14 replies to this topic

[jeepnut24]

Im looking into coin doors and mechs and I have a few questions.

1) Where is the best place to find them in working order preferably used?

2) How does the coin mech work? Is it simply a switch that is thrown when a quarter is inserted? Otherwise it rejects the coin?

3) Anything to look for in specific? Coin Mechs are universal right?

Thanks.

[Curt Vendel]

Yup, they are nothing more then earlier type "channel" mechs to move the coin down and flick a small piano wire to close a switch to bill readers that would close a circuit, again.... the same effect.

All you need to do, is decide what type of mech you want and do you want to retain originality of an arcade and go with an OEM branded coin mech like the Atari ones or some of the more exotic ones like the flat-in quarter drop mechs or do away with a mech and just go with a plate and a large push button.


Curt

[jeepnut24]

Thanks for the answer. Where is the best place to find them used? Id like to get one that is similar in nature to an actual arcade coin mech/door. Im not going to use it with mame though. I just need the switch to go off when a quarter in inserted. Im guessing that any would do this? I really don't need the wiring harness if I don't plan on hooking it into a controller correct? The actual switch is part of the mech right?

Thanks again

[Stingray]

Just to clear one thing up, the coin door and the coin mech are not the same thing. The coin mechs are mounted inside the coin door. Also the switch is not part of the coin mech.

Here's a picture of the inside of my coin door.



The goldish colored devices are the coin mechs. When a coin is dropped in the coin slot it falls through the mech which either validates that it is the correct coin or rejects it. If it's the correct coin it drops out the bottom of the mech hitting the switch on it's way, sending the signal for a credit.

As far as I know coin mechs are universal. There are many different styles of coin door, but I belive any mech will fit them all. The best place I know to buy them used is on the arcadecontrols.com message board. There's a buy/ sell/ trade section and at any given time there are usually at least a couple different guys selling them. I recently bought two token mechs and 500 tokens for $20.

-S

[Stingray]

Also your best bet for finding a complete coin door is probably ebay. Do make sure that everything is there though. Other than mechs, the individual parts for a coin door can be tricky to locate by themselves. Bear in mind that if you buy one on ebay it very well may need to be repainted.

Again, the arcadecontrols.com forum is a good place to look for a complete coin door, but complete working doors are often pretty exensive there.

If you're made of money they can be bought new from Happs.

-S

[jeepnut24]

Yeah, I found a coin door with the mechs on ebay. My main concern was the actual switch. Im guessing I may need to hunt down a leafswitch? The only thing the door was missing was a lock cylinder and a paint job. Im going to hunt down some token mechs and some tokens. I hadn't thought about using those, but that would be pretty sweet and I wouldn't have to have a bunch of quarters around. Thanks again.

[Stingray]

The switches aren't leaf switches. I belive they're actually called coin switches or coin mech switches or something like that. They have a small wire that acts as a sort of lever. The wire is attached to the side of the switch and it has a 90 degree bend where it enters the chute the coin falls into when it exits the mech. The coin pushes the wire down which triggers the switch.

Not sure how much sense that makes, it's a lot simpler than I make it sound. The short version is that they aren't leaf switches or microswitches, they're a different type of switch altogether.

-S

[jeepnut24]

Could I modify a leaf switch to work? Or a microswitch for that matter? It seems possible considering the coin validation is mechanical?

[Stingray]

You might be able to rig up a leaf switch, but I wouldn't think the real thing would be more than a couple dollars.

-S

[jeepnut24]

Yeah, I wouldn't think so either, but I have been unable to find a whole lot on ebay. At this point I don't need a complete unit, but I guess I should have just dropped the $$$ to get one. Does Happs have these types of parts?

Edit: I found the switches on the Happ website. I think I ended up with canadian mechs though. So now I need to hunt down some token mechs and tokens to go with them.

[Stingray]

I'm sure they do. It's a really common part. I can never find what I'm looking for on their site though.

-S

[jeepnut24]

It looks like mine have the switches still on them. Now I need to find some Token Mechs and some tokens. Thanks for the suggestion on that. Now I don't have to have a bunch of quarters or Canadian 1$ coins. (These are from Canada )

[Stingray]

Yep, looks like the switches are there. Once you get that coin door you should take it completely apart and polish it up with some brasso. That metal finish would look great all shined up.

-S

[jeepnut24]

Yeah, I had not thought about polishing it. That is a good idea. Im going to have to track down some new mechs though. I don't have a whole lot of canadian $1 coins laying around. Id say this was a good deal though, only $5! Any advice on where to find new coin slots? The part that lights up?

[Stingray]

I'm pretty sure Happs has them, thought they would be specific to the brand of coin door that you have. I don't what brand you've got there.

-S