Dentyne Ice Woes

[baxsonvending]

Well, I have never wavered in my loyalty to my Dentyne Ice Machines. They are my top producers, I tried to swap one out for Chiclet and my sales dropped hugely, however they KEEP BREAKING!! My two highest revenue producers are both Dentyne Ice machines and they have been bringing in around $50 a month, however, both have had coin mechanisms that busted. Luckily, the Super Pro group were great about sending out replacements but my machines sat there for a week without making a dime. Then last week it happened again! My top location's coin mechanism came right out of the machine. When I went to service my machine, I recevied it in two pieces...the coin mechanism then the rest. When the machines are in lower traffic locations they hold up fine, but when they get used quite often them seem to break!

My latest advice, avoid the machine and purchase the wheel and slap it a Northwestern machine! You will save a ton of money, but I still heavily support the gum. I make a killing at a lot of locations, and if it doesn't sell I simply move it to one of my gum only locations and watch my revenue double even triple at times.

My new motto, just buy the gum .

[vendismyname2]

Hi,

I have been reading the posts on dentyne ice and would like to try it in some of my locations. Thanks for the advice on the machines with the broken mechs.  I have been thinking of someone elses post with the idea of putting 2 pieces in a 1" capsule and vend them in a Northwestern machne with the 1" wheel.  (Great machine)!!!

Is this a good idea?

Art

[caserri]

Baxson,

I'm wondering, are the mech's actually "breaking" or are they just working loose from the body and subsequently pulling away?

If you are experiencing actual breakage please elaborate. I know I had to re-tighten the holding screws on my mech when the machine arrived and I am anticipating having to do this at each service interval. Or I could use some loc-tite on the screws and be done with it.

BTW - Welcome back!

Steve

[T BIRD]

Hi,

I have been reading the posts on dentyne ice and would like to try it in some of my locations. Thanks for the advice on the machines with the broken mechs.  I have been thinking of someone elses post with the idea of putting 2 pieces in a 1" capsule and vend them in a Northwestern machne with the 1" wheel.  (Great machine)!!!

Is this a good idea?

Art

Art........that's me.  I am using A&A Elite machines w/ 1.1 capsule wheels and putting 2 pieces of DI in a capsule.  The NW Super 60 is an awesome machine but geez..........it is sooooo expensive.

[vendismyname2]

Hey Thanks T-bird,   I have been using NW for several years now I do like the way they hold up in high traffic Locations.   I have purchased 2 PN 95's and testing them in a Loc.  they are very similar to a NW.  but I do like the A&A elite better.  How long does it take you to capsule the Dentyne Ice 2 per capsule. And will the 1" capsule hold 4 pieces for 50 cent vend?

Art

[T BIRD]

Art........you're right, I am sure about the NW machine.  THat thing looks like it would hold up just fine even at Grand Central Station!

 

It took me about 1/2 hour to cap about $70 worth of gum ( 2 per cap ). I have not had them out yet but will after the holiday is over.  But now you have me thinking..........  

I am gonna call NW and ask how much for 20 Super 60s without a wheel in it.  Do you have any idea how much that is? 

[vendismyname2]

T-Bird,

Check with Sam's 1st.  If you have  a Sams wholesale in your area you can order the NW machine there and only pay sales tax if you pick them up in about 1-2 weeks they even have several colors to choose from.  I use a lot of yellow.  They might even have it in blue. If I remember correctly I paid $56.00 ea.  It should be considerably less without the wheel. 

let me know how you do. sounds like what I might do also.

Art

[polecat]

Baxson:

Sorry to hear about the mech's. We haven't heard from you so didn't know there was an issue.

What's likely happened is the two hex screws that hold the mech in place have loosened. This can happen, especially in heavy volume locations. These can be tightened using a 3mm hex wrench.  Also, the loc-tite Steve suggested is a good idea.

Sorry for the inconvenience but I do want to clarify that the mechs are not breaking, the hex screws are sometimes loosening up. If this is not the case, please give me a call.

We have well over 2,000 machines in service and mechs "breaking" is not a common occurrence.

Steve, spvg 

 

[baxsonvending]

Actually, I have two coin mechanisms that have broken in two of my highest locations. Then a third time, in my highest location, the coin mechanism was pulled out of the body. I will surely retighten the coin mechanism, after I get it popped back into my machine. However, I don't know if it is just my batch but I am frustrated with the amount of times I have to pull machines off of a location because they are broken.

The gum is great, the machines have been giving me headaches! As I said it could just be my batch, but I don't have the time to check weekly on my machines to ensure they are still holding together.

Lastly, I did contact Super Pro as you sent out two replacement coin mechanisms for me because the other ones I had weren't working. I just picked up my other machine two days ago in my location's closet because it was unusable.

[Vendingguy]

The hex screws are a little bit of a pain to get to, and when I first recieved them, I had to tighten them up quite a bit because the coin mech was way too loose.  Of course, I haven't had them a real long time, but to date, I haven't had to retighten them in the 2 plus months they have been on location, but I was told repeatively to always check, and always bring the allen wrench for the just in cases.

Now Steve.......That Loc-tite is one outstanding idea and is something I'll have to try if the need arises.

[rodney3x]

Does the DI wheel fit the NW ?

[baxsonvending]

yes

[polecat]

The DI wheel works with the NW riser.

[rodney3x]

Ok thanks.