Gumball Launcher Machine by Edina Technical Products

[RoadDogAmusements]

I recently picked up 2 of these Carnival Fun! machines for free! They are so called gumball launchers Model GL-1. One is missing the flap on the prize chute and both are in need of replacements for the flipper rubbers. Does anyone know how to get parts for this machine? I've seen this same machine with other skins such as one called Sports Zone. The flippers themselves are smaller than regular pinball flippers. The rubbers that go on them are yellow and skinny like a rubber band.

I got some rechargeable 12v battery banks to replace the 8 D cell battery carrier that it comes with. I built some simple harnesses so that they can plug right into the existing wiring. I got 2 per machine so that I can make swapping them part of the restocking process.

[gumball guy]

20 hours ago, RoadDogAmusements said:

I recently picked up 2 of these Carnival Fun! machines for free! They are so called gumball launchers Model GL-1. One is missing the flap on the prize chute and both are in need of replacements for the flipper rubbers. Does anyone know how to get parts for this machine? I've seen this same machine with other skins such as one called Sports Zone. The flippers themselves are smaller than regular pinball flippers. The rubbers that go on them are yellow and skinny like a rubber band.

I got some rechargeable 12v battery banks to replace the 8 D cell battery carrier that it comes with. I built some simple harnesses so that they can plug right into the existing wiring. I got 2 per machine so that I can make swapping them part of the restocking process.

On the front of the Sports Zone machines there is a web address www.bulkvending.com  I have never done business with them and know nothing about them but it looks like the website is still up and running. Maybe they can help you track down parts.

 

[RoadDogAmusements]

Thanks for the reply @gumball guy! Here's pictures of my machines now on location! The owner wasn't super happy about the gumballs, but I told him to wait a month and see how it does. He is a pretty attentive guy, he even noticed the missing flap on one. I reassured him at least it was on the bouncy ball one, and not the gumballs. I will try to get or make a flap I guess... But since I have two in the same location it would be nice if they matched.

 

In case it helps anyone else... I replaced the 8 D cell battery packs inside with a rechargeable 12v battery pack I got on amazon:

I modded the packs by removing the LEDs so that the battery will last longer. You can actually just remove one resistor to deactivate all of the LEDs. I made some custom harnesses so that the battery packs will plug into the existing wiring. I got 4x of these so that I can swap them out fresh every month.

I put labels on all of the AC adapters saying 12.6v BATT, so I know that they go with these things. They output a specific voltage so that they can be used with the charger while on and providing power to other 12v devices.

I labelled the 4 batteries GUM 1, GUM 2, BALL 1, and BALL 2. This way I won't get them mixed up when I go to swap.

These machines hold approximately 1000 units of 1" vends. I measured the current draw of the hopper feed device at about 0.11 amps at 12v. So back of the envelope calculation if the hopper feed lasts 10s this battery can vend almost 10k units.
((3000 milliampere hours) / (0.11 amperes)) / (10 seconds) =
9 818.18182

[RoadDogAmusements]

I tried the emails and phone number on bulkvending.com 's website... no dice. I think it's just vestigial.

[gumball guy]

6 hours ago, RoadDogAmusements said:

I tried the emails and phone number on bulkvending.com 's website... no dice. I think it's just vestigial.

Sorry to hear that. Well at least you have two units and if need be you can just use one for parts. Good luck with the new location!!!

[RoadDogAmusements]

I dropped off these two machines, a candy claw, and a crazy taxi at my laundromat location on Wednesday... I went on Friday to actually restock the rest of the vending stuff. I also had to do a quick repair to the crazy taxi, replacing the volume pot because it was too scratchy.

Anyways... I am happy at the small amount that showed up in the cash boxes in just two days.

bouncy balls $1.50

gumballs $6

Candy Crane $8

Crazy Taxi $2

 

I will be anxious to see where everything is at in a month when I collect again. I told the owner that when the gumballs run out we can switch to jawbreakers if he's really worried about the gum. I put a little label on the machine that says please put gum in trash when done. the gumball machine is the clear winner though with the cost of good being so low and little to no maintenance. Nice part about the video games is there's no product to lug around.

[RoadDogAmusements]

I got in a trouble call from the owner of the laundromat. He said that super bikes and the gumball machine were out of order. When I got there the super bikes had a coin jam and the gumball launcher had a dead battery. womp womp. It did last over a month, like 5 weeks. I'm not sure why it was so far off from my estimate of being able to vend 10k units? I am guessing the small amount of suck that the gumball launcher pcb has and the recharge circuit on the battery. I'm going to have to hook it up to an AC adapter? I didn't count it but it looked like there was about $40 in there. So what's that 160 or so gumballs sold in a month? I noticed that the gumballs have a bit of a hard crunch to them at the start but it's not necessarily unpleasant. They get better as you chew. They're dubble bubble brand ones... maybe I get something different next time?

[gumball guy]

On 3/18/2021 at 12:16 PM, RoadDogAmusements said:

I got in a trouble call from the owner of the laundromat. He said that super bikes and the gumball machine were out of order. When I got there the super bikes had a coin jam and the gumball launcher had a dead battery. womp womp. It did last over a month, like 5 weeks. I'm not sure why it was so far off from my estimate of being able to vend 10k units? I am guessing the small amount of suck that the gumball launcher pcb has and the recharge circuit on the battery. I'm going to have to hook it up to an AC adapter? I didn't count it but it looked like there was about $40 in there. So what's that 160 or so gumballs sold in a month? I noticed that the gumballs have a bit of a hard crunch to them at the start but it's not necessarily unpleasant. They get better as you chew. They're dubble bubble brand ones... maybe I get something different next time?

Hard saying what the unanticipated drain on the battery is. Maybe when someone attempts to turn the mech with no $ inserted, it causes a contact resulting in a slight drain each time? Dubble Bubble gumballs are hard but probably better suited for interactive games like this. They are generally more symmetrical and roll better than Ford gumballs and are far more durable. That doesn't mean you can't experiment with other brands like Zed, Oakleaf or Carousel if you are so inclined.   

[RoadDogAmusements]

I built new Y harnesses and put the 12v ac adapters into the mix. There is a small hole in the bottom of the cabinet, that I used to route the 12v power supply lead in through. I suspect it's there for drainage in an emergency? Not sure why else there would be a small hole about 2cm? At least now I don't have to worry about bringing the batteries around and recharge cycling them. I can use them in another project or something...

Both machines did really good I think, with the gumball machine just barely edging out the bouncy balls.

One other weird negative I noticed is sometimes little gumball curds show up? I don't know if it's because they were just in the bag before I dumped them in or if the hopper and wheel are grinding up whole ones into pieces somehow?