Odor Control

[gwarzin]

In the old forum I started a thread about pachislo machine odor cures. So I'll continue it here.

To recap - I've been lucky, most of the machines I get have been really clean. But, when you get 24 of them in a room, along with a few 1950s Bingo machines, the room can begin to smell a little musty. I ran across a spray called Ozium that was very effective at eliminating the smell. You can get it at most drugstores. Wal-Mart has it in their automotive department.

In searching the net I found this automatic dispenser and said I'd report on how it worked after I lived with it for a couple weeks.

http://www.cyberclean.com/Merchant2/...red_dispensers

The cartridges come 12 to a carton - which should be more than a year's supply.

http://www.cyberclean.com/Merchant2/...ct_Code=TMS031

The dispenser puts out a very short blast every 15 minutes. And I do mean short - I'd say less than a half second. I've got mine set so it does it all day long, then turns off in the evening when anyone is likely to be in the room. It turns back on in the middle of the night.

I have to say, it does a wonderful job. Before, I'd come into the room, and while the odor wasn't bad, you could tell that the machines were there. Now I don't smell a thing.

If I leave the machines powered on for an entire evening, there is a slight odor. Probably because of the heat generated inside the machines. I know the oil in the Bingo machines emits a bit of an odor when they heat up and all the motors are running. So, when they've been on for several hours I sometimes still end up using a couple of extra blasts from the hand-held spray can. But, for the most part, I just don't even have to think about it any more. I'm actually quite surprised at how well it worked.

[dlowrey]

* immediately gets things off topic.... *

What's a Bingo Machine?

[gwarzin]

* immediately gets things off topic.... *

What's a Bingo Machine?

It's like a pinball. But no flippers. Just a series of holes in the play-field. Bingo card(s) on the back glass. You get "replays" for scoring 3, 4 or 5 in a row - large numbers of "replays" that can go into the hundreds. But nobody replays them, you just call the bartender over and he pays out in cash and then clears the replay counter.

The game play is reasonably complex. The more money you feed in, the more special features are turned on - but it all happens at random. After you've played your five balls, you can feed in even more money and maybe get extra ball - again random. Some of the machines are really complex and, at various times during the game, allow you to drop all the odd (or even) balls through the play field and replay them. I've got one that even lets you turn a knob that physically shifts the numbers on the bingo card on the back glass.

Playing one is sort of like figuring out how to play a pachislo - except the instructions are in English.

Here's a link to an article with some pics:

http://www.go-star.com/antiquing/bingos.htm

[gwarzin]

I should add that each bingo model plays a little differently... just like pachislos.

[dlowrey]

Wow.

I assume that working models are fairly rare?

How much do they go for?

[gwarzin]

I've had my Bingos for years. 20 years ago they cost about $600 on the used market. Today on eBay I thing the average price is still about $600. But these are really heavy. So unless you can find one locally you'll have a pretty big shipping bill.

[Lddrizzt]

***Back on topic***
I had one machine that would start to smell a little musty if left on for awhile.
I would open it up, pull out the hopper, and give the wood on the inside a couple squirts with Fabreeze and I was good to go for a couple months. Eventually I found the ultimate way to eliminate the odor...... I sold the machine. :smt025

[arbycoffee]

I pull everything that removes easy and wipe down with a STRONG cleaner than let dry and spray Renuzit Super ODOR Neutralizer on the wood.

It smells like oranges. Fully wipe the hopper down, this is a good time to clean and grease and remove any little bits of metals. the coins do wear down.

Note IGTs are the worse one at this.

This works for me, but I have this clean complex think :twisted:

[nethippy]

I don't mind the "warm dust" smell. I maintain literally a ton of old tube equipment as a hobby so I'm pretty used to it. Some of these units are literally coated with dust inside when I first get them. Needless to say if it's like that, I clean it out. Too much shorts stuff out and shortens the life of components.

My pachislos and Pachinkos were clean enough when they arrived that they didn't have much of any dust or smell inside.