hopper

[psl]

Afters several years I managed to repair my Universal Reel. But...upon payment, I notice that there is a black greasy substance, such as tar on the coins. When reviewing the hopper, it seems that something is melted around the 3 'arms'. Can I remove this substance and if necessary replace it with silicone without damaging the hopper?

[rickhunter]

They are called agitators and yes they do react with the metal in the coins and melt over time.  It is a problem with most hoppers.  If you can "manufacture" silicon replacements that would work as well.  The only function is to move the coins as the hopper wheel spins so they fall into place into the slots.

[psl]

He Rickhunter, thanks for your response! Meanwhile I took a closer look at the hopper. The 'arms' I mentioned earlier seem to be attached to the hopper. Do you think that if I remove the black substance and I don't replace it with a manufactured silicon, the hopper will still work as normal? Or just cover the black substance with some silicon and let the silicon dry. Couldthat be a solution too? What exactly is the function of that substance?
mvg
Pascal

[rickhunter]

The substance that is leftover were rubber arms that move the coins around as the hopper plate spins.  It is designed so that the coins don't stick to the hopper to the side where the hopper wheel cannot pick it up.  Without a complete agitator, you may get hopper empty errors before it is actually empty, but if you keep a couple hundred coins in your hopper at all times, it shouldn't be an issue.  So if you cover it up, but keep enough coins all the time, it should not be an issue.  Your pictures are kind of blurry, but you should be ok removing the gunk or covering it up.  There's is a universal slot specialist here (uniman), maybe he can chime in as my hoppers have a complete rubber star to agitate the coins, you have some sort of metal part with arms swinging out.  I've been trying to find a picture of a "healthy" hopper of your type, but can't find one.