8 replies to this topic

[VaJim]

Great forum, have learned quite a bit so far!

 

Have a used Royal Vendor Model  RVCCR 660.  Using it as an all can vendor.  The machine and 50% of the sodas frozen, expanded, and made one major mess!!!  This happened with the addition of freezing weather, so the compressor kept running along with 20 degree weather.  Upon opening the sodas hds a wall of frozen drinks. 

 

Spoke to Royal Vendors and they said to remove fuse and if compressor keeps running it is the refer relay, if it stops it's the control board.  Compressor kept running, so they say it's the relay.  Have a 6 prong relay vs. the 4 prong.  Told them I have an adjustable themostat, which they replied someone wired that in, as there vendors don't use a manual themostat.  The control board tells the temp sensor when to energize relay.  Had to replace control board over the summer due to other issues, but has ran fine since until now.

 

My question is, should I just replace the adjustable manual themostat?  Or wire the terminals on the thermostat back to the refer relay?  I went ahead and ordered a new relay thinking maybe that's why someone wired in the manual themo.   Does one work better than the other?  Control board cooling vs. manual themo cooling?

 

Am from the school that if it was designed and engineered to be used by the control board, that would be better.  But then again maybe there is a problem with how this setup would be and just works better with the manual control?  Don't know if the temperature sensor is good, or the original relay, as it hasn't been in use since ownership.

 

Any advice will be greatly apreciated and thanks in advance-Jim

[AZVendor]

The manual cold control may have been put in because either the temp sensor was bad (would still be bad), the relay was bad (you ordered one) or the logic board wasn't operating the cooling properly (you already replaced it).  So if you replace the relay (which is diagnosed wrong because the reason the compressor ran after removing the fuse was because you have a hard wired cold control) and since you have already replaced the control board, if the machine won't cool properly you will still have to replace the temp sensor. 

 

The choice is yours, but since the machine wasn't designed for a cold control you can't use a Royal cold control because there's no horizontal tube behind the evaporator to insert the capillary tube into, so you would need a cold control from a Vendo or a Rowe 448 food machine that is designed to be in air flow with the cap tube hanging in front of the evaporator.

 

If you need a cold control you can send me a PM.

[VaJim]

Thanks for the info AZVendor.  Think I will see what the new relay does and try to put the vendor back to original condition.  Hope the thermostat sensor works and will keep checking the temps.  The display does not show temp, think I need to program it.  And nothing seems easy with programing this machine.  If I go the cold control, will PM you..thanks again.

[VaJim]

Thought I'd update fix for my issue.  Installed new relay with no luck in turning on compressor.  Traced wires going to relay to control board, then to what I found out to be fridge regulator/transformer (?) which is seperate from control board mounted above it.  Was not getting the 24 VDC to relay due to this part.  Had some parts given with machine and replaced part.  WORKED!  Programmed so I can see temp on display...all good.  Just wanted to help out if anyone else has this problem.  Nice to have her running same as factory.

[2Biz]

I have (2) 3 year old Royal 650 Live Display Vendors that sit outside. One for cans, the other for bottles…This winter has been brutal with temps down to -15°. When it got down to -15°, the display on the can machine showed 18° and the bottle machine 21°. When temps get below freezing, the machines run continuously. Even with the display reading 18°, I was worried about the pop freezing, but all was good. No freezing.

 

Thanks for posting a follow-up. That doesn’t happen often…I don’t mean to hi-jack your thread, but since it was similar, I thought I’d post.

 

Since you sound like you are familiar with these machines, do you know what keeps them from freezing when it gets this cold? Obviously you had issues, but when you said the compressor wouldn’t shut off, it got me to thinking about mine. They do run all the time below 32°, maybe it’s just the fan, but why? It would be nice if they were like a heat pump? Luckily we don’t have weather like this every winter. This has been the worst in 20 years. I’ve even contemplated putting a 60w bulb inside the machine connected to a t-stat, but since I didn’t have any problems even down to -15°, I’ve put that idea on the back burner.

[AZVendor]

I'm not aware of these machines running the compressor non-stop when the ambient is below freezing. The compressor is only to run when the cabinet temp is between approx. 35 and 42 deg. The evaporator fan does run all the time and on that machine it's probably a 16W motor so it would create quite a bit of heat. That may be why your product didn't freeze. Also, the sugared sodas will freeze at a lower temp than diets or water. There is a heater option available for the Royals for those in cold climates so if you had a freezing problem the heater could be installed.

[2Biz]

Thanks for the info! Do you know where to get the Heater Option and do you know how its hooked up/controlled? I'm also thinking about being prepared for a power outage. Will pop machines run off a standard generator or do they need pure sine wave because of the electronic control board? Its possible I could loose $600+ worth of pop if the power went out and I had no backup. I do have some generators I could use, but I know that some electronic devices don't like "Un-Pure Sine wave"....

[AZVendor]

I have no idea if a generator will work on a machine that can pull up to 16 amps when the compressor starts.  Your generator would have to be large enough to support that instant draw without dropping voltage and the voltage would have to duplicate that coming off the grid.  You might have to use a power conditioner in line with the machine. 

 

The heater runs on it's own thermostat, I believe and it comes with the connections to tie in to your existing 110v circuit in the machine.  I can get the heater for you if you will provide the model and serial number of the machine.  It would come from Royal and I have an account with them that I order through. 

[2Biz]

I have several Gen's, the biggest is a 10K...So I have the power! My gen's are just not pure sine wave.... I was more concerned with the circuit board and whether the 110v needs to be conditioned or not. The compressor motor isn't as finicky as the electronics.....Plus, if I understand correctly and if power goes out, I'd only need to plug the machine into a gen if temps are below freezing. Then it would only be powering the evaporator fan. Or I could just put a 60w light bulb inside to keep it from freezing. I guess I have some options to consider...

 

I'll get he model and serial number and PM them to you. Thanks...