Help cashing out a Game King with a broken hopper

[Uncle Bud]

So there is no way to reset the "cash out" credits once a cash out has begun?

The kids hit the cash out button on my IGT Triple Play Draw Poker Multi-Hand machine manufactured 6/98.  There were several thousand credits and most of the quarters counted out.  But now the hopper is broken and I can't get the cash out cleared.  I think the coin knife broke but a ordered a couple more from Suzu-Happ, for only $35 ,  and they have broken too.  The quarters are taking a noch out of the inside edge of the knife then they start slipping behind it.  It's almost like they are hitting the knife too hard.  Either something else is broken that I can't see, or there is more to the adjustment of the knife.  I tried putting a washer behind the lower screw on the knife but that didn't seem to help either.

I guess I will take off the hopper bin and try the cardboard thing if there is no other solution.  But it would be nice to get the hopper working if anyone has any suggestions.

I plan to disable the cash out button as soon as I can get this taken care of.

Thanks for any suggestions.

[kforeman]

So there is no way to reset the "cash out" credits once a cash out has begun?

The kids hit the cash out button on my IGT Triple Play Draw Poker Multi-Hand machine manufactured 6/98.  There were several thousand credits and most of the quarters counted out.  But now the hopper is broken and I can't get the cash out cleared.  I think the coin knife broke but a ordered a couple more from Suzu-Happ, for only $35 ,  and they have broken too.  The quarters are taking a noch out of the inside edge of the knife then they start slipping behind it.  It's almost like they are hitting the knife too hard.  Either something else is broken that I can't see, or there is more to the adjustment of the knife.  I tried putting a washer behind the lower screw on the knife but that didn't seem to help either.

I guess I will take off the hopper bin and try the cardboard thing if there is no other solution.  But it would be nice to get the hopper working if anyone has any suggestions.

I plan to disable the cash out button as soon as I can get this taken care of.

Thanks for any suggestions.

hey Uncle Bud 

once a cashout has started you have to get it completed or perform a ram clear to get the machine out of cashout mode.  if your knives are getting notched you may have a different sized coin in the mix.  look for a dime or penny since it's probably one of the smaller coins or a small washer getting behind the knife instead of being picked up off of the pinwheel.  g/l 

[Uncle Bud]

Thanks for the response!

I'm pretty sure I have all quarters.  Any other thoughts?

How hard is a RAM Clear to do?

[knagl]

If you can get the machine to believe that the door is closed while you still have access to the hopper area, you can then wave a flathead screwdriver back and forth through the coin-out optics on the hopper to fool the machine into believing that it is paying out coins.  You could keep doing that until it has finally "paid" all of the coins and is idle.

A RAM clear isn't terribly difficult to do, but it requires a special RAM clear chip that you likely don't have, and is more of a last-resort solution.

For what it's worth, a hopper knife shouldn't set you back more than about $5, and that's a little on the high side.  For the sake of your own wallet, I highly suggest buying items through the classifieds section of this site (or by contacting one of the listed vendors on the front page of the site directly) rather than going through Happ (for most items).

Ideally, we should figure out what's causing your hopper knives to break, but that's a discussion for a different day -- I understand your priority right now is just to get your machine back up and running.

[kforeman]

Thanks for the response!

How hard is a RAM Clear to do?

depends on what model your machine is.  
if you've got a GameKing (probably considering the manufacture date) and an 039 processor board it's pretty easy to clear credits by pulling the static ram chips on the mpu.  you wont lose any settings but it will wipe credits off.  post a picture of your machine and of your mpu board and we can guide you easier.

I'm pretty sure I have all quarters.  Any other thoughts?

i recommend you double-check.  i cant tell you how many knives i've seen with a notch in them due to a wrong coin.  back in the hopper days at my casino i used to dump an entire hopper on the floor to find the foreign coin if i had a notched knife; otherwise i'd be back replacing another broken knife on the next cashout!!

knagl's suggestion is a good one too, if you can get the main door to read closed you can trick the hopper.  if it's a GameKing with no main door optics then this should be pretty easy by pulling the cherry switch on the door out towards you.
and i second the suggestion to purchase parts from the vendors around NLG; Happ is very expensive for the average home owner.

[Uncle Bud]

Thanks again for the thoughtful replies.

Happ was an expensive thing but I hadn't found you guys yet.  With sales tax, shipping, handling, and the $10 charge for not meeting the minimum order, it was $35 for two knives.  If I had known I was going to have this much trouble I would have bought a dozen of them.

My door does have the optics on it so tricking it closed is a lot trickier

There are over 1000 credits on the machine so that is a lot of screwdriver waving.  I think I'm going to try the cardboard thing.  I'm thinking  remove the bin and the knife , loosen the agitator screws and slip a strip of cardboard under each one and tighten them back down to hold the cardboard.

I cut the sharp end off of my worst knife and put a blob of JB Weld on it.  I'm going to shape it on the grinder and see if that works.

And disable that damned cash out button!

I'll get back to you on the RAM wipe if I have to.  Do you get to the MPU from the back of the machine?

Thanks again!

[Uncle Bud]

SUCCESS!

I took the bin off the hopper and put three cardboard coin simulators, one under each finger of the coin agitator and taped them down so they would pass through the coin counter.  Fired it up and it "cashed out" better than a coin a second.  Done in about 20 minutes.

I disabled the cash out button on the front panel, but the bad news is in the game selection screen there is a cash out button on the touch screen.  Anyone know how to disable that?

Thanks for all the help!  I made a small donation in thanks for the help I got.

[Uncle Bud]

Update on Suzo-Happ. 

I got a call about 2 weeks ago from a customer service rep at Suzo-Happ asking about my purchasing experience and if I had received my order.  I did some whining about the expense for 2 coin knives and sales tax and that the knives broke right away.  She said she would check with marketing and see if anything could be done.  When I didn't hear anything back from her I figured it had fallen through.  But about a week later I get a package from them with 2 new coin knives in it.  That was a thoughtful thing to do and for the cost of a couple of $.50 knives + shipping buys them a lot of goodwill in my book.

Now I just have to figure out why they are breaking before I break both of these

Thanks again for the help here,

Buddy

[Jim]

is this a new problem?  has the hopper always worked? 
Hopper descriptions: pin wheel=largewheel with dimples on the outer edge. shelf wheel=smaller wheel, this wheel determines what size coin the hopper will dispense, the chisel point of the knife rests on this. the agitator is a three prong rubber star with three holes for mounting, it has three built in metal spacers so the mounting screws won't hit the metal frame and interfear with the rotation of the wheel. the coin deflector=metal part that is secured with three countersunk screws, it has a small square part that fits into an area that is recessed into the black housing. the coin "kicker" mounted with two screws on the top rear, this is adjustable, when adjusted properly it will only allow one coin onto the knife at any given time. the coin optic= a black upside horseshoe "U", mounted with a screw, make sure this screw is not too long, if it is it will interfear with the rotation of the wheel. lastly the knife, the chisel point must be that , flat smooth and tapered to a fine point. NOT BLUNT, MUST BE TAPERED, the knife does have an elongated hole, this allows some adjustment, toward the shelf wheel and away from it. I usually push it toward the rear of the shelf wheel. the knife should rest on the shelf wheel, no pressure, just let the chisel point rest on it. HOWEVER, the knife body itself should rest ABSOLUTLY FLAT AGAINST THE PIN WHEEL, NO GAPS WHAT SO EVER. there may be one other part, its the coin guide, it a piece of metal with two holes in it, this piece of metal is placed on the outside of the knife and the two screws hold the metal piece and the knife in place. it forms a channel that the coins will roll through on there way out to the coin tray.
some things to check out: the pin wheel should be flush with the black housing, a good place to check this , at the top near the area where the coin deflector recessed area, optics are located. next, (since you have the "bin" off) place two or three quarters on the shelf wheel (up at the top  two o'clock position) now rotate the wheel using the knob on the back of the motor, rotate it CCW, the wheel will move the coins toward the knife, its here where you can adjust the "kicker" so only one coin can get onto the knife. continue moving the coin toward the knife, it should roll onto the knife ever so smoothly, no binding, no stopping, just one continuous motion, this should continue until the coin rolls through the optics and out of the hopper. there should be some movement of the coin between the dimples on the pin wheel , and there should be some clearance between the quarter and the edge of the pin wheel. If all of the conditions work then in theory the hopper should work in the machine.
Hope this helps
Jim         

[zarobhr]

SUCCESS!

I took the bin off the hopper and put three cardboard coin simulators, one under each finger of the coin agitator and taped them down so they would pass through the coin counter.  Fired it up and it "cashed out" better than a coin a second.  Done in about 20 minutes.

I disabled the cash out button on the front panel, but the bad news is in the game selection screen there is a cash out button on the touch screen.  Anyone know how to disable that?

Thanks for all the help!  I made a small donation in thanks for the help I got.

on an IGame i have when i changed the option to coinless enable i was not able to do cahsouts to hopper or to printer it is possible it will work on your machine

[Uncle Bud]

Thanks to both of you for the replies.

I will see if I have a coinless enable.  I guess some of my options were limited while the cashout was pending.

Jim,
It was a new problem.  The cash out was going just fine and went through several thousand coins before the knife got a chip in it and the coins started going behind it.  After that it was all down hill.  Thanks for the detailed explanation.

Buddy