-== Reader Swap Test (CRITICAL for Troubleshooting) ==-
Often it’s not clear whether a problem is with the Reader, the Machine, or even the Cable harness.
Luckily, in a laundromat, or a laundry room, there are several other readers that can be used to help diagnose the issue by doing a basic swap test.
Take a reader, from a known working machine (of the same model), and connect this reader to the non-working configuration.
You will also want to connect the suspected bad reader to the known working machine (of the same model).
Note: when doing a swap test, you should NOT change anything about the readers before doing the swap.
Leave all reader settings as is (including dip switch positions/reader numbers), and just swap the entire reader as is when preforming this test
When swapping the card readers, verify that you are swapping readers that are the same Reader Board Type!
When selecting machines of the same model type, the readers installed on those machines should also be of the same reader board type,
however if you're doing a swap test, it is essential that you confirm the reader board types are the same, or this test will not give you useful results.
Below is a picture of 3 different types of reader boards as an example (a Compass Serial, a Generic Serial, and a Generic Relay reader board).
All readers boards will have a sticker on the back that says what type of reader board is it.
The numbers are not relevant when looking for the reader board type; just compare the name's of the boards and make sure they are the same:
If the known working reader does NOT fix the issue on the non-working machine, and if the suspected bad reader works correctly on the known working machine, then we know we are NOT looking at an issue with the card reader itself. It could be either a machine issue, or cable harness issue.
So now try swapping just the cable harness, from the known working machine, to see if it fixes the issue.
You will also want to install the suspected bad harness onto the known working machine, and then test both machines to see which one now has the issue.
If you have the same problem when a known working reader, and known working harness, are connected to the non-working machine, then we know it's an issue on the machine side of things; perhaps with the machine's programming/internal settings
(for example on serial control machines: maybe the machine is not configure properly for the machine to use serial communication to communicate with the reader)
If the new configuration DOES fix the issue, then we know it's an issue somewhere in the reader (or the wiring harness if you also did a harness swap).
If you are able to narrow down the problem to being a reader issue (the problem seems to follow this reader to whichever machine it's connected to),
Next you will want to compare the following between the working and non-working reader:
- The messages that are displayed as the reader is booting up from being powered off. They should be 100% identical (aside from the machine # that is displayed)
Perhaps the non-working reader has different firmware on it, or is intended for a different type of machine - The parameter settings on the web Portal?
Readers that are connected to machines of the same model type, should have the same reader settings when view on the Laundro Portal.
If a known working reader, or a known working wiring harness, corrects the issue on your machine, get in touch with our support team and we can help you confirm if the reader setting, and control type, are correct for the type of machine the reader is connected to.
If you are unsure about the results of your swap test(s), get in touch with our support team and let them know the results of your swap tests and they will help you narrow down which component is causing the issue on your non-working machine.
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