Help with Players Edge Coin-In (missing coin comparator)

[SuperSlots]

Hi group!

Recently bought what I believe is an IGT Players Edge machine from a local gent for $100. That's right. Powers up, everything appears to work.

The unit is missing the coin comparator, but the coin-in optics and the mounting plates are all there. I have a three-pin harness danging there going to nothing.

Is there a way to fool the machine into thinking I've inserted coins when the unit has no coin comparator?

Does anyone know where I can get the proper coin comparator for this unit?

Like I said, I believe it's a Players Edge. The manufacturing data stamped inside just says "POKER" in the model name field, with 1070C being the model number. Any help with what this thing actually is? It does not have a DBV, and the logic board is mounted against the rear of the cabinet behind the hopper. It's a quarter machine. The theme is "Jakes Jacks". I was able to test all the buttons and test the hopper, everything works, I just can't get any coin-in signals to it.  

Any help is greatly appreciated. Thanks!

[knagl]

Congrats on your purchase!  $100 for a mostly-working PE or PE+ is a very good price!

 

The more pictures you can post of the outside and inside can help us narrow down exactly what model of machine you have (PE or PE+), and if you can make sure to take a picture of the wire harness for the comparator, we can be sure to point you in the right direction.

Yes, you have a couple of options to make the machine play in the mean time.  First, with the door open, you should be able to add psuedo credits to the game by pressing the tiny white switch near the bottom of the coin-in optics.

Another temporary measure you can do is to make some kind of contraption that will funnel coins inserted through the slot past the area where the comparator should be and into the top of the coin optics.  Clever use of cardboard and tape might do the trick.  If you get everything to line up, any coin will be "accepted" and registered by the optics.  (Do yourself a favor and only use quarters -- you don't want assorted coins getting into your hopper, creating the potential for coin jams and possibly broken parts.)

Some of the vendors who have ads at the top of this page (like Jim at Blueridge) should have the comparator you need in stock.  If you're able to post some pictures, please do that first so we can confirm exactly what comparator you need and whether you need the mounting clips or not.

Congrats again on your purchase, and welcome to  !

[SuperSlots]

Most excellent! I'll try to get some photos of it up as soon as possible.

For now I've been playing it using the door open / coin optics switch.

Pictures to follow!

[SuperSlots]

I now have a coin comparitor for the machine, and it is the correct one. I'm not getting 24VAC to the coin comparitor though. I've checked the 24VAC fuse and it's good, and when I remove it the machine doesn't work so I know it's doing something.

Can anyone help? I have verified the comparitor is good in my S+.

[knagl]

If the PE is anything like the PE+ or the S+, it does not send power to the comparator when the door is open.  You need to fool the machine into thinking the all of the doors are closed if you want to verify that it's supplying the correct power.  Hopefully the light on the comparator should turn on once the machine thinks the door is closed.

Where are you at right now?  Is the machine just rejecting every coin you put in?  Make sure you have a nice, clean sample coin, and adjust the sensitivity of the comparator all the way to "least sensitive", and then turn the dial forward just a tiny bit from there, to make sure that it's going to be liberal in accepting coins.

[SuperSlots]

This machine doesn't have door optics (nor does it appear that it ever did). It's just a cherry plunger type switch, and yes, I'm making sure the door is closed when doing these tests. The light on the comparitor never turns on. The credits test switch on the coin optics DOES work with the door OPEN.

All coins are rejected. Again, I physically put this comparitor in my S-Plus and I've verified it takes coins just fine.

Chris

[knagl]

Chris-

Can you test the harness that plugs into the comparator with a multimeter to see if you're getting any voltage?  I've never worked on a PE so I can't swear that it uses the same comparator (same voltage) as a PE+ or an S+.

If you're getting some voltage, it might be time to try and figure out if you have the right comparator for a PE.  If you're getting no voltage, then I guess it'd be time to trace the wiring.


As an aside, if you hold the door switch "closed" and have the comparator removed, does the game give you a credit (or register a coin-in) if you drop a quarter through the optics?

[SuperSlots]

The game does not register a coin through the optics with the door closed. It's configured for "Optical Coin In". Should I set it for mechanical?

There is NO voltage on the pins to the comparitor. Door open OR door closed. The harness is in EXCELLENT shape and I had everything apart with a multimeter last night on my kitchen table, and couldn't find any faults.

What I would like to know is if this 24v is switched by the logic board, and if so, HOW it's switched. My hunch is that I have a bad solid-state relay or something on the board.

[knagl]

Hmm.  No, as far as I know (from what I've read) the optical coin in setting is the correct setting for the PE when you're using optics.  The mechanical coin in setting would use a simple microswitch to detect a coin in (like on a video game or jukebox where security isn't as big of an issue).

On the self-test input screen, do the optics change state when you drop a coin through (or otherwise block them, with something like a popsicle stick)?


On the S+ (and I believe the PE+), the voltage to the comparator is switched on and off by the machine when the door is closed or open.  As I mentioned earlier, it doesn't get power when the door is open.  It's quite possible that the PE is the same way, but that's unfortunately outside of my knowledge range.  Hopefully someone who has worked on a PE can chime in and help you.

Regardless of the operation of the comparator, however, the optics should register a coin in when one passes through them with the door closed.  The optics don't care how the coin got there (comparator or not), they just care that the coin is falling through in the correct order.  I think the self-test input screen will be of help for you there.

[SuperSlots]

Right, but what is actually switching the 24v on and off? The door switch? A solid state relay on the logic board? Magic?

[knagl]

Magic, I think.   


The S+ and the PE+ use optics for the door, so I can safely say on those that it's not the optics providing that kind of voltage.  I'd lean towards a relay of some kind.  Again, though, that's just for the PE+ and S+ -- not sure how that translates to the PE.

[SuperSlots]

Without a real schematic (which the manual does not provide), I'm just going to have to hope someone finds a board for me so I can try swapping it out.