Vendo V475 rebuild

[guswah]

I'm overhauling a Vendo V475 soft drink machine. I've downloaded a manual, but it's old and cryptic, and the wisdom of experienced folks at this forum would make life way easier!

1. Info on the motors is hard to come by. Does someone know if there were newer, improved motor models for this machine since it was manufactured 25 years ago? If so, what part numbers might I look for (for assemblies)?

2. Ditto for the coin mech. Currently it has a very old Coinco that appears to malfunction. The mechs recommended in the manual are understandably as old as the manual itself, but I'm aware that the coin mech companies are still in business. Does anyone know if there were newer models that work in the V475?

3. I can't find this in the manual either: The compartments that hold soft drinks each have a trigger to activate out-of-stock mode. I haven't measured, but it looks as though it needs to have a half-dozen rows of product stacked up in there to reach the trigger, meaning that out-of-stock status will actually kick in when there's plenty of stock. Am I right about this?

4. Do the shafts for the bail buckets or the crank ever need lubricating? Seems to me that after decades of service they must be pretty dry.

If someone has knowledge of this machine, I'd sure be grateful for a bit of it.

[AZVendor]

My friend, you are refurbing the wrong machine.

The Vendo "lowering shelf" machines were great when they were new, but after 25 years of wear and tear they begin to have very aggravating problems. I refuse to sell any of these, regularly junking them and stripping parts for possible sale down the road. If you have no problems with cans vending properly, consider yourself lucky. All of the linkage gets out of whack and worn to the point of not vending one side or the other of a wide column. When this happens, you usually have no luck adjusting things to fix it; the problem just moves to the other side of the mechanism. If you can vend without problems, then lubrication is a good idea for any pivot points in the lowering shelf linkage, front and back. Just a drop of oil in each spot is good enough.

There are no newer designed motors for the machine. I have some that I have stripped off old machines for sale if you need a good used motor.

You are also correct that there will be 6 cans in reserve when a wide column sells out and 4 cans in a narrow column. These are called "pre-cool cans."

The coin mech is single price and any late model single price mech from Coinco (3340, 9340, 9370) or Mars 6800H will work much better than the old Coinco S75 that it sounds like you have.

Honestly, you are better off putting your money into an older Dixie Narco that at least used the same vending mechanism for decades. Good luck if you continue with this and let me know if you have more questions or need any parts.

[guswah]

Well, since I've already made the "investment" I think I'm going to at least get a few things done with this machine. I don't have much choice, really. From my test runs, the shelves and buckets in all compartments appear to work correctly. I note that the counter says it has dispensed just a little more than 7,000 times. (I'm not in the business. Wouldn't that be a fairly low number?)

I have a hunch this machine was left to freeze outside in the winter months and maybe say there for years. When I got it, the compartments had a few ruptured cans in the bottom, and apparently when they broke, they sprayed all over the metal shelves. This led to rust. It might be more superficial damage than anything.

You said you have parts. Since the carrier and bypass switches look fairly shabby, I'm looking to replace them if I can find some in better shape. I felt the same about the motors. One of the motors just does a part cycle and then quits, so I'm guessing that's either the motor itself or it's a switch problem. My cams are green (on five motors) and white (on three motors). I see that there are always Vendo motors on eBay and elsewhere, but many of them have black cams. Would you know if these are the right ones?

If you have a written inventory of parts, please just send me a private message. Thanks.

[AZVendor]

PM sent. I forgot to tell you that the motors you see on Ebay are too new and not usable on a machine this old.