Rowe BC-1200

 

Rowe changers were long a staple in laundromats, laundry rooms, car washes, arcades, and any other place that needed to shell out quarters to the public. 
The Rowe BC1200 (front loading) and the Rowe BC1400 are all over the place.
Many years ago American Changer bought Rowe and discontinued any production and support of these changers soon afterwards.
If you have one of these changers you might have wondered where do you go to get parts or service.
For a long time there were ton of independent repair shops or owners that had stocks of parts and repair knowledge. Over the last several years those parts stocks have dried up and the techs that worked on these changers retired or moved onto different companies so now unless you have experience working on these machines yourself you might be stuck with a bum changer if you have problems.

Different manufacturers make a conversion kit that you can change out the guts of these Rowe changers if you are in a situation where you can't remove the cabinet from the wall and need something to work in the space that you already have there. 
One of the best of the independent factory authorized service providers for Rowe changers in my opinion is/was Changetec in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
The techs there have been very helpful over the years (Daryl is a legend when it comes to his knowledge). Changetec found a hole in the market as other changer manufacturers created conversion kits for the BC1400 (rear loading version) but not the BC1200 (front loading version) and they have developed their own conversion kit that is less in price than other equipment manufacturers.
If you have a changer that has the bill acceptor and change cup in the order like the above picture then this conversion kit might be a great option. It is simple to install and operate and at the time I purchased the kit was about $1,000 less than any other option I could find.

Watch the video below to see if this is an option for your Rowe changers:

Ev
A Heck of A Nice Guy