SHINEY3
New member
at the bottom of the plastic snout, it has been said that you drill a 1/2" hole. My question is do you drill it just thru the bottom layer / underside or all the way up? Got to try this, sick of the water issues. Thanks
Bill acceptor drilling
- Thread starter SHINEY3
- Start date
I don’t recommend drilling holes in the bottom of the Bezel but if you feel the need and you’re using a Mars validator with a Compact Bezel. This is how to do it. Remove the Bezel from the validator or remove the lower transport from the validator, this way you won’t drill into the bottom board, drill 3 - 3/8” holes in the bottom of the Bezel about a ½” from the leading edge of the Bezel. When you reinstall the Bezel coat the screws with Silicone grease when you install the screws. Let me know if you need a picture
slash007
Well-known member
I'll probably drill holes as well and would appreciate a picture. Thanks.
MEP001
Well-known member
I keep forgetting to get a picture - it will only work with a Mars upstacker. Just take the plastic bezel off and drill a large hole or two in the bottom. I always replace the screws with stainless, #6-32 x 1/2".slash007 said:
It's not a cure-all - the validator will still stop working if it gets wet, but it should return to service on its own when it dries. The holes are to make sure if someone sprays water in deliberately that it runs out the bottom instead of filling up to the board.
When you drill holes in the Compact Bezel you want it to look like this when you’re done. I got in 9 Mars validators in for repair yesterday and all most all of them have water damaged lower boards. A couple of them have water damaged main boards. All the lower boards that I’ve changed the damage is at the leading edge of the board, the board will actually separate on the leading edge. If you don’t lube the lower screws with Silicone grease or replace them with stainless the rust will swell up and break the frame, like in the picture.
MEP001
Well-known member
A couple of the validators have water marks on the main boards from water before I drilled the holes. Aside from the sensors getting wet and it not accepting bills for maybe 10 minutes while it dries, there have been no problems with water since I drilled them.
slash007
Well-known member
Thanks for the pictures guys. All of this talk of water damage is making me seriously consider just buying refurbished units off of eBay for around $100. That way I could buy 3 units for the price of 1 and it won't be a big loss if I do lose an acceptor to water damage.
Sometimes a good eBay seller can get negative feedback from someone who will never be satisfied thus have a less than 100% feedback. You can click on just the negative feedback and decide for yourself. Of course unless you buy from someone you know and trust like Randy then eBay or not you are taking a chance.
Earl Weiss
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FWIW have the Coinco Vantage got from Etowah.
Never drilled holes in the unit.
Did drill holes in the box (1/4" bottom rear) to let water out.
Had a few failures initialy . All were warrantied.
Later had a few more. A couple were out of warranty and the repair was about $125.00. Saw the Coinco guys at the show because I was a little PO'd. Some more were now out of warranty and a couple failed shortly after reinstall although it may have appeared longer since I had a couple spares and they might sit on the shelf before needed.
Anyway, the guy at the show told me to send any with isssues direct to Coinco and they would check them out. In the last year or so probaby did this about 4 times.
they warrantied them all. Can't ask for better service than that.
Never drilled holes in the unit.
Did drill holes in the box (1/4" bottom rear) to let water out.
Had a few failures initialy . All were warrantied.
Later had a few more. A couple were out of warranty and the repair was about $125.00. Saw the Coinco guys at the show because I was a little PO'd. Some more were now out of warranty and a couple failed shortly after reinstall although it may have appeared longer since I had a couple spares and they might sit on the shelf before needed.
Anyway, the guy at the show told me to send any with isssues direct to Coinco and they would check them out. In the last year or so probaby did this about 4 times.
they warrantied them all. Can't ask for better service than that.
slash007
Well-known member
I understand that they have given you great warranty service and support, but in my book it is even better to not need the warranty. I have 5 MEI 2412 units in one of my car washes ss bays, and about 6 other Mars acceptors in various changers and auto bays and have had 0 issues with them so far. I did have one that died on me a few years ago, but it was there when I bought the wash so no telling how old it was. It's great to have a warranty when something goes wrong, but you still have to take the time to remove it, box it up and then pay shipping each time you need service.
Mel(NC)
Member
I have 4 of the Coinco Vantage acceptors in self serve bays. In 26 months, I have had 3 of the 4 quit working. The first one I sent direct to Coinco. As Earl stated, repair service was quick and there was no charge since it was under warranty. The second one I sent back to the distributor that I purchased it from. At that point, there was a couple of weeks left on the warranty. About 5 weeks later, I get it back with a bill for $95. I called the distributor and he tells me that the validators have to go back to coinco and there is usually a charge for repairs, even under warranty. I was pretty PO'ed and did not pay the charge. The third one just failed and I will be sending it back to Coinco. Good service department but I can't say much for reliability. I don't have any MEI validators in the bays so I don't know how they would compare.
SHINEY2
Member
great pictures and great help as usual thanks allot guys!
Mel, who was the distributor that you sent your Vantage to for warranty repair that, charged you $95? The most you should have to have paid would have been shipping, most of the time they pay the return shipping. Coinco has been excellent to work with.
Mel(NC)
Member
Randy, check your PM. The distributor does a lot of advertising on this site so I am going to resist posting their name.
Earl Weiss
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FWIW It's now been quite somete since I had any issues with one of my Vantage acceptors. Maybe some kinks were resolved.
mjwalsh
6 bay SS w/laundromat
Earl,
Two of our ten Coinco Vantages are due back any day from repair ... so we are sure hoping that you are right about whatever potential kinks being resolved, mitigated or whatever.
In your case ... were the problems with the main printed circuit board? It seems like there are 3 tiny PC boards & anyone of them can cause the Vantage to be completely dead. Did Coinco offer any guidance on how to help prevent unwanted moisture from causing a problem? So far GinSan's PC boards which are protected with a silicone treatment for our coin boxes are giving us moisture grief much better (zero moisture problems) than our previously used Specialty encapsulated PC boards used in our coin boxes previously.
A lot of our customers go straight from our $5 bill dispensing ATM bypassing our changers & putting them into the Coinco Vantages ... so we are banking
on as few of problems as possible with these specific bill acceptors.mike