Rebuild Credit Card Readers

[copperglobe]

Anyone know of a business or contact that rebuilds the credit card readers in machines like those in SS bays, ACW pedestals, etc? When they quit working the only moving part are the head(s) and I'm sure would be much less than a complete new reader. Replacement readers are pricey with costs between $200-$350 each. Thanks.

 

[APW]

Which ones do you have? I've got four or five I took out that work fine I will sell.

 

[Car_Wash_Guy]

Perhaps Brush Industries?

http://www.brushindustries.com/prod...ers/magnetic-stripe-readers/page.aspx?id=1137

 

[billj]

If you want to stay with the same swiper, buy a new one, take it apart and coat the board and the ends of the connections with di-electric grease. This will keep the moisture off of it. I also do this with all my bill acceptors. Where the bills go in (Mars) there is a board underneath and do the same thing. That will eliminate all your problems. Since I have been doing this, I very seldom have a problem.

 

[Randy]

I've never heard of anyone getting a card reader repaired. I'll have to check with Brush industries and see if they repair the Hamilton Goldline readers, I've got a few of them. They last a longtime unless someone shoves coins into the reader and the operator uses a hacksaw blade to dig the coins out.

You want to be real careful in where you apply the dielectric grease on the boards on a bill validator or anything for that matter. There are a lot of LED sensors that don’t like to be covered with grease. You’d be better off to apply a spray on Conformal coating to the boards after you covered the LED sensors. Here’s a little more info https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conformal_coating

 

[MEP001]

If you want to stay with the same swiper, buy a new one, take it apart and coat the board and the ends of the connections with di-electric grease. This will keep the moisture off of it. I also do this with all my bill acceptors. Where the bills go in (Mars) there is a board underneath and do the same thing. That will eliminate all your problems. Since I have been doing this, I very seldom have a problem.

I disassembled the Hamilton DAN card readers and used an encapsulating epoxy to completely coat the board. The original readers only lasted 6 months, the coated ones have lasted about 8 years so far.

 

[Washmee]

I disassembled the Hamilton DAN card readers and used an encapsulating epoxy to completely coat the board. The original readers only lasted 6 months, the coated ones have lasted about 8 years so far.

What exact brand of epoxy do you use?

 

[copperglobe]

The only moving parts on the readers are the heads. If the electronics are kept dry using methods as described it seems that a guy could replace the heads and have themselves a new unit. I've taken apart our readers and it would be a simple job to replace the heads; unplug the old and plug in the new. Challenge is finding replacement heads. I called the electronic manufacturer of our readers, Neuron Inc out of Japan, and they didn't want to talk to me about anything- said I had to go through my supplier. My supplier only wants to sell me complete new units.

 

[MEP001]

What exact brand of epoxy do you use?

http://www.mouser.com/Search/ProductDetail.aspx?R=DP-270virtualkey51730000virtualkey517-DP-270CL-1.7

It's really runny and required building a dam to keep it contained to one side and doing both sides separately, but it was well worth the $20.

 

[MEP001]

The only moving parts on the readers are the heads. If the electronics are kept dry using methods as described it seems that a guy could replace the heads and have themselves a new unit. I've taken apart our readers and it would be a simple job to replace the heads; unplug the old and plug in the new. Challenge is finding replacement heads. I called the electronic manufacturer of our readers, Neuron Inc out of Japan, and they didn't want to talk to me about anything- said I had to go through my supplier. My supplier only wants to sell me complete new units.

The Hamilton DAN swiper units are almost $500 from Hamilton. I can get them for $140 from IDTech but without the firmware I can't use them. It'd be worth $140 for the head and a new housing that I could put the old board in.

 

[Randy]

The Hamilton DAN swiper units are almost $500 from Hamilton. I can get them for $140 from IDTech but without the firmware I can't use them. It'd be worth $140 for the head and a new housing that I could put the old board in.

The Hamilton card readers have come down in price in the last year or so
Dan surface mount coin box reader #49-9442 $125.00
ACW 4/5 Retro Fit reader #100-0111 $251.00
ACW4/5 Push pull reader #100-0126 $358.00
Goldline card reader #100-0119 $333.00

 

[MEP001]

Dan surface mount coin box reader #49-9442 $125.00

The 49-9442 goes on the DAN cabinet inside. 49-9448 is the DTT reader, and it's probably still around $460.

 

[Randy]

The Hamilton DTT card reader #49-9448 has a list price of $240.00, I sold a couple the other day that someone decided they’d work better if they used a wonder bar to make it read there card. The biggest problem I see with the flush mount credit card readers is the customers putting coins into the card slot. When they get jammed up with coins you have to be very careful when removing as to not damage the reader. They used to make a shim that would cock out the top of the reader so coins would roll out. They no longer make this shim, the company that made it is no longer in business, I’ve got a few left