Aries44732003 Posted March 14 Share Posted March 14 I am new to the vending world and have a question/concern about my AP6000 snack machine. I got it pretty cheap. So I decided to see how it does. seems ok, but I keep getting dollar bills stuck in the bill validation system. I didn’t want to start taking things apart before I understood how to repair it. This machine has a metal casing for the bill validator. Can I change this out? Or upgrade it to a nicer one that will reduce the bills getting stuck in the machine? If so….??? How do I go about it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vendo Mike Posted March 15 Share Posted March 15 It likely has a very old, Mars VFM model bill acceptor. You should toss that boat anchor and update to a VN series which was Mar’s next step forward in DBVs. Pay attention to the power requirements. Im almost certain you have a 115v VFM in there now which means you’d start looking for a VN2501 or 2511. Also, make sure the mask on the new dbv matches the vfm. There are bottler and snack masks which don’t always fit into every machine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aries44732003 Posted March 28 Author Share Posted March 28 Well, after further research and spending time really looking at my AP6600 model, I discovered that I have a Mars bill acceptor… (Model VFM3 L1 U4C) this unit actually takes $1’s & $5’s the problem is that it doesn’t take the new $5 bill post 2008 when they changed it. So, I’m still in need of an upgrade that will take $1’s-$5’s&$10’s After more research I think I found one that will work. It is a : Mars/MEI 120V pulse interface that is a recommended replacement for the VFM1-L1 /or/ VFM3-L1 bill validator. with advice from Alan and others I do see another model available: it’s the Mars/MEI VN2501U5 120V this validator will take $1’s & $5’s with the recognition of the 2008 post $5 bill. How do i know what # mask my validator has? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vendo Mike Posted March 28 Share Posted March 28 when purchased new, the mask installed was part of the model #. Mar's Model # is broken down below. This is also in their manual. "VN25 "series (Vending DBV that accepts 3 notes ($1, $2 and $5) with a "0" indicates VFM or Snack mask or "1" for Bottler mask "1" indicated 115 VAC where "2" indicated 24 VAC operation The snack looks like the mask on your current VFM with the "lips" in the middle of the bezel where a bottler mask's lips are lower on the bezel. The snack mask also pushes the dbv up and back to clear your display and other hardware in the machine. Bottlers masks either wont fit at all or will cause interference with other hardware around it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AZVendor Posted March 28 Share Posted March 28 You also want a side opening bill box which is the 500 bill box. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vendo Mike Posted March 28 Share Posted March 28 33 minutes ago, AZVendor said: You also want a side opening bill box which is the 500 bill box. Good call there. I'd forgotten about that issue. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cvending Posted March 29 Share Posted March 29 You will also need a set of mounting brackets Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AZVendor Posted March 29 Share Posted March 29 He already has a VFM in it so the brackets would be there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tblake05 Posted March 30 Share Posted March 30 Don’t forget some black spray paint and an afternoon to update that ugly wood grain. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CoastVending Posted March 30 Share Posted March 30 you could also buy a tuff front kit to put over the wood grain, as oppose to spray painting it. here is a link to somewhere you can get tuff front kits- https://www.graphicsthatpop.com/tuffronts Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AZVendor Posted March 31 Share Posted March 31 Ha ha. Somewhere to get it. They are the ones that manufacture the kits. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike4 Posted March 31 Share Posted March 31 21 hours ago, tblake05 said: Don’t forget some black spray paint and an afternoon to update that ugly wood grain. I have a few of these old brown machines. What spray paint is best to use? Also.... just mask off all the trim and go for it? Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AZVendor Posted March 31 Share Posted March 31 I beseech you, do not spray paint them. Put the Tuff Front kit on it. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tblake05 Posted March 31 Share Posted March 31 11 hours ago, Mike4 said: I have a few of these old brown machines. What spray paint is best to use? Also.... just mask off all the trim and go for it? Mike Yup, I did a really old USI machine. Took the entire door apart and laid all the woodgrain panels out, scuffed them, and painted them with some flat black... Looked nice, but at the end of the day, it was just an old USI machine. So I scrapped it after I got sick of the maka, and for some reason the SM3 (I think) wouldn't interface to an MEI. Decided to just cut my losses. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike4 Posted March 31 Share Posted March 31 1 hour ago, tblake05 said: Yup, I did a really old USI machine. Took the entire door apart and laid all the woodgrain panels out, scuffed them, and painted them with some flat black... Looked nice, but at the end of the day, it was just an old USI machine. So I scrapped it after I got sick of the maka, and for some reason the SM3 (I think) wouldn't interface to an MEI. Decided to just cut my losses. Yeah that’s the problem …. Costs so much to upgrade them to a decent machine you might as well just buy a newer one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aries44732003 Posted April 12 Author Share Posted April 12 Hey Guys, ( AZVendor, cvending, VendoMike ) I went ahead and purchased the Mars/MEI VN2501 U5 120v Validator w/ 500 Bill Box for my AP6600 Snack machine. I purchased it from Capital Vending. I also purchased a Mars MEI 120v HARNESS Cable Bill Validator Acceptor model VN25x1 AE25x1 AR26x1. Now is that the only harness cable i will need? Should everything work once i connect my cables? Did i buy the right harness? I'm just looking for some guidance from you well educated vendors. The swap out seems easy enough to complete, but i don't want to screw something up and fry my main control board. Big shout out to the guys mentioned above for all you feedback. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vendo Mike Posted April 12 Share Posted April 12 If it’s the 9pin power harness you should be good. I would have expected one to come with the dbv. Assuming the VFM was functioning, everything else you need should already be in the machine. When you install this harness into the side of the VN, it will leave 18 open pins. This is where you plug in the serial harness that was plugged into the control box on the side of the VFM. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cvending Posted April 12 Share Posted April 12 aires, you will want to use the 300 note stacker/bill box as the 500 will be too deep to fit in alotted space. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AZVendor Posted April 12 Share Posted April 12 No, a 500 stacker will fit, it just won't have the clearance to come off and that's why you use it so you can open the side door to extract the bills. If the stacker has to come off later then the validator can simply be removed from the door. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AngryChris Posted April 13 Share Posted April 13 I prefer the 500 for the side door Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aries44732003 Posted Monday at 11:32 PM Author Share Posted Monday at 11:32 PM UPDATE: Well, I installed the new bill acceptor and attached the harness that goes with it .....AND...........It's still not accepting $5 dollar bills. I set ALL the dip switches to OFF and Nothing!!! Still works like I never changed anything. I took it back out and set the dip switches according to the directions on the bill acceptor. Still only taking $1 dollar bills. I contacted Capital Vending via email and told their support that this bill acceptor is not working correctly and I want to return it. He ask me : What is the OEM part number of the current validator harness in your machine? Best to look at service records of the machine as this type of part is often changed. On a AP 7000 the harness controls the bill accepted. I replied : The number on the harness is; 250077006 REV G2 He replied back: This is the part number for the power harness for the bill acceptor. I need the OEM part number for the validator harness. Now this is where I am confused. I thought the bill validator and bill acceptor where the same thing?!?!?!? where do I find the OEM part number for the Validator harness? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AZVendor Posted Tuesday at 12:24 AM Share Posted Tuesday at 12:24 AM First of all, set your bill acceptor switches to short pulse and then the bill acceptance to $1 only because the AP logic board is not capable of accepting 5s. You would need to put an InOne Technologies board in it to take more than 1s. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aries44732003 Posted Tuesday at 09:45 AM Author Share Posted Tuesday at 09:45 AM I had no issues with my vfm bill acceptor. Minus the fact that it was old. The purpose for my upgrade was to be able to accept $5 bills. I was under the impression that if I bought a new/used bill acceptor and a harness to connect the new acceptor with the current logic board, everything would work accordingly. Now I have to upgrade my board to be able to have this ability??!!! The upgrade was not that serious. I was just trying to offer my customers another option. Lesson learned on this mistake. Next time buy a more updated machine. (SMH)🤦♂️ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vendo Mike Posted Tuesday at 01:16 PM Share Posted Tuesday at 01:16 PM On a VN bill acceptor, setting all switches to "off" is the factory setting for $1 accept only. If you were able to accept a $5, you would be returning daily to refill your quarter tube. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lacanteen Posted Tuesday at 01:23 PM Share Posted Tuesday at 01:23 PM I think AZ is correct in that the 6/7000 series OEM board did not allow $5 bills. Remember, that machine was built in the mid 1980s and was one of the first machines designed to take bills. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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