How to reset Nintendo coin counter

pc10builder

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There was a question on a D2K cabinet thread that asked about how to reset the Nintendo coin counter (because it was a brand new game after all, and should be factory fresh).

This stuck with me as I was finishing my D2K cabinet, so I thought I'd give it a shot.

It took me a few minutes to work out the mechanics of it all. It looks like a charge is passed through a cylinder which is magnetized, causing a lever to depress and when released, it ratchets a incremental dial on the counter.

The lever was setup so that the dial wouldn't move forward or backward unless it was depressed and released, causing the dial to ratchet. None of the other dials could move independently. It didn't seem feasible to remove all the dials to reset them because it would involve breaking apart the housing. Instead, I was able to remove the ratchet/lock bar which allowed the incremental dial to turn freely forwards and *backwards*.

Then I sort of Ferris Bueller'ed it and rewound the counter. Here's how it works:

1. Remove the counter from your coin door.

2. On the back side there are four tabs that need to be straightened out. They are light aluminum, so a pocket knife blade is sufficient to pry them up.

3. Slide off the outer casing. Three plastic spacers may come loose - please keep track of them, as they will need to be reinserted.

4. Notice how when you depress on the ratchet bar, the dial turns.

5. Remove the spring on the ratchet bar, then slide the bar out. Don't loose the spring - it is small.

6. Now the far right incremental dial should turn freely forwards and backwards.

7. Remount the counter on your coin door (just with a few screws) -- or if you can remove the counter from your cabinet, you could mount it to another another surface or workbench vice -- just so it doesn't move around.

8. Get a long piece of untangled twine - very long: 20-30 ft.

9. Now thread the twine up from the bottom of the counter and over the gear to the very left of the incremental dial.

10. Gently applying pressure to the twine, carefully pull the twine over the gear. This will rapidly spin the gear in a backwards direction. (if you're over 500,000, you'll probably want to go forwards rather than back)

I was able to change 150 counts per pull - about 1500 or so per length of twine. Yes you'll have to re-thread the twine when it runs out, but the longer the piece, the fewer times you'll have to re-thread. After about 15 minutes I reset over 400,000 counts.

11. I stopped somewhere around 999,950 so I'd be able to do some testing when I re-hooked up the coin mechs. (I'll enter a bunch of dummy credits to bring the counter back to 000,000 for the official launch.)

12. The ratchet and spring go back in easily. Be sure to replace the plastic parts. Slide back on the casing and depress the tabs.

All set.

I'm not sure if all coin counters work this way or if this is something specific to Nintendo.

Enjoy.

Pete
http://playchoice.riemen.net
 

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dang!

That's a lot of work to reset the coin counter Pete! It would be easier to by a new one... you get points for keeping the original hardware from me though.

~greg
 
Not so hard, now that I've got the process down. I was actually dumb enough to think that I could manually spin the dial with my thumb. I tried it for a few minutes before I realized I'd be there for weeks, and I'd probably rub the numbers off the dial. The twine really makes it go quick.

Pete
http://playchoice.riemen.net
 
Not so hard, now that I've got the process down. I was actually dumb enough to think that I could manually spin the dial with my thumb. I tried it for a few minutes before I realized I'd be there for weeks, and I'd probably rub the numbers off the dial. The twine really makes it go quick.

I've done this from ~30,000 to 0. It took about an hour.

My thumb was sore for a day or two.
 
Re:

Cool, I hope to do the same on my truck before I sell it... Just kidding!
 
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