I was going to order all new locks for my machines since most of them are drilled out and the others are crappy, what is the standard size, they list 2 different sizes on most sites, Im think 7/8 is this right?
I'm just guessing, but I think the reason WarLordAG said to get 7/8" is because you can use the same offset cam to make it either 5/8" or (by just reversing it) 1-1/8", so there is no need to buy 5/8" locks or 1-1/8" locks. Is this correct? I need to buy a bunch of locks myself soon (all keyed the same) so I want to make sure I order the right stuff as well.
Many back doors are made of 3/4" wood so a 7/8" lock won't be long enough. The typical 7/8' lock does not have threads on the barrel all the way to the end of the barrel. You wouldn't be able to get the barrel nut started because of no threads or not enough threads exposed. This is why a 1-1/8" long lock is used on back doors.
On many early over/under doors (used on Atari Dig Dug as an example) the locks used on the cashbox door was 5/8" long. If you tried to use a 7/8" lock you could not shut the door because you hit the cashbox. You could use lock spacer collars though to take up space from the front of the lock. In this case a 1/4" thick spacer collar could be used on a 7/8" lock to make only 5/8" of the lock protrude into the machine.
Lock America Group has decent prices on all types of coin machine "cam" locks:
Even on my Dig Dug, I use 7/8.
I almost never use a lock on my back doors, just the coin doors, so I only order 7/8".
Couple those with those offset cams, and Sante is right, I basically have every size lock and have never had a problem with the right size. I order all of mine from Bob.