FORUM

Hello,
I just purchased an aristocrat arcadian 65, I am looking for a range of stuff for it. This machine also has a round key on the bottom front that looks like it is for the tray to slide out. This is my first machine so please help and bear with me. Thank You for any help.
Thank you

Hi cfsteed and a very warm welcome to the forum here on Pennymachines.
Please access the following link Please Read Before Posting in the Forum

Congrats on your new toy. The Australian bandit mechanisms are pretty bomb proof so long as they're complete.

I see you are looking for some things for it and want to place a wanted advert. As a member you are able to place for/sale and wanted adverts in The Market section. You will need to register one more time in order to do so, please follow This link to register and use The Market

I have edited your post as you revealed your email address.
We don't recommend this due to spambots that regularly trawl for such personal information. All members can contact each other via either email or PM through the forum simply by clicking on the relevant buttons.

Post us a photo of what you've just bought.

Regards

Badpenny

I have a number of breaker machines of these types, get some pictures on of what your machines state is, knowing these, the chances are the bits you want are what everyone wants, eg the plastic facia always gets damaged and the chrome overflow tube again often missing and of course will be tough to get

I have just purchased an Aristocrat Arcadian 65 (TIC TAC TOE) and would be in need of some parts.
Anyone has some spares?

No doubt it will have the usual minor defects, as others have said. If it is your first Aristo, be aware that the door can slam shut and, if the key is missing, you will may have to drill the lock, unless you are lucky and the door is a sloppy fit, then try and manoeuvre the cabinet to 45 degrees and wobble or prise the door open!! If you are stripping, I would remove the front glass panel and the ali cash drawer so you can still access the locking mechanisms as they jam fairly easily. Cash box locks have a good bit of adjustment and a standard 28 mm should fit. If the circular operating disc is damaged after drilling, easy fix using a 2p or 1D coin with 2 slots cut in and the right shape hole drilled and filed. The main door needs a short thread, not so common, but still not dear.

Hi.
Thanks for the first tips. Luckily I have the key for the side lock front door and I also have two keys for the bottom drawer: - lucky me. And both locks seem to work fine. Nevertheless, if you say locks can jam easily then there must be a way to avoid that which I prefer and possibly some way to lubricate them - can you advise on that? Also, my concern with this machine is that when you pull the arm the reels don't seem to work properly. They kind of hardly spin or spin very slow if you prefer. The guy I got it from had this machine for 20 years & says it was all working all the time and this only happened recently. Is it again just a case of lubricating some mechanism or what can it be that stops the reels from working properly? I just hope it is not something serious and complicated?

Another couple of things required would be:
1. chrome frame / surround for the bottom glass panel as this one has some damage / rust spot &
2. next to the coin acceptor I'm missing the round badge (4-pins fitting) which possibly should say '2p', as the machine works on 2p's.
I will add some photos soon.
Thanks.

I think it was briefly on ebay recently until it got removed, down South somewhere maybe Portsmouth....

I saw the marks on the surround and wondered if it was damage to the plastic or just dirt. If damaged, there's very little you can do as these surrounds are poorly made chrome covered hard plastic. It easily breaks and chrome peels. I would check if it is just surface dirt as, from memory, if it's the same machine, the rest of the chrome was reasonable. Badges occasionally come up, but the slow mechanism will be due to years of crud and grease and is likely to need a strip and clean. There are a number of threads on this topic here.

You have picked on the parts that always fail or go missing. Little chance of a chrome surround - careful use of Super-glue should stop the cracks spreading, then it's a case of disguising the damage, or filling and spraying a different finish to suit the machine. The chrome is usually shot anyway from coin drops.

Hello,
If it is the same machine, I am sure you have a nice machine for the price paid and if it has locks and keys, all the better too. If it had been anywhere near me I would have bought it for the price he was asking too. Take your time, listen to all the advice, look up all the threads and then tackle the jobs in a methodical way and, yes, the first job is just to remove all the gunk and get the machine freed up. The majority of machines will surprising burst back to life after this without any need of further adjustments etc. Once you feel more confident, you can attempt any fine tuning at a later date. Members here will have parts and there are professional restorers who can supply parts too.

GP

I just got the mechanism out - I'm sure it could do with new oil of some sort. What should I use, where should I begin and how to get rid of old grease? I'm not familiar with this forum yet and so far cannot find any maintenance guide or topics, so please help.
Thanks.

Hi Turbo,
All of those questions have been answered previously. The easiest way to find relevant topics is via the Forum's dedicated Search (to right of clock, above). This allows you to search all or any individual category.

Have you worked your way through the relevant topics here: Tips and Tricks?
In particular, How to strip and clean the clock, which discusses how to remove grease. You can of course buy engine degreasers. There are some manuals available to one arm bandits (like the Mead Owner's Pictorial Guides), which offer some generally applicable advice.

Hi admin,
Yes, I will try to look through those links because at the moment I do not have a clue how to clean it and any extra advice will be great, thanks.

Below some photos I just took tonight:

Yup, it's an Australian Aristocrat Arcadian with a light box.

I also recommend you look at the links The Owner of the site has pointed you to, your answers are there.
It'll take you just as long to read them as it would to read anything we rewrite again. You'll also find a mine of tips that may not be immediately obvious to you now.

Good luck, you'll soon get it spinning, whirring and clunking, and you have a real bonus in having the locks and keys.
I see there is a badge missing from the coin surround, and I guess you've realised the flaky chrome is on plastic so there isn't a lot you can do there.

BP

HELLO TURBO,
I'm pretty sure that that machine will clean up very nicely. Forum members use different materials on their machines. In general, I use paraffin as a degreasant/cleanser and then use Autosol chrome cleaner with white spirit on strongly chromed areas, e.g. handle and bosses etc. and the checker-plate on the cash drawer etc.

If you are going to repaint the cabinet then it would be best to remove the front chrome panel off the front door so as to clean properly the front trim pieces and more importantly to get at the lower award panel that the chrome is in poor condition. The door front also needs removing to replace missing coin badge too. Be very careful when removing the front chrome panel. It's held in place by 8 lugs that go go through the front door. You can see on the surround front where the lugs are as the chrome has become indented. On the inside of the front door you will see the 8 lug screws - 1 at each corner, then 2 spaced evenly in between on long sides. Make sure you treat these lug screws with WD40 or similar BEFORE you attempt to unscrew, as any sudden direct pressure may well snap the lug off the inside of the chrome surround.

Once the front chrome surround plate has been removed you will see various types of fasteners holding the various pieces of trim. Again, treat these with WD40 before attempting to unscrew, as they're likely to snap. Replace fasteners once removed so they are not lost prior to replacement or alternately some bag trim pieces with their appropriate fasteners. The damaged lower front award piece once removed can be cleaned, sanded, filled where needed if required, re-sanded, primed & painted.

People paint cabinets in various ways. Some look to try to replicate an original colourway, some paint to match a colourway where it's being situated, and some paint it with what paint they have left in the workshop. Also, when the front trim is off you can clean and polish the coin entry piece and the reel-glass too.

Above all, take your time and don't make any adjustments to the mechanism until it has had at least an initial degrease with 80% of the crud gone, but check through all the posts as there's loads of info on what not to do too!

GP

Aristomatic thanks for all your info and tips - that's great.
I still have one silly question - I don't know what lubricant / oil to use. I have seen members here mention 'light oil'. I've never heard of this. Is it just type of oil or some brand? Also, I have come across someone mentioning not to use grease but oil. Is that good advice?
Thanks.

3 in 1 is a light oil.......grease was used by operators as it last the heavy use in arcades, but after time goes hard. Your pictures look like old operator grease.....which will almost certainly point to where the slowness is.....My most common experience of slow reels of this type of machine is caused by the "Kicker"....do a search on this.....either due to hard grease, warn part or a timing issue.....you can observe this when watching when you operate it......Do a search on here and you will find advice on this....getting into this area you need to remove the reel bundle.


I use WD40 for everything, even cleaning my windows. It is best thing IMO and there are those who disagree....I have use only WD40 my Motorcycle chains for 20 years and get 20,000+ problem free mileage...

I think the problem with WD 40 is people try to clean electrical contacts with it which isn't a good idea.
I read somewhere one of its ingredients is fish oil which leaves a coating which when dry causes dry electrical contacts.

A bit counter productive really.

treefrog wrote:I use WD40 for everything, even cleaning my windows. It is best thing IMO and there are those who disagree....I have use only WD40 my Motorcycle chains for 20 years and get 20,000+ problem free mileage...

It's definitely good stuff as this "old" advert testifies:

Love the "advert". I've mentioned before what great aftershave it makes. Now I'm going to experiment down under.
It's also handy as a freeing agent but does leave a deposit. Contact cleaner is the answer for electrics. The term "light oil" was used to refer to what's also sometimes called "cycle oil" - in other words, a low viscosity oil used to lubricate light machinery like cycles, sewing machines and slot machines.

Nice one,Bryans fan.