Mills coin tube blocks when full

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treefrog
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Re: Mills coin tube blocks when full

Post by treefrog »

Are you sure this is a nickel machine?

Also the coin tube looks huge for the coin size, in fact the coin slide cover if a different size coin entry for the slides themselves........ looks like a mix and match of bits.
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Re: Mills coin tube blocks when full

Post by sarg »

Thanks I will put that lever on the tube - I didn't realise what that was. You can tell I'm a amateur at this.

As for payouts I'm confused - I don't know what a vertical finger is. Are you near Exeter badpenny by any chance?
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Re: Mills coin tube blocks when full

Post by sarg »

treefrog wrote:Are you sure this is a nickel machine?

That's what I was told. The tube does look big, but it is thick-walled. It's heavy for what it is.
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treefrog
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Re: Mills coin tube blocks when full

Post by treefrog »

Something is not right here. The tube and cover look like possibly a 1D size. You are likely to get issues with coins stacking, affecting payout.... Would not be difficult to change and fix.

What BP said about the overflow lever will fix that issue....
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Re: Mills coin tube blocks when full

Post by sarg »

I will take some more photos tomorrow of the coin tube and coins with measurements.

What do you mean about 'cover' treefrog?
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badpenny
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Re: Mills coin tube blocks when full

Post by badpenny »

Sadly I'm in West Midlands (Rugby)
Let's see if anyone else comes forward, we do have a couple or three gurus in the South West'ish.

I guess TF is referring to the plate that sits on top of the slides and accommodates the bottom of the tube.
Slides will often be fine at handling coins that are a bit small in diameter, but not thickness.

BP
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Re: Mills coin tube blocks when full

Post by sarg »

1st problem sorted @&@

20170311_155129.jpg

Coin tube photo with a nickel.

20170311_153421.jpg

I played a cycle and stopped the clock and lined up the plum win - still no payout. I hope these photos will help.

20170311_154440.jpg


20170311_154454.jpg

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badpenny
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Re: Mills coin tube blocks when full

Post by badpenny »

Well done.

You've also found the vertical fingers and the payout discs.
Clearly there aren't any holes in the disc nearest to the fingers, which is the one for the first reel.
So there is something 'orribly wrong there. With the three plums showing peer down between the discs and see if there are holes lined up on the other two.
I'm suspecting more time has been spent making this machine look cool than getting it doing what it should.

Now you've got the lever in place, you need to get the slides out and stack coins in them to see if it's physically possible for them to deliver the numbers of coins the award card is boasting about. Those coins look a tight fit in the tube, they may also be in the slides. Make sure you keep them in the right order!
More importantly the thickness of the coins may not match the available thickness. Have you tried different coins?

BP
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coppinpr
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Re: Mills coin tube blocks when full

Post by coppinpr »

Looks to me BP as if there is a hole on the first disc very close to the second finger but the finger is missing it by a fraction. Do you agree? :!?!: If that's the case, then could it be the first disc is a touch out, catching some holes OK but not all?

As TF says, some of the parts look "heavy duty" to say the least. The slides will be the key to the coins. Could be they are just very dirty (I suspect you know this sarg, but no oil anywhere near the slides, just clean and shiny). :cool:
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Re: Mills coin tube blocks when full

Post by badpenny »

It could be, you're right. It would be good to know if the second and third discs have holes in line with it.
The teeth for the kicker seem to be in line.
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Re: Mills coin tube blocks when full

Post by sarg »

I followed the steps in this video and I do have 3 holes for plums but they're not lining up on a cycle. !PUZZLED!

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Re: Mills coin tube blocks when full

Post by sarg »

Had a few spins with the mech back in the cabinet. Rolled in 2 plums and the finger went through 2 pay discs, which is all good.

20170312_134129.jpg


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Then a few more spins and the plum on 1st reel and not a hole in sight on the disc. :!?!:

20170312_134541.jpg


20170312_134650.jpg

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badpenny
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Re: Mills coin tube blocks when full

Post by badpenny »

Do you realise that the payout discs are in reverse order to the reels?
That is to say that facing the machine reel number 1 is represented by payout disc number 3, and number 3 is represented by disc number 1. Both middle ones are connected.

With this information I'd suggest you concentrate on any win errors traceable to reel one/disc three.
You already know about the plum.
Incidentally, are there any other plums on reel one? If so, do they also fail to line up with a hole on the disc?

Now you know which vertical finger should be tripped for plums, it might also be advisable to turn the first reel (with the clock stopped) and see if there are any holes that line up with that finger. If so, then check the symbol showing on the front. It's possible someone has put the paper strip in the reel skew whiff.

Here's hoping.
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Re: Mills coin tube blocks when full

Post by coppinpr »

How many payouts are wrong? If it's more than one, then check 1. and 2. below. If it's just the plums, most likley 1. or 3.

OK, 1. first we must determine if the machine has been set up correctly or, as TF said, set up to look good without actually being right. First thing to check is are they the right strips (they almost certainly are, but we need to make sure we are not looking in the wrong direction)? Look to see if there is a code number on the strips close to the join in the strip. If there is not, copy down the exact order of the three strips. I have sold my GF, so I can compare the answer but someone on here will, I'm sure. Some of these strips have only one change on them so it's possible you have a plum where there should be a lemon. So, if the wrong symbol is on reel one, it would show plum, plum, plum but would actually be lemon, plum, plum, which would be a loser, so not paying would be correct.

2., Are the strips in the wrong place? This is even less likely to be the case but we should check too, so we can discard the problem. If your set of strips has only one BAR on each strip it's easy - line them up and see if the JP pays. If you have more than one BAR per strip, not so easy. Look for a small hole near the edge of the payout discs,there will be one in each disc,they are the factory set, reel alignment holes,pass a thin rod through these to lock the reel bundle in one piece,rotate the fixed set of reels and the start position for each strip should all be together (this does not mean they are all together in the right place :dammit: ). Hopefully three of something should line up. Rotate this winning line to the front of the mech, where it would correctly show through the window and check to see if the payout holes (not the alignment holes) line up with the correct payout fingers. (This still doesn't help much, but the next stage will). Move the fixed reel set 'round till the first cherry on reel one would be in the payout window. At this point the payout finger for the cherry should be hovering over a hole. If there is no hole, the strip on reel one is not in the right place on the reel because the wrong BAR is showing in the line of three (I know this sounds complex, I'm winging it from memory as I sit here). :lol:

3. The third reel problem is perhaps the most likely. The strips are correct but the machine has been adjusted to pay less. This would mean the reel strip should have another symbol (lemon?) stuck over the plum. Usually the holes in the payout disc have been shut off and show, but on yours I think not, so you will need to set every payout on reel 1 (usually changes are only made to reel one) and see if the payout holes line up.

BP, just out of interest, is that a Mills escalator in the photo? Did they make one like that or is it a Buckley (the only one I know that would fit and have the coins so close)?
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Re: Mills coin tube blocks when full

Post by sarg »

Thanks for replying guys, I will check the reel strips and report back.
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badpenny
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Re: Mills coin tube blocks when full

Post by badpenny »

Hard to see, but could be further evidence it's the wrong denomination. I once had a Mad Money that should have been on 6d but previous owner had been forcing 1p in it. Not only were the payout numbers wrong but the coins bunched up in the escalator too.
Well spotted.
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Re: Mills coin tube blocks when full

Post by sarg »

Sounds like I've bought a right bloody lemon. !OMFG!
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Re: Mills coin tube blocks when full

Post by badpenny »

sarg wrote:Sounds like I've bought a right bloody lemon.
Don't beat yourself up, we've all bought something that we then spend weeks sucking our hair and pulling our teeth out over.
At its youngest a mechanical bandit will be at least 55 years old and anything up to 80+ years. In its first few years it will probably have had no maintenance and then successive operators will have started to hack the mechanism around to cheat the odds and get around sticking escalators etc.
At the end of a season the mechs would get pulled out and plonked on a bench for a fettle, and then around Easter any old mechanism would get thrown back into the nearest case. Mills Hi-top mechs would go into any non-gooseneck case that could accommodate them, Sega mechs would end up in Mills cabinets. Often nobody would realise until someone complained that the reel symbols didn't match the award card.
This mish mash would then fall into the hands of different collectors during 50+ years after it was last operated. Some of us are prepared to hunt down or even manufacture missing bits for our keepers. Some will even go to these lengths with machines we merely plan to sell on. For some, near enough is good enough, or they just tread in more than they can chew.
Somebody else inherits the problem.
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Re: Mills coin tube blocks when full

Post by coppinpr »

sarg wrote:Sounds like I've bought a right bloody lemon.
No you have not!! There is not much wrong with this, no broken parts, no broken case. You fix this and this machine will mean a lot more to you than it did. !THUMBS!
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Re: Mills coin tube blocks when full

Post by downunda »

I'm defo not the expert here, but should there not be an overflow chute running from where that aftermarket blanking plate sits, to the D shaped hole in the floorplate?
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