When you install a new ArcadePay Controller, change pulse settings, or check a machine after service, you need to know it actually credits. A lot of operators still reach for the service button on the back of the coin accepter. That works for a quick credit. It also quietly wrecks your cash reports.
Here is the better way to test a cashless machine.
Why the Coin-Door Button Skews Your Books
Some coin accepters have a service button that manually adds credits. When you press it, the accepter sends pulses to the ArcadePay Controller the same way a real coin or bill would. The controller records those pulses as cash income.
That extra "cash" shows up in your reports. A few test plays look like noise. A weekend of installs can throw off what you think a location took in, and it can throw off what you owe that location.
If you want reports you can trust, do not use that button to test ArcadePay.
Use the Dashboard Instead
ArcadePay does not have a separate test mode. You send a test play from the same Products & Pricing screen you already use to set packages.
- Open the ArcadePay dashboard
- Go to Machines
- Search for the machine you are testing and open it
- Open Products & Pricing (on mobile this may be labeled Pricing)
- Find the product you want to test
- Click the purple down arrow under that product
- Watch the machine and confirm it takes the right number of credits
Sending test credits from the dashboard does not log those pulses as cash. Your settlement and location reports stay clean.
What to Confirm After the Test
After the play fires, check three things:
- The machine received the right number of credits for that product
- The customer checkout page still shows the intended paid packages
- You put pricing back to normal if you changed anything
Do not leave a floor machine in free play unless that is actually what the location wants. When the test is done, go back to Products & Pricing and reverse any temporary change.
When This Is Worth Doing
Use a dashboard test play when you are:
- Checking a new install before you leave the site
- Confirming pulse count after a settings change
- Verifying a machine after service
- Checking a copied configuration on a second controller
If payment goes through but the machine does not credit, check the pulse count first. The price can be right and the pulses still wrong.
The Takeaway
Test the machine. Protect the books. The purple down arrow is the test play. The coin-door button is not.
If you are testing a live machine and you are not sure which product to fire, email ops@arcadepay.app with the machine name and what you are trying to confirm.
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