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Duomat restorations

Posted: Wed Nov 18, 2020 6:01 pm
by treefrog
Got bored with a project I was working on, so decided to go through all the Duomats I have had over the years, as a couple sort of worked, but payout issues and others completely broke including glass and cabinets. Some were bought at Coventry and Elephant house auctions, well most and I always find it funny the amount of machines I have bought from collectors auctions totally bodged, missing key parts or hidden issues that no doubt the seller was aware of.

Anyhow of the 6 sort of machines, I have 5 with glass, 4 with complete cabinets. So have used one mechanism as a breaker and moved a glass to one good machine missing one. So just finishing the forth machine mainly a mechanical rebuild.

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So I have rebuilt most of the mechanisms, as usual issues around slides, clocks and gummed up parts, but one part I had not worked out how to take apart are the reel hubs to get to the bearings. The last machine had a repair on the top hub I decided to use a breaker part for a good operating arm, but needed the hub stripped. Took me a while to work out, but maybe use to someone else as not obvious

Remove the nut from the outside holding the roulette arm or arrow on. Behind this is the chrome cover plate, which needs to be levered off to get to the screws holding the hub together, maybe of use to someone..
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Some machines I could not work out why people had left like they were, eg wrongs parts put on like payout parts from a Gunter Wulff bandit, which are not identical....anyway Great machines these and changed most to work on non limited clock operation, so up to 30 seconds....

Re: Duomat restorations

Posted: Wed Nov 18, 2020 6:14 pm
by dutchboy
Well done tom! You will need a lot of space in your house :D

Re: Duomat restorations

Posted: Wed Nov 18, 2020 7:04 pm
by badpenny
Well done TF, the world will beat a path to your door when you've got that lot ready.

The most common pay out issue I've found with Duomats is them slipping onto two coin pay out every play regardless of result.
Due to the lowest pay out not being detected by the same main rod as other Günter Wulff machines do. If the arm detecting two coin pay out isn't kept well lubricated on its pivot then it doesn't reset causing a pay out.

BP

Re: Duomat restorations

Posted: Thu Nov 19, 2020 9:18 am
by coppinpr
Interesting and useful stuff TF !THUMBS!
badpenny wrote: Wed Nov 18, 2020 7:04 pmthe world will beat a path to your door when you've got that lot ready.
With all the machines Tom has you have to beat a path to his door just to get in! :lol:

Re: Duomat restorations

Posted: Thu Nov 19, 2020 6:55 pm
by treefrog
Unbelievably, I only have two machines in the house... my favourites... Guess which ones !PUZZLED!

Re: Duomat restorations

Posted: Thu Nov 19, 2020 8:30 pm
by grains
Are they Hi Tops?

Re: Duomat restorations

Posted: Thu Nov 19, 2020 8:40 pm
by aristomatic
I would guess one came from an auction in the States and the other is still sat on its own original metal stand.

I'd be a little bit careful about highlighting which of my machines were where and which were elsewhere too....

Re: Duomat restorations

Posted: Thu Nov 19, 2020 10:16 pm
by treefrog
Sadly, I am in the unusual situation of not being able to have a single machine at my home due to impending renovation works. One day I hope to again. The two machines where I am located at the moment of course I have not stated, but you're heading on right track.

Funny, I understand why people are so cautious about people knowing what they have, but sometimes the greatest pleasure is sharing with others the passion you share. Perhaps this explains why so few share their collections on here or maybe other forums or video sites. I am obviously an exception. I have had the pleasure to be shown a few people's machines, usually when buying something and some of these collections are awesome... At least on this forum, unlike Facebook, you can use an alias, so only those you know or have dealt with will know your location or identity... So on that basis what have you got...... ;-)

Re: Duomat restorations

Posted: Fri Nov 20, 2020 9:47 am
by aristomatic
I refer you to my previous response....

Re: Duomat restorations

Posted: Fri Nov 20, 2020 10:42 am
by dutchboy
I think a red and a blue one..

Re: Duomat restorations

Posted: Fri Nov 20, 2020 12:04 pm
by geofflove
Great collection. Out of interest how do you change it from limited to unlimited clock operation? I have one I sorted a few months back. Sometimes the clock mech is a bit sticky and doesn't start ticking without help though. I avoided stripping this part last time as I thought it was OK but think I might need to go back and clean it. The rest of the machine was seized solid, so no surprise the clock isn't 100% really...

Re: Duomat restorations

Posted: Fri Nov 20, 2020 1:53 pm
by treefrog
I would say 9/10 machines I have come across have been wired to speed up the operation of their bandit range and machines like Duomat. It has been mentioned many times before, but there were laws in Germany around the time of operation of machines at the time.

Some machines I leave like 3 reelers, but these Duomats look so much better when run on full cycle and it helps to service them first so they run smoothly.

Below I have marked where a thin wire is often wrapped around either the fan tension spring or the base of the metal fans, which effectively stops the fans opening and, as such, reducing the speed they spin. Remove the wire and ensure the copper spring is not buckled to allow the fans to move freely.

I have never stripped the clocks down completely as I have a phobia of strong clock springs. I clean with cleaning fluids and lubricate and try and remove debris or dirt with a fine brush. The fan/governor can be stripped and cleaned as shown.

Lubricate all pivot points on front and back of clock. Do not operate the clock with Governor removed, as it will run very fast, and I have had them break.

Re: Duomat restorations

Posted: Sat Nov 21, 2020 1:59 pm
by tallstory
As TF says, the machines in Germany had many regulations including the time of play. The attached photo of the label on a Regina Beromat states that the playing time is 15 seconds - which many modern players find too long.

Re: Duomat restorations

Posted: Sat Nov 21, 2020 6:16 pm
by treefrog
Well after finishing four machines with a parts machine left and a future project machine needing a new cabinet made, I moved onto the next project, a Selecta, or the German name, Prazisa, bought blind 7 years ago... I knew one part was broken after getting into the locks machine after buying, but when starting to disassemble the complex mechanism today (not touching it since I bought it), I find at least 3 or 4 parts broken !!RANT!! . I suspect a catastrophic failure had occurred after a jam happened and force was applied. Big problem is parts on these machines are unique and complex.


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Annoying thing is, it has a very nice condition cabinet and mostly complete mechanism, apart from the breaks, and another poor condition machine finished on eBay last month missing the skill stop button. Damn... so no chance of parts. It goes back into storage, waiting another 7 years, hoping something turns up. :!?!:

Re: Duomat restorations

Posted: Wed Nov 25, 2020 8:53 am
by geofflove
Thanks for the info on the govenor tweak. Must take a look at mine and clean the clockwork some time....

Re: Duomat restorations

Posted: Wed Nov 25, 2020 10:43 am
by tallstory
Like TF, I didn't want to disassemble the clockwork. I put the whole thing in an ultrasonic bath and then re-oiled all the bearings on the outside. Seems to work well in getting the mechanism back to good working order. Of course if there is bearing wear, it won't fix that. Then a clock maker could help sort it out by rebushing.