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  #16  
Old 03-21-2017, 09:01 PM
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MIPS MIPS is offline
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I live in Canada, so the sale and distribution of R22 in official supply chains is banned. You can find it from time to time in places like ebay but it ain't cheap.
This is a removable closed-loop unit so you can buy new refrigeration units but they are quite costly so I want to continue to use mine until the compressor finally fails. These loops however can still leak and I've run into newer devices that slowly leak out due to bad pinch seals. I've had to dispose of two cheap AC units myself where after a year or two they had lost their refrigerant.

Anyways the machine has been relatively well behaved over the winter. I installed a disconnect for the compressor so all winter the fan inside ran but otherwise the machine was silent. I also clipped one of those vintage looking 60W squirrel cage lightbulbs inside the door so the machine didn't totally freeze up when we were dropping below -15c and that kept it around 2-5c. Early on I was finding that some of the beers were slushing up and two cans of Pepsi ruptured.
While finding a replacement bottle opener wasn't too hard (I can stock twistless bottles now!) finding the door latch has been. It's a strange mechanism.



I have all the components EXCEPT for that pot metal half-circle which also has a slope on it so that when you lock the door it pulls both the inner and outer doors tightly shut and a bolt slips into a T-slot. I cannot find a substitute part and the only other two I've seen cost around $130 after shipping and I'm not paying that much for a latch. If anyone knows a better source I'd love to hear it because right now my means of holding the door shut is still a tie-down strap. :|

Last edited by MIPS; 03-21-2017 at 09:12 PM.
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  #17  
Old 04-01-2017, 11:01 PM
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[post edited Apr 9 2017 (new photos)

I totally remembered last night that there was another vending machine hiding away somewhere nearby.
Back in the 90's one of the smaller ski hills closed down. The place was basically boarded up and left to sit. Over a decade ago I wandered through the outbuildings and in one behind the lodge there was a small automat-like machine. Kinda like those refrigerated ones with the carousel that you spin until you see your selection, then insert the required amount, opened the door and pulled your item out, only this one was much more compact and the carousel was coulmns that spun around on an oval looped chain. The whole thing is slightly wider than the Pepsi machine but seems to be otherwise the same height and depth.








I remembered someone had smashed the front window but it seems in the following years someone though that perhaps 20 years on they might of left money in the machine and did a hell of a job on the door around the latch. This allowed critters in and there was a nest next to the compressor. If the wiring wasn't color coded I'd consider this a total loss but I'm willing to take this as a challenge. Seriously considering my options.

Last edited by MIPS; 04-09-2017 at 06:53 PM. Reason: New photos.
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  #18  
Old 06-04-2017, 11:32 PM
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I'm officially nuts.

Picked it up on Saturday but did not get a chance to pull the tarp off it and begin the long job of cleaning it out and running an inventory on what needs to be done.




This would of not happened of the metal screen on the back had not been removed. A Packrat moved in and TRASHED everything in the compressor compartment. Before I can even remove the compressor assembly the entire compartment needs to be cleared of filth. It's immensely disgusting.
This is already going over my head though and without a wiring diagram I'm going to lose my mind trying to rebuild the harness so I've decided to seek help at the KLOV/VAPS forums in the hopes they can dig some more info up.
Once I got most of the lower compartment emptied out it's time to attack it with the paint stripping wheel and sandblaster.
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  #19  
Old 06-06-2017, 09:35 PM
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Completed dismantling of the compressor bay and lower door frame earlier this evening. After all that mess I only had two small screws whose heads snapped off.







I will have to sandblast the inside before it can have one or two rust holes patched and then the entire thing repainted. Currently hunting around for the wiring diagrams.
While pressure washing the compressor I spotted a sheen which is likely bad news. With the fan motor being totally seized that could only mean there's a hole in the lines somewhere, presumably from the massive amount of corrosion.

While I wait for it to dry I'm sitting here working on the coin acceptor unit. It consists of a Coinco slug rejector and a totalizer mounted in a metal frame with an electromechanical linkage. So far the slug rejector is more brittle than anything.

Last edited by MIPS; 06-06-2017 at 10:00 PM.
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  #20  
Old 06-08-2017, 08:53 AM
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Inspection of the refrigeration unit has yielded it's dead.



Corrosion ate through the piping at the lowest points, allowing the freon and lubricant to escape. When the compressor was powered it hummed angrily and the ammeter took off so it's rightfully seized.

Good news is that instead of hacksawing the lines so I can at least salvage the evaporator which is a rather specific fit to the machine there are threaded couplings I can loosen to separate it from the dead assembly. Leaves hope that int he future a new compressor and evaporator can be found.

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  #21  
Old 06-24-2017, 07:58 PM
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Weather finally improved. Had the base of the machine soaking in WD-40 for a few days and almost all the screws came out so I could remove the bottom and get at the worst of the rust.



I'm using three different discs to clean up the rust and prep for fresh paint. First I'm using a regular grinding wheel to remove the scale and the larger chunks of rust, then I switch in the stripping wheel which brings it completely down to clean metal. From there these areas are sprayed with a rust converter. From there I have a flap sanding disc I will use to clean up the entire cabinet before it is reprimed and painted.



Need to borrow a sandblaster though to clean the smaller parts and areas I can't reach.

Edited: This is the little fan that was at the bottom of the door. There seems to be a cavity that runs parallel to the doors and blows air over them. I assume to prevent condensation?



I never plugged the machine in, so the blown coil must of happened years ago. The fan spins freely. Shouldn't be too hard to find a replacement motor.

Last edited by MIPS; 06-24-2017 at 10:38 PM.
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  #22  
Old 06-25-2017, 10:25 PM
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48 hours later:

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  #23  
Old 06-28-2017, 04:47 PM
Tim R. Tim R. is offline
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It's really cool how you're able to take an absolute basket case of a vending machine and give it a new lease on life.

Keep posting updates, I'm really curious to see how the finished product turns out. Especially with regards to the cooling unit - I wonder if that hole can be patched, and if the compressor might spring back to life with a little mallet therapy?
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  #24  
Old 06-29-2017, 11:28 PM
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Because the evaporator assembly and piping has couplers I think it will be easier to find a suitable substitute, plus god knows how many hours this thing had on it before it was unplugged. From what I gather so long as I can match up the tonnage on the replacement compressor and condenser set I should be okay.
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  #25  
Old 06-30-2017, 01:42 PM
Tim R. Tim R. is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by MIPS View Post
Because the evaporator assembly and piping has couplers I think it will be easier to find a suitable substitute, plus god knows how many hours this thing had on it before it was unplugged. From what I gather so long as I can match up the tonnage on the replacement compressor and condenser set I should be okay.
Given that it's a commercial unit parts shouldn't be too hard to find. What do you plan to do about the R12?
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  #26  
Old 06-30-2017, 06:39 PM
madlabs madlabs is offline
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You are an absolute mad man! Whatcha gonna do with it when you get it running?

When I was a teenager there was one of those type of machines in a hospital. We figured out that you could reach in and get to the latch of the row above and open it. So if you paid for the bottom one you could take everything above it Even though the bottom was always the most expensive it was always a good deal! :-)
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  #27  
Old 06-30-2017, 07:37 PM
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Oh man I commend your dedication. I thought my Heathkit GR-370 was rough but now the rebuild doesn't seem so daunting.

As for the compressor, I don't know, maybe one from a fridge would be suitable? As for the condenser, maybe a car heater core would turn the trick.
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  #28  
Old 06-30-2017, 07:38 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Tim R. View Post
Given that it's a commercial unit parts shouldn't be too hard to find. What do you plan to do about the R12?
The modern variant for R12 is R134A.

I have a few ideas on what to do with the machine but I'm keeping those secret for now. In the meantime however I have been overly unsuccessful finding the service documentation. I still need a wiring diagram.
I have now inquired through all the major sources for vending machine parts, supplies and service and either they don't support this machine due to age, they don't respond to my email or in one case, it blocked my emails because it looked like spam...

Last edited by MIPS; 06-30-2017 at 09:39 PM.
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  #29  
Old 07-01-2017, 01:57 PM
Tim R. Tim R. is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by MIPS View Post
The modern variant for R12 is R134A.

I have a few ideas on what to do with the machine but I'm keeping those secret for now. In the meantime however I have been overly unsuccessful finding the service documentation. I still need a wiring diagram.
I have now inquired through all the major sources for vending machine parts, supplies and service and either they don't support this machine due to age, they don't respond to my email or in one case, it blocked my emails because it looked like spam...
I wonder if you would be able to trace the wiring, in the event a diagram is unavailable? It looks pretty rough but may be intact enough to figure out where everything goes.

Also, are those screw-in fuses on the bottom right of the machine? I remember seeing something similar on an electric range - each burner had its own fuse. Must be some kind of Canadian safety regulation.
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  #30  
Old 07-01-2017, 10:24 PM
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The harness is for the most part color coded so there is a lot that I can piece together but its still a lot of effort. The diagram would at least verify the connections, which I would like as I've still not found something like an isolation or step down transformer. I am starting to wonder if this thing is ACTUALLY 120v in both input AND signalling. Terrifying. Not even 24v AC?

Also yes the two fuses are ye ol screw-in type. One for either side of the AC input and rated for 15 amps. I could keep them in there but I've been holding onto a few of the mini breakers for years now and this would be a great time to use them.

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