How to Clean and Maintain Your Cash Counting Machine

The maintenance routine that keeps most cash counting machines running accurately is simpler than most people expect:

•  After every session: clear the hopper and stacker, brush debris from the transport channel.

•  Weekly: wipe the sensor housing with a dry microfibre cloth, clean the exterior casing.

•  Monthly: run a cleaning card through the transport path, inspect rollers, test all counting modes.

•  Annually: book a professional service and calibration check.

•  Most premature machine failures and counting accuracy issues trace back to skipped cleaning — particularly dirty sensors. The full step-by-step routine is below.

A retail store manager notices their H110 has been flagging more notes than usual over the past two weeks — a stack of fifty notes is generating four or five rejects, all of which check out as genuine when inspected. The machine is still functional, but the closing count is taking longer because staff are manually checking every rejected note.

Five minutes with a microfibre cloth on the sensor housing and a brush run through the transport channel later, the reject rate drops back to normal. The machine had simply accumulated enough polymer residue on the UV sensor to start generating borderline reads on worn notes. A weekly wipe would have prevented it entirely.

•  Solvents, alcohol, or chemical cleaning sprays — these damage sensor coatings and plastic components.

•  Compressed air directly on sensor surfaces — high-pressure air can drive debris further into sensor gaps rather than removing it.

•  Wet cloths or spray bottles near the machine — moisture and electronics do not mix.

•  Metal tools inside the transport channel — these scratch rollers and sensor housings.

•  Paper towel or standard cloth — fibres can contaminate sensors.

Before cleaning, power the machine off completely and unplug it from the wall outlet. Remove any notes from the hopper, stacker, and reject pocket. Do not clean a powered or plugged-in machine.

Take a moment to visually inspect the hopper and stacker areas for any foreign objects — staples, clips, or torn note fragments — before proceeding.

💡 Tip: Make this the first step in your closing procedure, not an afterthought. A machine that’s cleaned at the end of every session performs more consistently than one cleaned reactively when problems appear.

Open the machine’s access panel or top cover to expose the transport channel — the pathway notes travel through from the hopper to the stacker. Using the supplied soft brush (or a clean soft-bristle brush):

•  Brush debris from the channel walls, the hopper entry point, and the stacker exit.

•  Brush around the sensor housing apertures — these are the small windows or slots where the UV, MG, IR, and CIS sensors read passing notes.

•  Tilt the machine gently to allow loose debris to fall clear rather than settling back onto surfaces.

The LS-300’s vertical note path design is specifically engineered to let debris fall clear of the sensor array during operation — a genuine maintenance advantage that reduces how often this step is needed for high-volume users.

💡 Tip: Don’t rush the brush pass. Thirty seconds of thorough brushing after each session prevents the gradual debris build-up that causes sensor drift over weeks of use.

Once per week — or more frequently in high-volume environments — wipe the sensor housing surfaces with a dry, lint-free microfibre cloth:

•  Gently wipe the UV sensor window — a small lens or aperture, usually marked in the transport channel or visible as a clear window.

•  Wipe the MG and IR sensor apertures in the same pass.

•  On machines with CIS sensors (H110, H210, K2), wipe the full-width CIS strip that runs across the transport channel — this is the component most affected by polymer residue from worn notes.

Use a dry cloth, not a damp one, on sensor surfaces. If residue isn’t shifting with a dry cloth, a cloth very lightly moistened with distilled water (not tap water, not any chemical) is acceptable — wipe immediately followed by a dry pass.

💡 Tip: On the Cashcom H110, the Dual CIS sensors run the full width of the note path. A complete wipe of both CIS strips — not just the centre — ensures even cleaning across the full detection width.

Once per month, run a cleaning card through the transport path. Cleaning cards are pre-moistened with a solution designed to safely clean transport rollers — the rubber or foam components that grip and feed notes through the mechanism.

•  Insert the cleaning card into the hopper as you would a normal note.

•  Start the machine in COUNT mode and allow the card to pass through the full transport path.

•  Repeat with a second cleaning card if the machine processes a particularly high note volume.

Cleaning cards are the only safe way to clean the transport rollers — the rollers are internal and inaccessible with a brush or cloth. Neglected rollers accumulate polymer residue that increases friction, raises double-feed rates, and accelerates wear.

💡 Tip: If cleaning cards aren’t immediately available, don’t substitute with anything else — skip the roller clean until cards arrive rather than using an improvised alternative that can damage the rollers.

With the access panel open, visually inspect the transport rollers — the rubber or foam wheels visible in the transport channel:

Glazed or shiny rollers: indicate polymer build-up that’s compressing the roller surface. Cleaning cards should address minor build-up; heavy glazing is a sign the rollers need professional replacement.

Cracked or visibly worn rollers: a service item. Worn rollers increase double-feeds and jams regardless of how well you clean the rest of the machine.

Reject mechanism: check that the gate or diverter that directs rejected notes to the reject pocket moves freely. A stiff or obstructed reject mechanism can cause rejected notes to misroute into the stacker instead of being separated.

You don’t need to touch the rollers during inspection — visual check only. If rollers look worn, log it and book a service rather than attempting to replace them yourself.

💡 Tip: Photography is useful here — a photo of worn rollers taken during your monthly check gives a Cashcom technician a clear picture of the fault before the machine even comes in for service, often speeding up the repair.

After cleaning, run a test count with a known stack of notes — one you’ve counted manually — and confirm the machine result matches. This takes two minutes and confirms the clean has restored accuracy to the expected baseline.

•  Count a stack of 50 notes manually and record the value.

•  Run the same stack through the machine in VALUE mode.

•  If results don’t match, repeat the sensor clean and test again.

•  If results still don’t match after a second clean, note the discrepancy and contact Cashcom — this suggests a sensor calibration issue rather than a cleaning one.

Storing the machine correctly between uses also contributes to longevity:

Cover the machine: a simple dust cover (cloth or purpose-made) prevents airborne dust settling on the hopper and sensor areas between sessions.

Stable, flat surface: away from air conditioning vents, direct sunlight, and kitchen-adjacent heat or humidity.

No notes left in the hopper: don’t leave a loaded hopper overnight — notes left under the hopper’s weight can develop set creases that affect feeding.

💡 Tip: Labelling the test stack with a rubber band and a note (‘TEST STACK — 50 notes, $1,250’) keeps the verification quick and prevents staff from accidentally mixing the test notes back into the till.

A professional service call for a cash counting machine with sensor damage caused by accumulated debris typically costs significantly more than the cleaning supplies needed to prevent it. A pack of cleaning cards costs under $20 and covers 12 monthly cleans. A dry microfibre cloth is under $5. The five minutes per session this routine takes across a 250-day trading year adds up to roughly 20 hours annually — a small investment compared to the cost and downtime of a repair job that preventive maintenance would have avoided.

•  Reject rate has increased noticeably and hasn’t improved after thorough sensor cleaning.

•  Count results are inconsistent across multiple runs on the same clean stack.

•  Error codes are recurring after power cycles and note checks.

•  Jams are happening regularly despite thorough note fanning and debris clearing.

•  Rollers look glazed, cracked, or visibly worn on the monthly inspection.

•  The machine is producing a grinding or scraping sound during operation.