Bonuk
You obviously haven't read the last couple of posts .
When I was referring to the relay or transistor output we were discussing the coin mechanism in an arcade machine, not the timer. Read the last couple of posts carefully before you post.
I believe Ron's calculation would result in something a bit flaky or a marginal design. In other words, it may or may not work and doesn't give any margin of safety for aging and component tolerances.
The data sheet uses a typical operating current of 20 mA and Vr (max of 1.5). This is what I would use if I were doing a "Worst case" design which I didn't do, but I did consult the datasheet.
The output of the coin mech is a brief pulse, normally about 100mS. You need a CRO to see this and tell us what is happening.
You can try this:
Put a LED and 470R between the output and a 5v supply. Then from the output to 0v and let us know when the LED flashes.
You have to do things in a logical, systematic way, and this is not what you are doing. You have to know that is happening at the output of the con mech before you can hitch it up to another circuit.
Some mech have one pulse for $1 and two pulses for $2.
LED connected from 5volt Dc rail on coin mech terminal (negative) , other end of LED in series with pot which I set as close as possible to 490 ohms then connected to coin mech pluse.
You have to more accurate. Are you connecting the LED to the 5v rail or 0v rail (chassis).
The little flat mark on the side of the LED is the cathode. Let us know where this lead of the LED is connected.
That means the output "PULSES HIGH." You can see the pulse is about 100mS and it pulses twice. If you put 3 LEDs in series and they still illuminate (very dimly) it will prove the pulse is 5v. This is all the facts you need, without the need for a CRO.
The next thing you should do is connect the input of the optocoupler to the output of the coin mech via a 470R resistor. The opto will have a symbol of a LED on the input terminals and this LED takes the exact same place as the LED you were previously testing and the 470R takes the exact same place as the test-470R
Then connect a LED and 470R to the output of the opto by connecting one of the output leads to 0v and place a LED and 470R on the other output with the 470R going to 5v and see if the LED illuminates. You may have to reverse the output leads if you cannot identify them properly.