Billnuts Posted July 26, 2014 Share Posted July 26, 2014 picked one up cheap at a auction with my favorite words... broken... extra parts and a whole box of extra sticks as well 3,600 sticks $2.00 per vend costs you less than .10 cents it was complete minus a few missing bolts and a water tank original owner got rid of it because he could not find parts.... badly needing a deep deep clean 3 hours of hot water and rags cleaned it up and refilled the sugar tank Got into what was really wrong with the unit they had taken every panel off and etc.. First problem was a broken door flap motor they tried to fix.... and missing water tank It has a full test mode of every operation found that the 15 amp slow blow fuse one of four fuses on the back was the wrong fuse 15 amp fast blow. replaced the fuse with a 15 amp slow blow fuse and after 2 vends it popped again the fuse holder was hot and was blown it was too small and that fuse holder has a miniature fuses That fuse ran 4-6 motors including the cotton candy heating element and rotate motor 15 amps easy load It was made at the factory that way That's too much for one tiny fuse holder drilled the hole bigger and added a high amp fuse holder with a 15 amp slow-blow fuse Works great and stays cool. A UPGRADE I RECOMMEND TO ANYONE WITH THESE MACHINES.. NO PARTS AVAILABLE?? Went online to intermatic and clicked USA... place order got the water tank and door motor ordered in 5 mins payed with Paypal and $76.00 including shipping the parts are on their way. so i have less than $100.00 invested into repairs. I can see why people complain about this machine it requires you to clean it often and keep it clean most operators don't have access to hot water or sinks on locations so it does have some drawbacks I figured i would order a extra bowl, and lid for the cotton candy machine swap them to clean at the shop and the rest is windex... this should crank in some serious money bill sings some seriously weird songs in attraction mode Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
psk007 Posted July 27, 2014 Share Posted July 27, 2014 I use to run a few of these and the best way I have found to clean them is with a small portable shark steamer. It makes cleaning a lot faster and will get in the hard to reach spots. Having the extra tub is what I did also just replace and clean later. If you have it in the right location they will make good money. Glad to hear you got a good deal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RikaKazak Posted July 27, 2014 Share Posted July 27, 2014 I have vendever machines so they're a little different (no water used)....but for cleaning on site I just use a spray bottle with water + rags. For cleaning the bowl, I just swap bowls and clean at home. And there's a few little tricks that need to be done to avoid service calls (like using qtips to clean inside the grip head each time and cleaning the stick sensor each time). It can make bank though in the right location. I'd even up the price if I was you. I sell for $3 a pop (but 17 cents sales tax, 2 for sugar, and 10 for stick and 1 for flossine...still sexy margins though) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rlubrich87 Posted June 16, 2015 Share Posted June 16, 2015 Hi, I know this is an old thread but I am trying to understand what you mean by drilling the hole bigger and added a high amp fuse holder. If you ever see this could you please upload some pictures of what you did so I can go the same to my machine. Thank you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Billnuts Posted June 19, 2015 Author Share Posted June 19, 2015 I took the fuse holder for the spin motor out. went to radio shack and purchased a larger higher amp fuse holder and used that inside the back i had to drill the round hole a little larger to fit the new larger fuse holder or go to granger and get a 30 amp fuse holder the stock ones only hold 5 to 10 amps and get hot Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rlubrich87 Posted June 19, 2015 Share Posted June 19, 2015 Ok Thanks for the reply. I will have to try that. So far the only problem I ran into is the spin head motor wiring that plugs into the white connector the red wire on broke so I had to just splice in the new wire. I haven't had a fuse blow on me yet. Thanks again! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
envirodan Posted October 8, 2015 Share Posted October 8, 2015 I recently purchased an Intermatic Cotton Candy Vend. It was starting to smoke a lot. I cleaned it with a steamer but made a big mess in the spin head. i took it appart and put all pieces in hot water including the floss ribbon. i let it dry for about 6 hours. when i tried to make a vend, it blew the 15amp fuse in the back. I then waited overnight, put a hair blower to the ribbon, changed the fuse and it blew again when the heater kicked on. I'm thinking now it might be the fuse. Does the ribbon floss matter what side i put it on? Am i missing anything? Need some advice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AZVendor Posted October 10, 2015 Share Posted October 10, 2015 Not knowing anything about the machine, if this happens when the heater comes on you may have a bad heater or the wrong fuse in it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michellk Posted November 12, 2018 Share Posted November 12, 2018 I know this is a big chance but if anyone here is good with trouble shooting I'd love some help. I have a yellow vendever cc machine and it's got me fooled. Please email me michellkidwell2@gmail.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michellk Posted November 12, 2018 Share Posted November 12, 2018 Also would love help locating supply websites such as sticks and cheap sugar. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Billy43 Posted October 9, 2020 Share Posted October 9, 2020 Commercial cotton candy machine is very important because it can not be successfully bought from the local shops. Different types of commercial cotton candy machines are available in the market which allow to produce cotton candy of the best quality. Although it is not difficult to find the best commercial cotton candy machine which fits our needs, you have to be sure about the cotton candy machine you should buy. If you want to buy the best commercial cotton candy machine for your cotton candy business, you have to consider several factors like the exterior type of the machine, its size, prices, speed of the machine, quality and warranty of the machine. You should compare the price of different commercial cotton candy machines before buying it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Billy43 Posted October 12, 2020 Share Posted October 12, 2020 I spent last night scrubbing the inside of a cotton candy machine. We have one in the kitchen of our diner and it was so filthy inside that we kept finding little green bugs all over the inside of it. At first, we thought they were moths because we had never seen anything like it before. And now I’m thinking of buying a new one (maybe one of these https://householdprof.com/best-cotton-candy-machines-buyers-guide/) because when we got out the magnifying glass, it really bugged and they weren't moths at all. I spent the whole night cleaning it from top to bottom. I had the exhaust outside completely stripped of all of its filters and then washed and scrubbed it inside and out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RoadDogAmusements Posted February 3, 2021 Share Posted February 3, 2021 I, too, have had to go through the laborious process of breaking down a cotton candy machine, and cleaning out the sticky, sludgy mess of detritus inside. I am curious if anyone here is still making money with one of these machines a year after putting them into service? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RoadDogAmusements Posted March 9, 2021 Share Posted March 9, 2021 I finally got my machine working over the weekend... It took me about 4 months to completely tear down the machine and clean and sanitize it. Granted only working a day here and there. The hardest part was getting everything into near boiling water... but I got it done. I need to get the flossine now so I can color and flavor the cotton candy. I took off the $1 sign that was there, I think I'm going to vend at $2... The cost of goods is very low for this machine, but the maintenance required is constant and fixing it took a lot of effort. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RoadDogAmusements Posted April 4, 2021 Share Posted April 4, 2021 (edited) got the light in the marquee replaced... it was a weird bulb I had to order from Europe. I think you can use another more common 2 pin bulb, but I didn't want to mess with the wiring or putting a new fixture up there. I think in retrospect it would have been smarter to just LED mod the top box, but next time. Here's a picture of the machine deployed at my Laundromat location. I added Pink Vanilla Flossine to the sugar mix, but I think I should have added a little more. Again, next time. If this thing starts doing any kind of good business I will have to order sticks again soon. They are kind of pricey, but you get a year's worth at once. I have it set now to vend at $2 per 1 cotton candy. The cost of goods for this machine is very very low, but the maintenance costs are pretty high. It has a daily, weekly, and monthly cleaning regimen that probably won't be adhered to. So this means it will probably break down again at some point which is a problem with operating a location 2 hours away from your base. I tasted the product it makes... and it wasn't bad. Definitely nice to have something made fresh and hot, so I think $2 is fair for that, especially since I have to split profits with the owner. Edited April 4, 2021 by RoadDogAmusements pics Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RoadDogAmusements Posted April 12, 2021 Share Posted April 12, 2021 I got a trouble call from the laundromat owner... the machine sometimes doesn't kick out full sized cotton candies. I realized the problem was in the sugar feed, as everything else was working as expected. I thought that maybe too much sugar was in the hopper and the weight was causing it to stick? So I tried removing most of the sugar and that helped, but it did still get stuck occasionally. I ended up breaking it down and looking at the internals of the hopper to see why it was getting jammed up occasionally? The sugar auger piece is a plastic gear that had gotten partially deformed. It had a small groove in it that would catch on the sugar agitator. I thought about using sandpaper to smooth out the ridge and see if I could get a little more time out of the piece, but instead decided to out of order the machine. I ordered the auger and an extra agitator, and I'll install them on location when they come in. I'd rather not build up a history of bad expectations with the machine. Hopefully after this the machine stays working consistently. It's not going to be worth operating if I need to do a trouble call more than once a month. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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