Bryans clock mechanism questions

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treefrog
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Bryans clock mechanism questions

Post by treefrog »

I suspect you saw the Bryans Clock mechanism that sold on eBay last week, which took my fancy as I was really inspired by the conversion Grand National done by Fruitbowl a few years ago, which I though was great.


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Mechanisms have often come up at auction for under £100, but I thought £20 was worth the risk to buy blind.


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Never worked on a clock and love to occasionally play with something other than the usual bandits. The mechanism looked complete, but was totally solid, had not moved in a long time. After soaking all joints, bearings and pivots and lightly tapping them with a small hammer eventually freed it up. Spent a further 6 hours playing, adjusting and trying to figure out how each part worked. Am pretty now reasonably knowledges on most adjustments now including coin payout which needed to be changed and now runs well.

So some questions I have not worked out....I think this machine is a 6 win and has an early serial number. The 12 and 24 win payout, I see there is a ratchet which operated every 12 rotations of the 12 win position which unlocks a blocking arm that allows the machine to pay the full 24 coins. Does this mean in theory once every 12 wins of 12 coins you would get the 24 win !PUZZLED! Apologies if this sounds a bit confusing.


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Next question, is that the instructions state free plays every so often. I have yet to work out where and how the free play works and where the components are for this !PUZZLED!

Lastly, my pay disk has been slightly butchered. I removed a bug from the 8 win and as you will see below there is a weird sprung loaded arm on the 12 win slot stopping any wins, no idea why this is sprung loaded !PUZZLED! Also the operator had trimmed each of the 2 win slots to make it easier to win these, maybe in compensation for the loss of big wins. May have to make sleeves for each of these to return to their given win positions....


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Anyway, at some point plan to make a simple cabinet, not Bryans clock shaped with a new theme.....

Also one topic discussed may times in the past which I have now changed my use of is grease. Definitely needed on these machines like the timing bar and other impact points and not oil. I also now use grease on all my bandit restores for certain key points as from experience oil drys up too quickly. All these years you see people discuss removing horrible greasy gunk from machines, this stuff was there for a very good reason
13rebel
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Re: Bryans clock mechanism questions

Post by 13rebel »

TF,in your last photo there is a slotted screw acting as an adjuster for the gap of the 12/24 payout finger so as to make it easier or harder to win. It acts rather like a cam as one side of the screw is cut flat.The torsion spring leg should not be going through the slit. My posts of october 29th 2012 under 'Bryans questions' may help.
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Re: Bryans clock mechanism questions

Post by pennymachines »

treefrog wrote: Thu May 16, 2019 6:28 pmDoes this mean in theory once every 12 wins of 12 coins you would get the 24 win?
No. That ratchet is linked to the rotation of the small hand, so it will reach its winning position (as you observed) every 12 rotations of the big hand. That doesn't mean it will stop there! In other words, it's what allows the jackpot pay when both hands stop on the 12.
treefrog wrote: Thu May 16, 2019 6:28 pmI have yet to work out where and how the free play works and where the components are for this
There is no mechanism for this. I think it was put on the instructions to account for the odd extra penny accidentally released from the hopper. That's my guess anyway, but I'm not sure I've noticed such tendency.
treefrog wrote: Thu May 16, 2019 6:28 pm...there is a weird sprung loaded arm on the 12 win slot stopping any wins, no idea why this is sprung loaded
Adjacent to this is what looks like three quarters of a bolt head with a slot in it. By turning this, you can adjust the 12-pay gap to alter the odds on the top payout.
Edit: 13rebel got there first!
treefrog wrote: Thu May 16, 2019 6:28 pmAll these years you see people discuss removing horrible greasy gunk from machines, this stuff was there for a very good reason.
Agreed, and Mr Bryan spelled this out on some of his maintenance sheets. Some parts need oil, others, grease. The old lubricants often do need removing, and I believe synthetic oils and greases are better alternatives because they don't oxidise into a solid in the same way.
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treefrog
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Re: Bryans clock mechanism questions

Post by treefrog »

Thanks chaps, the spring adjuster looked a little more professional than the usual bug item and I can see now how it works, excellent will adjust....

The free play is a funny one....but I agree payouts are not great on these machines and is a fine art trying to adjust to work correctly. Thin pennies seem to be particularly relevant to incorrect payouts than say a standard slide system.

Still not got my head around the rotation of the wins, probably will come to me once I get the system up and running with hands.....so when does 12 coins get paid against 24. As surely they are both won on 12 o’clock !PUZZLED! A lot of clocks do not have the 24 coin payout as an option I have also noticed.

The instruction/maintenance sheet only mentions oil, not grease....and something I noticed on mine was the payout disc wobbled which I thought was bent, but appears to be intentional as per the sheet to avoid wear areas appearing in a single area on the stop arm (pecker)...
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Re: Bryans clock mechanism questions

Post by pennymachines »

treefrog wrote: Thu May 16, 2019 11:08 pm Thin pennies seem to be particularly relevant to incorrect payouts than say a standard slide system.
Yes, I think thin coins can cause an extra penny to be half ejected from the hopper when the machine pays out. Then it may dislodge to the payout chute on another play when the hopper is shaken at the end of the cycle.
treefrog wrote: Thu May 16, 2019 11:08 pm...so when does 12 coins get paid against 24. As surely they are both won on 12 o’clock !PUZZLED! A lot of clocks do not have the 24 coin payout as an option I have also noticed.
12 is paid for big hand on 12; 24 is paid for both hands on 12.
As I understand it, the 24 coin payout is an alternative to the hand-loaded jackpot.
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