Nick505 Posted February 15, 2012 Share Posted February 15, 2012 Hey guys I found this crane for sale locally for $100 or best offer. I would like to identify it and figure out if parts are still available before I buy. Below is the posters ad: All it needs is some trouble shooting and I have all the schematics, etc. The coin machine, bill changer, all servos, work. The counter needs 2 more wires traced to make this game operate. Could be fun for the home gameroom or store. Make Offer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Billnuts Posted February 16, 2012 Share Posted February 16, 2012 Looks Iike a Hollywood best choice crane they have been out of business for years they are simple relay/microswitch operation. For dropping problems, check the switches in the claw head itself. In the lower rear portion of the machine is a big assembly with a bunch of relays, four fuses, a couple of bridge rectifiers, and a couple of filter capacitors. suzo happ and betson still sell some parts for these coils, switches etc.. at $100.00 you cant go wrong you can allways sell the working parts on ebay for profit bill Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nick505 Posted February 16, 2012 Author Share Posted February 16, 2012 Thanks bill. I went and looked at it this evening. Everything works mechanically. The problem is the DBV and coin mech giving a credit upon receiving currency. There is a small white wire that is not connected to anything that seems to be the problem. I am going to pick this machine up from the guy this weekend for $75 dollars. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dogcow Posted February 16, 2012 Share Posted February 16, 2012 i agree with bill those cranes are simple and if its a hollywood crane there are universal boards that should work, if not you can gut it and replace with a brand new board/gantry/coin mech for about $200 puts you way below the cost of a new crane. are you saying the dbv/coin mech isnt causing the credit to accrue on the machine? the coin mech/dbv operation on these kind of machine is very simple, it sends a pulse down the line for each 0.25 credit, in some machines the board has to be configured to match the pulse pattern of the mech/val so what you have is basically a switch, when you open the mech you will see it near the bottom of the acceptor, a small wire switch that closes the circuit when a coin rolls through. so to test, what i do is disconnect the wires from the mech , dont worry about the wires near the top that just connects to the light, look near the bottom rear of the mech there should be 2 wires connect to the mech by terminals. if there arent, your mech isnt connected, and that is the problem. if they are disconnect them, cut the terminals off with wire cutters and strip the wire back (make sure u have stripper/crimper and extra terminals from home depot u will need to reconnect this later). now turn on the machine and tocuh the 2 wires together for a second. does it credit the machine? if so something is wrong with the mech, if not, something is wrong with the machine. oh if you are leery about cutting the wires you could always use a multimeter but the same principle, see if its pulsing the board Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nick505 Posted February 16, 2012 Author Share Posted February 16, 2012 i agree with bill those cranes are simple and if its a hollywood crane there are universal boards that should work, if not you can gut it and replace with a brand new board/gantry/coin mech for about $200 puts you way below the cost of a new crane. are you saying the dbv/coin mech isnt causing the credit to accrue on the machine? the coin mech/dbv operation on these kind of machine is very simple, it sends a pulse down the line for each 0.25 credit, in some machines the board has to be configured to match the pulse pattern of the mech/val so what you have is basically a switch, when you open the mech you will see it near the bottom of the acceptor, a small wire switch that closes the circuit when a coin rolls through. so to test, what i do is disconnect the wires from the mech , dont worry about the wires near the top that just connects to the light, look near the bottom rear of the mech there should be 2 wires connect to the mech by terminals. if there arent, your mech isnt connected, and that is the problem. if they are disconnect them, cut the terminals off with wire cutters and strip the wire back (make sure u have stripper/crimper and extra terminals from home depot u will need to reconnect this later). now turn on the machine and tocuh the 2 wires together for a second. does it credit the machine? if so something is wrong with the mech, if not, something is wrong with the machine. oh if you are leery about cutting the wires you could always use a multimeter but the same principle, see if its pulsing the board Dogcow, I really appreciate the advice. I still have not picked up the machine yet but when I went to go look at it last night he did show me a small white wire that is not connected to anything. I will have more details once I pick up the machine on Monday. Nick Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dogcow Posted February 16, 2012 Share Posted February 16, 2012 Dogcow, I really appreciate the advice. I still have not picked up the machine yet but when I went to go look at it last night he did show me a small white wire that is not connected to anything. I will have more details once I pick up the machine on Monday. Nick hope this helps, if theres nothing connected to those terminals, thats the problem, if there isnt its possibly a ground wire, yeah its usually green but ive seen the cranes use all crazy colors. if you are good with electronics the circuits arent hard to trace, myself i prefer to h ave a wiring diagram. if you are really stuck arcade repair usually has the manual/diagrams at least. you erally cant see the switch on the picture, it is a tiny thin wire switch, but feel around its there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nick505 Posted February 16, 2012 Author Share Posted February 16, 2012 hope this helps, if theres nothing connected to those terminals, thats the problem, if there isnt its possibly a ground wire, yeah its usually green but ive seen the cranes use all crazy colors. if you are good with electronics the circuits arent hard to trace, myself i prefer to h ave a wiring diagram. if you are really stuck arcade repair usually has the manual/diagrams at least. you erally cant see the switch on the picture, it is a tiny thin wire switch, but feel around its there. Thanks! The loose wire that is not connected to anything is at the top where the harness plugs into the credit/timer. Also this crane is equipped with a DBV. I will take some picture and explain the problem a little more once I pick the unit up on Monday. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nick505 Posted February 24, 2012 Author Share Posted February 24, 2012 Dogcow, is the picture you uploaded of a Hollywood Crane? At this point I think I need to find a crane or manual to figure out the problem. Here are a couple pictures. By the way I got the unit for $50 dollars. I am sure there are $50 dollars of parts alone. In the second picture I circled in red the loose wire. It goes to the back of the timer/credit display and it is 5 pins over from the right of the plug. Any more tips? I may have to replace all the internals like Dogcow suggested. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nick505 Posted April 8, 2012 Author Share Posted April 8, 2012 Well I was playing with this crane and just got it working!!! I removed the dba, the sunn board and I connected the color coated wires where they should have been and it now works. The only problem is it is .25 cents per play and I don't think I have the option to raise the price. ? Is there any type of switch that I can wire to the coin pulse wire that comes off of the coin mechanisms that will withhold the credit pulse until It was received .50 cents? Also how hard would it be to wire a modern dba to this crane without the manual? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Billnuts Posted April 8, 2012 Share Posted April 8, 2012 not hard for a mars dba they need 110v power and two send wires connect the 110v wires of the mars to a plug cord or tap onto the 110v inside the two other wires usually orange black... go to the switch for coin input 4 wire hookup for most dba the 3 dip switches on the sun board try flipping one to see if the credits change try one at a time and see what each switch does / does not do bill Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nick505 Posted April 8, 2012 Author Share Posted April 8, 2012 not hard for a mars dba they need 110v power and two send wires connect the 110v wires of the mars to a plug cord or tap onto the 110v inside the two other wires usually orange black... go to the switch for coin input 4 wire hookup for most dba the 3 dip switches on the sun board try flipping one to see if the credits change try one at a time and see what each switch does / does not do bill I will see if I can find a used one.. Bill, this machine no longer has the sunn board. You insert one quarter and the game is active. I am guessing I would need some kind of board as well? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dogcow Posted April 8, 2012 Share Posted April 8, 2012 i gaurantee there are dipswitches to change the price, can you post a pic of the motherboard? also the ad posdted above says it came with the manual/schematics ,w as that not the case? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Billnuts Posted April 8, 2012 Share Posted April 8, 2012 well in that case, you have a few options a coin slide $.50 cent mech (the ones used on a sticker machine.... have it cycle and when coins are inserted it hits a coin switch) or they do make a beaver $.50 -$1.00 turn style mech with a built in microswitch or make it a $1.00 crane and get rid of the quarter inputs and just a Dba set at 1 pluse per dollar just a few options bill Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nick505 Posted April 8, 2012 Author Share Posted April 8, 2012 Here is the board... No dip switches Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dogcow Posted April 9, 2012 Share Posted April 9, 2012 hm guess the sun board is some kind of interface. to be honest i havent run across a crane set up like this specifically with the weird DBA interface board. you might consider loooking at the replacement coil/motherboard from twobits.com read the manual online and see if you think its something you can handle installing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nick505 Posted April 9, 2012 Author Share Posted April 9, 2012 Yea. When Hollywood manufactured this particular one they didn't think ahead and allow you to adjust the price. The sunn board was put on when the previous vendor upgraded the machine with a dba. It allows for credits to be stored and gives the possibility of multiple credits from a dollar bill. Something was miswired or shorting and causing the sunn board to overheat. Also I couldnt get the game to operate with the sunn board or dba wired so I removed all of that "aftermarket" hardware and connected the color-coated wires. It now works perfect for a unit with 38K plays. I am going to do as Bill suggested and charge $1 per play. I have already added an esd mech and a push button. I can now accept up to 1.25,in quarters. I am looking for a simple dba now. I only need one that accepts 1's. I may try to figure out the sunn board with a new shaw. I know what 6/12 pins are. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dogcow Posted April 9, 2012 Share Posted April 9, 2012 get an ICT stackerless val they dont get much more simple than that, i find them all the time for $25-50 on ebay and craigslist http://www.ebay.com/...a1#ht_500wt_934 http://www.ebay.com/...4#ht_1717wt_691 set it for 4 pulse = $1 if you have cheap toys or $1 = 1 pulse if you are using high quality licensed toys also if thats plexi and not tempered glass you might buff it out with some plastix from maguiers and an electric drill buffer bonnet. that will clean up light scratches and clean Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nick505 Posted April 9, 2012 Author Share Posted April 9, 2012 It is glass and it is actually really nice. I will get another picture up soon. I just got the esd mech working. I do have a dba made by ardac on it but I don't know how to hook it up. Do i need that huge control box? Or is there a way to hook up just the dba? Also keep in mind that I no longer have that sunn board in use. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nick505 Posted April 9, 2012 Author Share Posted April 9, 2012 Will this work for me? http://www.ebay.com/itm/Lot-of-2-MEI-AL4-R1-111496187-Bill-Acceptor-Head-Only-Cash-Validator-/160779752836?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item256f385584#ht_1899wt_1037 Or do I need some kind of control box? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Billnuts Posted April 10, 2012 Share Posted April 10, 2012 those look like 110v they have thier own control boxes they have a standard mars interface etc.. you can use the 4 wire setup i mentioned earlyer those will work so will this to make hook-up easy http://www.ebay.com/itm/POWER-CABLE-FOR-2000-SERIES-MARS-BILL-ACCEPTOR-MEI-/350545151396?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item519e1e85a4 bill Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nick505 Posted April 10, 2012 Author Share Posted April 10, 2012 Here is the new coin mech Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dogcow Posted April 10, 2012 Share Posted April 10, 2012 those are a good deal, be careful tho if you get a different one the ICT BL are 12v d/c those are 110v a/c just make sure you have the right voltage and you will be all set, you connect the other wires to the coin lines. HAHA damn that is clever!! (the coin mech thing) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nick505 Posted April 10, 2012 Author Share Posted April 10, 2012 those are a good deal, be careful tho if you get a different one the ICT BL are 12v d/c those are 110v a/c just make sure you have the right voltage and you will be all set, you connect the other wires to the coin lines. HAHA damn that is clever!! (the coin mech thing) I am going to get a mars. I didn't realize those were not mars. Bill has all the credit for that idea. But it works well. As far as the pulse wires off the dba do I just run one wire to each coin switch wire? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dogcow Posted June 13, 2012 Share Posted June 13, 2012 hey just an update to this i built a credit accumulator using an arduino board as a test project if anyone is interested i could probably build one of these with a DBA interface and dip switch controlled pricing for under 50 bucks. in my test project you have to update the code to change the price Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nick505 Posted June 13, 2012 Author Share Posted June 13, 2012 I figured there was a way to build a board. I am interested in one as soon as i find a reasonable dba. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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