MidStateVending Posted January 27, 2014 Share Posted January 27, 2014 I received a call from someone that offered to pay me $80 to replace broken plexiglass on their snack machine (I don't know the model). Does anyone have experience repairing glass front machines? Is it a difficult job? Do the rubber seals need to be replaced or can they be reused? Is $80 a good price for parts and labor? Anything else I should be aware of? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moondog Posted January 27, 2014 Share Posted January 27, 2014 I received a call from someone that offered to pay me $80 to replace broken plexiglass on their snack machine (I don't know the model). Does anyone have experience repairing glass front machines? Is it a difficult job? Do the rubber seals need to be replaced or can they be reused? Is $80 a good price for parts and labor? Anything else I should be aware of? I've done this a couple of times and I wouldn't do it for $80. The tempered glass will run you about $45 alone and you'll have to custom order it from a glass shop as tempered glass can't be trimmed. I don't think plexiglass is much less and it will get scratched in short order. To date, I've always been able to reuse the rubber gasket. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AZVendor Posted January 28, 2014 Share Posted January 28, 2014 You can reuse the glass trim but only if you replace the broken glass with the same thickness of plexi. The glass or plexi alone will cost you $80 so you would have to charge labor on top of that. The size of the glass/plexi will be determined by the model number of the machine and the model will determine how you go about replacing it. If you haven't done it before you should plan on 2+ hours of time. I plan on two hours just because it's sometimes difficult to do and I often have to vacuum out all the old glass. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CajunCandy Posted January 28, 2014 Share Posted January 28, 2014 I used Lexan for one of my machines instead of plexi or tempered glass. Just a little more money and just about unbreakable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
allen watson Posted February 12, 2014 Share Posted February 12, 2014 I had a snack machine (AP Jr.) in the laundry room of a large apartment complex that constantly got messed with. The room was open 24/7 with a "housing" complex next door. One day the glass got broke out by a large rock. So I replaced the broken glass with Lexan ($100) only to have it pried open two days later. The Lexan was seriously beat-up, but never broke and barely scratched. They "body slammed" it enough to bend the mounting hardware slightly to get a bar thru the opening. With the bar thru the opening and heavy prying the Lexan still didn't break. Amazing stuff. I would have pulled the machine right away, but it was such a hot spot I couldn't resist giving it another try. In the end, yeah, I pulled the machine. I still think about putting another one back there. lol. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MidStateVending Posted February 12, 2014 Author Share Posted February 12, 2014 I decided to order from a local glass shop. A vendor in AZ gave me the exact dimensions and said to get hard tempered glass. The cost is $54. I was considering plexi at first, but that was actually $5 more... to my surprise. A third option was to order from my local vending supply company, but they wanted $65. My lesson: I didn't realize glass was so expensive. Next time I will charge more than $80 for this type of repair. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mission vending Posted February 12, 2014 Share Posted February 12, 2014 I decided to order from a local glass shop. A vendor in AZ gave me the exact dimensions and said to get hard tempered glass. The cost is $54. I was considering plexi at first, but that was actually $5 more... to my surprise. A third option was to order from my local vending supply company, but they wanted $65. My lesson: I didn't realize glass was so expensive. Next time I will charge more than $80 for this type of repair. Whenever I have done work for others it has been a agreed fee or rate for labor PLUS parts. If I am going to be responsible for getting them I also mark up the parts 25% just for making the call and receiving the shipment. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moondog Posted February 13, 2014 Share Posted February 13, 2014 I had a snack machine (AP Jr.) in the laundry room of a large apartment complex that constantly got messed with. The room was open 24/7 with a "housing" complex next door. One day the glass got broke out by a large rock. So I replaced the broken glass with Lexan ($100) only to have it pried open two days later. The Lexan was seriously beat-up, but never broke and barely scratched. They "body slammed" it enough to bend the mounting hardware slightly to get a bar thru the opening. With the bar thru the opening and heavy prying the Lexan still didn't break. Amazing stuff. I would have pulled the machine right away, but it was such a hot spot I couldn't resist giving it another try. In the end, yeah, I pulled the machine. I still think about putting another one back there. lol. I've learned this lesson the hard way as well. Now if I have a location that is being vandalized on a regular basis I just shut it down. No matter how much it makes. you'll just end up chasing your tail forever with an account like that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
allen watson Posted February 13, 2014 Share Posted February 13, 2014 I kept the 2 soda machines. They are doing okay with only 1 salting. The complex is full of small kids, the snack sales were off the hook. Maybe one of those M&M refrigerated candy machines would hold-up? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MidStateVending Posted March 8, 2014 Author Share Posted March 8, 2014 Update: I finished the repair. Went to a glass shop and asked for hard tempered glass (a vending guy gave me the dimentions). It was an easy job. Removed the screws, pulled the old glass out, removed the rubber liner around the glass and placed it around the new glass (it's "U" shaped so it holds onto the edges of the glass well), then placed the glass in and screwed it back. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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