taongisurvivor
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« on: September 05, 2017, 06:31:30 pm » |
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I just returned from a 24-hour trip to the condo to work on the excessive condensate problem with the Vendo 81B that was located *inside* the condo (filling up the condensate drip pan every 24 hours even though the condo AC should have been pulling most of the humidity out of the air). I took with me a glass door gasket, adhesive foam gasket for the cabinet body, and a replacement plastic liner for the door; the main gasket looked almost new so I elected to re-use that one. I went by myself so I had no assistance (big mistake).
First, the adhesive foam gasket was more than shot and was stubborn to remove. I was finally able to scrape the crud off with a razor blade scraper, and using Goo Gone to remove the residual junk. Took about an hour and the replacement adhesive gasket from FunTronics was perfect.
Second, I elected to remove the door so I needed to disconnect the wire leading to the door light. The wires were brittle and in bad condition, but I elected not to use lamp cord to replace because of the terminals (I did not bring a soldering iron with me). I have ordered a complete wiring harness to do it right.
Third, when I laid the door horizontal I realized that the plastic liner was only held to the door via the 12 screws around the glass door. The plastic around Every. Single. One. Of the screw holes around the perimeter was missing. Once I removed the 12 screws around the glass door I was able to lift off the plastic liner. Most of the screws were shot so I purchased stainless steel replacements with stainless steel washers. The FunTronics plastic door was a *perfect* fit; all screw holes lined-up perfectly. The fiberglass insulation was a mystery; half was well done and half was missing. Once I removed all of the insulation, I had to vacuum out several cups of sand. There was sand everywhere. I would imagine someone did a paint job in the past and sand blasted the door and failed to clean up. Pitiful. Once I cleaned everything up, I used R19 insulation and covered all of the little nooks and crannies.
Here's where things started to go South. Fourth, when I removed the glass door frame to replace the gasket, the frame fell out of the unit. I was not expecting this but I managed to catch the frame with my foot so no glass was busted, but the actuator lever collar that attaches to the crank rod broke. This actuator lever comes in several pieces that includes a collar that slips over the crank rod and is held in place with a pin. This collar has a 3-inch flange on one end that is riveted to a 24-inch long flat arm so that the joint is allowed to articulate. At the other end of this lever are two captive screws that attach to another L-Shaped lever and can be adjusted. I called FunTronics and the one they have (Vendo 81D) looks nothing like my broke one. I also went to Soda Jerks and they don't have anything listed. Does ANYONE have a used one or can you point me in the right direction???
Fifth, when I got ready to start assembly, the placement of the bottle door gasket was in question. The old gasket was laid on top of the door with a screw and washer holding the gasket to the door frame and the glass frame. So, from the outside in was the entire gasket, door body, then the glass door frame in direct contact with the door body (metal to metal). I know I did not explain that well, but this did not look right. I would have thought that the flat part of the gasket (with the screw holes in it) would have gone between the door body and the glass door frame so that from the outside in would have been the sealing surface of the gasket, door body, lower part of the gasket, then the glass door frame. Anyway, after messing with it, I put it back together the way I thought it should be, not the way it was. Which was is right???
Sixth, same/same with the main door gasket and the plastic liner. Since all screw holes were missing, the door gasket was in direct contact with the door body. I would have thought that from the inside out would have been main gasket sealing surface, plastic liner, flat surface of the door gasket, then the door body. This is the way I put it back together (only using 1/5th the number of screws since I have to take it all back apart once I find a lever). I did a half-ass job on the wiring and fired the unit back up and let it run for ten hours. Cools perfectly and very, very, very little condensate. So, if I had not had broken the actuator lever I would have been finished with that job, but no. Did I do it right with the gasket??
Last, the plastic door liner had a 12-inch long metal L-shaped bracket that at one time was attached to the inside of the liner at a downward angle and seemed to act as a guide for the actuator lever to rest against. This bracket was laying inside the door, but I have no idea if the lip of the bracket was up or down?? Does anyone have any clue???
I had planned to take pics but the camera battery was dead.
Comments, Please!! Does anyone have a used actuator lever???
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