Being an Engineer, I have been wondering how some of you guys set up and run your ryedales. Not the mechanics behind it, but the "process" of Processing Coins. I'm just a small time hand sorter, but for those folks with ryedales, how do each of you choose to run your coins? Do some of you run the same coins twice to be sure that all coppers are caught?
The way I understand the basic principal of the machine is: Fill with loose coins and any comparator coin, then Matches get accepted and Non-Matches are rejected…..simple concept to grasp.
This is quite simple to understand, but is there a way where you could turn the tables some and run 2 different coins in the comparator to sort out the wheats or IHs as well as make sure all coppers are separated? This could be done with multiple ryedales in series or you could just re-run one of the separated piles after a basic Cu and Zn sort.
For example could you run a “Zn accept” batch on $100 FV (10,000 coins) and you are left with approx. 25% copper and 75% zinc. Then you could double check the machine and run a “Copper accept” batch on the separated Zincs (7,500 coins) to be sure none were missed. Then you take the separated coppers and set a wheat (or IH) penny as the accept coin in the comparator and run the coppers (approx. 2,500 coins) through. (The order of sorting can be switched based on what would be best for the machine, but I’m just trying to illustrate my questions)
Because I am not aware of the sensitivity of the comparator and if this is in fact how the machine operates, could a wheat or IH penny be that different of a metal composition from a modern (1959 to 1982) penny to have them accepted/rejected from the machine? I know some methods may take longer, just in the example above I estimate an hour and a half, but if somehow you can have the machine do all the sorting it would save time in the long run over hand sorting the “Copper accepts”.
Ideally everything would be sorted 100% accurately the first time, but machines do have their problems and I’m always looking for a way to double check or have a backup system for a machine. Ultimately you could run the coins as many times as you want, but is there a reasonable solution (Multiple runs or machines in series) to getting the most out of a mechanical sorter such as the ryedale?
I know there are a few other posts mixed in that discuss this here and there, but I thought this topic warranted its own thread.