This installation note covers the old Gen4 washers, such as model number W184, W74 and more. These washers use mechanical timers. The reader kit comes with a High Voltage Relay board to control the mechanical timer, a High Voltage sensor to determine whether the door is open or closed and a separate AC-DC power supply adapter to power the reader.
Required Parts
Card Reader Kit
The reader board MUST be "Voltage Relay" - Part #: ASSY-02-02-08
High Voltage Relay (to start the Mechanical timer)
Part #: 03-01-75
High Voltage Sensor box (to determine the whether door is open or closed)
Part #: HV-SENSOR-01
4-wire Cable Connector (used with High Voltage Sensor and High Voltage Relay)
Part #: 02-06-97
Cable harness
Part #: 02-06-79
12V Power supply adapter
Part #: 03-01-46
Installation Summary
"Voltage Relay" Card Reader board type must be used
Card Reader harness to be spliced into the machine for coin drop emulation
External power supply used for Card Reader power
Machine Side settings: configure the machine to start from 1 pulse
Installation Steps
It is CRITICAL that the high-voltage sensor, which senses the door open/close state, be installed correctly. Otherwise, if the door is open, the reader will still take money from the card and the vend will NOT be registered with the machine.
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
In order to configure a Card Reader to report as a specific Washer or Dryer number, you need to set the reader's DIP Switches to specific positions. These DIP Switches ONLY affect what the reader will display as for it's machine type (Washer/Dryer) and it's machine number:
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, the Card Reader will be mounted in the area where the Coin Drop has been removed.
Step 4: Card Reader Start/Pulse Connection
Locate the connector shown below. Splice the two red output wires from the High Voltage Relay to the yellow and red wires on this connector (colors might vary between different machines so pay attention to the position on the connector):
Step 5: High Voltage Sensor Connection
Connect the High Voltage sensor wires. This reader MUST use a High Voltage Sensor device in order to receive a busy signal from the machine. Do NOT connect the reader's door sensing wires directly to the machine without using a HV Sensor!
Splice the two RED wires across the Door Lock Solenoid
(it doesn't matter which wire gets connected to each side of the solenoid, just make sure 1 red wire is connected to either side of the solenoid).
High Voltage sensor:
Step 6: 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 7: Mounting the Card Reader
If you ordered Card-Only reader kits, follow this general guide.
If you ordered Hybrid (Coin + Card) reader kits, follow this general guide.
Step 8: Activate the reader
Proceed to secure the reader to the machine 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 Pricing
The Card Reader's vend price is is set remotely via the LaundroPortal. Only a single vend price is supported.
Whenever the card is presented, the reader will deduct it's programmed amount from the Laundry Card and send 1 pulse to the machine to trigger payment.
You 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 these model machines.
For more general card reader troubleshooting, see the Card Reader Troubleshoot section of our Help Center.
Issue | Explanation and resolution |
Reader always says Close Door to Start, even though the washer door is closed | This is a problem likely with the High Voltage sensor itself, or it's connection to the machine. Double check the HV sensor connections and try swapping the High Voltage sensor from a working machine. |
Card Reader says Close Door, when door is already closed, but show's it's ready for payment when the door is open | Some versions of these machines send the inverse signal for when the door is open vs when it's closed.
Contact the Laundroworks support team so we can inverse the signal through the Card Reader's settings |
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. 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). Therefore, inside the MACHINE's configuration settings, you can either:
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. |
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. |