First time user...

[golgade]

Hello,
Brand new to the forum, and to the exciting world of Soda Machine ownership. I just picked up a Choice Vend VUB-9-72, Slant Shelf(oh yes I went to the terminology section) for $20 of Craigslist.

The guy I got it from fully expected me to be scrapping it, and when I told I'm I had a lot of time on my hands at night to restore it, he just laughed and said he tried for years and couldn't ever get it to turn on. Sometimes I am glad others are mechanically challenged. It took me about five minutes to get the cord replaced on the back and it fired right up and was pretty cold within a hour.

Anyway, I really don't know much of anything about refrigeration, but that's why I picked up this little project, to expand my horizons. So I have a few extremely annoying newbie questions, but I want you to know that I did my best to search the Forum and couldn't really find answers, or at least in terminology I understand(yet at least).

The machine does cool and turns on frequently, but I have it completely empty while testing so I am sure it will be a different story when I have it full. If you leave it plugged in overnight it will get pretty wet on the inside of the machine, to the point where it is starting to puddle on the inside. As I understand that means I probably have a leak, correct? I have seen plenty of post on finding leaks, but I couldn't find any on patching.

I am fully planing on keeping this machine for a long time so, my repair I am going to attempt to do myself. This also leads my to my next question and probably the most important. I have two fully working refrigerators at my disposal that are about the same dimensions on the fridge side, I don't suppose it is possible to do something as easy as swapping the parts in?

Dan

[scalebowler]

It is actually normal for there to be a little bit of water in the bottom of the machine. It is just condensation and some frost that melted off of the coils. If there is a puddle forming at the bottom it sounds like the drain might be clogged. Thats really easy to take care of. I think on my machine I just slipped off the rubber hose and then stuck a pencil or a pen and cleared out the blockage. Just make sure you have something to catch the water like a styrofoam cup before you unclog it otherwise the water will make a small mess.

[collecture]

Welcome!
Yes - there should be a drain tube on the bottom. It usually is formed into a P-Trap design so as to keep cool air in and bugs out.

[golgade]

Oh great! Now I'm not as worried, and it wasn't quite enough to make it to the drain yet, but the rate the water was forming it just seemed like it would overflow the trap outside the machine after awhile. Does that get emptied regularly during normal operation?

[SIGNGUY]

when you say you have a leak, it's not a leak it's condensation from your cooling unit..
what you probably do have is bad insulation and seals which is allowing humid air into your unit and not keep the cold in..

if your restore it, you'll be replacing the insulation and the gaskets and this will help with your internal moisture issue.

plus clear your drain like mentioned.. and depending one whats on the other end, usually just normal evaporation will take care of the water..

[loman4ec]

Welcome to the site. I am a member of other forums and I know some places are brutal to new members that don't know terminology and the basics. You won't find that here at all! Don't worry about asking newby questions and if you ask something that has been asked before no one is going to jump down your throat. Its a great site with a great group of people from all over the world.

You have a cool machine. They are not very common and not highly desirable so don't build it for resale but you already said your doing it for yourself. There will not be much compatible with the fridge. The only thing that may be usable are fan motors, thermostats and compressor but don't dive into anything other than basics like changing thermostats, fan motors and wiring when it comes to refrigeration unless you have the knowledge and tools necessary. I have had hundreds of machines and learned the hard way to stay away and let the pros do the work. Its very complicated and precise. The correct tools are also very expensive. We have a member that does refrigeration work and is very very good. He has adds on the main page. His name is Eric and the company is Global Compressors. He also now does chrome work and has good prices and does good work. For parts we have two good sources of reproduction parts. One is Funtronics and The Soda Jerk Werks. Both are great companies and are owned by great people that are also frequent members. They sell a huge variety of new parts. One thing I absolutely suggest is changing the fan motors, wiring harness and possibly the thermostat. The wiring harness says its for vendo and cavalier machines but it will work on your machine. Just take lots and lots of pictures of the original and draw a diagram for yourself to put it back together. If I can give one piece of advice it is to take as many pictures as you can. Even things you think are dumb or common sense you will be surprised how much it helps when putting it back together. Its not uncommon for me to literally take hundreds of pictures.

Again welcome and anything you need we are happy to help. Also we all love pictures. Please attach some for us to see. Just adjust the size to 100kb

[globalcompressors]

yeah...what he said!

 

[johnieG]

Hi & welcome to our site! As you can see, you can find a lot of answers (& more than enough opinions too...      ) here on soda-machines.com

[golgade]

I do have some photos, this first is just the front. As you can see someone has replaced the plastic sign with their own custom wood version, probably a disgruntled customer who got Diet instead of regular busted it out. I also have a few magnets that are currently suppose to be covering some vulgar graffiti. The second is a picture of the coil inside the machine. This is probably the last post I will make concerning refrigeration unless this picture tells you otherwise. I have tried to get as close as I could and have encircled what appear to be holes on the coil.....those shouldn't be there should they??

Dan

[johnieG]

Don't be alarmed by the small holes in the outer aluminum tubing of the evaporator, the real refrigeration  tubing is in the inside & is made of copper, it is visible on the ends of the evaporator coil assembly itself, it looks like a bunch of copper elbow-macaroni going into & out of the aluminum shell... it's not the best design for an evaporator coil as you can see from the corrosion, but it gets the job done, & you said it was cooling normally ( other than the short-cycling) & if that was a real hole in the refrigerant line, you would have no cooling whatsoever believe me!

I took the liberty of enhancing your picture of the evap coil & the alleged hole to help people see what we're talking about.