6 replies to this topic

[kellygreen]

Everything on the machine works except the slide out gum and mint dispenser. When G1 - G5 are selected I get a beep and the led says to make another selection. Could all 5 motors be bad? They will not vend in test or operate.

[AZVendor]

Have you verified that you have prices set for those selections?  Press the "Check price" button on the mode box above the logic board. When the LED lights above that button, press the selections of G1 - G5 and see if they have prices saved.  If not, you need to press "Set Price" and then use keys 11 and 12 to raise the prices to what they should be at.  Then "Check Price" again to verify prices and then close the door, or press  the "Operate" button and then purchase those selections to test them.  Be aware that you do have to have enough products in each selection to satisfy the sold out levers first.  Also be aware that the test button doesn't allow you to make a selection and test a motor as newer machines do.  It only prevents any cash meter accumulations from test vends you make with money.

 

If these things check out and you still get Make Other Selection, then locate the harness header on the logic board that has wires labeled A through G and 1 through 10.  This is the motor harness.  Using an ohm scale on a multimeter, ohm out the G wire (common to all gum/mint motors) from end to end.  If you have no continuity (an open circuit) then you need to follow the harness and wires to try to find the break in the G wire. Look closely around the gum/mint panel and where the harness flexes at the door hinge.  If you have continuity through the G wire then you may have a bad logic board.

[kellygreen]

The prices are set. I will check the G wire. If all other (A-F) are working would I still have a bad logic board?

 

Thanks for your help. I have a starting point.

[AZVendor]

Have you tried to change the prices and then vend the gum/mint?  If you have no other vending problems and the G wire ohms out properly, then I think you might have a bad board.  Do you have another working AP4600 you can borrow a board out of to try?  Be very careful when removing connectors from the board, they are very tight.  Make minimal contact with components on the board and before you touch the board, ground yourself against the machine to dissipate static and then try the best you can to minimize moving your feet while working with the board. 

[validatorman]

Have you tried to change the prices and then vend the gum/mint?  If you have no other vending problems and the G wire ohms out properly, then I think you might have a bad board.  Do you have another working AP4600 you can borrow a board out of to try?  Be very careful when removing connectors from the board, they are very tight.  Make minimal contact with components on the board and before you touch the board, ground yourself against the machine to dissipate static and then try the best you can to minimize moving your feet while working with the board. 

Also make sure you unplug the machine! Any static and/or other electrical "noise" can cause damage. We still repair this board but many of even the small IC's are not manufactured anymore.

[mfdbackdraft]

I too am having money problems with my Snackshop 4000 but they may be my own doing. I may have pressed 13 or 14 when it was in price change mode. What does that do? Did I mess up programming?   Then it seemed  my TRC 6000 coin mech stopped doing ANYTHING but  the machine would still vend if a dollar bill was fed to VFM3 valid.  Now bill valid. won't even pick up bill. will try undoing bill valid. piggyback board, but where can control board be sent to get fixed?

[AZVendor]

You may not need a new logic board.  Pressing 13 or 14 when pricing the machine only affects the product codes that you probably don't care about anyway.  Only 11 and 12 change prices, and none of these numbers have any effect on the operation of the validator or coin mech.  Since you have a validator installed and a piggyback board, which means it is an Apint board, the actuator for the mode button on the box mounted below your validator may not be lining up with your mode switch.  These machines never came from the factory with bill validators, as they weren't common in the 80's when this model of machine was built.  Any bill acceptor in an AP4000/5000 snack is an aftermarket retrofit.  As such, many validator installations require moving the location of the machine's mode box a little lower to accommodate the new validator.  This means that when the door is closed, the mode button may no longer contact the switch actuator mounted to the inside wall of the cabinet.  If the mode switch isn't actuated, the machine won't scan it's motors, coin mech and logic board for any errors that the board can correct.

 

It does, however, sound like you might have a bad coin mech.  Was it continuing to pay proper change while it was not accepting any coins?  You could have a coin jam in the acceptor (the top part) that causes all coins inserted to be rejected to the coin return even though the coin mech can still pay change when dollar bills are used.  Then if enough dollar bills are used to deplete the change in the coin tubes, the bill validator will be disabled.  So check your acceptor for a coin jam and make sure you have sufficient change in the coin tubes.  Correcting these issues should put the machine back in service.  If you have no coins stuck in the acceptor and continues to reject all coins, you will have to replace it.  Be sure you turn the machine off before disconnecting anything in the machine and please don't pull any connectors off the logic board unless you have to, it is very fragile.

 

I stock all of these parts if you find you need to replace anything.