ACW jackpotted

[Jim L.]

I arrived at the carwash this morning to find my Hamilton ACW4 out of service and my hopper had been jackpotted. The crooks pulled out one of my selection buttons, got hold of the wiring harness behind it and knew just which wires to jump to make the hopper jackpot. I called Hamilton this morning to order parts and to get a solution. They told me which wire to cut in the harness that plugs into the hopper. Hopefully this will fix the problem till the crooks figure out something else.

 

[Indiana Wash]

I arrived at the carwash this morning to find my Hamilton ACW4 out of service and my hopper had been jackpotted. The crooks pulled out one of my selection buttons, got hold of the wiring harness behind it and knew just which wires to jump to make the hopper jackpot. I called Hamilton this morning to order parts and to get a solution. They told me which wire to cut in the harness that plugs into the hopper. Hopefully this will fix the problem till the crooks figure out something else.

Having been jackpotted, it will cure the issue. I think it is the white wire, if I recall correctly.

 

[Whale of a Wash]

If you haven't done this already put the acw on a GFI breaker. That was to eliminate another problem, but any messing with wire that touch ground would kill it. If you have an old or new hamilton validator switch it over to a mars. The first problem was stringing their validator, and the second was the stacker that was always trouble.

 

[Randy]

A GFI breaker is a good idea. When you cut the White wire you want to put a Quick Disconnect on each end of the wire, you might need to use it some time. If you have a newer changer the harness will have a Quick Disconnect about half way down the harness that goes to the Hoper, it will have a bright Yellowest tag on it that says “WARNING for security reasons, this plug should remain disconnected”. If you have an older changer you should either cut the white wire in the harness that goes to the Hopper or incase the harness at the bottom of the changer in a 5/8” hose so it can’t be pulled out the coin cup. If your using Tokenotes and you use a XE validator you want to install the v3.55 software. The v3.55 software shuts down the validator when it sees a stringing attempt. If you’re using a HVX validator you’re just asking for trouble.

 

[Jim L.]

Cutting the white wire in the hopper wiring harness WILL NOT PREVENT JACKPOTTING!

Sunday night I got hit again along with another owner. They pulled out another button and shorted the harness to make the hopper jackpot. Hamilton thinks the crooks are accumulating credit, buying a cheap wash and then pocketing the change. I don’t think this is happening because the hopper both times was completely empty.

Randy and I spoke and denying access to the harness is the only way to stop them. Today I’ll install the retrofit metal buttons and have already wrapped the harness with heater hose.

 

[Indiana Wash]

Cutting the white wire in the hopper wiring harness WILL NOT PREVENT JACKPOTTING!

Sunday night I got hit again along with another owner. They pulled out another button and shorted the harness to make the hopper jackpot. Hamilton thinks the crooks are accumulating credit, buying a cheap wash and then pocketing the change. I don’t think this is happening because the hopper both times was completely empty.

Randy and I spoke and denying access to the harness is the only way to stop them. Today I’ll install the retrofit metal buttons and have already wrapped the harness with heater hose.

Hmmm, maybe they took the other button out attempting to short it and that did not work? Then maybe they resorted to stringing for credit? The problem with that is that it takes 90 seconds to time out on my wash, so it would take a long time to do that.

 

[Jim L.]

In the past, when my hopper is too low the make a circuit between the 2 metal strips in the bottom of the bowl, the ACW switched to “use exact change” mode. There were still quarters in the hopper but the amount was too low. A handful or 2 of quarters added to the hopper would switch it back to the normal operating mode.

The crooks were able to make the hopper jackpot and run until every quarter was gone.

This one has Randy scratching his head. He is planning on getting some of Hamilton’s best minds on the problem. I’ll share if I find something better to stop the crooks.

 

[Indiana Wash]

In the past, when my hopper is too low the make a circuit between the 2 metal strips in the bottom of the bowl, the ACW switched to “use exact change” mode. There were still quarters in the hopper but the amount was too low. A handful or 2 of quarters added to the hopper would switch it back to the normal operating mode.

The crooks were able to make the hopper jackpot and run until every quarter was gone.

This one has Randy scratching his head. He is planning on getting some of Hamilton’s best minds on the problem. I’ll share if I find something better to stop the crooks.

You are absolutely correct. Mine does that too. They must have activated the switch somehow. Hmmmm.

 

[Randy]

After talking to some of the best minds at Hamilton the best advice I can give on the older ACW-4/5’s is to incase the wiring harness on the ACW-4/5 door in a 5/8” or 3/4” water or heater hose, cut lengthwise, cable tied every couple of inches, this will make the wiring harness too stiff to get out the button hole should someone punch out one of the buttons. It’s not a bad idea to cut the White wire to the Hopper, if you do cut the White wire put on a Quick disconnect connector, someday you might want to use the Hopper dump switch, reconnecting the Quick disconnect will allow you use the switch.

If you have an older Hamilton Bill Changer that doesn’t have the Quick disconnect in the harness or the coin cup guard, cut the White wire going to the Hopper and put on a Quick Disconnect or incase the harness at the lower end in a 5/8” or 3/4” Heater hose up about 12” -16” and use Rubber lined clamps to secure the harness to the inside of the Changer, this will make the harness too stiff to get out the coin cup.

 

[2Biz]

Randy helped me exactly a year ago with the same issue right after we bought our wash. We had an XE Validator that was being strung. Got us for about $500.00 before we knew what was going on. Randy helped us switch out our XE with a new Mei validator, updated controller, and hooked me up with a used hamilton hopper on Ebay. I can't say enough for the help he has given us!

At the time, we had hidden camera's installed that helped catch and convict the guy that was stringing the XE. He's still behind bars. I've since added more cameras and put them in plain sight. I also posted a 2' x 3' sign above the changer that the property is protected by video survailence. So far no more issues with the changer.

You thought about installing cameras? Sounds like you need a deterant....

 

[U Wash]

U Wash

I actually caught some crooks breaking into my ACW. They took off when I confronted them. The hopper was actually dumping the quarters when I showed up. I saw them working on it with my security cameras. It was a rainy day and a car sitting at the ACW for more than a few minutes raised a red flag. I believe another thing they are doing is shorting the wires to the quarter acceptor and racking up credits. They cut the wire then every time they touch it together it credits a quarter. Then they just hit the refund button and get the change in quarters. You would think that Hamilton would reroute their wires to prevent this problem. It has been going on ever since the ACW came out.