Goldline not giving credit on $5 bills

[DPD36]

I have a goldline that is about 5 years old. On two occasions in the past two weeks the validator has accepted a five dollar bill, but the unit does not show a credit. Video confirms that the customers have put a bill in and a five is on the top of the stacker. I have not been able to duplicate the error. After the most recent occurence we cleaned the validator. It was very hot. Ambient temp was 100, but on the previous occurence it was about 85 degrees. Our DAN does not show that any errors have occurred.
The validator is a Hamilton and it was serviced about six months ago by Hamilton. Any ideas on this would be appreciated.

Matt

 

[MEP001]

It's really not uncommon to have the bill get taken and no credit given. Most likely the bill is rejected but can't be returned to the customer because of a crease in a bad spot. When that happens, the validator cycles until it either senses clear or times out. Sometimes it cycles the bill into the stacker to clear itself, and there's no credit given since it wasn't actually accepted as a good bill. The only way to confirm this would be to open the cashier right after it happens and see the bill in the stacker but not cycled in with the other bills.

We started having this problem in one changer after a batch of bad fives were released (They were cut slightly too wide and the Hamilton validator would steal them). I switched it to a Mars and the problem stopped.

 

[Randy]

I hate these intermittent type problems. Which model Hamilton validator do you have? XE or STA? The $5 signal isn’t making it to the controller. I’ve seen this a few times in the past, it could be heat related. . About the only thing you can do it is check the wiring on the plug that plugs into the back of the validator. Pay particular attention to the wire that is on the bottom row of the plug, in the center. This is should be pin #8, the $5 vend output. The wire on the inside on the validator plug could also be loose in the pin that goes into the plug. Spray a little contact cleaner into plug on the harness and little on the plug on the back of the validator. Do you have another validator that you can replace this one with to see if the problem continues?

 

[DPD36]

The validator is an STA and I don't have another Hamilton validator. Both of the bills in question were in decent shape and when I ran them through they worked fine. I can also remember some bills that were cut a little wide a few years ago, but I neglected to compare the size of these bills.

Randy, I'll check on the wires you recommended this afternoon. We bought the unit used and this is our first summer with it. Should the validator ever get so hot that it is painful to hold? The fan in the bottom of the cabinet is working, but we have the cabinet encased in cinder block so there isn't any airflow to speak of. I'm wondering if the heat could be causing the problem or just making a weak connection even worse.

I appreciate both of you for your advice so far.

Matt

 

[JIMT]

Matt,
We have had the same problem with an ACW 5 stealing $5 dollar bills. Hamilton checked the validator and the controller and could not find a problem. We ran a new wire from the validator to the controller and still had the same problem. We changed to a Mars today and hope we have solved the problem.
Jimt

 

[DPD36]

I hate these intermittent type problems. Which model Hamilton validator do you have? XE or STA? The $5 signal isn’t making it to the controller. I’ve seen this a few times in the past, it could be heat related. . About the only thing you can do it is check the wiring on the plug that plugs into the back of the validator. Pay particular attention to the wire that is on the bottom row of the plug, in the center. This is should be pin #8, the $5 vend output. The wire on the inside on the validator plug could also be loose in the pin that goes into the plug. Spray a little contact cleaner into plug on the harness and little on the plug on the back of the validator. Do you have another validator that you can replace this one with to see if the problem continues?

I followed Randy's advice on this and the validator hasn't missed a beat in over four months. I'm probably jinxing myself by saying that, but thought that I would pass it along for others that might have the same issues. There was no visible problems with the plug, but a little contact cleaner seemed to work.

Thanks for your advice Randy.