Hamilton Changer Payout Problem

[Kevin James]

We recently acquired a used Hamilton RNS Bill changer from a closed Laundromat. When you put in a $1 it will sometimes payout 3 quarters, when put in a $5 it will payout short, the same with a $10 or a $20. When it pays out wrong it doesn’t shut down it keeps working. I’ve taken the cover off the front of the Hopper and cleaned some lint from under a micro switch and it’s still paying out wrong. Which direction should we go now?

 

[Jeff_L]

Contact Randy on this forum, I had a similar issue before and he helped.

When you put the next bill in after the first bill was shorted, do you get an extra coin? I found my hopper would send the coin up, counter would record, but the wheel would stop just short of the coin falling. Randy had me keep adjusting the switch as it's the component telling the unit that the final coin has passed. I couldn't get it right so I just used a spare. Maybe you can send your hopper to Randy and let him see if he'd be able to get it to work for you.

 

[MEP001]

It's probably the payout switch failing - the easiest test is to bang on it or let it drop when you tilt it back in. If the switch contacts are bad enough that it will bounce them open with a shock, the changer will go out of service.

 

[Randy]

I’ve seen this many times with Hamilton Hoppers that are used in a Laundromat. They get a buildup of soap and fabric softener on the motor mounting plate, it’s the part that the motor and pinwheel is attached to. This is what’s happening, when the pinwheel turns the coins get counted at the counter some are falling back into the Hopper instead of out the coin chute, this is why the changer is not shutting down when it shorts a customer, the coin was counted by the controller. Remove the Hopper cover, baffle and see if you can see or feel any black gunk or buildup at around the 10 -12:30 position on the mounting plate. If you can see or feel a buildup remove the pinwheel and scrape the gunk from the face of the mounting plate, once you get cleaned off use Windex to clean off any residue that might be left on the mounting plate. Reassemble the Hopper and you should be good to go.

 

[Kevin James]

Thanks Randy, We found a smaller hopper to use in the interim.

 

[Kevin James]

Update – we pulled apart the Hopper and Randy was right on. There was this heavy buildup of black gunk on top of the part that the wheel rides on, there was so much of this black gunk that the quarters were falling off the wheel as they were counted. We ended up removing the wheel and scraped off the black gunk, put it back together and it’s all good now.