Vendingvulture Posted December 22, 2017 Share Posted December 22, 2017 I’m looking to upgrade my machines here in the next 6 months it’s going to be about 45 to 50 snack and pop machine I would like to know are most AP and Rowe snack machines credit card compatible? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vendcobros Posted December 22, 2017 Share Posted December 22, 2017 Not without upgrade boards. Personally I'd stay away from Rowe upgrades. There's a few boards you can get. Vendors exchange has a universal board, In One and I think maybe one more that's available. You'll be able to use better bill acceptor and coin mech once you do the upgrade. It will give you a new LED display that stays on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vendcobros Posted December 22, 2017 Share Posted December 22, 2017 Depending on the age of your soda machines some may require eprom updates to take credit cards. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vendingvulture Posted December 22, 2017 Author Share Posted December 22, 2017 I think a few Rowe 4900s and a couple other ones I’ll have to check for sure. But it’s mostly APs for the snack machines and Dixie narcos 376s for the pop machines. The motherboard seems like it would be a bit expensive Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
QuikVend Posted December 22, 2017 Share Posted December 22, 2017 Rowes probably aren't going to be worth the upgrade since replacement parts are hard to come by. The APs wouldn't be bad though. Soda machines will depend on model and age Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AngryChris Posted December 22, 2017 Share Posted December 22, 2017 To upgrade a Rowe 4900, you would either need something like a greenwick aftermarket board (if you can still get them) and probably MDB coin mech and validator. This could easily cost you $600 before even purchasing the CC reader. Put it all together and add taxes and shipping and you're probably at $1,000 just to take a card reader. On the other hand, you might be able to buy an MDB pulse kit for about $200 and add the card reader for another $300 but you still have to switch to MDB which will cost you at least $200+. Add that up and you've added $700 to a completely obsolete machine. You could also just scrap the Rowes and invest that money into a much newer model machine for maybe $1500 that has a drop sensor, mdb components, and much newer parts that can be easily replaced. You could probably do it even cheaper. On an AP 6000/7000 series or AP 110 series, you really should invest in an inone board or VE UCB. I'm not sure if you can add the CC reader to the inone board without switching the mech/validator to MDB or not, but it's not a terrible idea to upgrade the 6000/7000 or the 110 series. However, keep in mind that the AP 6000/7000, although built very well for its time, has its drawbacks when upgrading. There's a bit of physical modification to mount a card reader and the validator is a little inconvenient to switch out when you have to. I would upgrade a 7600 but that's my personal opinion. I would definitely upgrade a 110 series and anything newer than that should be MDB ready so you need an eprom at most. Just remember it's going to cost you a LOT of money to upgrade Rowe 4900s, Rowe 5900s, Ap 4000/5000s (not even worth upgrading), AP 6000/7000s, and AP 110s. In addition to those, it would cost a lot to upgrade National 145/146s and 147/148s. I have scrapped and/or given rowes away. As for the dixie narcos, your options depend on what's in the machine (single price, MPC board, SII board, SIID board). If it's single price, you can buy an MDB kit and add a card reader for approximately $500 but I don't know if you have to switch everything to MDB or not. If it's an MPC, you may want to just scrap it. if it's an SII or SIID, you might only need a harness and/or an eprom in addition to MDB components, but an SIID board likely already has MDB components in it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lacanteen Posted December 22, 2017 Share Posted December 22, 2017 What kind of machines do you have that a Rowe 4900 would be an upgrade? Rowe has been out of the vending machine business for almost 2 decades now and the 4900s were a challenge when they were new. A/P machines need to be 6/7000 and newer and as others have pointed out will require a VMC kit and MDB payment systems. Your reference to a 376 as a Dixie Narco model is not true. To my best knowledge, and my vending knowledge goes back to 1980, Dixie Narco never made a 376. There were 276, 368, and 360. Royal made a 376 in the form of the Merlin 2000, but that series was not MDB. Is this from a reputable supplier? I sense that someone is trying to sell you blue skies and unicorns. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AZVendor Posted December 23, 2017 Share Posted December 23, 2017 The 4900s were genuine workhorses in the 90's with bulletproof cabinets. There was nothing challenging about them until many miles were put on them then delivery doors got bent, CBA's never worked after rebuilds as good as when new and wiring issues showed up behind the gum/mint chutes. I had about 100 of them and missed them terribly when the 5900 came out. It's really too bad they haven't held up as well as the 7000s have but vending machine longevity is a marathon, not a race. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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