hocuslocus Posted March 16, 2019 Share Posted March 16, 2019 Hello, I'm having a hard time trying to figure out what the issue is with my machine. It's a seaga express deli marketplace - em 450. with a MARS recycler, Conlux CCM-5 Coin Mech, Payrange & credit card reader with a 4 in 1 face. (mei) It's been working fine for the last 5 years in this configuration. So the issue is, when you put in $1, it counts it as $2 dollars. When you fill the recycler up all the way it counts it as $1 dollar again, and it works till it doesn't. Every other denomination works fine, $5's=$5's, $10=$10 and $20=$20 I've talked to CPI(MEI), they say it's an issue with the vending machine. I talked to seaga, they say it's an issue with the bill acceptor. So no real help there. - Replaced the bill acceptor, with 2 other MEI recyclers and the issue persists. - Replaced the Main board on the vending machine - Took payrange out. - Went through all the options on the recycler and nothing made a difference I finally bought a new recycler and used a more recent coin mech (Mars 7500 series) and installed those. The problem was gone for a few weeks. Now instead of crediting $2 for the $1, it gives zero credit's. It also gives the wrong change, if a patron is supposed to get 2 dollars, it'll give them $2 dollars from the recycler and $2 dollars from the coin mech totaling $4 dollars. That and payrange won't work anymore with the new Mars bill acceptor (firmware ?) -I swapped back and forth between the coin mechs and found that the problem changed depending on which one was being used. - took out the Credit card reader stuff (the yellow easi trax box), the problem still persists. The older coin mech gave $2 dollars for every one, and the newer coin mech gave $0 for every $1. I put the stock bill acceptor back in the machine for now, (the one that only does $1's and $5's). Till I figure the mess out. At this point I'm thinking it's either a firmware issue- compatibility wise btwn the coin mech and bill acceptor Or there is a connection issue. I went ahead and got another coin mech to test with, been meaning to get one anyway. If that doesn't work, I think it's time for a new vending machine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AZVendor Posted March 16, 2019 Share Posted March 16, 2019 It was time for a new vending machine when you knew it was a Seaga machine. Your problems could be a poster child for what can go wrong with mixing so many types and suppliers of technology, amplified by the poor design from the machine manufacturer at the beginning. Seaga never takes responsibility for issues in their machines so, when you ask them, it's someone else's fault. In reality you have a non-upgradeable logic board in a 5 year old machine and you are mixing Payrange, MDB, Mars Easitrax, a four-in-one bezel, an advanced Mars CF7512 mech, and a recycler - all in the same poorly engineered machine. Something was bound to go wrong as each peripheral got older while technology changed. Payrange has known issues for not playing nice with card readers and in the beginning Payrange couldn't even be used in a machine with a card reader at all. You probably need to force a firmware upgrade in your Payrange at the very least or it might need to be upgraded to a newer model since yours is certainly a first generation model at 5 yrs old. Try unplugging it to see if the problems go away. You probably don't realize that your Mars coin mech could also have old software or various newer versions in it. The latest version should be used if you can find a MEI depot to put it in for you. To simplify things for this machine I would ditch the recycler (known issues with them and I only know one MEI depot that knows the tricks to fix them), the CF7512 (too complicated for your machine - just use a 3 tube MDB mech in it), and either use only the Mars card reader (known issues with this brand when aged) or only the Payrange. You're just asking the machine to do too much thinking and interfacing. I would also turn off the acceptance of any bills larger than a $5 bill unless you are selling $10 or $20 items and then a 3 tube MDB mech will work just fine. With all of these payment options for your customers you aren't leveraging any of them for your own benefit. Seaga tried to make the machine be all things to all people but this is the price of that goal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BTVFC Posted March 16, 2019 Share Posted March 16, 2019 The PayRange issue could be a firmware problem. I had a Vendo 721 with PayRange and a Mars recycler stop & start working randomly. They updated the firmware on the PayRange to 33, and it seems to have cured the problem. Go to their support section of the website, and place a request, citing your problem. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hocuslocus Posted March 17, 2019 Author Share Posted March 17, 2019 Appreciate the replies, The most expensive Item I sell is $15 dollars... The main reason for the machines is to sell cigarettes out of it. They cost 9 bucks and I sell around 15-20 cartons a week out of just one machine. I added a credit card reader finally because people kept jamming my bill acceptor with their credit cards at least once to twice a month. I was pleasantly surprised to see the sales increase 30% after installing it. I still had an issue to where I was constantly having to refill the dollar coin slots. So I got the recycler and that solved that issue. Mainly got the payrange for my pulse machines (pinball, redemption, etc..) and decided it couldn't hurt to try one on the vending... it took a while, but people started to use it. They do a lot better on the pulse devices, for me anyway. Regardless, I'm done expanding with payrange only because I've had them over credit people on two of my pulse machines. 1= 30 credits instead of 1=1, I just needed to reset those two devices to fix them, but that's not something I want to have to check on every time, on top of collections. I called the payrange people and of course, I was the first person they have ever heard, have this issue. I'm really hoping it's the coin mech, because that recycler and C.C. reader have been a great addition. I hear you though, it's probably about time for something different. It seems like when it works, it works great but when it starts having issues I want to kill it. The recyclers just compounds the headache, had so many JA, HF and CC failures I've lost count. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hocuslocus Posted March 17, 2019 Author Share Posted March 17, 2019 11 hours ago, BTVFC said: The PayRange issue could be a firmware problem. I had a Vendo 721 with PayRange and a Mars recycler stop & start working randomly. They updated the firmware on the PayRange to 33, and it seems to have cured the problem. Go to their support section of the website, and place a request, citing your problem. I'll check on it, I did try to update it. It said it was up to date, but who knows. Some of the older devices might not be able to go with the later firmware? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corvus Corax Posted March 18, 2019 Share Posted March 18, 2019 Definitely ditch the payrange, no need for it and a CC reader. Payrange is more of a stopgap cheaper way to do cashless. Are you doing cigarettes and food out of the same machine, I wouldn't recommend that. You can get a dedicated 4 wide for cigarettes. Preferably with a drop sensor. My choices would be AMS, AP Revision door, AP Studio 3 or newer with drop sensor, National Revision door, or National with 'VE board and drop sensor. Good luck, I wish I could sell cigarettes here, big profit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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