Jennings Deci Bell advice please

[adamzworld]

Hi everyone. I wonder if anyone can help me please? I have an old Jennings Deci Bell and the escalator has stuck. I took it all to bits last night, oiled the chain well and put it back together again, but now it is not moving the coins along the escalator as it should. I really could do with a photo from someone of the cog assembly on the left hand side of the machine (if viewed from the rear of the mech) as I think I may have put something back in the wrong place.

I should add that whilst I am reasonably competent when it comes to mechanical things, I have never attempted to strip down the escalator on these.

One thing that did seem strange was that where the cog wheel on the left (viewing the mech from behind) is fixed to the bracket, it kept raising each time the escalator moved round which it turn raised the height of the chain. This was causing it to wedge itself against the metal. When I put it back together, I thought the solution would be to screw it all the way down so that it wouldn't then unscrew itself when it turns. The issue now appears to be that it's out of sync and the spring loaded screw isn't turning round as far as it should.

Apologies about my lack of technical terminology!

Thanks in advance for any advice or pictures which may help me.

Adam

[coppinpr]

OK, just grabbed this one from my workshop:

The cycle at the start

The cycle, not at the end, but as the trigger arm returns to the start position after moving the coin forward

A general view from above to check you got the cog springs in the right way

The cycle should be as follows:
The trigger arm moves from right to left (viewed from the back of the mech), and BOTH parts of the cog turn (anti-clockwise/left to right) and the coin moves along the chain; the trigger arm returns to the start position (left to right) with only the TOP half of the cog turning and rising up over the lower part (thanks to the springs above). As it goes, it drops down into the next slot on the cog ready for the next cycle.

Note: the spring loaded bolt running through the cog should NOT move at all - it's simply a spindle for the cog.

The most common problems I've had with this type of escalator are indeed with this particular cog, usually that it becomes one solid piece.

[adamzworld]

Thanks for the photos, that's a great help. I'm going to have another look later on so will let you know how I get on.

Cheers,
Adam

[adamzworld]

Just to update; I've spent a couple of hours on the escalator to tonight. The left hand side seems to be working fine now and the chain is moving along fine. The issue I have now is that the cog wheel on the right hand side (the one with the four pointed part) doesn't always make a complete turn meaning that I can't put another coin in until I've manually pushed the wheel round until it clicks into place. It does work sometimes but my guess is that there seems to be a bit of slackness in the chain meaning that some of the movement is being wasted by having to take up the slack in the chain. Is it possible that I might have stretched the chain when I was taking it apart as I did use quite a bit of force?

Is it worth me trying to tighten the chain in some way? I was thinking about trying to remove a link from the chain, but I don't really want to do this unless I absolutely have to. Is there any way to adjust the chains on these? I know there is supposed to be slack at the back of the chain, but I think there might be too much.

Any advice will be much appreciated.

Cheers,
Adam

[raj]

There is zero chance you will have stretched the chain. Almost certainly the problem is gunk causing friction where it is not intended. Liberally soak the whole escalator in thinners or solvent, use an old toothbrush to work it into the moving parts. When everything is squeaky clean, use WD to lube it up and then start to think about what is not working correctly.

[adamzworld]

Thanks Raj. What solvents would you usually recommend? Ideally something that's easy to get hold of. Cheers, Adam

[gameswat]

Sometimes you can get away without pulling the whole mech apart and a good soak in thinners will free most of it up. Particularly when you're working on something like an old juke mech with a ton of adjustments. But with something simple like this escalator then I'd certainly suggest stripping the whole thing down to every part. You'll be surprised at how much hard grease and oil is coated on every former moving part. Pipe cleaners work well to clean out the inner surfaces.

[adamzworld]

Thanks for the replies and tips on using a pipe cleaner. I don't have any thinners in the house but I do have lots of white spirit. Would this be any good for soaking the parts or would I need something stronger?

Cheers,
Adam

[gameswat]

White Spirit is far too weak. I think you can use it to water down thickened Brasso though! Lacquer thinners is great. When I've had pre war Wurlitzer juke mechs to clean that looked like they'd been abandoned since the war I've bitten the bullet and purchased spray cans of Carburettor cleaner. That stuff is hardcore and the best I've ever found to remove tar like deposits. I usually prefer to strip everything on a mech down to restore it properly the first time. And that's the only way to find every problem that might not even be an issue right now but will be soon enough once the machine is being used again. But in the case of complicated mechs like the Wurly's with a ton of adjustments I learnt the hard way to leave everything as it is to begin with. Then I spray the mech down with my compressor and something to remove the build up of grease. Then I get in with a brush and carby cleaner to loosen everything up if possible. A handful of important parts usually need pulling apart to clean 100% inside and out. But once the mech is cycling again you can get a feel for how it actually works and what isn't quite doing its thing yet. Once I've seen what's happening, then I have a better feel for it and will start pulling it down for a possible full restoration. Digi cameras are awesome to record everything before you start a tear down. Has saved me days of work by looking back at pics to see little things I've missed when reassembling. And of course since we tend to buy broken machines often the problems are the previous owners who messed up putting things back themselves!

[coppinpr]

This will be gunk, most likely in that right hand cog. It needs to come off and be cleaned. At a push, use petrol, but with care.

I just remembered, I once had one of these that appeared to have a slack chain - it turned out to be the left hand cog spindle bolt was bent slightly, moving the chin to the right making it a little slack, but I doubt that is your problem.

Whoever (BP ) edited my first post put the titles of the photos the wrong way round, 2 and 3 are the wrong way round!

[badpenny]

Not me Paul ..... the only photos of yours I've handled are the ones I'm still waiting you to drop a wedge of folding for ...... don't forget Hollow Tree .... Midnight ..... Brown Paper Bag.

[adamzworld]

Thanks everyone for all your help and advice. I stripped the escalator down this morning, removed the chain and soaked the whole lot in bike chain cleaner (this was the harshest stuff I had in the house). I then cleaned it well with wire wool, followed by a good scrub with a toothbrush. I then dried it off and oiled well with 3 in 1 oil. Once I put it all back together I realised that there is a certain amount of play where the left hand bracket sits in place so I was able to take up some of the slack in the chain by pulling it tight before screwing it back in place. I think this may have been the cause of the problem.

Now all seems to working fine, the only issue is that now the payout seems a bit erratic and it won't always pay out when it should. It was working fine before, but I have taken the mech in and out of the case quite a few times so I think I might have inadvertently knocked something. Is it possible that I could have somehow disabled the payout, or would it not payout at all if this was the case?

Once again, any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Cheers,
Adam

[pennymachines]

Whoever (BP ) edited my first post put the titles of the photos the wrong way round, 2 and 3 are the wrong way round!

Sorry Paul, I was guilty of that. Just trying to be helpful.
Hopefully, I've got 'em the right way this time...

[badpenny]

Once again, any advice would be greatly appreciated.

It's tough to advise without knowing more.
Give us a break down on what it's doing and not doing.
Also any patterns like every time or not every time.

Also, well done on dismantling the escalator and the re-mantling it after. If you can do that, there's little you should feel shy about tackling.

BP
PS don't forget to clean her toothbrush before returning it, I forgot once ..... sheesh!..... you should have heard the moaning.

[coppinpr]

Not me Paul ..... the only photos of yours I've handled are the ones I'm still waiting you to drop a wedge of folding for ...... don't forget Hollow Tree .... Midnight ..... Brown Paper Bag

you will get nothing out of me for those...after all the actress recovered and i still see the vicor riding round the village on the camel to this day

[adamzworld]

Also, well done on dismantling the escalator and the re-mantling it after. If you can do that, there's little you should feel shy about tackling.

Thanks for the feedback and I definitely felt a sense of fulfilment when I put it back together and there were no spare bits left over! I reckon if I ever have any more issues with it in a future then it should be a breeze to strip it down again having already done it once,

I'm not sure whether there's a pattern or not with regards to the payout, it paid out once on cherries, but hasn't done since. I must confess that when I was working on the escalator I did lose a couple of screws inside the mechanism so in frustration held it upside down and gave it a good shake, I'm guessing this probably wasn't a great idea!

Having little knowledge on the workings of these slot machines, is there a simple way of disabling the payout? I'm just wondering whether something has been moved to where it shouldn't be when I've been working away on it?

Ps good shout re the toothbrush, although I reckon my solution of bike chain cleaner and Brasso would have definitely removed any stains from my teeth!

[adamzworld]

Further to my last post I think it was a stuck coin causing the problem. I took all the coins out of the payout tube, reset the jackpots and all seems fine now. Well it paid out correctly on 2 cherries!

Thanks again to everyone for your help.

My next project will be to get my old Aristocrat Grosvenor working again. It's been out in the shed for a few years, so should be fun! At least it doesn't have an escalator to worry about!!

[badpenny]

Your self confidence in tackling the Governor escalator again is sound ..... except that, due to the Flux of The Earth you will now never have to touch one again. Even deliberately trying to foul it up, in order to be able to spring into action with your Swiss Army Knife will be a series of non events.
You've also discovered the next hint. Don't allow a sudden gust of adverse gravity to have affect upon the ordinal positioning of the monetary discs within the horizontal motive dispensers.

Aristocrat Grosvenor eh?
I suggest the first thing you do is smear everything in grease before turning it upside down and giving it a damn fine shaking (Not Metric of course)

BP

[adamzworld]

Very true BP, the escalator runs like a dream now, so I'll probably never have to touch it again, The payout however, well that's a different matter! Despite what I said in my last post, it doesn't seem to be paying out on single cherry, so back to the drawing board.

Thanks for the tip on the Grosvenor. I've just had a look at the mech and I think it's pretty well seized. My plan is to remove the reels, liberally spray the whole mech down with carb cleaner, give it bloody good scrub, oil everything up and hope for the best!

I 'm going to use the following, as there's a Tool Station near me so will be easy to get hold of:

http://www.toolstation.com/shop/Automot ... ner/p30713

I'll report back as to how effective it is at getting rid of all those years worth of hardened grease.

[badpenny]

The payout however, well that's a different matter! Despite what I said in my last post, it doesn't seem to be paying out on single cherry, so back to the drawing board.

You are doing well Adam, you've already progressed to lying, there's no stopping you now.
You'll find this skill especially handy when placing auctions on eBay.
Try variants such as ....
* Was working fine when put away.
* A simple fix for anyone with a little knowledge.
* Haven't tried it so don't know if it works.
* I know nothing about these so haven't tampered.
* A friend of somebody I've never met has a cousin who says his Father saw one for sale at £Millions.
* Spare parts regularly advertised on eBay
* I have no vintage, veteran, antique coins to try it, and being a vintage, veteran, antique machine it needs them to make it work. (Will supply a bag of 200 to buyer)
Alternatively you could try ......
* I believe you are an idiot with an IQ much lower than my own, which I will be delighted to capitalise upon to rob you blind.

The downside of the last one is that it's not a lie, and as we all know has little place on eBay.

Back to Aristocrat ......

You say it's jammed. Is that with a coin in it and the handle slightly depressed?

BP