First off, let me apologize to member "mechanic" for grabbing a similar ID. I didn't come across "mechanic" until some searches yesterday. If you're offended, let me know and I'll create a new one.
Anyway, I got the mech out of the case and gave it a once-over, then dove into the problem of inconsistent cherry payouts. For this post, I'll try to stick with ID and payout.
ID: Cast into the base is Made in USA M100X. I assume this can be used to ID the mech, but I haven't had any luck finding that on the internet or on this site. Any ideas?
The serial number tag is unreadable except for "Bell". A lot of the label is missing. The serial number area has faint red or purple markings, but I haven't been able to make out a single character yet. I'm going to try some photography tricks to see if any part of it is recoverable. There's another serial number/part number on the vertical frame on the right side of the machine: F1264.
So, on to the payout problem. A single cherry on the left reel should pay 3, but occasionally pays 5. This photo shows the payout line:
Now the fingers:
Red is finger #1 and blue is finger #2. They are both inserted through the same Cherry hole. I can't get a good photo of the bottom end where these push on the horizontal fingers (I think these are called something else, but I'm stuck on fingers, today). However, it looks like #1 activates the 3 and 5 coin payouts on all four disks, and #2 triggers and adds in the 5 coin and all slides payouts (total of 10 and 20 coins). 20 coins are paid when all slides are triggered on this machine.
The horizontal payout fingers show a potential problem but I don't think this is the 3/5 payout problem:
It doesn't show up well in this photo, but #2 is moved outwards towards the camera and is bent slightly down. It should not move at all with a single cherry. Sometimes it moves out of the way, other times it does not. It's also bent slightly down and there is a wear mark where it contacts payout slide #1 (yellow). Should I bend it up a little?
One other possible complication is that the #1 payout disk is badly bent.
This disk is bent enough that someone widened the cherry payout hole so that both finger #1 and #2 could go through. The disk is also contacting the axle/pivot point on the the kicker, which is probably why reel#1 is so slow. But even with that, I still don't see how payout slide #2 is getting released on a single cherry. There are only 2 cherries on reel number 1 and I've cycled the mech multiple times on each and haven't been able to document the problem while the mech is out of the case. My best guess is that vertical #1 is pushing horizontal finger #2 just a little bit, when it should not. Can I bend it? Is the spring weak?
What can I test or try to figure this out?
Thanks in advance. I'm a newbie, please be kind....