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Snack machine troubleshooting


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I have an issue where a snack machine says make another selection. Motors seem to be connected properly and the problem doesn't follow the shelve. Even after switching shelves around, the "make another selection issue" stays only on the top level at selection A2. I checked the female pins at the back of the machine where the tray connects and they look intact. I made sure there is a price set on the selection as well...

 

Another random thing that is I notice the dimes tube of the coin mech open and close as if i were dispensing a coin, this happens when the machine door is open and i move it ever so slightly. Is there a common grounding issue on these machines? A common point where wires may get pinched? 

 

Any ideas of what could be going on? Thanks in advance!

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Make another selection  means it's not seeing the switch on the vend motor as "homed".  If the problem does not follow the tray, the issue must be an open connection on the harness/connector or board failure.  That said, older boards can build carbon on the pins of the connectors in the drive circuit.  it gets resistive and causes these types of issues.  Couldn't hurt to take a closer look at the pins on the harness and board. 

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Thanks for the input. I will take a closer look at the pins, and by board you mean the part which the tray pins connect onto at the back of the machine correct?

 

My mistake AZ I thought I had started the paragraph with that info. Moving too fast for myself...

It's an AP 5500

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On the AP 5500, which is a very obsolete machine, the pins must be clean to make good contact as Mike was saying.  However, I believe that machine has the pins on the shelf and the female side is on the cabinet, so it sounds like a loose or broken wire maybe.  I have only ever had to clean the pins.  Since it's the A shelf and an AP 5500, it should be pretty easy to get in there and che k all of the wires going to the board.  Just keep in mind that the machine is probably 35+ years old and you could have a bad control board as well.  Another possibility (maybe) is that there is no price setup for that selection.

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With all machines that have male pins on the shelf that fit into female sockets behind them, the pins of the shelf can push the female contacts out of their casing if the pins are not aligned properly.  This alignment is totally dependent on the shelf rollers being intact and tight to the shelves.  Missing or broken rollers will cause misalignment which then damages the cabinet socket.  If that happens you may need to move the wire on the cabinet socket to one that is unused and then move the corresponding wire on the shelf connector as well.  This would require de-soldering and re-soldering of wires to the connectors.  That is a very ancient machine and is the first logic board machine from AP.  You could also simply not be resetting the board to scan the motors when the door is closed.  The mode box switch plunger on the door glass panel must be pressed in when the door is closed by a tab riveted to the inner shelf wall.  If that doesn't happen the machine will never scan the motors when you close the door.  You can manually press the button on the mode box to perform that scan and see if the problem fixes itself.

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Also replaced the coin mech and turns out it wasn't a grounding issue or pinched wire.. maybe the coin mech reacting to a small shift in leveling as i open the door 

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