you that quarter back. Call it payment for me having to walk back to that machine and put the screw back in... ...
 
Hah... People complain about losing 25 cents?

Man, you have no idea... when I used to work the counter at the arcade it was constant. If there was a machine down, we'd turn it off and cover the coin slots. People were drawn to whichever machine it was that was off. They'd pull the tape, remove the screws, whatever it took to get their quarter in to that machine.

Example would be running a Main Event cabinet. It would make $2 a month when it was running. The power supply blows and we turn it off. There would be 5-6 people a day asking for their quarters back for that machine... It would be taped up again and again... but people just LOVE putting money in broken machines. ... That's just an example I made up, but it's REALLY not far from the truth.

At that moment... that 25 cents is the most important thing to them. It's not enough for them to know they did something stupid, they just have to share it with the world.
 
I just saw some of these at a local arcade/mini-golf location. Several machines had a "device" in one of the two coin slots with some form of direction indicating that particular slot was not to be used. Not sure they were home made or commercial though... A quick web search didn't turn anything up I'm afraid.
 
Went to a game store in the local mall. My 7 yr old son was with me - this is a game store that has arcade machines and cranes in the back - he got 4 tokens and went straight to the one broken crane that was unplugged. I never realized this was a universal sort of pathological draw until I read this thread. I've seen it and he did it, but I thought it was more rare. I actually had to argue him down from putting two tokens in a machine that was clearly not even plugged in. There were 12 or so games in there and he was dead set on playing the one without power.
 
Went to a game store in the local mall. My 7 yr old son was with me - this is a game store that has arcade machines and cranes in the back - he got 4 tokens and went straight to the one broken crane that was unplugged. I never realized this was a universal sort of pathological draw until I read this thread. I've seen it and he did it, but I thought it was more rare. I actually had to argue him down from putting two tokens in a machine that was clearly not even plugged in. There were 12 or so games in there and he was dead set on playing the one without power.

I see this phenomenon when friends visit. They always gravitate to the broken games. Funniest scenario is when they come over and play a game, lets say it's tempest. They then tell me how much tempest sucks and how stupid a game it is. A week passes and they drop by again. During that week tempest went down and is not fixed. Now that same person who sweared up and down that tempest sucks is now bitching that it's broken because they really wanted to play it.
 
So maybe the designers & manufacturers got it wrong... Perhaps the most effective "attract mode" would be a solid black screen, silence, and all lights off.
 
Man, you have no idea... when I used to work the counter at the arcade it was constant. If there was a machine down, we'd turn it off and cover the coin slots. People were drawn to whichever machine it was that was off. They'd pull the tape, remove the screws, whatever it took to get their quarter in to that machine.

Example would be running a Main Event cabinet. It would make $2 a month when it was running. The power supply blows and we turn it off. There would be 5-6 people a day asking for their quarters back for that machine... It would be taped up again and again... but people just LOVE putting money in broken machines. ... That's just an example I made up, but it's REALLY not far from the truth.

At that moment... that 25 cents is the most important thing to them. It's not enough for them to know they did something stupid, they just have to share it with the world.

Yes, I do have an idea as I was in the same boat as you. All of that is spot on. The best ones are teenagers who claim they put a $10 or $20 bill into a changer and it got ate. Then invariably, you open the machine and can't find a $20 in the bill box or validator track. Its even better when they claim it ate a bill it isn't configured to accept.

Some people won't complain about losing a buck and others will bitch all day about a quarter. Some will beat the hell out of a game to get a quarter back. The one I got the most of was where they would put in a single quarter when two or three were required to start, not understand why the game wouldn't play and then bitch about how the game was broken. The only games that used a single quarter were redemption games which were seperate from the others. Parents liked to complain about how crappy the redemption prizes were. But they never bothered to check out the prizes before their kids played. Others complained about the cranes being "rigged".

It was a never ending bitch session. My favorite days quickly became Monday (collection day) and Thursday (repair day). They were the two days where I didn't work the evening shift and the games usually stayed off until somebody asked to play them. It was so relaxing to have a quiet arcade when you are used to hearing 10+ attract modes (approx 50 games) running concurrently.
 
A former boss of mine once told me that if you took a cardboard box, put a slot in it, and wrote "Does nothing: $.50", that box would make money. While I have not tried this, I am sure its true.
 
Japanese Asahi-Seiko over/under doors have a solid metal cover that goes over the red reject button/slot and is installed from behind the door, and also a piece that goes behind the reject flap to prevent the flap from being pushed in. Common on Sega games primarily in Japan. Not really useful as a temporary solution since you have to dismantle that side to install it.

Neither Sega nor Asahi-Seiko could tell me anything about it..but they still use it to this day.

CoinDoor.jpg
 

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I use 2 zip ties per slot. Stick in the tail from the outside so the receiver head is sticking out, then from the rear, use another zip tie and stick the tail of zip tie head into the head of zip tie 2 and tighten. When you are ready to remove it, just cut the protruding head off and pull the rest of the tail of 1 through the head of 2. Now you have only used 1 zip tie!
 
Asahi Seiko also makes a inhibitor device for the DK/Frogger mechs that prevents a quarter from being inserted when the power is off. You could remove the wiring harness on it and no quarters would be able to pass at all if the mech was bad.
 

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I use 2 zip ties per slot. Stick in the tail from the outside so the receiver head is sticking out, then from the rear, use another zip tie and stick the tail of zip tie head into the head of zip tie 2 and tighten. When you are ready to remove it, just cut the protruding head off and pull the rest of the tail of 1 through the head of 2. Now you have only used 1 zip tie!

Similar to what we use. Our zip tie is removable. So always reusable.

And YES, I 110% agree that people gravitate to broken games. When my first customer walks in and I am working on something, I'll turn my back for a second and a child is already dropping in money. They just know that out of 75 games, THIS is the one they want to play, and it's the ONLY broken game.

Bizarre
 
Similar to what we use. Our zip tie is removable. So always reusable.

And YES, I 110% agree that people gravitate to broken games. When my first customer walks in and I am working on something, I'll turn my back for a second and a child is already dropping in money. They just know that out of 75 games, THIS is the one they want to play, and it's the ONLY broken game.

Bizarre
Yesterday I was working on my Chameleon Paradize and the whole game is dark except for the card reader. The power supply must've gotten hit by a power surge. So I opened the back door, turned around to lean the door against the wall, I turned back around and a lady with her 2 kids were trying to swipe their game card and the lady looks up and sees me and damn near jumped out of her skin. It was a dark game in a dark corner. Don't people look anymore. Good thing was I only had to power cycle the game to reset power supply.
 
Those are the best. When the game is clearly moved from against the wall, out on middle of "walk way" turned sideways, and they ask if it's broken...

"no, its not broken, it only works when I walk away... This machine doesn't function if I'm within 3 feet"
 
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