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Maytag - Mechanical machines

Install guide for Card Reader installations on Maytag Mechanical machines

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Written by Kurt Bernhard

This article is applicable to Maytag machines without electronic controls, such MFR80PCAVS

Required Parts

  • Card Reader Kit

    • The reader board MUST be "Voltage Relay" - Part #: ASSY-02-02-08

  • Card Reader Wiring Harness

    • Part #: 02-06-79

  • High Voltage Relay (to start the Mechanical timer)

    • Part #: 03-01-75

  • 12V External Power Supply

    • Part #: 03-01-46:

  • High Voltage sensor

    • Part #: HV-SENSOR-01:

Installation Summary

Installation Steps

Step 1: Turn Machine Power Off

It is always recommended to power the machine off before install the card readers.
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Step 2: Remove Coin Drop if present

For Card-Only installs, the Card Reader will be mounted in the area where the Coin Drop has been removed.

Step 3: Number the Card Reader using the reader's DIP switches:

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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 4: Connect the High Voltage Relay

The output wires of the High Voltage Relay should connect across the wire going to J2.10 (wire 5) and Neutral (wire 21)

Step 5: Card Reader Power Connection

Connect the 120Vac side of the external power supply, either to an available wall outlet, or splice the power supply directly to the machine, using an appropriate high-voltage connection inside the machine.

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: Mounting the Card Reader

Step 7: Activate the Card Reader

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

Vend Pricing for the Card Reader is set via the LaundroPortal.

Note that the Card Reader, is emulating a coin drop, and ONLY sends one pulse to trigger the machine to start, so you need to configure the machine to start a cycle off of this ONE pulse.

The Card Reader has no way of knowing what cycle option is being selected, therefore all cycle option prices must be set to the same amount, and the machine must be configured to start from 1 pulse from the Card Reader
​

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).
​

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 $0.01.

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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