mmiller1663 Posted February 6 Share Posted February 6 I am new to the vending world and I am looking for advice on converting this old machine to MDB. I have a royal 448-7 with a merlin 2000 version 1 board. I found a conversion kit offered by d&s vending that is supposed to allow me to change the board and convert to mdb. Has anyone ever done this before and used this conversion kit? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gizmo Vending Posted February 6 Share Posted February 6 I’ve done the Greenwick boards spliced into the transformer. I’m assuming you’re talking about part number DS205 since you said you’re changing boards? You will only need MDB if running cards and using a software service. If this is a machine in some 4 man tire shop, forget about it. You’ll have to buy that board as well as a coin mech, bill acceptor and card reader - now you’re at a grand in parts. If this machine is going into a business that can do enough business to warrant MDB, then it would be better to buy a machine that is MDB. Think Dixie narco 501e, vendo vmax or v21’s or Royal Merlin 4. The concept of that board or the greenwick boards are for operators with existing equipment can upgrade machines and not so much for some one to buy an old relic from Craigslist or facetube marketscams and spend another fortune. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mmiller1663 Posted February 6 Author Share Posted February 6 yeah I completely agree that it would not be worth having to buy the new coin mech and bill acceptor, and yes I am talking about the ds205. Fortunately, I actually already have a mars vn 2742 mdb bill acceptor and a mei cf 7000 coin mech that I pulled out of an kooler ice machine that's out of order. So, I won't have the money tied up in that. The deal here is I bought a royal 448-7 machine for $300 and it didnt have a coin mech. So I bought a trc 6010 and installed it just to find out that the bill validator is bad. It was a 117 volt maka. So, my only options are to buy a 117 volt updated bill validator like a mars vn 2511 and a mars to maka conversion harness and only accept bills and change or do this mdb conversion and eventually put a credit card machine on it, but I just wanted to verify that it would actually work before I bought the conversion kit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gizmo Vending Posted February 6 Share Posted February 6 I’ve never installed that board. I would call Royal to make sure it will work with the model you have. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mmiller1663 Posted February 6 Author Share Posted February 6 I talked to them and they said they had heard of those conversion kits but were not sure if it would work on my older model. I am concerned that because I have the version 1 board that maybe I would have issues with it. Even though the kit says for all merlin 2000. I appreciate your help though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AZVendor Posted February 7 Share Posted February 7 Stop wasting time and money on a machine never intended to run MDB. Heck, MDB wasn't even invented when that machine was built. If you have the white Roman-era wheel-like timing rotors on the motors then forget putting any money into this. And to top it off it's a Coke door machine so your 8 columns are only 7 selections. You also only need to ask a question once in this forum. We are all here and read all of the posts so yours won't get ignored. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mmiller1663 Posted February 7 Author Share Posted February 7 The first time I posted the question I posted it in the welcome new members section and wasn't sure if that was where I was supposed to post it or not, so I posted it again in the snack and beverage vending section just to be sure. I'm new to the site so I wasn't sure how it worked. Now I know. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AZVendor Posted February 7 Share Posted February 7 You're good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mmiller1663 Posted February 7 Author Share Posted February 7 You seem to be pretty familiar with the machine I've got. I posted another question about the led display. Maybe you can answer my question. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AZVendor Posted February 7 Share Posted February 7 The display issue you had could be a bad display board or harness to it. If the machine was ever used outside, water could have reached the display board and it's connector. Otherwise, it could just be a bad display. You also mentioned that the credit inserted in the machine was not displaying. That does sound odd but if the machine vends and pays correct change then it's nothing to really worry about. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mmiller1663 Posted February 7 Author Share Posted February 7 okay I appreciate the help. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now