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Ginsan GS-31B Timer Problem...Weird One

bigleo48

bigleo48

Active member
All,

I have a Ginsan Ultra Meterbox that's nott always starting at $2. So far I have replaced the GS-31B timer twice (what I suspected was the problem), the main board (GS-64) once (only have one spare) and the coinmech. It still does it fairly regularly?! I double checked all the connections and they are good. I have moved the box with another bay and the problem follows the box. Any ideas what to do next? Will call Ginsan on Monday.

BigLeo
 
Bigleo,

Definately give us a call. What happens if you put in more money after the $2? Does the bay eventually turn on?

Just an FYI, the GS31B is not a timer, just a time display. Your timer is back in the equipment room.
 
Dan,

You are correct there...the GS-255 (I think) back in the room is running the show. What I have discovered is that the GS-255 will not always start on 8 pulses ($2)...and if it doesn't, it will start if I add another $2?! After a little more testing I discovered that it will work if I set the GS-255 to 7 pulses (or something else than 8). The GS-255 coin pulses are fed via a relay, so I can feel and hear all 8 pulses hitting it, but it just won't start at 8. SO for now I have set it to 7 pulses and all is well. I'll need to order a replacement. The reason for the relay is that it feeds a transistor2solidstate device and splits it to feed other timers (like my vac-it-up and a bigtime timer). Complicated setup for sure.

What's got me puzzled is that when I moved the door to another bay (which is off another pump bench, power supply, etc)...the problem followed the door!?

We'll see what happens now, but after a day now it seems fine.

BigLeo
 
I have a guess. General purpose relays are usually rated to switch loads from 30 milli-amps up to 5 or 10 amps. Years ago, before I knew better, I used general purpose relays to switch loads to 24vdc PLC inputs. Those inputs have a load of just 7 milli-amps. Some of the pulses were being missed because there isn’t enough power to “bite” through the oxidation that may cover the contacts. Especially in a self service equipment room with alkaline fumes in the air. Use an IDEC “RY” series relay for starters. I know they are rated down to 5ma. You can also get relays with “bifurcated” contacts. They have a very low current rating. I’d bet you are missing some pulses because your relays are too “heavy duty”. I would also guess that anybody's timer "input" has a very, very low load that is not greater that 5ma if that.
 
thoffmanjr,

Thanks for that. I didn't have a wirering diagram so I spent some time looking at how it is wired. So the coin pulses feed a "GinSan splitter" that splits the coin signal to the GS255 and a relay. The GS255 then runs the GS-31 display timer in the coinbox. The relay then feeds the vac-it-up timer and the BigTime display timer in the Bay. The GS255 and the relay and the other two timers all get the correct amount of pulses. However, the GS255 is not always starting at the set amount of pulses (8). So the GS31 shows $2.00 deposited, but does not start counting down (so it's says it's got all the pulses). Everything points to the GS255 and I will replace it tomorrow when I get my spare.

As for past problems (not starting and missing pulses), the missing pulses problem seems to have disappeared...so I beleive it was a seperate problem that might have been fixed with the replacement of the coin mech. I'll post what I find out tomorrow.
 
Replacing the timer did not work....I'm getting real close to ripping the whole thing out and putting in a PLC! That would simplify and fix everything!
 
bigleo,

What "Ginsan splitter" are you using? What are the wire colors coming out of it? We have different interfaces for diferent applications. It's possible that it went bad. You do have a different setup.
 
Dan,

The splitter has 2 wires in and 3 out. It takes the incomming coin switch signal and splits it in to 2 seperate outputs. One goes to the GS-255 that runs the bay, and the other to a relay that feeds the vac-it-up timer and Dixmore Big Time timer. I also beleive it is there to prevent a signal lock that occurs when you connect back to back solid state devices.

Tonight I am going to try and swtich the two outputs of the splitter to see if problem follows (or if just one output is bad). If it remains the same, I will remove it (and not feed the vac-it-up and Dixmore timers) and see if that fixes it. If none of this works, I am going to give up and get a PLC to replace the GS-255s, the splitters, relays and the vac-it-up timers (that would simplify the whole thing, increase reliabilty an allow me to control and monitor the bays remotely). If the problem is the splitter, then I'll get a couple of spares. There are no markings on your splitters, would you know the part number? here's a picture of it
splitter.jpg
 
bigleo,

That is a GS17 coin counter interface. People will use them to split the coin pulse so that you can have one coin mech trigger more than one device, i.e. GS255 and Vac-it up. The part number for that interface is 77060 and the cost is around $16. Shoot me an email and I will send you the tech sheet for that interface.
 
thoffmanjr said:
have you tried swapping the relay with another bay?
Click to expand...


Tom,

I did early on. But since the relay is after the splitter and on the other leg of the signal path to the vac-it-up and dixmove display timers, I don't see how it can affect it. However all the pulses are making it to the relay as I can feel them when I hold the relay and drop coins in.

But you give me an idea to just pull the relay (that would disconnect the second leg) and try it.

Thks...BigLeo
 
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