Coin Return Flash Drive



My friend Tony's birthday was coming up and I wanted to make him something. A few months earlier he'd mentioned an arcade machine coin return he'd seen turned into a flash drive. I figured it wouldn't be that hard to make one myself. I started by picking up a coin return on ebay and disassembling it.

Coin Return Disassembled

Next I poked around Staples for a flash drive that'd be easy to disassemble and fit into the case. I wound up using a 4gb PNY drive.

4GB PNY Flash Drive

I removed the shell from around the flash drive.

Shell Removed

I wanted the coin return to light up when it was plugged in. A quick search online gave me the standard pin-outs for a USB port. I soldered a yellow LED and resistor from the 5 volt pin to the ground on the flash drive.

LED Added Drive Assembled

I cut a hole in the return case to fit the fob through...

Hole Cut

..then glued the fob in and reassembled the button.

Finished Fob 1 Finished Fob 2 Finished Fob 3 Finished Fob 4

The fob prevents the button from being pushed in much but I think it came out well. I loaded a bunch of classic arcade games onto it then wrapped it up and gave it to Tony.

Lit Return 1 Lit Return 2

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