Water fountain

[96C]

Hi folks,

     I'm new here so I have a question for those with more experience.  The Cav 96C squaretop I bought to restore came with holes for a stainless steel water fountain in the right side (looking at the front of the machine) and was originally in a school.  I was thinking of finding one to put back on it, since the holes (four of them) are already there.

     Will the fountain hurt or help my efforts to restore?  Anyone have one laying around?  What kind of parts are required to put one back in the machine?  How much should I pay for one?

Thanks in advance,
Dan

[SIGNGUY]

I personally don't like the water fountain as it was not original on the machine... I'd restore without it...
Just thoughts

[collecture]

There is also a problem with them in that if you turn the T-stat too low the water line will freeze and leak. If I set my temperature too low, it will freeze the water bottles. You also need to have a drain set up or have it located where you don't mind the water running out - limits the locations that you put it.

[johnieG]

The water fountain was never an original part of the machine, so if you are restoring it , I'd leave it out of the equation. they leak, the cause rust, & if you really think about it back in the day, you'd be selling less soda, not the best idea. and as previously mentioned, without a proper drain, they'd be piddling water all over the floor/ground.  I'd go for an old iron-base (pedistal) water fountian like they had in my grade schools playground lot, that would be cool.

[BryanH]

Will the fountain hurt or help my efforts to restore?  Anyone have one laying around?  What kind of parts are required to put one back in the machine?  How much should I pay for one?

Welcome Dan.. you'll find them for sale on ebay once in awhile - usually between $20 - $30... Personally, I pull them off any machine I get and sell them and restore the machine w/o them. 

[96C]

Thanks for the input.  It looks like there are a lot of negatives and not really any positives.  Sounds like I'm better off just patching the holes and getting her back to original condition.

I'm glad I've stumbled onto this site.  I have lots of questions and am jazzed to start restoring this, my first machine.  I can already see that you all  offer a wealth of information.

[SIGNGUY]

Dan, Welcome to the site... great bunch of guys that can help you out...
Let's see some pictures of that machine you got... we love looking at photos.. especially before and after photos...

Good luck!