Wierd Fragramatics/IDX issue???

[I.B. Washincars]

I have an EVD-3 standalone fragrance machine whose FragraMatics branded IDX acceptor took a crap on me. The decal is faded, but I think it says MA-809. I went to replace it with a standard MA-800 and discovered that the original acceptor had only one coin switch wire (red/green) while the new one has two. After a call to Jim Gosnell I wired it with the extra wire piggybacked to the black wire. This did not work. The coins were accepted, but the machine wouldn't come on. After a lot of head scratching and a couple more calls to Jim he instructed me to piggyback that extra wire to the yellow instead of the black. This worked, but a quarter will turn the machine on and a token or dollar will buy 4 times what the timer (GS-7) is programmed for. I had it programmed at 40 seconds and a $1 start. Watching the green light on the acceptor seems to verify it is working right. It blinks once for a quarter and 4 times for a dollar or token. Jim is at a loss as to what is going on. I ended up setting the timer for 15 coins to start at 3 seconds per coin. It works this way, but it's kind of a screwy way to do things. Has anyone else ever run into this?

 

[captain cw]

Did you try re-programming the ma-800? Sometimes they forget coins. Maybe they can forget how many pulses they need to send out...

 

[MEP001]

If it were a programming issue the light wouldn't still be flashing the correct number of pulses.

This sounds like a voltage/wiring issue, as if instead of sending the usual pulses to the timer it's "chattering" pulses at 60 hz and each time the acceptor takes a coin it's sending three. It seems odd though, since connecting an MA-800 to a GS-7 is very straightforward.

 

[Fatboy769]

I'm not that familiar with the Ginsan GS-7 timer, but is it possible that the MA-800 is sending 1 pulse per quarter, but the timer is counting it as 4?

 

[MEP001]

I'm not that familiar with the Ginsan GS-7 timer, but is it possible that the MA-800 is sending 1 pulse per quarter, but the timer is counting it as 4?

It shouldn't - the MA800 hooks up exactly the same as a Sensortron to the GS-7. There's no setting on the GS-7 to change how the pulses are read.

 

[I.B. Washincars]

I'm not that familiar with the Ginsan GS-7 timer, but is it possible that the MA-800 is sending 1 pulse per quarter, but the timer is counting it as 4?

That seems to be what is happening, but I don't know why. I have installed "off the shelf" Microcoins in these machines and they work as intended. This particular machine was rebuilt by Fragramatics back in '01 and I had them install the IDX at that time. Both the IDX acceptor and the GS-7 timer were branded "FragraMatics" so I wonder if there is something they have done to make them proprietary.

 

[mjwalsh]

If it were a programming issue the light wouldn't still be flashing the correct number of pulses.

This sounds like a voltage/wiring issue, as if instead of sending the usual pulses to the timer it's "chattering" pulses at 60 hz and each time the acceptor takes a coin it's sending three. It seems odd though, since connecting an MA-800 to a GS-7 is very straightforward.

Pat,

I agree with MEP ---- I know on our 16 laundry dryers drop coin mechs the wire trip switches will both chatter & miss when they get tiny amounts of lint or whatever within them. The problem with these intermittent occurrences the regulars quit informing us & eventually it is enough to tip the scale for people going elsewhere or quit using a specific piece of equipment. Hopefully, a good solution for us is finally not too far off. Mike Oliver or one of the others at IDX might be able to dissect what it going on its way to the receiving equipment based on that specific earlier version of the IDX for you. It will be interesting what your specific solution turns out to be. It seems like some coin mechs allow you to tweak the duration of the pulses which could maybe help in this situation.

MJ

 

[Fatboy769]

That seems to be what is happening, but I don't know why. I have installed "off the shelf" Microcoins in these machines and they work as intended. This particular machine was rebuilt by Fragramatics back in '01 and I had them install the IDX at that time. Both the IDX acceptor and the GS-7 timer were branded "FragraMatics" so I wonder if there is something they have done to make them proprietary.

Pat, have you tried a Microcoin acceptor in this particular unit since this started happening? If so, did it do the same thing? Have you tried another GS-7 timer in this machine? I wouldn't think that they would have changed anything other than just having their decal on it. Do you know for sure that this problem was not happening with the old IDX acceptor before it quit working?

Scott

 

[I.B. Washincars]

No, the only spare acceptors I have on hand are IDX. I don't have a spare timer on hand so I didn't try a timer. No, I don't know for sure that it was working correctly before the IDX died. As it stands, I will just leave it as it is. I'm giving 45 seconds for a buck with my hokey timer settings. That's close enough to what I had to suit me. It just bugs me that I can't make it work correctly.

 

[Fatboy769]

Pat, did you try another IDX acceptor? It drives me crazy when things don't work like they are supposed to. My bet would be on the timer.

 

[I.B. Washincars]

Pat, did you try another IDX acceptor? It drives me crazy when things don't work like they are supposed to. My bet would be on the timer.

No I didn't, but come to think of it I probably should. This was one I just received from IDX after being repaired.