Octopus Penny Pusher

[ilovemyjukebox]

Gentlemen (and some ladies no doubt)

I have been a lurker for some considerable time now and have finally got the urge to post a question.

I bought a Penny Pusher off Ebay a while ago. It's an Octopus by Jamieson's. Having accessed the secret arena (some good stuff in there and only a couple of quid) I have found a nice little write up about the machine.

The one I have was crudely converted to new penny at some time. I have managed to put it back on old penny where it rightly belongs. However I am having difficulty with the payout. The write up in the area says the following:

More mysterious was that all channels fed to the payout cup. How could a player lose? Inserting a few coins soon provided the answer. Not all coins falling through the pin- field made it to the channels - some disappeared off the edges into the cash box. Also perplexing, was the way the blue tentacles (which attracted more coins, thanks to the pins) tended to push a penny out for a penny in, whereas the red ones pushed them into accumulating piles. The secret lay hidden beneath the coins in the form of cup washers, which lifted them enough to cause the stacking. The upward slope of the channels ensured that thumping the machine drove coins away from the payout. Fluorescent lighting, a coloured Perspex sub aquatic scene, plus an angled mirror, which reflected an inverted coin-field, were additional attractions.

The way mine plays at the moment is that as soon as there are sufficient coins in the chute it just pushes one out into the payout cup. It would appear that the cup washers are missing and the coins are not stacking. I'm guessing they were not required for the much smaller new pennies.

Does anyone have any idea with this machine. I'm not sure I even understand what a cup washer is? Let alone how it works... I'd love to see pictures etc. of how it should be. Any help anyone please....

Thanks

Dave

[slotalot]

Gentlemen (and some ladies no doubt)
Does anyone have any idea with this machine. I'm not sure I even understand what a cup washer is? Let alone how it works... I'd love to see pictures etc. of how it should be. Any help anyone please....
Thanks Dave

Hi Dave , Welcome to the forum.....a cup washer is a thing you put under the head of a countersunk screw when you can not countersink the item you want to fix, they were sometimes put in to pushers as a cheat, to stop or divert coins away from the payouts you can get them from B&Q Etc...I hope this helps, regards Stuart.

[pennymachines]

As Stuart says - that's all it is.
Presumably they were removed because the new penny wouldn't hide them - you should be able to see the original screw holes.
Cup washers (with raised countersunk screws) in situ:

[ilovemyjukebox]

Ah fantastic..... Just what I needed.. Cheers Chaps...

[john t peterson]

Mr. PM,

I love it when you speak Latin, your original language, I presume?

[pennymachines]

Nequequam. Deliriant isti Romani!

[badpenny]

According to Babelfish you are a gipsy delinquent tie salesman

[malcymal]

Same principle applies to modern pushers today. I saw one without coins the other day in an amusement arcade that was about to be transported - more cup washers than you could imagine. Also some of them have wedges on the play area to lift coins and bunch them. Combine that with a dirty great raised lip at the payout area - no wonder the coins don't push on modern pushers and just go down into the coin box at the sides. Putting gifts on there too, such as model cars, attracts even more play, but adds a great deal of weight that forces coins to go left and right of playfield towards the cash box.

They don't make them like they used to. Crompton's Cakewalk was a favourite of mine. With a few mates you could pick the whole end up, drop it, bag the cash and scarper when the alarm went off... I used to make around £3 a day in pennies when I was a wee lad and bought my first Vespa 50 with the proceeds (£245 in 1979).

Does anybody remember the pusher, Get Rich, where the coins stacked on their sides in columns? When your coin managed to fall flat you could push the equivalent width of the coin in stacked 2 pence pieces. About 20p a time. You could then lay another coin flat and push on the previous. I think I managed 4 coins flat in a row once, which was a miracle.

That Octopus looks brilliant, would love one.