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Percentage of broken machines


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When i read this forum I read alot about broken machines. But I wonder what's a percentage of those broken machines statistically. For example you have route with 100 machines. If they're some poorly made machines so it's obvious that they will be broken many times. But I am asking if you have 100 machines on route and machines are only good quality. So what percent of those 100 machines will broke in a year statistically? Of course we talk about used machines. 

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 this is a really broad question. What defines broken,  jammed bill acceptor, light bulb goes out, failed compressor deck? 

Good machines are generally very reliable, however, many factors can affect how often a machine breaks. It's part of maintaining an operating route. 

I have done machines that don't need anything for years and others that have problems every month. Much of the frequent problems are a result of improper use or environmental issues like power supply or dust.

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I'm not sure you can make a generalization.  I recall a post from one operator in the past who estimated about 3 service calls a year per machine, which included minor issues such as coin and bill jams, but I don't think I have nearly that many myself.  I have a wide range of equipment from brand new all the way to should have been scrapped already.   A lot of it is the environment the machine is in, and of course how well maintained.  I think a lot of complaints and service calls can be avoided just by taking the time to properly load the products and having a good inspection routine each time you touch the machine.  If you are a "throw product in and go" person you will have more problems overall IMHO.... as far as real breakdowns such as compressors, again a little cleaning goes a long way.  Keep the drain flowing, the door gaskets clean and intact, and get the dust and lint off the screens and fins as needed.

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That is a silly question.  Unless some anal retentive vendor actually tracks that no one will have an answer for you.  The only thing that seemed to come true for me was that breakdowns tended to come in threes, but that was probably my imagination.  I enjoyed repairing machines so it didn't weigh on me.  However, I walked my route drivers through 90 percent of the problems then found on their routes and the longer they worked for me the better they became at fixing the minor issues.  If you aren't capable of repairing machines then get comfortable with a vending repairman so you have a trustworthy and responsive answer to problems that need fixed.

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Looking at the forum you may get the idea that machines are constantly needing repair, because so many questions are people needing help with an unusual repair, or even learning about basic repairs.  It's a good side of the forum that has really helped me a lot and it's nice when I can occasionally give back.  But the amount of repair questions may give a false impression about machine reliability.

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I compared the number of rolling service calls to my total active machines. Remember, calls come in and calls get cleared, but never are all calls cleared at one time, hence my term "rolling calls". My active rolling calls rarely exceeds 1% of my total fleet.  

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