Vendorlator VF-165 will not vend

[graemetower]

I was given a VF-165 for free from a friend and the person who left it in his garage (a renter) had been working on it but abandoned the machine. There are two smart (IFTTT-capable) relay boards attached inside the front panel but I am avoiding touching those until I can figure out the selection to vending relay. I have bypassed the coin mechanism and everything lights up but nothing happens when I make a selection. All of the wires were disconnected but there was a relay inside the unit that the wiring can all be plugged into. My problem is the relay to start the vending motor is a mystery to me. I am assuming I need to pair up the vending options to Common and NO terminals on the bottom of the relay and there are two AC power pins that I am not entirely sure how to connect properly. 

Am I thinking right the coin bypass circuit would be closed (powered) and then when a selection is made a single relay would close that then powers the solenoid and somehow sends power through to the vending option in the back of the machine to start the motor? 

I am neither an electrician nor am I familiar with vending or anything mechanical. I am simply a computer guy and following what I feel is logical flow of events. I could not find a diagram that showed directly button + coin power to a relay. Maybe the relay is not even supposed to be in there and the previous person just left one in there. The relay definitely get energized and a metal flap moves but it seems like maybe a second movement should be happening when I press a drink selection button.

[allen watson]

38 minutes ago, graemetower said:

I was given a VF-165 for free from a friend and the person who left it in his garage (a renter) had been working on it but abandoned the machine. There are two smart (IFTTT-capable) relay boards attached inside the front panel but I am avoiding touching those until I can figure out the selection to vending relay. I have bypassed the coin mechanism and everything lights up but nothing happens when I make a selection. All of the wires were disconnected but there was a relay inside the unit that the wiring can all be plugged into. My problem is the relay to start the vending motor is a mystery to me. I am assuming I need to pair up the vending options to Common and NO terminals on the bottom of the relay and there are two AC power pins that I am not entirely sure how to connect properly. 

Am I thinking right the coin bypass circuit would be closed (powered) and then when a selection is made a single relay would close that then powers the solenoid and somehow sends power through to the vending option in the back of the machine to start the motor? 

I am neither an electrician nor am I familiar with vending or anything mechanical. I am simply a computer guy and following what I feel is logical flow of events. I could not find a diagram that showed directly button + coin power to a relay. Maybe the relay is not even supposed to be in there and the previous person just left one in there. The relay definitely get energized and a metal flap moves but it seems like maybe a second movement should be happening when I press a drink selection button.

Yes

[Vendo Mike]

Is there product in the machine?  Without something engaging at least one of the sold out paddles, the machine will not vend.

[Vendo Mike]

I'd be very interested to see the boards you mentioned. That machine is very old and really shouldn't have much in the way of boards.  The coin mech is where pricing is set and once the vend price is reached, the coin mech should engage the vend relay supplying power to the selection switches and motors.  I wonder if someone was trying to get fancy.

[graemetower]

The pins going in are a button on the door that activates all of the product buttons (there are cans in just 4/5 slots now) and the lights match appropriately. The pink wires match up with the product buttons but I feel like there should have been a harness so nobody has to figure out what wire goes where on a relay. The person who was modifying this thing had some wires splitting off but not all into the relays on the top of the other boards in photo 3. I thought about powering up those boards but they need 7-32V inbound and I have to get a power supply to do that and cut the wires open.

So many thoughts about this, good and bad, but i wanted to reinstate the original function with a relay to ensure the motor runs and cans come out. Meaning the wiring from the buttons to the relay (shown in the 4th photo) needs to be decoded.

 

[graemetower]

The pins going in are a button on the door that activates all of the product buttons (there are cans in just 4/5 slots now) and the lights match appropriately. The pink wires match up with the product buttons but I feel like there should have been a harness so nobody has to figure out what wire goes where on a relay. The person who was modifying this thing had some wires splitting off but not all into the relays on the top of the other boards in photo 3. I thought about powering up those boards but they need 7-32V inbound and I have to get a power supply to do that and cut the wires open.

So many thoughts about this, good and bad, but i wanted to reinstate the original function with a relay to ensure the motor runs and cans come out. Meaning the wiring from the buttons to the relay (shown in the 4th photo) needs to be decoded.

 

 

 

[graemetower]

Turned out to be a loose hire adapter on the bottom where the power comes in and splits between the compressor and front of machine. 😔

 

Everything vends fine now. Next task is to get those relay boards working!