Long before, whenever we needed money we had to walk a long way down to the nearest bank to get some cash. As times changed and technology prospered the walks we had to take were shorter and our money was available at every corner.
What we are talking about is visible from the title of this article. The ATMs are something that made a lot of lives easier and their availability almost everywhere and their 24/7 operation is what helps us all be effective and efficient in our day-to-day obligations. Since this piece of tech isn’t just a simple clerk handing you money by hand through some small window, there is some maintenance included for everything to function well.
These machines are highly efficient and their efficiency is highly dependent on regular maintenance and form original and reliable parts that technicians use. Finding parts is easy because many suppliers are specialized for certain segments like atmpartmart.com is.
Today we will take a tour of maintenance steps for these machines and what you need to do to ensure their longevity and the efficiency they are built for.
Without any further do here are the maintenance tips, we hope you will enjoy!
Regular cleaning/maintenance
1. Card reader
To have your ATM up to date and efficient as possible regular cleaning is a big chunk of its maintenance. Since these machines are both indoor and outdoor they accumulate a lot of dust and grime in certain areas, and if those impurities aren’t regularly treated your machine may fail.
What you need to do is, at least monthly, clean the card reader and you can do it with simple and efficient card reader cleaning cloths or pads. These are awesome because they are alcohol dipped, raised pads that slot into the card reader and with simple few pushes and pulls you can clean it to perfection. It will clean the mag stripe and the EMV reader and by doing this you will reduce the jams, misreads and similar problems when it comes to people’s cards.
2. Cassette and dispenser
To clean these two components of the ATM for the dispenser you will need a can of compressed air which works best if you pull the dispenser out. When you take it out the dispenser is visible entirely and you have access to its belts and the small PCBs that are the sensors that read when the bill moves around.
Those are also important to clean because impurities from the outside and the bills gets stuck on them and the sensors might misread the position or the bill entirely. Clean this thoroughly and blow out as much of the dust as possible with the compressed air.
After you remove the cassette you will find where the rubber pickup wheels are located and give those a thorough clean but avoid alcohol because it will deteriorate the rubber. Use a q tip or a wipe with some mild dish soap.
3. The outside
The outside of the ATM is also important because there are plenty of nooks where dirt and debris can get into and cause problems. Wipe and blow off everything nicely around the display buttons, around the number pad and all around the display and surface of the ATM.
This will make it safe, more efficient and presentable every day. When doing and outside maintenance always checks for potential manipulations of the machine. When you are making it fit for work, always check if it is as safe as well.
4. Replace worn parts
Besides simple regular maintenance and cleaning, you will often need to replace parts that are worn out or that have been damaged in the machines’ day to day operation. This includes a thorough scan and checking off every movable part to localize the problem and replace the one needed.
You will mostly need to pay attention to the plastic and rubber parts which have a lifespan and are culprits for most breakdowns. Rollers, belts and rubber parts that move the bills around are the parts that most often need replacing and break down regularly.
5. Paper replacement and check
Although most people don’t care for those ATM receipts you have to have them in your machine and you need to make sure that the ATM printing paper is always in the machine and that its printer side is fully working and operational. Check for impurities and dirt around the place where the paper exits because it might make the paper jam.
Also, be sure that people will often pull on the paper and jerk it around and lead to the jam as well, but there is so much you can do there. Make sure the paper tray is clean and that the exit part is clean so that dirt doesn’t lead to jams.
6. Software updates
Another thing that you must take care of is the software updates. Your ATM is partially a machine and partially a computer that processes data. These parts have to be in sync with each other and you have to have that software part up to date always if you want it to follow the mechanical pieces of the machine.
Sometimes the bank or whatever will update their terms of service, the amounts of the pay-out or whatever they believe are necessary and you will have to be there to update all of that and to track that all the software components are functioning accordingly.
7. Touchscreens
Part of ATMs are touchscreen operational and these components tend to go off occasionally due to misuse or abuse of the users. Sometimes the temperature changes, as well as other elements, don’t agree with these components and they will go faulty. You have to make sure that every part of the touchscreen is OK and fully operational to avoid any problems for both the bank, you and the users of the machine.
THE ATMs, however complicated they looked, really aren’t that much. If you tend to them, properly and occasionally you will not have that many issues and problems. Every machine needs a helping hand and a clean here and there and it will remain operational for a long time.
Rhydian Choi 
Kim Marks