VENDINGCHAT.COM

Sounds like the dip switches are still in the test mode. Try moving all to the off position and then back to the settings of the original CBA that you pulled off. Turn the power of the machine off and then back on. See if that helps. Let us know.

Jeremiah, if the quarters run out - or at least if they get low enough that the bill validator disables - then it would seem like the float sensor may be bad in the quarter tube. I had this problem recently, and it was a bad float sensor.

Before sending it off for repair, you may want to pull the front of the coin tube cover off and clean the sensors good. Sometimes over time the dirt from the coins will cover the sensors with a film of dirt and give the impression of a full tube. It fixes the problem more times than not and doesn't cost anything. Its worth a try and Good luck.

Does anyone know where to get the "Cold Drink" fronts for drink machines. I have ordered custom fronts from tuffronts before, but I just want cheap generic fronts.

Thanks

JD

Try NBS Inc. from South Carolina @ 1-800-325-9021. They may have a website.

Apparently someone has already added refrigerant to this unit if it has the shrader valves already sweated in ( They come from the factory pinched and soldered), so it must have a leak. Unless you have the training, equipment and at least a EPA Type 1 certification, you would be better off buying a complete refrigeration deck and just changing it out. Maybe you can get a little "core charge" from your old one from this guy who is selling you the used one. FYI, Auto R134 is not to be used in appliance R134 refrigeration systems because of the additives, but you can use reg. R134 in Autos. Just my opinion.

I uploaded a couple of larger photos here

and here

hopefully that will help.

I get the idea of setting the prices by the coin mech (mostly) but changing them individually is what's got me stumped and that's the only reason I can figure for the extra switches. I know they work (at least where they are set in the picture) they just stop working when I change them.

You have got a 4 price changer, which only allows 4 different product prices in the machine with a maximum price of .75 with all dip switches in the on position. It appears that you have a 10 price control board installed. Set up 4 different vend prices on the switches, starting with your lowest price (ex. .50) on the No 1 switch and put the next higher price (ex. .55) on the No 2 switch and your next higher price (ex. .65) and the last one (ex. .75) . This will make it easier when you set your board.

To set board to selection prices:

If you want selection A to vend for .75, you will move the A switch to price 4 on board.
If you want selection J to vend for .50, you will move the J swith to price 1 on board.
If you want selection T to vend for .65, you will move the T swith to price 3 on board.


After getting your prices set you can run money through the changer while counting it to make sure your prices are correct.

Give it a try and see what happens. If this changer is compatible it should work. Hopes this helps.

How many dip switches is on the changer? A larger view would make it easier. I can't see it well enough to tell, but it looks like a 4 price coinco changer. The procedure is the same for them all, 4 price or 10 price. Set the prices you need using the dip swithes such as 50,55,60,65. Using the price control board, you just move the switch that coordinates with the selection up to the position for the price that the dip switch is set for. Does this make any sense to you? Kind of hard to explain because it has been 20 years since I have seen one of those but the procedure is correct. From the selection panel shown it looks like an old Automatic Products machine. Hope this helps.

This changers had problems with the contacts on these dip swithes getting dirty and not making contact. What you do is unplug changer, lay it on its back and spray contact cleaner on the swithes and work them on and off several times. Let dry and plug back in. This should help them work better. Remember they are each individually set just like a single price changer.

You may want to secure a pad about 1/4 inch or thicker to the bottom of the delivery tray, if there is not one already in place. This may help protect the integrity of the product upon delivery.

Coinvester, I will give my opinion for what it is worth. I never met a vendor who liked purchasing a food machine because its hard to make money with them, but sometimes you have to have them to retain or gain an account. I have been a true Crane National advocate for many years. In my opinion the Crane National 431D is absolutely the finest all-purpose machine to use in my accounts. As you said product configuration is user friendly, can be changed in minutes and shelves can be zoned to up to different prices per shelf giving you up to 27 price points if you need them. Problems are few and the new refrigeration system on them are easy to remove, repair and reinstall if that ever becomes necessary. National also has a 24/7 hotline when you need help on service calls @ 800-NAT- VEND. Part orders @ 800-NA1-PART. If you are proficient with refurbishing used equipment, here is a link to a company that sales used working equipment. http://www.veii.com . You may even be able to get them lower that the prices listed in the ad. They also sell completely refurbished equipment and repair parts too. I just bought one, refurbished it to look like new, and set it on location 2 weeks ago. Works great and the people love it. I have less than $2500 in it, so I can't beat it. On the other hand, I have never used the AMS machine that you are talking about for food but they will probably work okay. They biggest drawback that I see is the packages falling over or not vending properly. This may not be a problem. I have used frozen machines like these, such as an AP320 with very good success but all product, including frozen dinners was frozen solid to give rigidity. It just seems to limit the foods that can be vended. I know people use them all the time. This is just me opinion and nothing more. I have seen the AMS frozen machine and plan on trying one of those someday soon.

Does anyone have a supplier of standard labels for full-size machines? I am looking for " Do Not Rock" or " do not tilt" labels.

"Allergy alert" labels and "For service call ...." labels.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks, Ted

Download their catalog and see if they have the ones you are looking for.

http://www.veii.com

simple suggestions I can make without it costing a fortune in sophisticated software, and probably should be common practices any operator should use whenthey have employees.

set a par capacity level on each machine in the field,including coinmech amount. teach driver to always fill to that level at every service.

single bag collect each machine with a route slip inside that has on it the fill and price info...this makes it possible to check fill vs. money

if your equipment has the electronic capability to give sales/vend count data have them record that too.

spot check at random field equipment-with a par capacity and the above procedure you should be able to "count down" any machine and balance.

this will deter employee theft..... the only other loophole is product theft off the truck.... a good practice is at the very least a routine truck inventory they turn in.
all these are deterrents.....keeping the honest ones honest....

just my .02 worth

DJPVending is exactly right. I don't know how many machines you service but if accountability software is not feasable at this point the following 2 checks and balances will keep you in tune daily with any issues on your route including machines giving product away free or at a reduced price. You will be able to tell if product and/or money is over or short. When you have other people handling your money, expedient and timely route accountability is essential and vigilance must be maintained.

1. Expected $ Inventory will tell you how much money is due for the product added to machine - You may want to setup a spreadsheet on your computer for each machine and set it up to calculate the quanity of product added at each price and the total for all products. Check this against your actual money turned in and this tell you if you have product "shrinkage" and the over/short for each machine. Machine must always be filled to the same product par and changer pars kept to same level. Gum may be the exception to the rule if you don't want to fill until you can use a whole 20 pack and must be either counted and recorded as an ending inventory or taken into consideration. Always record stales, waste, refunds and giveaways.

2. Expected $ Meter Reading will tell you how much money is due that was fed through machine- Of course, by using the nonresettable meter readings, this will inform you how much money has been through the machine and appx. the amount that should arrive to your office. If you don't receive it , you may have problems, but drivers will sometimes forget to pull bills, so you may have to wait until the next service/collect date to see if it returns or go check yourself.

3. Truck Inventory - Weekly or Monthly, your preference, but I generally prefer weekly. Load sheet from warehouse to route truck with all products recorded that was put on truck. You can then match the weekly truck inventory with product loaded on truck, product added to machines and waste to account for all product. Use the same system for warehouse inventory recording the product in and out, just to make sure there is no shrinkage there either as you just never know.

4. Visit accounts, check machines for cleaned, filled, working, and talk to your contact person there no less than once a month. Get there at break or lunch and you can find out a lot from the people in the breakroom about their opinions on the driver and/or your machines in general.
Communicate. Communicate. Communicate.

As was previously stated, once you have a procedure in place you can always go to the machines count them down and check the money in them when you have a discrepency or suspect a problem.

Sorry for such a long post but for the past 20 years route accountability has been a task or "passion" of my daily life . As your company grows, so does all the other issues that will arise.

I did not respond to the earlier question. The location that does $3500 per month is a large white collar employer with over 500 employees. It would do a lot more except there is a deli that competes for business. With respect to the car dealership, might I suggest you meet with the dealership and offer better equiment to them with better service and forget about taking over the other guys equipment. You can get in for less and probably get a better deal. have you checked on the commission level yet?

I agree. I have never used or dealt with Whitten but I think that you can purchase good quality refurbished equipment that looks like new, maybe order custom tuffronts if they just have to have them and spend a couple hours to install it for about half the cost of what they are asking. EBITDA would look much better and ROI much shorter time period. Just my opinion.

If I were you, I would ask for an exclusive contract if they wanted my service that bad. I don't know all the circumstances or conditions and I understand that you don't want to put a cold food in but maybe you and the account can settle on a frozen food machine, if that is something that you may be willing to do. The drinks and snacks are the main profit makers and I wouldn't want to lose half the sales to a competitor. The account may not give you that option, but that would be the only way I would go in. One other point, if the other vendor is doing such a bad job it will be hard for him to justify price increases and that will also affect you in the future more than likely, the both will be at the same product pricing. This is only my opinion to an alternative proposal.

I have used the Dixie Narco Bottle drop machines for years. The early ones such as the 2145 had many problems such as drop sensors but you just had to work through them. I presently only use the 5591 for non carbonated drinks,water and sport drinks and have great success with them. They are agravating sometimes as to the fact that you have to rotate your products either because of dates or making sure your customers are not getting hot drinks that you just put in. As a general rule they usually do increase sales when merchandised correctly. The key is to load properly using the correct shim for the product you are vending, keep the slides clean and use a silicone spray on the slides. As was stated before, you are probably better off using a DN501, they are cheaper, low maintenance and will vend just about any drink the you may have.

Try these links. Some of these companies should be able to help you. Prices seem high to me for these, but you know what you need.

http://cgi.ebay.com/...1QQcmdZViewItem

http://cgi.ebay.com/...1QQcmdZViewItem

http://cgi.ebay.com/...Q2em118Q2el1247

http://www.vendingma...oinco-ct48.aspx

http://www.kanesvend...manufacturer=13

http://vendomachines...g_Machines.html

Thanks Coinvestor, I have a company putting a professional web site together for me. I just throwed that one together one night while I was playing around on the internet. If you will watch for restaurants that may be closing you can usually pick up a 2 door commercial freezer with the condensing unit on top for around $500 or less. They are deep enough to slide the whole case of pastry and pre-packaged food in with the label facing out for better organization and fast retrieval of product. They will also fast freeze any other products you have including ice cream.

Thanks, JBL, I think that I may give some FOA pastry a try again and see how it does through the summer months. The cost is a little higher from my supplier but I may be able to reduce my fresh pastry order a little and have this on hand if I run low during the week. Usually hot weather is a killer on pastry.

It's all we buy, mostly due to the life you get out of them.We do keep them frozen during the summer, and then pull them out the day before we use them, once you pull them for usage, they have a mth shelf life.

JBL, do you date them like prepacked food or how do you know when to pull them. Many years ago I had used some frozen pastry made by Haus, but I run into the problem of them molding fairly quickly. Haven't used any in a long time. Just wondering about your experiences with them. Thanks.

Cavalier has been out of business for several years, so I would not mess with it. You may be getting this machine cheap and it may still look good but if you put it on location and something goes wrong and you can't find parts, although there are some still around, it will end up costing you more in time, customer satisfaction, labor and fuel expense to replace it. IMO you are better off to get a refurbed Dixie Narco and put on site so you can concentrate more on your core business.. This is just my opinion.

Take an actual look at his revenues if he keeps records, just to keep him honest. Look at the current pricing, product mix, service schedule and commission structure to see if there is any room for improvement. I don't know anything about a gaines machine but if there is ample room at this facility, you may improve sales by installing 2 dedicated machines (1 snack and 1 soda) for more selection, more profitable product mix and less service frequency: this would also help lower your cost. Make an offer for half that and look for a reaction from him to indicate his willingless to negotiate the price or if he stands firm. If it was a new machine when installed and has a sales meter, check it against the sales he states, then you would at least have some real idea about the $ sales. I honestly wouldn't think that the machine would be worth that amount. Maybe this advice will help you a little. Without seeing his setup and records its really difficult to say.

Thats all you can do. Control the controlables.

Thats what it sounds like from here. Disconnected wire, bad connection or broke wire to that motor. I would check those first. It should have a test mode where you can check the motors by making them run also. Specific instructions should be on the front of the inside door. Maybe this helps some.

http://cgi.ebay.com/...1QQcmdZViewItem

Click the link. Get the phone number and call David. Tell him you want a DN501E like the one shown in the auction and what kind of front you want and that I recommended him to you. Also tell him you want a bill acceptor that will take the new $5 bill, which is what I see in the picture (appx.$400 value). He will cut you a deal if you are nice. They do great work and there should be a programming chart on the inside door. There is a link to tech support below also. Dont know your location, but he has better shipping rates than the calculator shows. I wouldn't be surprised if you are not out the door for less than the starting bid in this auction. Let us know how your dealings with him goes.

All you want to know about Dixie Narco:


http://www.dixienarc...53/Default.aspx

I don't want to come off rude and I thank you very much for your answers, but what are you basing these conclusions on? Have you owned and operated either machine or serviced them? The 501E looks like a good machine, and I have heard great things about Dixie Narco's reliability. I am just slightly paranoid is all I guess, which can be good in business. Thanks a lot for your answers!

Wyatt

My "conclusions" or knowledge has been gained through 29 years of professional and real world experience in this industry. I have worked routes, ran service calls, tore entire machines apart and rebuilt them. Through the years, I have managed every aspect within a vending company. Until last year I managed a $5 million a year corporate vending company which included preparing P & L's on all accounts and requisitioning equipment for every install and upgrade. I have enough experience with all the main brand machines that I probably know what I am talking about. Excuse me for attempting to try and help someone else in the business that may need some sound advice, something that I wouldn't have done 5 years ago. If you are afraid to buy a $1000 refurnished machine that will return the investment many times over then you probably will be better off to purchase your machines at Sams. I'll take on any model Dixie Narco manufactured, but that critter from Sam's is a different animal..............
Good Luck !!

You may want to look at a Dixie Narco 501E. I like the livefronts, but the bubble fronts are okay too. Very dependable, easy to set-up and very reliable, maintenance wise. 9 selection set-up with cans and/or bottles.
If you don't like them try the DN5500 glassfront automatic delivery. The cost is significally higher but their appearance and the fact that people like to watch them operate should increase sales some. Its up to you but the ROI is better with the 501E.

[quote name='Ruskie' date='May 10 2008, 06:35 PM' post='3815']
I don't have a manual and can't seem to find one. Does anyone have instructions on how to change the price.

Also could use price labels for the same machine.

Thanks
Ruskie
[/quot
I will try to help you setup prices on your AP 4000. I haven't messed with one in 15 years but I think I can remember the procedure. We will get it a try anyway.

1. Push price set buttom on the control module inside the door.
2. Using the user product selection panel on the outside of machine use 11 to lower pricing and 12 to increase pricing. When the price that you want to set the desired product to appears just push the letter and number of it. After setting all the desired prices push the check price on the door module and then use the selection panel to check your prices. If they are correct, you shut the door, the prices should be set correctly.

I hope this makes sense to you. I'm sorry but its been a while.

I have an older GF 19 which is a 19 drop snack. Change has recently started by passing the mechanism and not registering on the the display and returning to the cup. Any ideas where to start looking for the problem ?

What kind of changer is in it?