slugs

[fluffy]

Have owned my 'mat for four years and have found my first slugs in the SQ tops and also in the soap machine (btw, I did a search on slugs and only found a year old post where Kitty thought they were bullets...no, they are metal discs shaped like quarters to fool coin slides). Actually they go into all my older equipment - the soap machine, the Speed Queen tops and single SQ 30# dryers. They are rather "professional" slugs, with a rectangle cut out of the very middle (I guess that's to put them on a string or from the machine shop or something).

Anyhow, I don't believe my slides are working incorrectly or are worn, does anyone else have this problem? For some reason this person went crazy in my soap machine...must have bought soap for the entire laundromat. This will be a pain if it continues.

[Kitty]

What kinds of slides do you have?

[William]

I have heard that you can get rid of them by putting a saucer of beer near the garden.

[fluffy]

I have both the "vertical 8" (forget the manufacturer at the moment, but think it's most common one out there) and ESD.

[garrett]

I was hit for $34 in the soap vender. I thought they found a way around the magnets but when I looked at the slides in the soap machine, it didn't have magnets at all. I took some old magnets from some ESD slides I had in the garage and modified them to fit the slides that came with the soap machine. No new slugs in a month.

[amartlock]

I haven't had any slugs in my washers/dryers however I find them often in my bathroom Nik-O-Lok. In fact you can simply drop a larger washer or even a chuckecheese token in the slot and it will open. Anything that can be done about this?

Obviously not a major concern. I hate to even charge for the bathroom, however I find that if I don't keep on top of this the "non-customer users" mess up the place.

[Ken]

Newer coin mech has magnets,it will stop most slugs.You may able to add magnets in the old one.Check Ebay,a lot people sell magnets there.

[Monarch]

The slug with the hole pierced are used in newspaper vending machines. The route operators use them to open a machine without using a key. The law does not forbid making something the size of a quarter, only against using it as a coin. So technically they are legal. Fortunately, the supply is limited. Once the jerk who has a few has used them, they are unlikely to have access to any more. They are steel, so a magnet will stop them. The magnets are a cost added item for Greenwald and ESD slides. We do not have any magnets for ours.

About 60-70% of slugs used are non-ferrous, that is they are brass, plastic, tile, aluminum, whatever. Magnets do not work to stop these.

Coin slides, and Nik-o-lok and our bathroom lock, and bubble gum machines, etc. are simple mechanical devices. They evaluate the coin by size and thickness, and if there are magnets, by the ferrous content. (BTW, Canadian coins ARE ferrous. Magnets will keep them out.) Being simple devices, there is only so much you can do to stop the practice. Vertical Slides cost about $30 or less each. Compare this to more sophisticated drops that electroncially evaluate the coin. They will cost four times the price of a slide or even more. If you get the occasional few pieces, you suck it up, if you get flooded, then you might look into the more expensive mechs.

Keep your slides clean, and well lubed. DO NOT USE WD40 on slides!! Use a silcon spray, like what you use to spray on sparkplug wires. It displaces moisture, and does not leave a greasy stick film that will hold lint, soap powder, dirt, etc. This stuff will harden and affect how accurately your mechanism gauges the coins. Silicon spray is good for your locks too. Any thing mechanical needs a bit of lubrication to work smoothly and last longer.

Questions?

[fluffy]

Interesting. Thanks for the magnet ideas guys.

[pete f]

As a side note, if you have a mat in an area where Canadian coins are used widely, you don;t want to magnet the machines. I found it cheaper to take Canada coins then the constant down time and refunding of them sticking in machines at one store I had. Slugs were not a big problem, though I got some plastic monopoly Money thru the coin slides once. Sorry Monach, they were yours... I assume that problem has been resolved, this was at least 5 years ago. I bought the slides around 1999. The Canada problem was in Super 20's with coin drop kits, not sure of the brand. I find most of the newer stuff just rejects C coins now without jamming.

[Ken]

The old coin mech use in old Gold metel soap machine,some Vendo mech for candy,pop machines and video games have maget,when the coin mech take in slug or Canadan coin ,it will disable the coin mech,no coin will accept later.
Add maget in the coin slide is a little different,it will stop the slug but won't make the slide not working.

[DaveLevenson]

I get a very light-weight aluminum coin containing the arabic numeral 5 and some Chinese text. It is very close to the size of a quarter, and its weight is less than that of a dime. I have gotten about 200 of these coins over the past three months in my tops with Greenwald Vertical-8 slides. I also get a few in the soap vendor, a few in the dryers with Greenwald mechanical timers, and a few in an old front-loader with a Keltner drop. My newer fronts with Set-O-Matic drops never accept these coins.

A friend in China tells me that these coins are worth about $0.00625 each at current exchange rates. My question: is it a crime to pass these as quarters? If so, and if I can find out who is regularly passing them in my store, what legal recourse do I have? If not, where should I try to get rid of them?

[Monarch]

As noted before, the way the law reads, it is illegal to USE a bogus coin as a quarter. It is not illegal to HAVE the bogus coins in your possesion. The problem is, such illegal use is the responsiblity of the Secret Service, a unit of the Treasury department for all monetary fraud. Now let's say you know who is doing it. Their agent has to be there during the exchange, catching them in the act. So where do you think the agency is going to focus? Someone passing bad 20's at the local markets or someone sticking the occasional bad coin in a laundry? Lets say be shear chance, you call an agent to talk about this, and being a slow day, he stops by to tell you that there isn't much he can do about and while you and he are chatting he actually see the act take place. Now, how much adminstrative time, court time, prosecutors time, agents time, will they be willing to spend to prosecute the matter? Over 200 x 25 cents, $50 worth of bogus coins.
In a ideal world, they would take the perp and put him jail with a big fellow named Brutus, but it just isn't going to happen.

I realize it isn't right, I realize it isn't fair, but it is reality. and if it is aluminium, there are no magnets to stop it. I think you best bet it to catch the person and let them know that now you know who they are they had best stay out of your business. Unfortunately, you are not allowed to hammer their fingers or do other bodily harm. Maybe if we could do a bit of this is would improve security in the facilities.

[pete f]

I get a very light-weight aluminum coin containing the arabic numeral 5 and some Chinese text. It is very close to the size of a quarter, and its weight is less than that of a dime. I have gotten about 200 of these coins over the past three months in my tops with Greenwald Vertical-8 slides. I also get a few in the soap vendor, a few in the dryers with Greenwald mechanical timers, and a few in an old front-loader with a Keltner drop. My newer fronts with Set-O-Matic drops never accept these coins.

A friend in China tells me that these coins are worth about $0.00625 each at current exchange rates. My question: is it a crime to pass these as quarters? If so, and if I can find out who is regularly passing them in my store, what legal recourse do I have? If not, where should I try to get rid of them?

We have a group going to China soon, so will buy all your coin for face value. U pay shiping ..
:


good coin acceptors do not take these coins, the root of the problem

[mjwalsh]

At one time, the coin op car wash industry was plagued by pesos & all kinds of slugs & foreign tokens etc. Since about the middle 1980s there has been a gradual transition over to single slot coin mechs that are both multiple denomination & slug proof. Their cost start at less than one hundred bucks. It would be helpful to our industry if these mechs could be made adaptable to our equipment. It seems like a wide open opportunity for an entrepreneur. Has anyone even tried? How about it Monarch? The MicroCoin acceptor that we have had in our non subsidized Internet Kiosk for the past 4 plus years seems pretty compact & possibly do-able dimension wise with the right type of machine specific mounting kit & some type of simple display logic. By the way, the Australian made MicroCoin has been flawless! The other brands made in America are of excellent quality too & function similarly. In the drier environment of the laundry vs wet car wash you would think that the manufacturing costs would be even less for indoor specific multicoin single slot coin mechs.

[DaveLevenson]

Thank you for replying, Monarch. That's pretty much what I expected. I think the best I can do is to try to discover who is passing the "Chinese quarters", and to ask them not to come back. My video surveillance system is not sharp enough to allow me to see the coins, but if I can identify the person, I'll be able to see if they return.