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Well guys thanks for all the tips & advice. Over the weekend I have stripped this machine almost completely and for the FIRST time
and cleaned all the bits and mech and surprisingly I have also managed to put it back together this morning.
And again SURPRISE, SURPRISE - it works extremely well. I couldn't believe it and so it seems it was due to to all the dirt and old grease. Now it spins smooth and quick and pays out as it should. I'm more than happy and all this thanks to this forum and your advice guys - so thanks again.

Now the cabinet is getting ready for some fresh paint and some more chrome polishing involved. Illuminations almost sorted, just getting more bulbs and starters and soon I'm ready to roll! Just need some small bits to finish off, including '2p' badge that's missing. Anyone here has any bits for this machine?

Cheers

Well done
The only true proper confidence is a complete strip

If you have time in my opinion on these machines I totally take them apart all the panels that are just bolted to together to strip the paint and repaint. The results are 10 times better than what most do with overspray etc. I even drill out the serial number badge and put back with rivets, I hate overspray.....

The front plastice chrome could be sprayed, if you look at Henry Powells website you will see he does this on his restored machines, although in garish colours

If your machine is missing the bottom cash tray lock mechanism or the key you can drill a small 5mm hole through the base plate through into cash box and just put in a bolt. This means the bottom cash tray cannot be pulled out unless you open the front door and pull up the bolt.
If you don't have a lock in the bottom cash draw, just put in a dummy one to blank off the hole.

Hi I have just acquired an Arcadian 65 Hot Wheels 2p machine. This is my first one and would like to get it up to scratch. When I bought it, it was seen to be operating correctly, but after a day or so the reels were not rotating correctly. When I looked, the first reel seemed to be sticking?
The 3rd reel has some spring loaded arms that seem to restrict its movement. Can anyone advise on the sensible steps to take to cure the problem? I don't want to end up with a bench full of bits!!

Hello there,

If you are able to post a short video may help as we can hear the issue as well, which helps.....if the reel stops, the arms with springs are binding the reels, where is this happening, e.g. on the edge of the reel or not retracting back enough.

wayneriley1964 wrote: ↑Wed Jun 05, 2019 12:03 pm but after a day or so the reels were not rotating correctly. When I looked, the first reel seemed to be sticking?

Check out this topic (if you haven't already): Reels not spinning correctly

From how OP explained it, I was wondering if his spring loaded arms are the vertical fingers, and as such has he realised that reel one is attached to pay-out disc three and so on?

TF is right a video is required here.

BP

Wow, thanks for the quick responses much appreciated, I will try and upload a video showing the problem, not to familiar with all the technical terms as Im a complete novice, but I suspect it has something to do with the sprung arm that fall in the slots on reel 3 when Ive looked at the springs they are different sizes and tensions, when I manually pull them all back and then operate the reels go well, but dont see any wins (I assume thats what the slots are on reel 3?)
Will endeavour to upload soon

On a secondary note is there any sort of manual available which covers this particular machine available? If so where could I buy it from

Photos are the key on this site, show us photos and point out the parts you mean, then it's much easier for us to point to the problem.

Hi see some photos of my machine. The arms had the small springs attached. I removed them (taking note of how they were configured).

See attached videos when the springs are off and when they are replaced:

Ah ha, BP was right you meant the upper fingers binding.

Probably would have been useful to see from behind as all the parts that control the timing and retracting of the fingers are at the rear. My initial reaction is that this is a timing issue, so effectively the arm that pushes back the upper fingers you are holding is not going back far enough. Also may be an issue though elsewhere. I have had to adjust also the reel bundle before. On Aristocrats they have bolts securing them in place and can be over-tightened, bringing the pay discs closer to the far side.

I would start with timing though... There are threads on adjusting this with caution...

Adjusting worn bandit "dog & cog" so cycle completes

Cycle the mech while watching it from the rear. You should see the main control bar raise the arm that moves back the vertical fingers you are having problems with. When it's at its highest point, a restraint should fall under to hold the fingers right back as the machine starts to unwind. Towards the end of the cycle, you should hear three sharp clunks. They should occur in this order:
1. the reels stop and are locked in place,
2. the clock pulls back the restraint and the fingers fly forward against the plates with the holes in,
3. the clock finishes its job by releasing the slide brake which is low down at the front, just behind the coin tube, and the third clunk you hear is the slides flying forward to check for a payout.

My guess is the timing to load the restraint is the problem and clunk 2 is happening too soon, but it will be a VERY small adjustment as the rest of the machine looks to be doing OK.

I see some electrical gubbins on that mech. What might they have been for? Gold award payout maybe in a previous life?

There is a connection on the front case which looks to connect the two halves of the plug together for the £1 payout, but I'll look at that another time.

Hi Guy's, what with all this spare time on my hands, now is the time to take a good look at the mechanism and try to get it to work correctly. Just on the springs that attach to the fingers, are they supposed to be different lengths, as I saw on another member's photos on this thread that his looked to be all the same length, while I have different sizes, which means different tensions? Can anyone advise please?

They look fine and in fact you will see there are two hook positions, lower and upper due to the number of finger options, so trying to fit so many springs needs them to be staggered at two heights. As such shorter ones in lower level. As long as spring is strong enough to pull the finger all way in should be fine.

Cheers, that's cleared that up. Seems to be an issue with the timing of the fingers being brought back initially as it's operated.

Anyone know where to get a replacement penny denominator?