Working coin mechanism in a mame cab?

[sisko]

I just thought about this this morning....

Is it possible to have a functional coin mech interface with the IPAC wedge?

I don't think it would be a terribly hard thing to do, all I would have to do is connect the leads from the correct pin in the coin mech harness to the IPAC, right?

Would leads to another question, which pin is that?

Also how would I power the coin mech? Does it use +5V or +12V? Would a regular PC PSU work? Is there a harness adaptor that exists that would make this so much easier?

I'm not even sure which coin mech I have (or if they are all universal). The only identifying marks I was able to find are the company, CoinMechInc, the word "cutter" stamped on it, and a sticker that says "130-25cents"

*edit* Its from an original Tempest cab (circa 1980) in case that helps

[chadtower]

IIRC, and I could be wrong, the coin mech really just leads to a momentary contact switch that's no different than a button or a joystick directional switch. As such, it wouldn't need power, only a connection to the proper ground and the IPAC input that has been mapped to whatever you're using as the COIN character in your MAME settings. As for the lights on the coin return button, I'm betting you could just hijack that off of the +5v from the Ipac itself.

[sisko]

Thanks for the heads up.

The lights actually run on 14V, so +5V really wouldnt work (well they would, theyd just be very dim).

I stumbled across this today, and am going to try it out:

http://www.retroblast.com/articles/coindoor.html

As for the coin mech, I also found this today:

http://www.oscarcontrols.com/coinswitch/

That shouldn't be to tough to do. The wiring is relatively simple, the only hard part is fashioning a chute to go from coin receptor to coin return, but mostly figuring out how to mount it.

The benefit is that I can use the Molex +5V line rather than tapping into the IPACs. Also I think one of the mechs is broken anyway, and they cost too much to bother to replace (the chute would replace/bypass the interchangeable mech component.)

It'll be a bit of work, but I think it will be worth it.

[chadtower]

A new coin mech is only like $20... you can get them used in lots of like 6 for $8. Do you already have the coin door and all that?

[sisko]

I do, but the unit is badly rusted. So even if the unit works mechanically, I doubt it does electrically. Plus I don't trust rusted springs.

I think I understand what you are saying how to wire it up now though. I located the switches though, and it would be a lot easier running 4 wires than it would wiring up the optical sensor previously linked.

So my next question is, where do you find these cheap mechs? Also where do you gt the replacement switches? Radio Shack doesn't carry them.

[sisko]

Scratch that. There are two switches per mech. The momentary switch towards the bottom of the mech that sends the coin accept signal, and another momentary switch located in the mid lower section.

What does the second switch do?

[chadtower]

Scratch that. There are two switches per mech. The momentary switch towards the bottom of the mech that sends the coin accept signal, and another momentary switch located in the mid lower section.

What does the second switch do?

Um, best guess is a coin counter that may or may not still be there. Is it connected to anything currently?

[sisko]

Scratch that. There are two switches per mech. The momentary switch towards the bottom of the mech that sends the coin accept signal, and another momentary switch located in the mid lower section.

What does the second switch do?

Um, best guess is a coin counter that may or may not still be there. Is it connected to anything currently?

Yeah I realized that last night, the wires traced up. Still a very weird switch, I've never seen one like this before.

I found the other coin switch at centsibleamusments.com yesterday, $4 each. It seems a bit high, but I needed replacement coin flaps and return bezels too, and they were much cheaper there than HAPP ($1 vs $5)

As for the coin mech, I figure right now I'll just bypass it. I can fashion a chute out of sheet metal that will feed directly to the coin acceptor switch/bucket. Sure I the coin return won't work, but at least this is a temporary fix. I don't need to worry about coin return, so this will do just fine until I come up with the $40+ to replace the mechs with new ones.