Mills Castle Front 25 cent machine - late 30's

[TJM_70]

Machine is owned by a friend, was jammed and caked with old lubricant. Thanks to online video help, I removed mech, cleaned, re-lubricated and fixed accumulator...works great now. I can play it on the table top with screwdriver with no problem.

However, if I re-insert mech into cabinet, I have to shim the back left corner with about the thickness of a quarter to get it to play. During play, the mech slides ever so slightly to the back and will not play.

Thinking that a shim is not the real solution, I am wondering if anyone can guide me to an adjustment that would allow this to line up properly and play reliably.

Thanks,
Tom

[SLOT DYNASTY]

TJM:
Are you saying that the mechanism will slide slightly rearward, even when the locking levers
are pushed down? If so, maybe they got tweeked, and don't hold the frame tight enough.
Bill

[TJM_70]

Hi Bill,

That seems to be it exactly. To get it to play with the handle, I need to slide the mech forward about 1/16" on the left side. As I play it, the mechanism again slides backward ever so slightly - coming to rest against the cast iron base plate stopper - and won't work until it is slid forward a bit again. Then it works fine for a pull or two. If I shim it with a thin metal piece; maybe a quarter in thickness, it often will hold in place for a while but it eventually slides out of whack again. Don't want to give it back to my friend until it's more reliable..if I can.

Everything seems to align up even when back the 1/16"th of the inch...but something isn't.

I'm not bad with mechanical things, so the machine doesn't scare me. But, I can't figure out just what might not be making contact or is mis-contacting by such a small amount.

Any insight is appreciated.

Tom

[Frank]

The back door will hold the mech forward

[TJM_70]

Good to know; I don't have it here...I left it with her (lost keys) and once we got it off, I didn't want to deal with it. I will give it a try.

[flipper77]

You need the hold down bolt that goes through the mech and threaded into the base (actually sub-base) - the base that the mech sits on and holds the mech in place. If you screw down this hold down bolt (which firmly holds the mech in place) and the mech still does not play properly in the case, then you have to adjust the sub-base. Just four nuts on the large bottom carriage bolts. And you have to loosen the other hardware on the sub-base such as the payout chute and other. Sounds like you might have to move the sub-base in slightly to line up the mech and the handle. Be cautious as you also adjusting the mech alignment with the jackpot. But the mech locking into place on the sub-base so that the handle operates the mech is primary. Good luck.

Flip

[TJM_70]

Flip - this is the sort of adjustment I was hoping for; looked at those bolt holes and wondered same thing...thanks for tips on adjusting the sub-base; will give it a look over the weekend.

Still welcome any other advice.

Tom

[TJM_70]

I am wondering if my problem seems to be in the check detection horizontal bar / lever area...when I have the mech inserted and I manually push back the check detector lever on the mech (vertical) the machine plays even without my small shim in the back left corner. Does this indicate that the handle is aligned properly with the sub-base where it is? If I try to play it without manually pushing back the lever, it will not work unless I shim it forward and up around 1/16" or so....

I am new to these, so please forgive me if I have not described something by the proper name or described it in a way that is helpful to you...but trying to figure out this logically before I attempt to simply move the base and not possibly resolve my problem. Grateful for the help provided so far.

Tom

[TJ]

You should be able to see if the base has been moved, if the machine was taken apart it is somewhat difficult to get everything back to its original spot so the telltale signs of things not lined up will be easy to see. If the machine is as you described it does not sound as though anything was taken apart. Let the forum know where you are located and you might find someone close that can give you some help.

[TJM_70]

From what I can tell I don't think anything has been majorly disassembled. I didn't remove much to clean and lubricate - only a spring and one cotter pin or two, careful to replace in original positions and orientation.

I am in western PA - near Johnstown / Somerset / Ligonier...east of Pittsburgh.

Darn thing works great out of the cabinet and works great in the cabinet with a tiny shim in the back left corner. It's driving me crazy.