AP 223 Coffee Machine Issues

[RaleighNC]

Hi All -- I'm having some intermittent issues with my AP 223 coffee machine. I'm thinking about pulling the plug on this machine since nobody has anything good to say about this model (most common feedback is that the 213 was much better and the 223 was AP's downfall w/ coffee, but I digress...) and I can definitely see why. Seems to be no rhyme or reason why issues will randomly happen and the machine stops working properly. I have a National 633 or 673 in my storage unit that I can swap out, but before I did, I wanted to see if anyone had any ideas with the issues I'm having:

 

1. The retrieval door that opens/closes after the coffee is made sometimes starts to spaz out where it opens fully after a cup is made (and ready to be taken out) but then starts opening/closing quickly about 1 inch each direction back and forth until it finally stops. It's like a very quick side-to-side motion that sort of deters people from putting their hand in to grab the cup of coffee since they don't know if the door will close on their hand. I've confirmed that there is nothing physically stopping the door from opening or closing. It's almost like it can't tell if the sensor that detects whether the cup is removed or not isn't functioning properly. Could be wrong, but just a hunch.

2. The spout motor (the part that controls the dispensing spout, allowing it to go up and down to let a cup pass through) sometimes makes this bizarre grinding/vibrating noise that shakes the whole machine and sometimes it can't seem to home itself. After this, I'll usually get an error like "Motor Spout Home Error" or something like that and the machine may keep chugging along or it might stop the coffee from being made until the door is opened/closed or machine is power cycled. It will give you the "Make Another Selection" error which is obviously problematic because this essentially makes the coffee machine only work for hot chocolate or drinks that do not pass through the brewer system. I'll then have to go on-site to turn the machine off, turn back on, clear error, and it will work again for possibly hours/days/weeks before it does it again.

 

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

 

PS - parts are super hard to find for this machine, which is another reason I may be forced to move on

[AZVendor]

There was a field upgrade kit that prevented some interference with the electronics, I believe, but you probably won't find that kit now.   I can't find anything that even references it now.  You may have dirty voltage to the machine or spikes or brownouts occurring. 

From the service manual:

A) Spray water into waste bucket until Heater lamp comes ON. On the Power Distribution Box, measure voltage on the connector labeled “Door Lights”.  - Black to White = 105 to 130 Volts AC    (hot to neutral) - Black to Green = 105 to 130 Volts AC   (hot to ground) - White to Green = Less than 1VAC  (neutral to ground) If any measurement above is out of range the wall socket or building ground circuit is bad. Have an Electrician check and repair. Machine should be plugged into a dedicated 20 Amp Voltage line.  

[RaleighNC]

32 minutes ago, AZVendor said:

There was a field upgrade kit that prevented some interference with the electronics, I believe, but you probably won't find that kit now.   I can't find anything that even references it now.  You may have dirty voltage to the machine or spikes or brownouts occurring. 

From the service manual:

A) Spray water into waste bucket until Heater lamp comes ON. On the Power Distribution Box, measure voltage on the connector labeled “Door Lights”.  - Black to White = 105 to 130 Volts AC    (hot to neutral) - Black to Green = 105 to 130 Volts AC   (hot to ground) - White to Green = Less than 1VAC  (neutral to ground) If any measurement above is out of range the wall socket or building ground circuit is bad. Have an Electrician check and repair. Machine should be plugged into a dedicated 20 Amp Voltage line.  

Interesting. Thank you for this. I’m looking at the manual now and seeing some stuff about the driver board as well so that may be worth a shot too if the voltage measurements doesn’t do the trick. I know the outlet is a 20A dedicated so there’s nothing to worry about there. 

Did you ever run any of these machines? Any common issues you saw with them?

[AZVendor]

I never ran any but I did repair them for a couple of people so my experience is way in the past. I remember the power supply update that came out for it and the ridiculous amount of bells and whistles they put in this thing trying to compete with Starbucks the National machines that would do all the way up to an 18-20 oz cup of whatever "specialty coffee" you wanted.  I don't remember any common problems other than the operator confusion of how the machine worked, especially the programming.  I ran all the AP coffees from the 850, 8050, 211 and the 213 and I agree, the 213 was the better of them all.  Back when I did service I could overhaul a 213 on location, doing everything except de-liming a tank, in about 3 hours.  We did this often for BEP blind operators.  The biggest drawback to the machine now is that you can't call AP and speak to their techs. 

Edited April 28, 2022 by AZVendor