Belly door and Main door locking question

[DocPaul1]

First off, I hope my question does not offend the users of this site.
  Here goes.


When I want to open the belly door, I have to open the main door first.  This occurs because there is a tab on the locking slide of the belly door latch.  This tab contacts the lip of the bill acceptor thereby stopping the slide from opening fully to release the belly door lock tabs when the bely door knurled rod is pulled.
  If I open the main door, this slide no longer contacts the bill acceptor and the belly door opens with no problem.
My question is, do I have a problem with an adjustment or to the locking slide, or was this mechanism designed this way ?
If IGT designed that this way, WHY ?  I would think it would be more adventitious to open the belly door and get to the bill collector box without having to go through the trouble of opening the main door.  You still get an alarm when the belly door is opened just like you do when the main door is opened.
I know I could just cut the tab off the slide (if this isn't a hardware or an adjustment problem), but i'd rather have an answer as to the justification for the IGT standard procedure.
  Anyone like to help me understand this, then jump right in.  Thanks in advance.
Doc. 

[erbs]

Please post a pic or 2 of the problem area. Not sure why you would have to open the main door. I have never had a problem removing the cash can by opening just the belly door.

[DocPaul1]

In pic #1, Notice the arrow pointing toward the tab.  That tab is on the locking slide for the belly door.
In pic #2, notice the arrow pointing at the Bill Validator housing.  That is where the tab contact the housing and won't allow the slide to move further.


Do I have some adjustment incorrect ?? (or what ??).
Doc

[rokgpsman]

Could someone have installed the wrong sliding lock bar? Any idea if this area has been worked on in the past? It does look like that tab will always bump up against the bv bezel the way it is setup. Perhaps your machine was an early model and that tab got changed or eliminated later on, or some casino specified it to be that way when they ordered the machine, for their own security reasons. I'd just take a hacksaw or angle grinder and remove the tab and smooth the sharp edges, unless the tab is needed to keep the bar from sliding too far in the other direction.

[DocPaul1]

Cutting it ff is going to be my next project.
Thanks for your help.

[erbs]

I'm not sure why your belly door will not open. I have machines with the Wba and Mei bill validators both open fine. Cutting it should work.

[Shaggy]

Doc, you mentioned the alarm going off when you open the belly door. There is a switch that controls that. On the side, if you take the wires and strip the ends then twist them together then wire nut or tape. That will stop the candle from flashing and getting a door open error. The same thing can be done to the bill stacker (cash can) door if not done already.

Dave

[DocPaul1]

Hi Shaggy.
  When i got my machine it had the switches (all of them) cut and crimp capped.  I rewired them and put ALL the switches back in service.  Also I re-installed all the key locks that had been drilled out.  I like the originality ( where possible) of the machine.  It is coinless and has the hopper and coin drop removed, but other than that it is pretty much original.  I'm now updating the VFD player tracking ( with the help of Foster) using an Arduino processer.
The problem with the belly door was a mechanical issue that has been fixed.
Thanks for your interest in solving the problem.
Doc.

[Shaggy]

Thanks for letting me know Doc. I don't have a problem with originality, but if it was causing trouble I thought I'd let you know. That being said I couldn't understand the belly door latch either. Mine looks like that but works fine.     Glad everything is going good for you. You know where to go for future help.

Dave

[DocPaul1]

Shaggy.
  Send me pics of your latch in the same view as mine.  Maybe i can see something I'm missing.
Doc

[Shaggy]

Here's my pic Doc, looks pretty much the same to me. I have a WBA instead of an MEI but I think they were both made to work for this. Got me...  

Dave

[erbs]

As mentioned I have the MEI and the belly door opens fine. I did notice that I had to pull really hard on the knob making sure it is pulled all the way out before the belly door opened.

[rokgpsman]

Here's my pic Doc, looks pretty much the same to me. I have a WBA instead of an MEI but I think they were both made to work for this. Got me...   Except I can't get the pic straight. 

Dave

When you open the belly door by sliding the bar does the tab on the sliding bar go just under the bv bezel on your machine? His tab actually bumps up against the bezel and stops. Maybe his bv bezel is mounted just low enough it is in the way.

[DocPaul1]

You rock Rok.  That is exactly what was happening.  The tab contacted the bottom lip of the bv just enough to prevent the slide from open fully.
Doc.

[rokgpsman]

So were you able to adjust the bv bezel upward just enough to fix it without having to cut off the tab on the sliding bar? If so and the problem happens again you may only have to remove the top half of the tab, or less.

[DocPaul1]

I removed the tab completely as I could see no current use for it.  No problem with the belly door opening now.  Thanks for all the help  from all the replied.  The problem has been solved.


Doc.