self testing hopper question

[joe c]

Hi all! Im having an issue with the hopper on my s+ not dumping any coins during the self test. Before testing I pulled the hopper, dumped out the coins removed the metal plate from inside the bowl to check for maby a stuck coin found nothing, released break and wheel spins ok in both directions, put everything back together, ran the self test and it only dumps 1 or 2 coins at random no matter how many times I hit the play button or turned the reset key during the self test. The wheel spins constantly during the test just drops a coin here and there. There is probably about 150 coins in the hopper and when I close the door and the game resets im getting the 3300 error code. Sorry if im being long winded just trying to explain everything. Thanks Everyone! This is a great site!

[rokgpsman]

The hoppers I've seen have a "knife" that picks the coin off the rotating wheel and directs it to the output chute. Also, there is a coin scraper in there to help get the coin off the wheel. Can you leave the door open during the hopper test and see what is going on during the test? Also, with power off you can manually hold the hopper brake off and rotate the hopper disc by turning the hopper motor shaft by hand, watch how the coins rotate to the top and then get picked off the disc and steered to the output chute. Look for a bent knife or scraper in there.

You are using the correct size coins or tokens for your hopper, right?

[knagl]

I'd second what was said above and I'd say to try operating the hopper by hand outside of the machine with only a small handful of coins in it.  You mentioned that you were able to do so without any coins in it -- try it with just a small amount of coins, and see if you can determine why the coins aren't being dispensed when you turn it by hand.  It could be a broken/bent knife, or perhaps the shelf wheel is worn down too much or isn't the right size for the coins you're using, causing coins to not travel around to the knife.

PS. Don't apologize for being "long winded" -- the more detail you can provide, the better.  Your post was good!   

[rokgpsman]

Here are a few images that might help you to see what is going on. Although coin hoppers vary from model to model they are similar. Not all hoppers work exactly like this but when you look closely at yours you will hopefully be able to see how it works.

The motor rotates the hopper disc, also called a wheel or plate. The rotating disc has little bumps or raised bars along the outer edge to give the coins a place to sit while they are moving upward on the disc. Sometimes these bumps are very worn and the coins can slide downward and not make it to the top of the disc. The rotating disc is tilted backward so that coins in the hopper bowl will naturally fall against the disc and lay against its flat surface. Then they are carried by the disc upward and over to the coin eject area. When you are rotating the hopper motor by hand you can probably make it turn either direction but in the machine it will only operate in one direction, usually ccw when viewed from the coin side, so that the coins first come into contact with the knife at the pointed end. 

The knife is a pointed piece of metal, wider at the left end where it is mounted and is thinner and pointed at the other end. The pointed end is positioned so that the coin rolls up on the knife and is then pushed over to the coin eject area. It passes under a coin counting lever (looks like a see-saw that moves up & down with each coin that goes under it). After that the coin moves up on a scraper and is directed to the chute that sends it out of the machine.

In the attached drawing the knife is item number 132. It is probably not exactly the shape of yours since they vary but it shows the location to look for your knife and how the knife point removes the coin from the rotating disc. The raised bumps on the edge of the disc are shown as items 128. Notice how the coins rest on the raised bumps. The photo of the real knife is just one example of their shape and color. In the 2 photos of hoppers (with the coin bowl removed so we can see the wheel/disc) you can see the small raised bars along the disc edge, these are what pick up the coins and keep them against the disc as it rotates. Your hopper disc may have little round bumps or studs instead of bars. The main thing is to make sure they are not worn down so small or smooth that they no longer hold coins in place. As knagl said a common problem is a bent knife or one that is misadjusted.

[joe c]

Hi all! Just want to give a big thanks to rokgpsman and knagl, you guys rock! Your replies were informative, good reading, and dead on. I followed your instructions and found that the tip of the knife was broken off not, much just a little. The coins were hitting the broken tip forcing the knife away from the wheel thus letting the coins travel between the knife and the wheel and the reason it would drop a random coin was sometimes a coin would get stuck behind the knife and the next coin or two would ride over the stuck coin and drop into the shute, so long story short I need a new knife, but what I did do just for the heck of it I removed the knife and took a small file and filed it back to a point while trying to keep the same angle and shape, it worked, self test went good, put 2- 20 dollar bills in the bv and cashed out seems ok now but im still going to replace the knife. Thanks again you guys for your time and help! 

[rokgpsman]

Good job on getting it working again. 


When you get the new knife installed you can keep the old one as a spare in case you ever need it down the road. There should be some place in the bottom of the machine to tie it safely in place out of the way.