rinkmanager Posted July 7, 2015 Share Posted July 7, 2015 Greetings I am the manager of a hockey rink and just inherited a DN501E soda machine so am a newbie to the vending world. My problem is that I can't get the door to swing open. I used the key to unlock the door - the rectangular bock pops out and can be rotated 360 degrees - the door has 3/4" of play but cannot be swung open. It seems like the locking mechanism is still latched inside where it counts. Is there a trick that I don't know about? Is there and issue with the locking mechanism of these machines? Can I take the door off the hinges and get it open that way? Any insight would be appreciated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KychrisKy Posted July 8, 2015 Share Posted July 8, 2015 You might push it in right before it locks and turn it Keep it close so it will catch all the threads, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rmorris1953 Posted July 8, 2015 Share Posted July 8, 2015 Greetings I am the manager of a hockey rink and just inherited a DN501E soda machine so am a newbie to the vending world. My problem is that I can't get the door to swing open. I used the key to unlock the door - the rectangular bock pops out and can be rotated 360 degrees - the door has 3/4" of play but cannot be swung open. It seems like the locking mechanism is still latched inside where it counts. Is there a trick that I don't know about? Is there and issue with the locking mechanism of these machines? Can I take the door off the hinges and get it open that way? Any insight would be appreciated. When you say 360 degrees do you mean 1 turn or several 360 degrees turns? If it is only 1 turn then most likely someone has crossed threaded the bolt into the cage nut. If that is the case then you will have to put a crescent on the Tee Handle and turn it counter clock wise a bit to get it to release. If it is several turns and then it won't open then its possible the inner door is catching when trying to pull door open. Look at the top right hand side opposite of hinge side and you should see a small gap between the rain guard on door and the theft guard on the right side. You then can see the top of the inner door and tell if it is hanging up the cabinet. If that is the case push door back in and try to keep inner door from getting caught when pulling on outer door. Other possibilities are the vendor isn't level and when you pull on door it twists and binds up door. If that is the case you will have to pull up on the bottom of door. You will have to fix after getting it open. Most D/N 501-E's from factory need the striker plate where the cage nut is adjusted. The plate is to high and binds up the bolt when tightening down door. Loosen the 3 bolts and and let the plate drop down then snug 1 just a bit. Close the door and tighten it down. Open the door and now the plate will be right where it needs to be. Tighten it back down. You may also want to make sure vendor is level before doing this. I also loosen the phillips screw on the cage that holds the nut just a bit so the housing will move freely side to side. If it is all adjusted correctly you should be able to spin the Tee handle with 1 finger. Also lubricate bolt and nut with White Lithium grease. White lithium grease stays pliable under all weather conditions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moondog Posted July 8, 2015 Share Posted July 8, 2015 Greetings I am the manager of a hockey rink and just inherited a DN501E soda machine so am a newbie to the vending world. My problem is that I can't get the door to swing open. I used the key to unlock the door - the rectangular bock pops out and can be rotated 360 degrees - the door has 3/4" of play but cannot be swung open. It seems like the locking mechanism is still latched inside where it counts. Is there a trick that I don't know about? Is there and issue with the locking mechanism of these machines? Can I take the door off the hinges and get it open that way? Any insight would be appreciated. You have a very good machine there so don't hack it up. I suspect that the inner door is hanging up a little, usually you can reach in and pry it open. This is caused by the machine being out of level, there are adjustable feet on the bottom you can turn with a pair of channel locks to get it level. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rinkmanager Posted July 9, 2015 Author Share Posted July 9, 2015 I got the machine open! Thanks to KycrisKy, Rmorris1953 and Moondog for helpful advice. Here's how much of a newbie that I am: It turns out that I didn't know that you had to unthread the t-handle many, many turns - the only other machine we have has a T-handle that turns 90 degrees to unlatch once unlocked. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moondog Posted July 9, 2015 Share Posted July 9, 2015 I got the machine open! Thanks to KycrisKy, Rmorris1953 and Moondog for helpful advice. Here's how much of a newbie that I am: It turns out that I didn't know that you had to unthread the t-handle many, many turns - the only other machine we have has a T-handle that turns 90 degrees to unlatch once unlocked. It's designed that way so you get a good seal on the door when closed. If you don't tighten it enough you'll get air leaks which will overwork your compressor and possibly destroy it which you do not want. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kiwi Posted July 9, 2015 Share Posted July 9, 2015 You have a very good machine there so don't hack it up. I suspect that the inner door is hanging up a little, usually you can reach in and pry it open. This is caused by the machine being out of level, there are adjustable feet on the bottom you can turn with a pair of channel locks to get it level. When it comes to opening machines... never take advise from moondog Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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