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Wascomat: Emerald Control Washers

Installation Guide for Wascomat Emerald Control Washers

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Written by Kurt Bernhard

This article covers installation of readers on Wascomat washers with Emerald controls. Some example model numbers include E620, SU655E and more. The readers use pulse control (coin drop emulation).

Required Parts

  • Card Reader Kit

    • The reader board MUST be "Generic Relay" - Part #: ASSY-02-02-11

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  • Card Reader Wiring Harness (one of the following)

    • Part #: 02-06-76 (Card-Only)
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    • OR Part #: 02-06-63 (Hybrid)

  • 12V External Power Supply

    • Part #: 03-01-46

Installation Summary

For Card Only installations (click to expand)

For Hybrid (Coin + Card) installations (click to expand)

Installation Steps

Step 0: Number the machines in the location

Before proceeding, it is recommended that you assign numbers and labels to each machines in the laundry room/building.

Step 1: Turn Machine Power OFF

It is always recommended to power the machine off before install the card readers.

Step 2: Number the reader using the DIP switches


Review our: Reader DIP Switch settings article for details on how to set the Card Reader's Machine Type, and Reader Number.

You need to do this BEFORE mounting the Card Readers onto the machines, as accessing the back of the card reader is required.​

Step 3: Remove the Coin Drop (For Card-Only Installs)

The Card Reader will be mounted in the area where the Coin Drop has been removed.

Step 4: Signal Connector

For Card Only Installations

On most Emerald control washers you should see a coin board shown below with the X221 (Coin 1) connection slot. Connect the 3-pin signal connector from our Reader Harness (with GREEN and WHITE wires) to this slot:

There are some models that do not have this board. Instead these models have screw terminals as shown below. In this case, connect the GREEN and WHITE wires from the Card Reader harness to PIN 1 and PIN 3 (the polarity does not matter).

For Hybrid (Card + Coin) Installations

You will likely be provided with the following Card Reader Harness which contains exposed green and white wires:

Depending on the generation of your machine, you will need to splice the Card Reader harnesses GREEN and WHITE wires to the existing Coin Drop wires.

Common generation:

Splice the Card Reader's GREEN and WHITE wires to the existing coin drop wires connected to X221 (Coin 1) connection slot as shown below:

Older generation:

Splice the Card Reader's GREEN and WHITE wires to PIN 1 and PIN 3 as shown below:

Step 5: Card Reader Power Connection

Connect the provided 12V power supply to an available outlet. Otherwise, splice the power supply to 110V/220Vac and connect the 12Vdc plug to the mating plug on the harness.

When connecting to the machine directly, you'll be cutting off the AC prong, and splicing these wires directly to the machine (we recommend consulting the manufacturer, or an electrician, to confirm this type of connection).

Step 6: Mount the Card Reader

For Card Only Installations

Mount the reader to the coin-drop hole. It should be secured like this (view from inside the machine):

For Hybrid (Card + Coin) Installations

You will need to drill custom holes in order to mount the reader to the machine. Find any appropriate spot on the front of the machine that does not interfere with the existing control board and wiring.

You may follow this general guide.

Step 7: Activate the Card Reader

Proceed to secure the reader to the machine, power the machine ON, and then Activate the card reader using the Activation Card for this specific location:

Note: you MUST use the Activation Card for THIS SPECIFIC LOCATION,
or else the card reader will not appear on the LaundroPortal for this location.

This will activate the reader and programs the reader with the location's specific Support and Location IDs.

The Card Reader will then automatically connect to VAC01's wireless network and once connected, will be visible on the LaundroPortal where you can configure it's vend prices.

Setting Vend Prices

Set the pricing on the reader using the LaundroPortal.

Only a single vend price is supported. Whenever the card is presented, the reader will deduct it's programmed amount and send 1 pulse to the machine to trigger payment.

You'll need to configure the machine to start from just one pulse (1 "coin") by either setting the machine's vend price to $0.25 or less, or by adjusting the coin value setting on the machine (usually coin1's value) to equal the machine's full vend price.

For additional information about machine vend pricing, review our Configuring Card Reader/Machine Vend Prices article.

Troubleshooting

Below are problems commonly encountered during installation of readers on these machines specifically.

For more general card reader troubleshooting, see the Card Reader Troubleshoot section of our Help Center​.

Issue

Explanation and resolution

Reader taking money but machine doesn't start

The Card Reader will only sends ONE pulse to the machine, so ensure that the machine is configured to start off of one pulse.
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If the machine is only deducting 25cents from its displayed vend price, when a Laundry Card is used, then the Card Reader is installed correctly, but the machine side settings need to be configured so it starts from 1 pulse (the machine is currently registering the pulse, but only as a 25cents payment instead of the entire vend price).
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Therefore, inside the MACHINE's configuration settings, you can either:

  1. Change the value of one pulse to be equal to the full vend price of the machine, or

  2. Change the machine's vend price to $0.25 or less so 1 pulse satisfies the full vend price.

In either case, the one pulse from the reader would satisfy the machine's vend price and trigger the machine to start it's cycle.

The machine starts, but once the cycle is over the Card Reader continues to display "Busy"

The Card Reader's Cycle Time (mins) setting is out of sync with the machine actual cycle time of the machine:

Pulse communication Card Readers are NOT communicating with the machine directly, so the only way the Card Reader knows how long a wash cycle lasts for is based on the amount of time programmed into the Card Reader's Cycle Time (mins) setting.

Regardless of what's actually happening with the machine, once the reader takes a payment, it starts a timer based on this setting, and the reader will display "Busy" until it's internal time has expired.
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The machine is in complete control of the cycle time, so adjust the machine settings to set the actual cycle time, then ensure you configure the reader with the same cycle time.
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If you have different cycles that last for different amounts of time, the reader should be programmed with the shortest cycle's time.

Card Reader reboots itself whenever it takes payment from a Laundry Card

Check the external power supply to ensure it's pulling power from a source that provides constant power at all times.

It may be the case that the power supply is connected to wires that only provide constant power when the machine is at idle, but during a cycle start, power may be interrupted temporarily causing the reader to reboot.

If you've confirmed that the reader receives constant power during the machines start up sequency, try doing a swap test to see if the power supply or card reader board has a hardware issue.

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