Revamped Beromat-type bandits

[operator bell]

working out how the payout cogs match the slides and actuate the rod that releases those slides, its paying out.

A word of wisdom about the slides. There are five, the bottom one of brass and the other four made of a soft and fragile zinc alloy. And it might have escaped your notice, there are two release rods. The one at center front is lifted by a cam a variable amount, to set the payout, but it should not release the slides. It should be a loose fit in the holes. There's another rod, left center of the slides against the side of the mech, which is lifted by another cam at the top and is adjustable by a set screw. This one drops down through a bush on the slide holder and only releases the bottom brass slide, without which none of the others can move. The set screw needs to be adjusted so that this rod lifts last, after the front rod has lifted the right amount for the payout. If things are out of adjustment and the second rod lifts first, the front rod will tend to get stuck by the spring pressure, and as it rises it will grind the holes in the soft zinc slides, leading to all kinds of wrong payout problems.

Also, don't yield to temptation and dismantle the slide stack except in a dire emergency. It comes apart easily enough but it's the devil's own job to put it back together and get all the springs in place. It took me a week, cursed thing.

I have seen Wulff machines with a third release rod, or rather a non-release rod. It drops into another set of holes at right front to prevent the slides releasing if the machine is banged or tilted. If you had such a thing, I'm sure you would have mentioned it. Most people take the tilt mech off as it's a pain in the butt to keep it carefully balanced.

[badpenny]

".................drops into another set of holes at right front to prevent the slides releasing if the machine is banged or tilted."

That's the "Payout Lockdown" on my Primus that I was waffling about previously

The nice thing about GW machines is that there is no hidden bits of complications wazzing away at the speed of light hidden away in the darkness. It all moves slowly and brazenly.

[malcymal]

Moving slowly and brazenly, that's like me going to work. Yes, I'd agree. I'm playing mine now and it's just so gentle, spins nice and fast, you can't hear a thing apart from the tiny noise of the clock and the way and the long timing between the reels stopping is more exciting when you line up 2 fruits for a payout just waiting with suspense for the third to drop in. You know that the first reel has gone through a few cycles as opposed to the Sega, that may drop in first reel without a full cycle. The way it pays out too, you can hardly hear the slides click the coins out. I love it, I'm sitting here typing with the lights off and the warm yellow glow of the Roma hybrid GW lighting up the walls and the carpet.

[jimmycowman]

You've done well to find that at a flea market! When I go around flea markets the only thing I find is tat!!

[pennymachines]

When I go around flea markets the only thing I come back with is fleas.

I'm sitting here typing with the lights off and the warm yellow glow of the Roma hybrid GW lighting up the walls and the carpet.

Sounds like love!

[pennymachines]

I believe Ruffler & Walker may have been responsible for the metal-fronted conversions and there were surely other Beromat revampers.
The Amusement Equipment Company Ltd. of Wembley converted German wall bandits to the old penny, re-laminated them and Anglicized the screen-printed glasswork but they didn't re-case them as far as I know.

I should have learned not to make assumptions. I'm already proved wrong by a Princess on ebay, a re-cased Beromat-type bandit which carries the The Amusement Equipment Company Ltd. badge. Does that mean it was AMECO, not Ruffler & Walker that made all the Princess and Duchess metal-front bandits?

[badpenny]

I used to have one of these Ameco wooden beasties and thought it a beauty. The work gone into that case and the big heavy payout tray was a work of art straight out of my childhood.

[daveslot]

I think AMECO were just suppliers as I had one of their badges nailed to a Nelson Lee working model.
These revamps were also done in Southend

[fotoman]

Topic merged- site Admin.

Does anyone else have any more info on this?
I just purchased one here in the USA.
Any idea of value?
Also has anyone converted one to work with other coins?

And lastly, the payout on mine isn't working.
Any good reference materials I should read?
Thanks for any help.

Daren

[malcymal]

Looks like be an AMECO. Check out earlier in this thread.

I have a Beromat conversion, I love them. The simplicity is pure brilliance and the 15 second reel spin with gentle stopping is charming over the noisy clunk of other bandits. Nice find.

You can view my Beromat Conversions earlier in this thread. Believed to have been created by VALE of Wales. One of my favourite bandits out of my four at home.

[operator bell]

I just purchased one here in the USA.
Any idea of value?
Also has anyone converted one to work with other coins?

About $150-$350 in the US, going by auction prices over the past three years, but I'd have to see a picture of yours to place it in the range. I have a Novomat converted for US quarters.

[fotoman]

Hi thanks for the reply.

It is exactly like the one pictured at the top of this thread.
The only difference is the knob on the arm. Mine is black, and not red.
Can this be converted to quarters as well?

Daren

[operator bell]

Can this be converted to quarters as well?

Since you can get 31mm (half-dollar) tokens, and bags of old English pennies show up regularly on auction sites, I wouldn't bother. Doing it properly may cost more than the machine is worth. It involves making slides for the smaller diameter. The existing slides are made of zinc, crappy metal with little strength, and have already been reamed out for the 31mm English penny leaving a hair's thickness of metal holding them together. You may be able to make rings and sleeve them but they're not strong enough to make the rings a press fit.

(That image found here)

The bottom slide is a 3 dimensional brass casting, you can braze a ring into that one, but for the others, and the bottom plate, you need to make new ones. If you were a German you'd just set up a foundry in your garage and cast them, but the cheapest way would be to get some laser-cut out of ABS.

[cheeky]

Not Southend but Shoeburyness (nr. Southend). I went looking for the firm once but they had closed down years ago.

Great machines and very reliable!

[coppinpr]

Can anyone tell me anything about this great 60s (?) slot I'm working on? It has R&W stamped on the front (not part of the casting) and it clearly has a German mech. When I took the awards card out it had Novamat printed on the bottom, so I guess Wolff. Made for R&W I guess and early 60s, judging by the TV shape design (anything TV shaped was in fashion at that time). I've nearly finished it, just the bottom white light to get working 100% of the time.

[badpenny]

Post war West Germany sanctioned the restart of its gambling machine industry, however machines were only licensed for three years. After which the machine had to be destroyed or exported to allow for market demand to continue.

Hundreds (thousands ?) of them arrived on our shores. In an attempt to make them look modern and fab for the 1960s teenagers companies like R&W rehoused them from their wooden carcases and plonked them all manner of fibreglass and sheet metal alternatives.

Yours is one, so it would have originally been sitting in a conventional German square wooden box.

Enjoy

[treefrog]

The R&W is Ruffler and Walker, although whether they actually made them or had them made is unclear. Another of the many British variants using Beromat mechanisms to give a more exciting theme for the 60s than a square wooden wall machine they had been. There are a number of similar colour plastic faced machines which light up and make them a bit more colourful. Someone has been trying to sell an identical one on ebay for ages the same colour, but they also came in many different colours as below:
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/SLOT-MACHINE- ... 35b41619d1

[raj]

There has been a Melfruit version kicking around for months on ebay which is a similar concoction. The main problem with the Gunter Wulff mechs is down to the poor pot metal used to make the castings. They are all over 50 odd years old, and were never made to last this long, so corrosion & metal fatigue will consign many to the parts bin, those with original wooden box cases tend to lose their veneer finishes due to damp and damage. That said, the original Mat's have a good following both in Germany & the UK and have some very appealing deco designs

[malcymal]

I think they are quite unique and unusual. One gets a bit bored with the run of the mill (or the run of the Mill's even). They tend to sit quite nicely in the house as an interesting piece of furniture. Most of the time my Roma Vale is switched on purely to use it as a light, it gives the room a nice yellow glow.

[badpenny]

Most of the time my Roma Vale is switched on purely to use it as a light, it gives the room a nice yellow glow.

I find Jack Daniels has the same affect.