CoinPro Posted November 28, 2012 Share Posted November 28, 2012 I want to do an ice cream machine for a coin laundry. Anyone have any advice on where to get one, where to get product and how much to pay for machine and product? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mission vending Posted November 28, 2012 Share Posted November 28, 2012 I want to do an ice cream machine for a coin laundry. Anyone have any advice on where to get one, where to get product and how much to pay for machine and product? I would'nt do one in a laundry unless it had a attendent due to vandalism. If you want to do it anyway look for a used Fastcorp machine. Good one 1500-2000. Start with your local dairy for product, they might not carry it but should be able to tell you who does. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Repairman Posted November 29, 2012 Share Posted November 29, 2012 I have owned coin laundries. It would have to be really busy before I would think about putting An Ice cream machine in one. I would not do it.in even the best one I used to own. It is still in business since being built in 1964. I personally like the Crane National freeze style spiral machine. I can not think of model number. But I have worked on both the Fast Corp and the Crane spiral type. The spiral type is far more reliable in my humble opinion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Walta Posted November 30, 2012 Share Posted November 30, 2012 When you have a power failure I doubt the glass front will last 2 hours. I have seen Fastcorps go 15 hours. Walta Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Repairman Posted November 30, 2012 Share Posted November 30, 2012 Last a little longer than that. Probably 5 to 6 hours unless your machine is full bolt in line with the sun shining on it. I also take into consideration that glass fronts hardly ever need defrosting like a Fast Corp and if it does its a lot easier to get the machine up and running than having to reprogram a Fast corp because once you move the product you will spend an hour or more reprogramming and getting the machines straightened out. Then in my opinion there is also difference in the reliability of the Fast Corp robots compared to a simple spiral drop system on a freeze type glassfront. Difference in opinion is what makes the world go around. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dogcow Posted December 1, 2012 Share Posted December 1, 2012 Last a little longer than that. Probably 5 to 6 hours unless your machine is full bolt in line with the sun shining on it. I also take into consideration that glass fronts hardly ever need defrosting like a Fast Corp and if it does its a lot easier to get the machine up and running than having to reprogram a Fast corp because once you move the product you will spend an hour or more reprogramming and getting the machines straightened out. Then in my opinion there is also difference in the reliability of the Fast Corp robots compared to a simple spiral drop system on a freeze type glassfront. Difference in opinion is what makes the world go around. why is the fast corp so slow to program? i was looking at those a few times in the past, how does it work? can you vend other stuff than ice cream like frozen burritos? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Repairman Posted December 1, 2012 Share Posted December 1, 2012 There are several steps you take just to be able to vend one selection on a Fastcorp ice cream machine. Most of it has to do with learning the machine to where each product is located in the machine so it goes to that location and delivers the product to the delivery bin every time.every time. You then need to repeat those steps for each product you have in the machine. Just takes time to do it. It will vend anything that the head will get good suction on. Sandwiches, Burritos, TV Dinners Etc. I believe it will pick up anything up to 2 pounds. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Walta Posted December 1, 2012 Share Posted December 1, 2012 With the Fastcorp and food avoid the dinners and keep it to Sandwiches, Burritos. The dinners take up to much freezer space and will give you cable problem if you are using the F631. After you have done a few it should not take more than a minute to program each selection, most Fastcorp are set to 12 selections. If the Crane National freeze style spiral machine is the old AP320 I like them for food but never had much luck keeping a refer unit in one. I have one with bad seal front glass the part alone is over $900.00 Walta Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Broncho Posted December 1, 2012 Share Posted December 1, 2012 With the Fastcorp and food avoid the dinners and keep it to Sandwiches, Burritos. The dinners take up to much freezer space and will give you cable problem if you are using the F631. After you have done a few it should not take more than a minute to program each selection, most Fastcorp are set to 12 selections. If the Crane National freeze style spiral machine is the old AP320 I like them for food but never had much luck keeping a refer unit in one. I have one with bad seal front glass the part alone is over $900.00 Walta Contact your local glass companies for these parts. We had a Dixie bevmax glass break due to a door handle slamming into it. Dixies price was over double but my glass company got it for under $400. The trim comes off with screws and the glass is all one piece and their is usually a number on the side of the glass for ordering. Also, we only have about 3 A La Cartes from AP but they are good machines. We do however prefer the fastcorps now since some of our accounts are not 24Hr facilities and we cannot access the machines at night in case of a meltdown. We use remote devices to monitor tempeture on all ice cream machines, because saving one meltdown pays for the device. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sparta_Automation Posted December 1, 2012 Share Posted December 1, 2012 Also, we only have about 3 A La Cartes from AP but they are good machines. We do however prefer the fastcorps now since some of our accounts are not 24Hr facilities and we cannot access the machines at night in case of a meltdown. We use remote devices to monitor tempeture on all ice cream machines, because saving one meltdown pays for the device. What do you use for remote monitoring...... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Broncho Posted December 1, 2012 Share Posted December 1, 2012 What do you use for remote monitoring...... Cantaloupe systems is good for ice cream machines because it has a temperature sensor and monitors constantly. I have had trouble with their units though and we are phasing them out some. For the rest of the machines we use USAtech's G8 and Edge with a software we developed(not for sale at this point ). Our custom software pulls all errors from machine where Cantaloupe does not. Here is an example of a temperature alert from our software: MachineID: EE100 Type: Current DateTime: 12/01/2012 09:57:28 AM Reported by: DEX-EE1000-095201-120112- SCHEDULED.log Timestamp: 12/01/2012 09:52:01 Category: Temperature errors, Error: TEMP GTE MAX - Temperature is greater then or equal to Maximum temperature ----Notes: Reported temp.: 40.0 , Allowed temp. range: 36.0 - 40.0 The only problem with our software is it doesn't work well with ice cream machines since the alert is only twice a day. For any other machines it is great and has cut service calls down dramatically) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mission vending Posted December 3, 2012 Share Posted December 3, 2012 Cantaloupe systems is good for ice cream machines because it has a temperature sensor and monitors constantly. I have had trouble with their units though and we are phasing them out some. For the rest of the machines we use USAtech's G8 and Edge with a software we developed(not for sale at this point ). Our custom software pulls all errors from machine where Cantaloupe does not. Here is an example of a temperature alert from our software: MachineID: EE100 Type: Current DateTime: 12/01/2012 09:57:28 AM Reported by: DEX-EE1000-095201-120112- SCHEDULED.log Timestamp: 12/01/2012 09:52:01 Category: Temperature errors, Error: TEMP GTE MAX - Temperature is greater then or equal to Maximum temperature ----Notes: Reported temp.: 40.0 , Allowed temp. range: 36.0 - 40.0 The only problem with our software is it doesn't work well with ice cream machines since the alert is only twice a day. For any other machines it is great and has cut service calls down dramatically) Interesting.... Are you guys writing your own code or do you have someone doing it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Broncho Posted December 3, 2012 Share Posted December 3, 2012 Interesting.... Are you guys writing your own code or do you have someone doing it? A little bit of both, but now Im having a freelancer friend do it for us now. Everything is python and php based so it can be run on a webserver and accessed from any browser. We are about to implement a new prepick area with touch screens and get rid of the old paper way since we typically are printing close to 80 sheets a day. We are also going to start using handhelds for our vending as well to recount the machines(if nessisary) and show were product goes for the driver, but nothing else beyond that. I have considered selling the software for a very small fee($150-$200) without support for those using USAtech but its kinda become its own monster at this point. Its extremly tailored to the way we do buisness and wouldnt work for most vendors. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kiwi Posted December 4, 2012 Share Posted December 4, 2012 Cantaloupe systems is good for ice cream machines because it has a temperature sensor and monitors constantly. I have had trouble with their units though and we are phasing them out some. For the rest of the machines we use USAtech's G8 and Edge with a software we developed(not for sale at this point ). Our custom software pulls all errors from machine where Cantaloupe does not. Here is an example of a temperature alert from our software: MachineID: EE100 Type: Current DateTime: 12/01/2012 09:57:28 AM Reported by: DEX-EE1000-095201-120112- SCHEDULED.log Timestamp: 12/01/2012 09:52:01 Category: Temperature errors, Error: TEMP GTE MAX - Temperature is greater then or equal to Maximum temperature ----Notes: Reported temp.: 40.0 , Allowed temp. range: 36.0 - 40.0 The only problem with our software is it doesn't work well with ice cream machines since the alert is only twice a day. For any other machines it is great and has cut service calls down dramatically) Hi Broncho Can you explain what problems you were experiencing with Cantaloupe Systems? I am looking for a remote monitoring system for our frozen food machines so need something that monitors constantly. Are there any other remote monitoring systems that you know of that offer this i.e EasiTrax, Streamware, InOne ect.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Broncho Posted December 4, 2012 Share Posted December 4, 2012 Hi Broncho Can you explain what problems you were experiencing with Cantaloupe Systems? I am looking for a remote monitoring system for our frozen food machines so need something that monitors constantly. Are there any other remote monitoring systems that you know of that offer this i.e EasiTrax, Streamware, InOne ect.. Cantaloupe is fine, but we started using it 5 years 6 years(time goes by fast) ago and we had a lot of units failing. I was told it was mostly firmware issues but even with reprogramming the firmware we ended up with a lot of units that were dead. We still use them and they work fine now, but I still get some dead ones ever so often that have to be repaired. Also they dont play well with the dex telemetry standards and if you talk to any other remote company they will tell you that they wont work with you on data exchange at Cantaloupe. This was a huge problem for us because we use different systems and theoretically they can and should all work together thanks to the new standards. Using USAtech you do not get prepick reports for products sold, but we solved this ourselves by making our own software. The reports for cash sales are very good at USAtech, but the lack of prepick made it hard for us. I also have some experience with inOnes remote devices but this was pre credit card era for them. They were fantastic units as well and we used the 485(wired in) remote devices from them that saved us a good amount on wireless fees. If you are on a budget stay away from Easitrax and the likes, they are around $10,000 just for inital setup and they treat you like your not big enough even if you have 5 routes. However I love MEI's Credit card acceptors because they are open and you can use any processor. You can get good CSV(think excel) data from USAtech with the MEI devices, but you cant get full dex data as well because those older units do not support it(I do not know why). What do you want to achieve with remote and I can guide you to the best choices? When we first started using it there was no fix all solution and we had a lot of trail and error going on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kiwi Posted December 5, 2012 Share Posted December 5, 2012 Thanks for your offer to help. Remote Monitoring, Temperature Monitoring & Credit Card Processing would be the main features we would need aswell as Prepick features. We currently have 12 Frozen Food Vendors & are looking at increasing in this area so having something that monitors temperature constantly would be important. I also like your advice on using Fastcorp Machines on non 24hr sites. We currently only use USI FF2000 & USI Combi as we bank them to our snack machines but do have problems with the odd meltdowns so will keep this in mind. The other issue is that we are based in NZ & not in the USA so would need something that would work offshore. I know of a company here the uses Cantaloupe Systems but I think they have to buy a minimum of 1000 units. I tried to contact them but never got a response. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Broncho Posted December 5, 2012 Share Posted December 5, 2012 Thanks for your offer to help. Remote Monitoring, Temperature Monitoring & Credit Card Processing would be the main features we would need aswell as Prepick features. We currently have 12 Frozen Food Vendors & are looking at increasing in this area so having something that monitors temperature constantly would be important. I also like your advice on using Fastcorp Machines on non 24hr sites. We currently only use USI FF2000 & USI Combi as we bank them to our snack machines but do have problems with the odd meltdowns so will keep this in mind. The other issue is that we are based in NZ & not in the USA so would need something that would work offshore. I know of a company here the uses Cantaloupe Systems but I think they have to buy a minimum of 1000 units. I tried to contact them but never got a response. Cantaloupes minimum is 25 here. They had a deal awhile back for only 10 units but I dont remember if their were any other rules. Contact inone technologies as well! They do instant alerts and they are just as beneficial as cantaloupe. They are owned by coinco, so you shouldnt have an issue based on location. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kiwi Posted December 5, 2012 Share Posted December 5, 2012 I noticed that coinco have taken them over & re-branded it as Arrow Vision so will look into it further. I may need to go thru our NZ Coinco distributor I think. Do you know how they compare on price? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Broncho Posted December 5, 2012 Share Posted December 5, 2012 I noticed that coinco have taken them over & re-branded it as Arrow Vision so will look into it further. I may need to go thru our NZ Coinco distributor I think. Do you know how they compare on price? When I bought them it was around $300 for the telemetry unit. and around $250 for the radio devices. They had the 485 ports for a lot less but these are not used for credit card acceptance. I also have some MEI devices for sale in the classifieds, but these are not used for remote monitoring just credit card sales. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kiwi Posted December 6, 2012 Share Posted December 6, 2012 When I bought them it was around $300 for the telemetry unit. and around $250 for the radio devices. They had the 485 ports for a lot less but these are not used for credit card acceptance. I also have some MEI devices for sale in the classifieds, but these are not used for remote monitoring just credit card sales. So just to clarify things.. have you tried & tested most of the Remote Monitoring Systems available as you seem pretty clued up on a wide variety of different products out there? Of the different one's that you have tried how would you rate them from best to worst? Have you also developed you own software or just made alterations to someone else's? Sorry for all the questions but its hard to find someone here with your experience that I can ask.. I think you may fall into the same category as Bill form Technivend & I will have to refer to you as a Vending God! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Broncho Posted December 6, 2012 Share Posted December 6, 2012 So just to clarify things.. have you tried & tested most of the Remote Monitoring Systems available as you seem pretty clued up on a wide variety of different products out there? Of the different one's that you have tried how would you rate them from best to worst? Have you also developed you own software or just made alterations to someone else's? Sorry for all the questions but its hard to find someone here with your experience that I can ask.. I think you may fall into the same category as Bill form Technivend & I will have to refer to you as a Vending God! I have tried MEI Easitrax data ports(not fully dex), InOne, Cantaloupe, and USAtech. I cannot rate these from best to worst because they have their own benefits over each other. I can tell you Cantaloupe and inOne are finished and affordable systems for someone that wants to get it going quickly. inOne has absolutely no minimums and its fairly easy to get started with them. Please keep in mind you are looking at $7-12 a machine a month and that is not for everyone. It is beneficial to us for the following reasons: Servicing 30-35 machines a day, up from 20-25($10,000/route a week in sales) We used it to catch a rouge ex-employee stealing by using "door open" alerts Product saved on Frozen machines has payed for many machines over Alerts on machines for mechanical failure has raised uptime and revenue Credit card processing accounts for about 12% of all sales and has raised sales in some accounts The software I use for USAtech devices is made by us and a friend that I hire out for little addons. I am not that talented at making web based software(php, python, mysql) and our developer is fantastic. I will take a pic of our prepick area tomorrow for snacks to give you an idea of why it benefits us based on just sheer product moved in a week. I am no God in anyway, but thank you. I decided a long time ago to dedicate my life to this industry and the company I work for now is setup for me to become the sole partner in a few years so I feel I have a lot to lose. I have done everything from warehouse, Technician, Route, Move machines, and the top boss; I still play all these roles today at some point in time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kiwi Posted December 6, 2012 Share Posted December 6, 2012 Well if you don't call someone who has done all of what you have done a "Vending God" I don't know who you would! I can only dream of one day getting my business to the level you are at so I am so happy to have someone like you available for advice. I hope you stick around on here so that we can all lean from your experience! I feel like I have also devoted my life to this business as I have been in it for the last 12 years starting as an employee & now just working for myself. I definitely have no plans of getting out of it any time soon as I would like to pass it on to my two sons at some stage in the distant future as my oldest is only 5yrs old. p.s. if I can't call you a Vending God don't be surprised if I come up to you at the Oneshow & ask you for your autograph! lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Broncho Posted December 6, 2012 Share Posted December 6, 2012 Well if you don't call someone who has done all of what you have done a "Vending God" I don't know who you would! I can only dream of one day getting my business to the level you are at so I am so happy to have someone like you available for advice. I hope you stick around on here so that we can all lean from your experience! I feel like I have also devoted my life to this business as I have been in it for the last 12 years starting as an employee & now just working for myself. I definitely have no plans of getting out of it any time soon as I would like to pass it on to my two sons at some stage in the distant future as my oldest is only 5yrs old. p.s. if I can't call you a Vending God don't be surprised if I come up to you at the Oneshow & ask you for your autograph! lol I know exactly how you feel. I have two daughters who I hope will have something to do with the business in the future if they so choose. They are only 4 & 7 right now, but they have already had a part in it from time to time. The littlest one goes around grabbing all the cut off tops of boxes on delivery days and tosses them for the warehouse guys. My oldest has even pulled a whole prepull route of snacks by herself(8-10 machines), all I really helped her with was moving the buckets from one area to the other. They arnt up there much but they always seem to enjoy helping daddy, plus I pay them the same as I would a warehouse person. Its a good business to be in, but it can be difficult sometimes. No matter how well you run things, there is always going to be a company out there that uses dirty underhanded tricks to get business from you. My best advice to any one in this field is to stay honest and work hard. If you have to, there is a lot you can get done in a 12 hour day. Working hard and taking breaks as they come, instead of trying to make them, is the only way I know how to get ahead. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kiwi Posted December 6, 2012 Share Posted December 6, 2012 I know exactly how you feel. I have two daughters who I hope will have something to do with the business in the future if they so choose. They are only 4 & 7 right now, but they have already had a part in it from time to time. The littlest one goes around grabbing all the cut off tops of boxes on delivery days and tosses them for the warehouse guys. My oldest has even pulled a whole prepull route of snacks by herself(8-10 machines), all I really helped her with was moving the buckets from one area to the other. They arnt up there much but they always seem to enjoy helping daddy, plus I pay them the same as I would a warehouse person. Its a good business to be in, but it can be difficult sometimes. No matter how well you run things, there is always going to be a company out there that uses dirty underhanded tricks to get business from you. My best advice to any one in this field is to stay honest and work hard. If you have to, there is a lot you can get done in a 12 hour day. Working hard and taking breaks as they come, instead of trying to make them, is the only way I know how to get ahead. I wish my boys were more like your daughters as the only way my oldest helps is by eating all my stock. He even know how to open the lock on my freezer to help himself to my ice creams! I think I better invest in a high security lock or alarm it somehow.. This business is more of a passion to me.. my dad has alway's liked classic cars whereas I would prefer to look at vending machine.. I must have a sad life!! Sorry to Coinpro if you feel like I have hijacked your thread regarding your Ice Cream machine & taken it off topic by discussing my kids & my weird obsession with vending machines! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Broncho Posted December 6, 2012 Share Posted December 6, 2012 I wish my boys were more like your daughters as the only way my oldest helps is by eating all my stock. He even know how to open the lock on my freezer to help himself to my ice creams! I think I better invest in a high security lock or alarm it somehow.. This business is more of a passion to me.. my dad has alway's liked classic cars whereas I would prefer to look at vending machine.. I must have a sad life!! Sorry to Coinpro if you feel like I have hijacked your thread regarding your Ice Cream machine & taken it off topic by discussing my kids & my weird obsession with vending machines! I work from 5-5 almost everyday doing this, Ive spent as much as 18 hrs in one day getting ready to setup accounts, and Im constantly re-educating myself on anything I can in this industry. You have to love what you do in order to do things like that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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