Snack Man 2000 Posted January 19, 2018 Share Posted January 19, 2018 I have an AP 7600 with a Greenwick board unloading all the quarters. It has a Coinco coin mech. I have never heard of this issue before. Is the coin mech going bad? The board is only about 1 and a half years old. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vendcobros Posted January 19, 2018 Share Posted January 19, 2018 How old is the light? Is it flickering at all? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snack Man 2000 Posted January 19, 2018 Author Share Posted January 19, 2018 It has been going through some bulbs. The people have been messing with the starter, so I am not even sure which one goes in the machine. It does flicker some though, and it is the original fixture and ballast as far as I can tell. The bulb is an odd size. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
orsd Posted January 19, 2018 Share Posted January 19, 2018 Junk bulb, ballast, and starter, get new ones, or just do an LED retrofit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snack Man 2000 Posted January 19, 2018 Author Share Posted January 19, 2018 3 minutes ago, orsd said: Junk bulb, ballast, and starter, get new ones, or just do an LED retrofit. So the ballast is interfering with the board and coin mech? I believe there might be a power issue too, because they have 2 full size drink machines that I believe are on the same circuit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chard Posted January 19, 2018 Share Posted January 19, 2018 Its been some time since I last had a greenwick board, but I seem to remember having the same issues with them. I had two machines that ran them, a National 147 and a AP 6000. Both had significant issues and I ended up going back to the standard board until both were upgraded with UCB kits. If I remember correctly the National would randomly jackpot coins and also sometimes take bills, but not issue credit. The AP 6000 fried a number of bill validators. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snack Man 2000 Posted January 19, 2018 Author Share Posted January 19, 2018 4 minutes ago, Chard said: Its been some time since I last had a greenwick board, but I seem to remember having the same issues with them. I had two machines that ran them, a National 147 and a AP 6000. Both had significant issues and I ended up going back to the standard board until both were upgraded with UCB kits. If I remember correctly the National would randomly jackpot coins and also sometimes take bills, but not issue credit. The AP 6000 fried a number of bill validators. Will removing the bulb temporarily fix the issue until I can get a LED kit to replace the ballast and bulb? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AngryChris Posted January 19, 2018 Share Posted January 19, 2018 2 hours ago, Snack Man 2000 said: Will removing the bulb temporarily fix the issue until I can get a LED kit to replace the ballast and bulb? If the bulb is the issue, then yes, it will temporarily solve your problem. If the ballast is your problem, then the ballast may cause problems depending on what the problem is. If the problem is with the board or the coin mech, then obviously unplugging the bulb won't do anything. Machines USUALLY jackpot for one of two reasons; an interference from flickering bulbs (which could be caused by a bad starter, and could be dying prematurely due to a bad ballast) or a bad coin mech. A bad board can also cause the coin mech to jackpot but that's usually a one-time thing when the board does it. Now.. if the machine constantly jackpots... meaning that you turn the machine on and it instantly starts dispensing change, then it's probably 90% likely to be a board problem and maybe 10% chance to be a coin mech and 0.00001% chance to be interference. A short circuit somewhere in the machine would probably count as a "board problem" as well, technically. So if this is a recurring issue, then don't even worry about the bulb.. you need to start unplugging things one at a time (with the power off) and see if you can isolate the problem after you turn the machine back on. There is also that very slim chance that your transformer is bad but I have only ever had to change out one transformer ever. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snack Man 2000 Posted January 19, 2018 Author Share Posted January 19, 2018 3 minutes ago, AngryChris said: If the bulb is the issue, then yes, it will temporarily solve your problem. If the ballast is your problem, then the ballast may cause problems depending on what the problem is. If the problem is with the board or the coin mech, then obviously unplugging the bulb won't do anything. Machines USUALLY jackpot for one of two reasons; an interference from flickering bulbs (which could be caused by a bad starter, and could be dying prematurely due to a bad ballast) or a bad coin mech. A bad board can also cause the coin mech to jackpot but that's usually a one-time thing when the board does it. Now.. if the machine constantly jackpots... meaning that you turn the machine on and it instantly starts dispensing change, then it's probably 90% likely to be a board problem and maybe 10% chance to be a coin mech and 0.00001% chance to be interference. A short circuit somewhere in the machine would probably count as a "board problem" as well, technically. So if this is a recurring issue, then don't even worry about the bulb.. you need to start unplugging things one at a time (with the power off) and see if you can isolate the problem after you turn the machine back on. There is also that very slim chance that your transformer is bad but I have only ever had to change out one transformer ever. I spent an hour trying to replicate the issue, and could not. Completely filled the empty coin mech one selection at a time, and ran bills as well. The bulb was flickering, so you might have me on the right track. I just wish I could see it jackpot. Thanks for your help. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BTVFC Posted January 19, 2018 Share Posted January 19, 2018 If you want to change to LED without spending $100, D&S sells odd sized replacements (26", 28", 30", 36"). All you have to do is remove the starter, no rewiring the fixture. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AngryChris Posted January 19, 2018 Share Posted January 19, 2018 15 minutes ago, Snack Man 2000 said: I spent an hour trying to replicate the issue, and could not. Completely filled the empty coin mech one selection at a time, and ran bills as well. The bulb was flickering, so you might have me on the right track. I just wish I could see it jackpot. Thanks for your help. If it's interference, then you probably won't ever see it happen unless you stand there staring at it for hours, days, weeks, etc... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AZVendor Posted January 19, 2018 Share Posted January 19, 2018 Bad florescent bulb, bad starter, poor or no ground at the wall, leaking ground in the wall circuit, loose grounds in the machine, bad bulbs or flickering bulbs in a nearby machine or in the ceiling, brown outs from the two soda machines on the same circuit, etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amigo Posted January 25, 2018 Share Posted January 25, 2018 Call John Greenwich. If it's a board issue he normally stands behind it. I would disconnect the ballast and see if that corrects your problems. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snack Man 2000 Posted January 25, 2018 Author Share Posted January 25, 2018 Just now, Amigo said: Call John Greenwich. If it's a board issue he normally stands behind it. I would disconnect the ballast and see if that corrects your problems. I have been running it without a light to see if that helps. Will try to call him, but he is very hard to get a hold of. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amigo Posted January 25, 2018 Share Posted January 25, 2018 Don't just take the bulb out. disconnect the power to the ballast. the ballast still puts out of even though there is no bulb. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snack Man 2000 Posted January 25, 2018 Author Share Posted January 25, 2018 Just now, Amigo said: Don't just take the bulb out. disconnect the power to the ballast. the ballast still puts out of even though there is no bulb. That is the plan, but just haven't had time to do it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AZVendor Posted January 25, 2018 Share Posted January 25, 2018 13 hours ago, Amigo said: Don't just take the bulb out. disconnect the power to the ballast. the ballast still puts out of even though there is no bulb. I've never seen a ballast cause an interference issue. It's only when the bulb tries to light that the lockups can occur. With no bulb in the circuit the ballast is just a warm transformer, if that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snack Man 2000 Posted January 25, 2018 Author Share Posted January 25, 2018 1 minute ago, AZVendor said: I've never seen a ballast cause an interference issue. It's only when the bulb tries to light that the lockups can occur. With no bulb in the circuit the ballast is just a warm transformer, if that. That exactly what I I was thinking. I haven't received any reports of jackpots since removing the bulb. Hopefully that was the issue, and a Led will take care of it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amigo Posted January 31, 2018 Share Posted January 31, 2018 I have been told by distributors that ballasts continue to broadcast rf even without the bulbs in. Do what you wish but the level of work involved to disconnect, I will disconnect. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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