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Hello all,
Thanks for letting me join into all the great folks here who have helped me so far On this slot revival journey.

I’m working on a 25¢ Jennings Silver Chief and trying to diagnose a very consistent payout problem.

I removed and thoroughly cleaned the payout slides and reassembled them dry. With the payout tube properly filled, these are my repeatable results:

• 3-coin payout = 3 quarters — correct
• 5-coin payout = 5 quarters — correct
• 11-coin payout = 10 quarters — one short
• 13-coin payout = 12 quarters — one short
• 18-coin payout = 17 quarters — one short

I numbered the seven payout slides #1 at the top through #7 at the bottom. By watching them operate, I have determined:

• 3 payout: #6 + #7 retract
• 5 payout: #5 + #6 + #7 retract
• 11 payout: #4 + #5 + #6 + #7 retract
• 13 payout: #3 + #4 + #5 + #6 + #7 retract
• 18 payout: #2 + #3 + #4 + #5 + #6 + #7 retract

Because the shortage first appears when slide #4 comes into play, I removed #4 for inspection.

I discovered that the small metal separator/cutoff tab or spring assembly on this slide has quite a bit of movement. I’m attaching a video showing exactly how it moves.

My questions for anyone familiar with Jennings payout mechanisms:

Is this amount of movement in that tab normal?
Is this the coin separator/cutoff spring that determines where the coin stack separates?
Could excessive looseness or an incorrect resting position here cause the payout to be exactly one coin short?
Does anyone have a known-good 25¢ Jennings 6-coin payout slide (V3-131) that they could photograph from both sides for comparison?
Does anyone have a spare V3-131/6-coin slide they would sell?

I don't want to bend, tighten, peen or otherwise adjust the tab until I know how it is supposed to operate.

Any Jennings-specific experience would be greatly appreciated. I can provide additional photos or videos if needed.
Here is a short video of the #4 slide tab movement.
https://youtu.be/53Iktr9JrZk
Thanks in advance
Mully

I think you’re being to analytical about a 75 year old mechanical slot machine. A lot of slots from this era give a range on the payout card for each payout, due to thickness of worn or new coins. I believe you are well within tolerances

There is nothing wrong with your machine. If you want it to pay correctly on the larger payouts, you will need to only use Older Silver Quarters. They are thinner than modern Clad Quarters. Stack up 18 Silver Quarters and next to it Stack up 18 Clad Quarters, you’ll see the difference immediately.