That sound about right,
After each 250,000 to 300,000 coins, it is important to clean it. I start by separating the main hopper from the lower drive unit at the "parting line" of the Hopper/Feeder. Then gently lifting the "holy disc" from the drive mechanism, I look at the bottom of it, being careful not to lose the black ring bearing/spacer. This spacer is lubricated with White Lithium, and is usually in good shape.
The bottom of the disc is usually very dirty with "coin crud" which is a copper or brown colored greasy sticky mixture of everything that can be on a coin. I don't even want to know what it is. I use a sharp small pointed object like a small pocket knife, and Dish soap and water, and clean this disc back to the original plastic, carefully scraping this crud from the feed holes and "coin feed cam faces" (there are 5 holes so 5 coin feed cam faces on the underside of the disc.) that build up this crud. Once you get through the bulk of the crud, you can use a stiff bristle (like a fingernail or toothbrush) to gently scrub the crud from the corners. You will just see the original black molded plastic at this point. It is important not to scrape base plastic away, only the dirt, so procede with caution. After all the crud is gone, you can blow the disc dry with compressed air. Remember do not remove the White Lithium from the center black ring bearing/spacer, or if you do you can get a can of it at the automotive store to re-lubricate the black spacer bearing, and apply a new
THIN layer of it to that center part. To clean under the holy disc, use a paper towel and windex or a light or slow solvents like "mineral spirits" or "naptha". DO NOT use fast solvents like acetone, toluene or lacquer thinner on the machine parts, or it might ruin the plastic parts by dissolving them slightly. Even when using slow solvents, be sure to get rid of the excess before it has a chance to soften components.
I use a product called DRI SLIDE to lubricate the spring and pawl (called the SnP assembly) it is a light solvent with platelets of Molybdenum floating around. I put a good bead of this on the SnP parts below the bridge plate, and then work it in with a small screwdriver. Mop up the excess. I also put a dab on the metal marble that is below the "holy Disc" and let it work down below. Dri Slide is good because once the solvent "carrier" is evaporated, all that is left is the Moly Platelets and it tends not to attract additional grit and debris from the coins. Any other brands of lube that have the same properties, would probably be acceptable. Keep the principal of not attracting debris, when selecting a lubricant. I have also tried a product called superlube, which is a silicone grease. It seems to work good, but more tiny parts have to be taken apart in the SnP to properly use this lube, as it is more like a grease, and tends not to "flow" into the critical components like the Dri Slide.
One other thing to look for while cleaning is to look at the outside of the SnP assembly, look for a ring of coin crud on the smaller of the two little cylinders and wipe it off with a towel and some Windex or
slow[/i]]slow solvent.
I like to use Windex or soap and water on the coin chutes, as they do not soften the Lexan in-feed chute. Also Pipe cleaners and Q-tips are good for the coin channel down through the discriminator. Use a Q-tip to clean the back of the "slap plate" at the bottom of the infeed chute.
In my instructions, it talks about the use of Silicone Aerosol Lubricant for the chutes. I have found since writing the instruction in April of 2007. I have nearly abandoned the use of silicone lubricants on the chutes. Here's why. I think any lube on the chute tends to attract "coin crud" including lint, grit, and general dirt. A clean dry chute is best. If you do use silicone on the chute, have the chute in your hand, spray a light layer and then immediately blow on the chute with compressed air or from your mouth. This quickly evaporates the "carrier" out of the silicone spray, which I think is called "eno-Ether" ( I believe an exotic type of alcohol) The reason you want to get rid of the carrier is that like other "fast" solvents, it tends to cloud the clear plastic chute. You can get silicone aerosols at the auto parts store almost anywhere. Remember use only a light amount of it.
Compressed air is a great all around way to clean bulk debris from a coin machine, and dry the wheel after a good bath.
One last thought. I have read from other "mass" sorters from before the melt ban, the big operators even with "commercial" grade equipment had to clean the super sorters every 45 minutes of operation, or they would fail. Coins are very dirty, but with proper care and cleaning on interval your machine should work great. Thanks for starting this thread.
I see a lot of attention/comments given to the machine lately and it has contributed to quite a few sales. I want to thank everyone here for the feedback on it. I will continue to support it as well as I can. Again Thanks to all who are using it, and who have commented on it openly and honestly. If any of you have any remarkable discoveries about the machine, that I do not cover in the instructions and want to share, I welcome them all, as I cannot claim to "know it all" about my own machine, it's a work in progress and I'm open to suggestions and input. Cannot guarantee any changes but it helps.
Sometime in 2008 I hope to have an automatic stop option. This way when the machine senses a jam, it stops the feeder, and you can walk away from it while feeding and sorting without worrying. It's a difficult problem, but I've got a couple people working on it now. I will try to engineer it as a "retrofit" as well, so current an soon to be owners can add it to their machines.
