Bill Changer Preventative Maintenance
A standard piece of equipment found in most laundromats, bill changers are an essential component to running an effective laundry business. Customer satisfaction should be every owner’s number one priority and keeping all your equipment, not just your commercial laundry machines, operating smoothly is vital to maintaining happy customers base and steady profits. Bill changers are electromechanical devices that require preventative maintenance to reduce the risk of down times. Martin-Ray Laundry Systems wants to share a preventative maintenance guide so you can keep an integral piece of your business working at top performance.
Money Quality Matters
Unlike coin dispensers, bill changers are sensitive to dispensing. Paying attention to the quality of your paper money matters when loading your bill changers. A quality bill includes these characteristics:
- No deep creases within the paper
- The bill has not been folded over to create “dog ears”
- The bills have some stiffness to them
- The edges are uniform and straight, free from any irregularities
Once you have identified a stack of bills in good condition, make sure that you or your staff are taking proper care when loading the machines. The paper money should be stacked neatly, with all edges lined up and straight.
Keep an Eye on Customer Interactions with Your Bill Changers
When you or your employees are present at your laundromat, make sure that everyone is keeping a close eye on customers’ interactions with your bill changers. Doing so will allow a machine that may need service attention to quickly be identified. An easy indicator to watch for is if patrons reinsert their paper bills multiple times before they get the proper change.
Clean Your Hoppers Weekly
Better acceptance of bills comes from weekly cleaning of your machines. Cleaning hoppers weekly ensures that all of the mechanisms are functioning properly and customers are able to use them. It’s important that you are using the correct cleaning agents on your bill changers to effectively clean them, which include:
- Compressed air cans to blow out dust, lint, and dirt
- Damp, soft cloths to wipe down the outside of the changer
- Rubbing alcohol to take off ink buildup
- Cleaning cards to remove dirt, oil, and other contaminants from magnetic heads, photo, and optic sensors
After your dispensers are thoroughly cleaned, make sure to test the bill acceptance and payout to ensure that there are no further issues with the machine.
Pay Attention to Error Codes
As a laundromat owner, it’s important that you stay attentive to all your equipment. Routinely check bill changers for error codes and out-of-service messages. By frequently checking and keeping a log of any error messages you see, it will be easier to diagnose and service the bill dispensers to restore them to normal working condition. Make sure to check in consistently with the bill changer’s service department to see if there are any available software updates that will keep the dispenser running more efficiently.
Keep Service Parts Available in Your Backroom
Keep spare service parts or even an extra bill dispenser in your washateria’s backroom to ensure that there is little to no downtime if a machine needs service. Ask your laundry distributor, like Martin-Ray, for a recommendation on a reliable and efficient service technician that you can contact in the case of an emergency.
When you partner with Martin-Ray Laundry Systems, you are gaining more than a commercial laundry distributor. Our experienced team of laundry professionals provides clientele with the business services they need to run a successful coin laundry operation. If you are located in Martin-Ray’s sales & service area, contact us today to learn more.