bluesea Posted January 21, 2012 Share Posted January 21, 2012 I have a Vendo 511 that is set up to vend 8 columns of cans and 2 bottles. The problem is that when the door switch is activated, it will vend one or two cans. The problem seems to be intermittent and there are no error messages. Has anyone seen this happen before? Thanks for your help. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil Posted January 21, 2012 Share Posted January 21, 2012 Is it the same two columns? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AngryChris Posted January 21, 2012 Share Posted January 21, 2012 I would guess that there is a homing issue and the machine is homing when you open the door. I do believe that certain machines home all of their non-homed motors when the door is opened. I believe they do this because if there is any homing error during the vend, they will put that selection out of order until the door is opened, re-home, and back to normal. The question is... why? I never was the repair guy... but to throw a few ideas out there... 1) make sure the brake is working properly (I can't tell you how to test this, I don't remember, and it can hurt you if you mess up!) 2) try to actually buy a few of those selections (by paying money with the door closed) a few times and see if they all vend normally... then open the door and see if they fall down. 3) it could be motors going bad from being old or dirty and covered in sticky syrup or something. It may be worth your while to buy some new motors for those selections should you not be able to find out the exact problem. Those are my ideas... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bluesea Posted January 22, 2012 Author Share Posted January 22, 2012 Is it the same two columns? It appears to be the same two columns. I tried putting coins in the machine and sometimes it vends one can then shows sold out for that selection, when it has plenty of cans in that column . Other times it vends 3 cans at once. I then opened the door and it emptied two columns. There are no error messages. I'm thinking that there must be a problem with the main board. I also checked the cam settings and they are all correct and the same for each column. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Poplady1 Posted January 22, 2012 Share Posted January 22, 2012 It appears to be the same two columns. I tried putting coins in the machine and sometimes it vends one can then shows sold out for that selection, when it has plenty of cans in that column . Other times it vends 3 cans at once. I then opened the door and it emptied two columns. There are no error messages. I'm thinking that there must be a problem with the main board. I also checked the cam settings and they are all correct and the same for each column. When Bill see's this question he will probably know what to do. I had a couple of machines that would do this and if I remember right the spacer had moved or was not in the correct position. This isn't one of those old Dixie Narco flex packs is it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Technivend Posted January 22, 2012 Share Posted January 22, 2012 It appears to be the same two columns. I tried putting coins in the machine and sometimes it vends one can then shows sold out for that selection, when it has plenty of cans in that column . Other times it vends 3 cans at once. I then opened the door and it emptied two columns. There are no error messages. I'm thinking that there must be a problem with the main board. I also checked the cam settings and they are all correct and the same for each column. No I won't! Ok maybe I will . The 511 is a vmax with gage bars isn't it? Going on the assumption that it is you need to check the gage bar clips and make sure the gage bars are not bent and are in the correct position. Next if you are going 4 deep I would switch it to 3 deep as it is more reliable this way. What happens when you test vend the machine with the door open? Are the extra cans actually coming out of the columns or could they be getting jammed on the chute? Did you just set this machine up or has it been running like this ok for a period of time? The sold out usually means we are having a jam and the machine is putting that column out of order so no one loses money. Is anyone complaining that they are losing money? So about the formatting but this stupid Tapatalk doesn't,t like to format into paragraphs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bluesea Posted January 22, 2012 Author Share Posted January 22, 2012 No I won't! Ok maybe I will . The 511 is a vmax with gage bars isn't it? Going on the assumption that it is you need to check the gage bar clips and make sure the gage bars are not bent and are in the correct position. Next if you are going 4 deep I would switch it to 3 deep as it is more reliable this way. What happens when you test vend the machine with the door open? Are the extra cans actually coming out of the columns or could they be getting jammed on the chute? Did you just set this machine up or has it been running like this ok for a period of time? The sold out usually means we are having a jam and the machine is putting that column out of order so no one loses money. Is anyone complaining that they are losing money? So about the formatting but this stupid Tapatalk doesn't,t like to format into paragraphs. Yes all the gage bars seems to be okay. I have been running this machine with 3 deep for several years at a customer site. It has been acting up for at least a year. I now have the machine in my workshop to test and fix it. When I test vended it just now with the door open the col 3 motor stopped turning after half a revolution and now I am getting a error 1 message. I took the motor out and made sure that nothing was jammed in the column. I now suspect that the motor is bad. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Technivend Posted January 22, 2012 Share Posted January 22, 2012 I would try swapping the gage bar with one in a known good column. The bars are known to bend slightly and not hold the product properly. I have seen kinds stick broom handles in the machines to bend the bars just to get an extra can or two. Other then that you could try swapping motors with a known good motor and see if the problem follows the motor or not. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kiwi Posted January 22, 2012 Share Posted January 22, 2012 I would try swapping the gage bar with one in a known good column. The bars are known to bend slightly and not hold the product properly. I have seen kinds stick broom handles in the machines to bend the bars just to get an extra can or two. Other then that you could try swapping motors with a known good motor and see if the problem follows the motor or not. Poplady1 is rite, you really know everthing when it comes to vending machines. I wish I could talk you into coming to New Zealand for a holiday so that I could chain you up & never let you leave!lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bluesea Posted January 22, 2012 Author Share Posted January 22, 2012 I would try swapping the gage bar with one in a known good column. The bars are known to bend slightly and not hold the product properly. I have seen kinds stick broom handles in the machines to bend the bars just to get an extra can or two. Other then that you could try swapping motors with a known good motor and see if the problem follows the motor or not. I try swapping the motor. Thanks for your help. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bluesea Posted January 29, 2012 Author Share Posted January 29, 2012 I try swapping the motor. Thanks for your help. I tried swapping the motor but the problem still there with column 3. I still get an Error 1 message that says Col 3 jam. When I look at column 3 there is no jam and everything turns freely as it should. I'm wondering how does the machine detect a column jam? Any ideas? Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Technivend Posted January 30, 2012 Share Posted January 30, 2012 Usually by sensing the current of the motors. This is an electronic machine current? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Poplady1 Posted February 1, 2012 Share Posted February 1, 2012 I would try swapping the gage bar with one in a known good column. The bars are known to bend slightly and not hold the product properly. I have seen kinds stick broom handles in the machines to bend the bars just to get an extra can or two. Other then that you could try swapping motors with a known good motor and see if the problem follows the motor or not. Bill if the column is stopping at a half turn, is that a space to sales problem? Could he just try running that column with just one can and see it it works? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Technivend Posted February 1, 2012 Share Posted February 1, 2012 Bill if the column is stopping at a half turn, is that a space to sales problem? Could he just try running that column with just one can and see it it works? Bev, I think you meant to say Sdep (Set depth) and that is a good catch. Somehow with all the random symptoms I missed the 1/2 turn. It does sound like it could be this or an issue with the drop sensor. But column 3 shouldn't be a column on the edge of the sensor like 1 or 10 would be but anything is possible. blue, could you let us know what all the current symptoms are now? Do you still have 2 motors doing this or one? What columns are they? Have you swapped motors and gage bars in these columns? Did you look at column 3 for a bend in the sidewall? have you tried swapping the rotors? I think it's time to start fresh and from the begining here and revisit everything. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AngryChris Posted February 2, 2012 Share Posted February 2, 2012 I'm not sure if the Vendo 511 has this or not but is it possible that it's one of the machines with the metal clip on top of the auger that requires that the cans be loaded correctly (as the metal piece is there for a reason) and this is causing a problem? The whole situation is very odd. When things get this bad like this, my vendor sense starts tingling and I start preparing for that "Ah ha!" moment followed by a face-palm and then a post that says "Well I figured it out...." followed by a response of some simple thing that needed to be done to fix the whole problem. I don't know what the metal clip is called... I just know it can cause some issues and if you just keep reloading cans directly on top of it improperly it won't work correctly as I believe it will push the cans back... this might be for DNs though, not 100% sure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Technivend Posted February 2, 2012 Share Posted February 2, 2012 Chris, not sure what clips you mean but Dixie does have a triangle piece they use on the double column and a piece of spring steel on there single columns. These clips though are merely anti cheat mechanism to keep people from sliding the product out of the slots. At this point it could have been a maybe but I don't think Vendo uses these at all though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AngryChris Posted February 3, 2012 Share Posted February 3, 2012 Chris, not sure what clips you mean but Dixie does have a triangle piece they use on the double column and a piece of spring steel on there single columns. These clips though are merely anti cheat mechanism to keep people from sliding the product out of the slots. At this point it could have been a maybe but I don't think Vendo uses these at all though. Those are what I am talking about. I just a machine or two back in the day that I had loaded wrong and it caused a problem due to the cans being loaded improperly... but that was years ago so I don't really remember the symptoms. I solved the problem by never loading them improperly again! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Poplady1 Posted February 3, 2012 Share Posted February 3, 2012 Bev, I think you meant to say Sdep (Set depth) and that is a good catch. Somehow with all the random symptoms I missed the 1/2 turn. It does sound like it could be this or an issue with the drop sensor. But column 3 shouldn't be a column on the edge of the sensor like 1 or 10 would be but anything is possible. blue, could you let us know what all the current symptoms are now? Do you still have 2 motors doing this or one? What columns are they? Have you swapped motors and gage bars in these columns? Did you look at column 3 for a bend in the sidewall? have you tried swapping the rotors? I think it's time to start fresh and from the begining here and revisit everything. Does anyone know if he got it fixed? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bluesea Posted June 29, 2012 Author Share Posted June 29, 2012 Hi Guys. Thanks for your help with this. It worked for awhile then acted up again. I ended up bending a couple of the gage bars just slightly and it seems to be working. Thanks for all your help with this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AngryChris Posted July 4, 2012 Share Posted July 4, 2012 Someone actually gave an update! I'm glad to see it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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