Good afternoon, I recently picked up a Batman 66 premium and an Iron Maiden pro. I wanting to add dollar bill validators to them, but am uncertain as to what kind I need and where to look for one that is the correct size, reliable and compatible with those games. Any input is greatly appreciated!
ICT A series bill Acceptor Validators
I believe this is what you get when you order one through your distributor.
Quite honestly, as an operator, I’ve stopped buying them, as they are a waste of $200-300. I have about 5 machines equipped with them currently, and the most I’ll see in one is about $35, for some reason pinheads still like to drop quarters into machines.
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When both coin slots are jammed, trust me, a bill acceptor is much needed. You can buy a used mars 2000 series under 100 bucks. Even ones that are flash and take new bills as well .change machines run out and parents tell kids " i don’t have any change honey". With a bill acceptor that takes care of those types of issues.
Yup, that’s the $35 dollars I see at the end of the month.
True, but Ive found most of those have fitment issues ( at least on the older ones with the $500 upstacker)
Personally, it’s a nice insurance policy, and makes it easier for people to drop some money in your machines, but there’s very little ROI on adding one.
FWIW, I have mechs on GoT, TWD, ST, STTNG, WoZ and POTC(the OG) and I get about $10 in quarters for every dollar in the mech
OP, bottom line, it won’t hurt to add one, but in my opinion, they are not worth the expense.
I got about 50/50 bills to coins when I had games out. I had a lot of regular experienced players, whom I suspect used bills more than casual players. Got a good number of $5 bills too, even though there wasn’t a price break at $5.
Don’t think 2000 series upstackers will work in Spike games. It would be nice if they did as there are a lot out there.
Depends on location. Years ago an op in southern Minnesota and northern Iowa had 16 TAF’s out, half with validators and half without. The half with over their lifetime did 50% more, well worth it for him.
Your SPIKE games use a 14 volt DC bill validator. Stern ships a cable with to use 110AC that plugs into the power supply in the backbox.
I like the MEI ones. The cartridge holding the bills can easily be changed for a 300 one, 500 ones won’t fit. ICT has different bill holder cartridges and some can’t be swapped for smaller.
Smaller bill cartridges for MEI are usually on Ebay cheap, in case you need a smaller one.
I’d look for new, or ones that are easily update able for changes in bill designs. For new games I’d want at least $5 and $10 capability, especially if you give an extra credit or so for $5
LTG : )
I’m sorry, I had a typo, I mean 12 volt DC, not 14.
I use the MARS AE2411 in our two new Sterns (Star Wars and Deadpool) and it works great. We use a 300 biil stacker. If you order one, make sure that it comes with the cable harness to connect to Stern’s included cable. If it doesn’t come with the cable, you can order one separately. We grabbed our dollar bill acceptors off of ebay for less than $100.
Our location has a lot of newer players and I see almost a 60/40 bills to coins with many using the bill acceptor. We do not have a change machine nearby in our location, so players may prefer using the bill acceptor to asking someone behind the counter for change.
If you use one, make sure the settings are correct both on the validator mech itself and in your machine so that it is set for the right number of pulses. There are small switches on the side of the mech to set the number of pulses, and you can coordinate same in the settings menu of your game to make sure it is awarded the correct number of credits per dollar.
Good to hear the 2000 series fits Spike games. If you buy a used validator, MEI or other wise, make sure it’s updated to at least take new $5 bills. As I mentioned above, I got a good number of fives in my games. if a validator is old enough, it may not be updated to take newer bills over $1.
Another step is deciding whether you want some sort of mobile payment device in your games as well. There are a few threads around discussing the merits and costs of a payrange unit. I heard a rumor that Spike 2 could one day support a Bluetooth payment solution without any extra hardware but who knows.
But are your games always with a change machine? Many are not… and hence the bill validator opens the game up for play for those who don’t carry coins
I do have a change machine, but it’s empty a lot of the time ( I have a metric ton of games that use quarters here and it’s sometimes impossible to keep filled), and not located close to the majority of my machines. I’ve personally witnessed a player walk up to a machine with a validator, realize they are out of quarters, and walk down to the bar to get more quarters.
But from what I’ve read from other posters in this thread, I seem to to be an oddity in this regard…
Thanks for everyone’s replies. I have three locations that I place games and one has a change machine. I find that it often gives me more trouble than the pins ha.
I would love to see the integration of a mobile payment (as long as the fees are not bad). I looked into payrange and have read mixed reviews concerning the fees, programming and use by players.
just observations around here… with the move to $1/play or $2/3 formats… bill validators are a must around here. Most counters aren’t that welcoming to giving change, even if they say they do. Filling the change machine with 1-2k in quarters is expensive up front and always a cycle to keep up. The validators eat freely 
When quarters are easily available onsite… many use them. But putting a change machine out for 2-3 games isn’t really viable. The coin vs dollar seems to be a personal preference… but as an Op I’d just make sure the money can be taken as easily as possible 