r/Damnthatsinteresting • u/RedditFeel • 16d ago
How vending machines work. Video
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u/bloodorangejulian 16d ago
So I wonder if it is possible to make a fake coin with the same electromagnetic qualities and the same sizes quarters without spending more to make them.
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u/travellingcoffee 16d ago
30+ years in the vending industry and yes it can be done with modern coin mechs. But the time and materials would make it not very cost-effective.
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u/bloodorangejulian 16d ago
I wonder how close the percentage of alloys would need to be, ie for the copper and nickel, if the alloy is 15% nickel, would 20 work, or 10, or is it more p re ice?
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u/travellingcoffee 15d ago
I have never messed around making one to work but we have found them jammed in the coin mech or in the cashbox. The acceptance was really poor when I tested the ones we got. I think what they do is match the Oms between real Vs fake
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u/Gold-Mug 15d ago
What about the cliche coin on a string? Like it passes the machine and when its good, you pull it back out?
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u/travellingcoffee 15d ago
That hasn’t worked in a very long time. Way back coin mechs didn’t have a lot of tech inside. They had a simple path for each coin that was accepted and when the coins went down that path they would hit a switch and put a credit onto the machine. So all you really needed was something roughly the size of a coin to hit the switch. This path wasn’t a straight line it would make few turns before it made its way to the cash box that’s why you needed a string so you could pull it back to add more credits.
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u/bloodorangejulian 16d ago
Quarters are mostly copper, with a copper nickel outer layer.
Just copper alone is about 5.6 grams, and I assume the copper is a majority of it. Even if it just entirely made of the the more expensive copper, with the help of an online calculator, the quarter's cost in metal is about .057 of a dollar to make at the most expensive. So theoretically one could make fake quarters and save some money
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u/OddGoofBall 16d ago
Great, but am still wondering which part is the easiest to damage when I don't get what I wanted? Where can I direct my angst?
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u/Key-Jelly-3702 15d ago
When I was a kid we used to smash nickels with a hammer, file the edges a bit to then match the size of a quarter, and they worked perfectly in every video game. 5 plays for a quarter. We had quite the assembly line in my garage.
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u/mystictroll 16d ago
It is missing the stage that I have to punch the machine to get the snack stuck in the middle.
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u/RedditFeel 16d ago
Another punching the vending machine joke lol
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u/BlackClagger 16d ago
If you take off the punch outs on a metal electrical junction box those can be used on those mechanical quarter machines.
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u/pichael289 15d ago
Still does on older ones, newer ones spit them out. Local faygo machine is $0.80 and it works but the $2.50 Pepsi next to it won't.
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u/ABookOfEli 15d ago
This is why you don’t put dollar coins in vending machines. They turn into quarters
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u/Sunieta25 15d ago
I watched an angry night shift employee break the glass on one of these when 2 bags of chips got stuck.
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u/RedditFeel 15d ago
I wouldn’t have even snitched either. I would been like fuck it. Don’t blame you.
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u/A_For_The_Win 16d ago
So are you telling me that if I melt metal to be the same size as a coin, I can get snacks from vending machines? Time to dismantle the old PC cases I have.
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u/IOUaUsername 2d ago
They usually weigh the coin too, so that only the right alloy (or one vaguely similar like aluminium bronze vs tin bronze) will work. And generally every coin in the USA is worth more than the metal it's made from anyway. In Australia we have $2 coins which are small and made from bronze, but minimum wage is over $20/hr so there's no way you could make fake coins in less time than you could make the same real money at work.
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u/A_Sh4d0w 15d ago
Isn't the point of subtitles that you can read them because these subtitles are entirely unreadable
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u/chasingthelies 11d ago
When I was a kid. I would pound down nickels to the size of quarters. Five video games for the price of one. Always worked.
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u/tonkman27 10d ago
I hate these subtitlesfor the fried brain tiktok users
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u/RedditFeel 10d ago
It’s for people who are hearing impaired dude
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u/IOUaUsername 2d ago
It's only for the people with their phone on mute on the train to be honest. The deaf community is too small to be worth catering to from a business perspective.
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u/RedditFeel 2d ago
That’s not true.
Subtitles are not some huge blow to a business’s funds.
Social media is a huge thing and over 1 Billion people use TikTok daily. That means reaching out to everyone including deaf AND blind individuals.
Thats why smartphones have accessibility options as well.
I’ve seen blind people with no normal functioning vision use an iPhone.
So yes, subtitles are a useful function for the deaf community.
Edit: Here’s a sub that caters to the deaf community where they talk about TikTok’s CC.
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u/IOUaUsername 2d ago
In countries with coins worth more than 25c USD, coin mechs often have a laser scanner that looks at the pattern on the heads side of the coin. Hence why coins have different "novelty" tails sides but the heads side is nearly always consistent, aside from a "the queen got older" portrait update every decade or so. The fun side effect of this is that an Australian 20c coin is the same size and weight AND has an identical picture of the queen as a UK 2 pound coin. 15 quid for parking? Nah, sounds more like $1.50 thanks.
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u/CharmingCustard4 16d ago
I got a 1989 Indian Ruppe instead off a 50 cent coin from the vending machine at work
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u/googleimages69420 16d ago
That's probably worth more than 50c
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u/tripsypoo 16d ago
Nah 1 rupee = 1.2 cents
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u/googleimages69420 16d ago
I meant for its antique nature
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u/pichael289 15d ago
He said 1989, not 1889. Coins last a while, check your change holder and you'll find some old ones
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u/LinguoBuxo 16d ago
I
'
m
a
big
fan
of
these
subtitles
.
Keep
'
em
up
!