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Columbia Machine. Cleaning this up to make it functional - got it with a nasty coin jam and inop on the pull handle.

Got it working mostly, but it seems to get a coin jam when the upper tractor feeds the large carousel - tries to put a second coin in where there is currently a coin. Doesn't seem to index properly, only some of the time.

The mechanics of this machine is complex. I'm missing some sort of cover that goes over the top of the coin carousel, which might be why I get these coin jams. The cover would likely allow the tractor to feed in the right place and keep the guide cover in position. There is a cover over the coin outlet from the upper tractor, held in by some weird spring, and it pops off when the jam happens there.

Anyone know if that round cover with the keyhole slot in the middle is available or possibly have one? Or, do I fabricate something (my second choice).

Pics for detail. Someone has been in there bracing some stops with sheet metal and a crude brazed-on plate, no doubt to compensate for wear.

Any advice from you experts?

I don't think any of your malfunctions are due to a missing carousel cover: in my experience, the cover is more likely to cause jams than to prevent them, and I doubt it serves any useful purpose other than to keep coins from falling out after you give the mech a good swift kick in the rear.

The stepping of the carousel to take the coin from the escalator is very important though, and repeated jams such as you're experiencing will surely result from not having the step adjusted just-so. You really have to monkey with that to get it right. The adjustments can be made by loosening the shield-shaped plate indicated in the attached image and moving it upwards a tad to increase the step or lowering it a little to reduce the stepping distance. I'm talking just 1/16" or less of adjustment each time; once it's in the right spot, secure those two screws down tight.

No idea what the garbage sheet metal on the escalator is all about, but the messed-up stuff coming off the bar on the side is actually a makeshift shim which you should probably replace with a more tidy and robust one, because you'll probably need it. I've dealt with this several times before: the shim is there to make sure that the escalator gets pulled far enough on each cycle to both accept and drop the coins... somehow, with age, wear or metal shrinkage or whatever, the escalator stops clicking all the way into proper position with each cycle, and that shim helps to make sure it "gets there." Maybe there's a better fix for this problem, but I sure don't know what that would be... what's for sure is that nobody at Groetchen would've ever imagined that nutty people in the 21st Century would be trying to keep their ephemeral products in operating condition. These devices were simply not built to last, so they didn't worry much about servicing them either-- that's for fools like us!

RameGoom wrote:Columbia Machine. Cleaning this up to make it functional - got it with a nasty coin jam and inop on the pull handle.

Got it working mostly, but it seems to get a coin jam when the upper tractor feeds the large carousel - tries to put a second coin in where there is currently a coin. Doesn't seem to index properly, only some of the time.

The mechanics of this machine is complex. I'm missing some sort of cover that goes over the top of the coin carousel, which might be why I get these coin jams. The cover would likely allow the tractor to feed in the right place and keep the guide cover in position. There is a cover over the coin outlet from the upper tractor, held in by some weird spring, and it pops off when the jam happens there.

Anyone know if that round cover with the keyhole slot in the middle is available or possibly have one? Or, do I fabricate something (my second choice).

Pics for detail. Someone has been in there bracing some stops with sheet metal and a crude brazed-on plate, no doubt to compensate for wear.

Any advice from you experts?

Thanks for the info Mars.

That adjustment was very sensitive like you said. Got it just about right.
There was another adjustment that attaches to that flat spring that controls the coin drop finger. It has two bolts with nuts, and pivots to adjust. I messed with that and it controlled the timing for dropping the coin from the upper tractor to the carousel slot. Fixed the coin jams with a tweak.

I also added a small metal strip to provide "free play". Push the coin detector arm in, bend the plate around it and it works well. Since this machine belongs to a friend, I will instruct him about using free play instead of coins...it will eliminate coin jams BUT no payout.

Anyway, the machine is working acceptably now and all is well.

Thanks again.

RameGoom wrote:I also added a small metal strip to provide "free play". Push the coin detector arm in, bend the plate around it and it works well. Since this machine belongs to a friend, I will instruct him about using free play instead of coins...it will eliminate coin jams BUT no payout.

A quick way to get into "free play" mode is to simply disconnect the indicated spring, which is easily accessible from the back door.