Cleaning bill acceptors/validators

[AZquickvend]

Hello, I have a machine that is telling me I need to clean the sensors and I am going to do that tomorrow. I have been trying to research different ways of doing this. My local repair company says not to waste money on the cleaning cards but to put a dollar bill in alcohol and run it through the machine moist. Not dripping wet. Curious if anyone has done this? Don't want to create more problems! Ty

[TKK]

Microfiber rag moist with 50 50 windex water

[AZVendor]

There is not much you can do beyond a soft dry rag that you can clean the sensors with.  Anything beyond that means the unit needs to be rebuilt.  Cleaning with alcohol or special cleaning cards are just panaceas that will mask an underlying problem that will soon return.  There aren't too many locations that get the belts dirty enough to clean them before they need to be replaced.

[rmorris1953]

I use the magic strip cleaning cards because they are handy. I will use 1 on a bank. and then use it to clean the coin mech.... 

 

Long before credit cards we had debit cards. We had some in a private school. The readers worked fine until pizza day. The kids would buy pizza and then with their greasy paws take that debit card and swipe it. The next day most would work. Just something to keep in mind if your location is greasy. Had a machine shop that was destroying the select switches on Dixie Narco's. The oil would infiltrate the select switches so bad they would't work.   They were older Dixie's that didn't have the membrane. So I ordered new select panels and switched them all to membranes.

 

Not all bill validators are like mars with no magnetic heads. Coinco, Conlux, and credit card readers still use magnetic heads and still need cleaning often.

 

Some cleaners will damage your belts. Windex is most likely safe. Don't use any electronic cleaner there are chemicals that will crystallize plastic.