Cleaning the racks and pulling the cooling

I pulled all of the racks out of my machine and they are quite dirty with some rust.  What is the best way to clean these?  I also want to pull the dispensing unit (sorry if this is the wrong terminology) so any tips would be wecomed.  

My next Question is how to pull and clean the cooling unit?  

I appriciate all tips as I am new at this and want to do it right.  I am try to work from the inside out on this machine.

Thank you,

[sodaworks]

Welcome aboard Spider,
  Do you have access to a bead blasting cabinet? If so try blasting and painting them with hammertone paint.

[sodaworks]

The cooling system comes out easy, just take out all the screws holding it in place. High pressure was the unit and scrub with SOS pads prior to painting.

You'll need two people to remove the cooling unit, to get both sections out without kinking the connecting parts.

[BryanH]

CLR and Simple Green with steel wool will do a great job.  Would also suggest you follow these links on general restoration process and this one on cleaning tips and techniques

Thank you very much.

Bryan;

Great link about cleaning up the compressor deck and liner.  But I have one question that I didnt' see answered...  I'm getting ready to pull the compressor unit from my Vendo 81B.  Looking at the compressor deck, it looks like there's some cardboard or hardboard substance that forms a shroud around the cooling fan on the deck.  Anyone else out there work on one of those units -- how do you clean around it? Can you pull the shroud, or what?  Also, are there things down there I DON'T want to get wet?  I'm guessing the box the plug in wire from the compressor is high on that list, along with the fan, but are there other things?  

Appreciate any guidance so I don't accidently do something really stupid!

Thanks!  '>

[sodaworks]

Mike,
  You can replace the fiber board shroud for about 9 bucks and I would strongly suggest replacing the wiring harness for about 36 bucks. Both of these items are avail. through the Soda Jerk Works and Funtronics. '>

[BryanH]

Mike - my machine has a metal shroud so I stripped and painted it.... but when I was speaking with Steve from the SodaJerk Works he said that on most machines the shroud does little to assist in the cooling.  So if your cardboard shroud isn't usable and you can't find a replacement it may not be a big deal.  

As for getting things wet.... I took the wiring harness off and pressure cleaned everything else several times, including the fan motors and the electronics on the compressor. Air dry or dry with a blower before hooking it back together.

Thanks for the info.  I've already purchased a replacement harness from SodaJerkworks (the old wiring on this machine was crispier than a bag of fresh potato chips, and conducted electricity almost as well), will check on the replacement shroud if it looks like I'll need it.  The one that's there is falling apart literally, can't get it off one piece, so it's destined to join the landfill along with the original wiring.  Can't wait to fire up the washer and see what's under all those cobwebs and dust!

[Kilroy]

So here is the stupid question for the week while we are discussing bottle racks:

Do you, should you, take apart the bottle rack if the plans are to have it powder coated? I haven't had a chance to start teardown of the machine yet, so I don't know how easy it is to re-assemble the unit, or even if it can be disassembled.

Sigh, I've gone from a machine admirer, to owner, to collector to project, in a few months, so please be gentle when my ignorance shows  

'>

[BryanH]

Kilroy - if you're going to the bother and expense of powder coating you might as well do the bottle rack / vending mechanisms.  Your going to have to take the assembly out of the tub anyway.  I can only comment that they are relatively easy to disassemble... As for reassembling - assume it'll be straight forward but can't talk from experience as I'm not quite ready to put mine back together '>

Has anyonw ever tried using a steam cleaner on the cooling unit?