Jennings Today Vendor

[WoodrailFanatic]

Hey guys....I need your thoughts on this one.

I just started work on a Jennings Today Vendor. This is the first time I have ever encountered a slot with the "I will pay you on the next pull approach" and also my first time to have my hands on a machine with a mint vendor front. So I will will probably be pestering you with questions about these aspects of the machine as I go along.

But right now I am stuck at the beginning of this journey and need some help......I cannot get the mechanism to come out of the cabinet. The one screw is out of the upper right side of the coin chute that the factory instruction manual tells me to remove as well as the two screws at the corners of the base. I can cycle the mech and this appears to complete normally so I don't think the mech is mid-cycle. Something seems to be preventing it from moving towards me when I try to extract it and this happens almost immediately. I have been unable to detect where the interference is.

Anybody ever experienced this? Thoughts or ideas or where to look? Could it be something in the mint vending mechanism (it is empty...no mints in any of the columns)?

Thanks in advance for your help.

[atac]

Sometimes you have to take a screwdriver and do a little pry job between the base and sub base while lifting up and back on the johnson bar. Also look around the base or under the sub base to see if someone put in a bolt--you never know what someone might have done in the last 90 years.

[WoodrailFanatic]

Thanks for the suggestions. Yes, I have put a hefty screwdriver blade under the base and pried it up....and it moves upward freely. The mech just will not move forward but a tiny bit. It would seem that the hang up is occurring on the right side - maybe towards the rear? - as when I pull it forward the left comes out a bit more than the right and the mech kind of shifts or pivots to the right.

When you reference the Johnson bar I assume you mean the main crank?

[atac]

Yeah, the Johnson bar is the main operating arm in the back that sets the mech and the slides for each play.

[oldslotman]

Can you post a picture?

[WoodrailFanatic]

oldslotman,

Not sure what you want to see pictures of so here are several that I hope will help. If you need others please let me know.

One note....the machine is consistently showing a 2 coin win (see pic) when it should be showing the label on the drum suggesting you buy confections today. Could this be the issue? Any chance that because this unit is not resetting to its proper home something is engaged with the mech?

In one photo with the colored arrows....the red arrow is pointing to a plate that has a missing middle section broken out of it. The yellow arrow is pointing to a lever that is loose and should obviously be attached to something. The Blue arrow is pointing to a big finger on the main crank that I think is missing a large spring that attaches above on the bracket that holds the reel brake apparatus. I am making this "missing spring" assessment based on photos of a restored version of this same machine that is listed on eBay right now.

Also I will ask again....could the mint vendor be doing this?

Thanks for your help....much appreciated.

[oldslotman]

I believe your problem maybe with the mech not resetting like you said. Something is likely still engaged and not allowing the removal of the mech.

[mechanic]

BEFORE YOU PRY ON ANYTHING CHECK THE TWO NUTS UNDER THE MECH IN BACK. THEY LOOK LIKE THEY LINE UP WITH THE TWO HOLES IN THE MECH BASE IN BACK. SOMETIMES A WING SCREW WAS USED TO SECURE THE MECH TO THE CABINET SO IT MAY BE TWO SCREWS WERE COUNTER SUNK AND SECURED WITH THOSE TWO NUTS. REMOVE THE NUTS AND TAP THE SHAFT UP IF A SCREW HEAD POPS OUT OF THE MECH BASE THEN IT MAY WELL BE THATS WHAT THEY DID TO SECURE THE MECH.

[WoodrailFanatic]

Mechanic....thanks for your reply.

You are exactly right that those two nuts line up exactly with the holes that the wing screws go through to secure the mech to the base. But they are there to secure what I will refer to as the sub-base to the cabinet. By sub-base I mean the metal play replete with holes that the mech sits on when in the cabinet. They are in no way preventing the mech from lifting up high enough to clear the sub-base so it can slide out. When I gently put a screw driver under the base of the mech and gently pry up (per stated direction in the Jennings documentation) you can clearly see nothing but open space between the mech and the sub-base.

If I have misinterpreted the meaning or intent of you post please set me straight.

[WoodrailFanatic]

oldslotman,

I have looked and studied but cannot see where the mech has not completed its cycle. All three reel stops are fully engaged. The top payout fingers are all in contact with or protruding through the payout disks. The handle has returned to home position.

What could I be missing? The escalator? And again I will ask....could it be the mint vendor mechanism as I have zero experience with these.

Thanks for your help.