rugby1725 Posted September 1, 2012 Share Posted September 1, 2012 So I have a couple of assisted living/nursing home sites that are both having the same issue. Every week they do a test run of their backup generators and it makes our soda machines freak out. They basically start flashing random letters and refuse to accept money. All we have to do to fix it is power the machine off and back on and it comes up with everything working perfectly. One location has 2 soda machines, one snack and a frozen and it's only one soda machine having the issue, the other has a soda and a snack and only the soda has the issue. I've replaced the coin mech, bill validator, and moved the machines to a different outlet all with no luck. I'm trying to see if anyone else has run into this issue before and what they did to fix it. I need help bad on this one, one of the customers apparantly called another vendor about bringing in his machines, thankfully he knew it was our account and did us a favor by letting us know they were looking so we could try to fix it. At this point I'm putting in a new soda machine to keep them happy long enough to figure out how to fix the actual problem. My thought is to put the machines on power conditioners to try and keep it from causing issues. Thanks Kris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sparta_Automation Posted September 1, 2012 Share Posted September 1, 2012 Try putting a small UPS on the machine. This should filter out any spikes. brownouts and temp power loses and would probably take care of the issue for you. A small one would probably cost $60-$90 Travis Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mission vending Posted September 1, 2012 Share Posted September 1, 2012 Check the grounding of the machines, do you have a 3 prong plug? Look into a good surge supressor. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greatdane Posted September 6, 2012 Share Posted September 6, 2012 A backup power supply capable of running a soda machine would be pretty large if the compressor is running at the time of generator test. I would try a good surge protector with auto reset first. If you know the day or time they do the generator test, install a timer that shuts machine off for 5 minutes and then restart. This would be like unplugging and/or power on and off. The 5 minutes is to allow the compressor to rest so it does not hard start under pressure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Repairman Posted September 7, 2012 Share Posted September 7, 2012 The machine may be experiencing low voltage episodes that effect it because of its particular design. If voltage in these type machines drops below 110 volts then it causes problems because certian parts of the machine operate on much lower voltage. MDB changers are rated @ 24 to 34 volts. Other parts of the machine may only operate on 24 to 34 volts. The 110 volts goes through a transformer that drops the voltage down to those levels. If the power to the machine is 95 volts then it can not transform the voltage into the 24/34 volts needed. Also the parts of the machine that require the full 110 volts will not properly work. Sounds as if that is what is happening and it is playing havoc with the electrical system of your machines. In time it may cause serious problems. Have had this sitution happen on several occasions when a location has low voltage. After the low voltage episode if you power down a machine and power it back up it will boot up and straighten itself out. On other occasions it may "scramble" the boards and you may end up haveing to re-program the whole machine. You can have a whole bank of equipment that has only certian types of machines effected by this. For instance older Snack/Chip machines with no 24/34 volt parts will usually be ok. Anything with compressors and MDB changers/validators are good candidates for this problem. Crane National 431 sandwich machines are very susceptible to this happening. You supply 105 volts or lower and you would think you where at a Casino. The lights start to flash off and on, prices change, compressor kicks in and out ect. ect. Most of the time you have to reprogram the machine after one of these episodes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rugby1725 Posted October 3, 2012 Author Share Posted October 3, 2012 That sounds exactly like what it is doing. Once we power it off and back on everything is fine. I checked the plug with a tester and everything came back green, we ended up replacing one soda machine so we will see if it starts happening again. In the meantime I think I'll start looking for small UPS/conditioners to try and level out the power during the generator test. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PepsiJeff Posted October 4, 2012 Share Posted October 4, 2012 Have you checked the battery on the board? I have had to simply replace a CR2032 battery on several boards which din't read 3.0V. I have a hospital that does the same thing, and it used to give me fits.. Until I replaced the battery.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rugby1725 Posted October 9, 2012 Author Share Posted October 9, 2012 I'll keep that in mind, luckily this was a Dr. Pepper machine and we just had them give us a different one. Still not fun to move them in and out for something that is easily fixable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PepsiJeff Posted October 19, 2012 Share Posted October 19, 2012 Moving machines is my worst nemesis.. but would rather move/replace one than lose business. Although this anecdote is somewhat out of place in this thread: Sometimes it's purely psychological. I've had several locations that were plagued with non-problems until I moved the machine out for replacement, brought to my service dept, relabeled and shined up, checked thoroughly, and re-placed - customer thought they had a "new" machine, and service calls stopped. You never know the mentality of people but sometimes a mindset develops that "that machine is junk"..and it just needs a little jumpstart.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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