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My machine is not sorting properly, what do I check?

There are a few things to check if your machine is sorting poorly.  When a comparator is working properly, it will make very few mistakes. For instance if you are using a copper reference coin (say a 1981) you should see only about 10 to 20 zincs accepted in 10,000 coppers that are kept.  This is about 99.8% accurate.  This can even be improved by raising the threshold (gain, sensitivity adjust screw).   If you are having gross mistakes, like 5 or more zincs accepted per roll, you may have to replace the comparator.  

If the machine is not accepting any coins, you may have a loose or damaged wire.  Check that your green “pilot” light is glowing when the machine is plugged in. (no coins feeding).  If you see the light on, try running some coins through the unit while wiggling the wire harness where it connects to the comparator.  Often times the Molex wire header can be loose and just needs squaring up and pushing in towards the comparator.  You can sometimes feel it click or snap into the “rib” that helps hold It in place.  Sometimes it’s easier to push it in if you have the comparator tilted out from the holding bracket.

If you check your wires and all looks ok, and wiggling the harness does nothing (green light on), check the position of your sensitivity adjustment screw.  This screw is located to the lower right of the black cover on the comparator. It’s a tiny screw that only turns a half of a turn or so.  All the way counter-clockwise is the lowest sensitivity or “slack” and all the way right is “tight”.

On the slack setting, the comparator will be the most liberal about accepting coins that “look” like the reference coin.  On tight it will be the most conservative, and often rejects everything to the right.  Most people sort copper with the setting all the way counterclockwise (slack).  People often raise the sensitivity when sorting for zinc or “tighten” by turning to the right about a third of a turn.  This will make it the most sensitive or selective.  This will cause it to reject some “dirty” or slightly off alloy coins to the reject bin.  You can adjust the sensitivity screw while running coins to see the change it makes.  

If these things do not help, you can contact Ryedale Coin through email or call.

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