CSS-8-64J - Questions from a Newbie

[Tandemdad]

I am new to the board and trying to learn more about the Cavalier machines.

I have a CSS-8-64J. I cannot find anything indicating what the J stands for. I've seen others with a G or other letters, but don't know the significance of the letters. Can someone educate me on what the J stands for?

As best as I can tell, the machine was made in 1973 since it has a "2/73" after the serial number. Am I correct that this is a 1973 machine?

I need to transport it this weekend to my house. It appears from other threads that it is ok to transport it on its back (properly packing around the compressor to keep it secure) so long as I don't plug it in for 24 hours. The total transport time should be less than 2 hrs. Am I correct to allow it to stand upright for 24 hours after a 2 hr transport on its back?
Thanks for the input.

[Slapshot42]

Welcome to the Site!

I'm not sure about the actual date of the machine.

As far as transport waiting 24 hours always is a good safe approach regardless or transport time!

Jared

[Tandemdad]

Thanks, Jared.

Anyone have any information about the letters? I've seen some folks mention they have a 64C or 64F, and other letters. I have a 64J.

I am familiar with Model T's and how Henry Ford introduced the Model T after he simply worked his way through the alphabet. Then he introduced the Model A after the Model T.

Are the letters following the 64 on soda machines significant in any way?

Looking forward to some insight from the members.
Eric in Orlando

[Kilroy]

Other than the next model? Naw. And even then the changes between production models  could and oftern are slight. black metal instead of shiny stainless, wood grain or no wood grain

[steven c]

I'm Not sure what the letters mean. Mine just says CSS 8 64 and I think it's around 1973 or so. I love the size of these they don't take up a lot of room and hold more than enough of what you put in it

Post some pictures when you get it.

[Tandemdad]

I got my new CSS-8-64J to the house today. It seems to be in pretty good shape, but I will wait a full 24 hours before plugging it in. The ebay seller told be it cooled really well, but when I picked it up, he said he never plugged it in to test it. He was relying on what the previous owner told him. I'm hoping for the best tomorrow when I plug it in.

The sign on the front shows forty cents. I studied the coin changer for quite awhile, but I cannot find anything that allow me to alter the price. Any thoughts on how that is accomplished?

It sat in my driveway for about one hour before I got to clean it up. I discovered on corner of the Clark Griswold wood grain was peeling. I seized the opportunity and gently tugged. The wood grain contact paper came off in large sheets. The bottom panel is painted black and looks decent. The upper panel will need to be painted.

I cleaned out a bunch of spider webs and spider eggs.

Someone cut the ground prong from the plug. I put a new plug on it.

I noticed the coin changer only has two tubes, but neither is big enough for quarters. Do nickels and dimes to be returmed to the buyer go in those tubes? Where do quarters go when a buyer inserts them?

I've attached a before pic (with the wood grain) and after pic (without it).

Looking forward to your helpful input (and hoping it fires right up tomorrow).

[Slapshot42]

I'm hoping for the best tomorrow when I plug it in.

The sign on the front shows forty cents. I studied the coin changer for quite awhile, but I cannot find anything that allow me to alter the price. Any thoughts on how that is accomplished?

You could of plugged it in before you paid for it?

As far as the coin mechanism remove the the slug rejectors and there are adjustments switch behind it.  You will see  the top square of the coin mechanism slides out...

The quarters go into the actual coin box in which the route collector would take.  The change tubes are so when you put too much money it gives you the difference back in dimes and or nickels...

[Slapshot42]

What is the coin mechanism make or model?  If it's a Vari Price or, Coinco I may have a manual...

[Tandemdad]

Thanks, Jared.
I realized that I'm missing the coin catcher. That explains where the coins go. Told you I was a newbie.
I didn't see any obvious markings on the coin mech to identify it. The last of my three picks above shows the mech. That may help you or others identify it.
As for the coin tubes, do nickels go in the taller tube and dimes in the shorter, or does it matter.
I will explore the adjustment switch you mentioned when I play with it tomorrow. Thanks again.

[Slapshot42]

Check with Pat Pixley a member on the site here he might have s coin box or bottle cap catcher!  His user name is Custom Soda Works...

[steven c]

Yours looks the same as mine. And your marquee may light up. The letters after the SN may have meaning to that? I'll add some pics that may help you know what to look for type of change Catcher and a pic of mine. It's still a work in progress and I need to get back to it after the holidays.

If you need any more pictures of something let me know. Oh btw both holders are for nickels.

[steven c]

If the pictures aren't big enough let me know.

[Tandemdad]

Thanks, Steven.

Good news. I plugged in my new machine this morning and was delighted to hear the sound of the compressor coming to life. Within 15 minutes, the temperature was down to the low thirties. It is cooling and cooling very well.

My wife and boys each paid 10 cents and got to enjoy an icy cold bottled coke. The boys are in their early twenties and had never used a machine like this one.

My son and I fiddled around with the coin mechanism for quite awhile. It readily accepts dimes, but nickels and quarters get stuck. They won't even break free with the coin return is pressed. It seems like they are getting misdirected. Any idea why they might be getting stuck?

We searched and searched for the toggle switches so we could adjust the price from 40 cents to 10 cents. We removed the entire coin mechanism and removed the metal cover on the back of the lower half of the mechanism. We discovered the circuit board. On the circuit board were four switches. Three were down and the far right one was up. I pushed it down and raised the second one. It now vends for 10 cents instead of 40 cents. Problem solved. I've attached a picture of the circuit board and the toggle switches for others to reference in the future. 

I relied on other comments found on this forum to learn how to remove the marquee sign. There were two screws on the underside of the sign (only accessible from inside the door and above the coin mechanism). Once we removed those two screws, the sign came off easily. The florescent bulb was clearly burned out. We replaced it, but nothing happened. We will try to replace the little starter tomorrow to see if that does the trick. The part I'm looking for is a Kinstar FS-2 14.15.20W with condenser. Hopefully Home Depot carries them. I've attached a picture of the fluorescent fixture for other users who encounter a similar issue.

I replaced the little light bulb that goes at the top of the vending door to illuminate the bottles. Someone in a posting on this forum suggested wearing rubber gloves to get a better grip in that tiny spot. That was a great suggestion.

Thanks to all of the members who've shared thoughts on this forum over the years. It has been helpful to solving several little problems.
Eric

[tkaz]

Home Depot does have the FS-2 starters, they are usually either with the lamp accessories (sockets/nipples/etc.) or over by all of the fluorescent ballasts.

As for the coins not falling through, pull out slug rejector, sounds like you already have, and give it a good scrubbing with some dish soap and warm water. Pull open the spring loaded areas and clean there too, let it air dry or blow it out with some compressed air then put it back in and see how it works. They tend to get gummed up over time.  There's a few other adjustments that can be made to the mech, but cleaning is the first step.

Here's the thread that has the exact coin mech price adjustments: http://soda-machines.com/discussions/index.php/topic,1138.0.html

[Tandemdad]

My son bought the FS-2 starter for the fluorescent bulb (lighted marquee sign) at Ace Hardware. We plugged it in and the bulb turned on. Problem solved.

Spider webs impaired the clarity of the glass panes on the door. We removed the door, removed the three panes of glass and cleaned them. The lower portion of the outermost pane was cracked in an area that wasn't visible until we disassembled it to clean it.  The old weatherstripping was as hard as a rock and cracked. We scraped the old weatherstripping off with a razor blades. We got a new pane of glass and new 3/4 inch weatherstripping and put it all back together. Except for some condensation on the outside of the glass, the glass is clear enough to see the bottles. Another problem solved.

There was a rust stain on the white paint below the bottle door. I made a paste of baking soda and vinegar and let it sit on the rust stain for 15 minutes. I scrubbed it with a non abrasive pad and the stain went away.

The hinges on my bottle door appear to be in good order, but there is no tension on the door and nothing springs the door back to a closed position. We close it now by just pushing it shut, but I seem to recall as a kid that these doors had tension on them. Is there supposed to be tension in the springs so that the door automatically closes?

Also, the coin mechanism buzzes rather loudly. When I remove the upper half (I don't know the technical term for that part, but I'm talking about the part where the coins enter and are ultimately redirected), I see three things in there with wires hooked to them. When I gently press two of them, the buzzing ceases. When I put the upper half back in place, the buzzing continues unless I press inward on the lower left corner of that upper half. Any ideas about why those things are buzzing and why the change mechanism isn't fitting firmly enough to keep them from buzzing?

I'm having a blast with this new machine. My family kept running out to the garage yesterday (Christmas Day) to buy more 10 cent cokes. I love my Christmas present to myself.

Thanks in advance for any input you can offer on the door hinge and the coin mechanism.

[MoonDawg]

       There are several posts on this site by Johnie G, relating to the C.R.E.M.'s that are buzzing. Remove them!

       The springs on your bottle door are both broken, but are available from sponsors on this site.

[steven c]

As said, sounds like your spings are broken. They should have tension.

Check your pm I got a question.

[Tandemdad]

I didn't take any pictures of the glass door as we worked on it. Below are a couple of pictures of the finished product. We removed the three screws that hold the metal plate in place. This plate slides out easily. One side of that plate has a lip that holds the glass in place so it doesn't fall out, but it doesn't have a backside. The inside of the metal door acts as the backside. We gently pried/lifted that plate and the three panes of glass came with it. There are no screws on the side of the door with the hinges (nothing holds the glass in place from that side of the door). There were two shorter plates on the top and bottom that squeezed the three panes together.

In one of the pictures below, you can see a tiny hole in the glass. There is an identical hole at the bottom of the pane. This is the pane that goes on the inside of the door closest to the bottles. The middle pane of glass had two corners that were cut differently (45 degrees instead of 90 degrees). The outside pane was slightly narrower than the other two (not sure why).

We used "narrow gap rubber tape open cell" weatherstripping (3/8" thick, 3/4" wide). We put the three panes and metal plate back into the section that has the hinges, and it was all done.

[Tandemdad]

I finally got a chance to work on my cantankerous coin mechanism last night. As indicated in previous posts, the mech accepted dimes, but nickels and quarters were getting stuck in the middle section behind the moveable green plate (the one with magnets).

I took the advice of other posters and decided it needed a good cleaning. I took a toothbrush and hot water and scrubbed here and there, but it still suffered from the same problems.

I then decided to dunk it in a special formula I use for cleaning antique clock movements. The solution has ammonia in it (and something else - can't recall at the moment). I scrubbed it real well with the solution and a toothbrush and got all sorts of residue off of it, especially in the area where the nickels and quarters were sticking. I dried it by dunking it in denatured alcohol which helps whisk away all moisture, then blew it dry with a hair dryer. After all of that, it was squeaky clean, but the coins were still sticking.

I examined the mechanism forever and discovered a screw which seems to create space where the moveable green plate touches the mechanism. I tightened that screw a tiny bit - a total of about 3/4 of a turn - but feared it would over tighten and do some damage if I tightened it further. The tightening did not create the space needed for the nickels and quarters to pass through. Thinking outside the box, I took a tiny piece of folded paper and stuck it between that screw and the green plate, dropped the coins in and, Shazam, it worked like a charm. The paper was not staying in place, so that was not a permanent, or even a viable temporary cure. I got my wife's hot glue gun and applied a dollop of hot glue to the screw and gently placed the green plate back in place. That solved the problem and now the coins slide through perfectly and it properly dispenses change. Quarters, nickels, and dimes are now welcomed. The hot glue dollop can be easily pulled off it needed.

I need input from JohnnieG or the other folks who are smarter about this stuff than I am. If I keep tightening that screw (the one in the attached picture with the shiny dollop of hot glue), would it provide the necessary clearance for the nickels and quarters? I suspect that is the permanent cure, but I wanted to make sure before I started tightening too much and regretted it. Thanks for your input.

[Tandemdad]

It is time to provide an update on the progress I've made on my CSS-8-64J.

I finally finished the painting, got the marquee light working, fixed a broken pane of glass on the bottle door and replaced the weatherstripping on the door panes, replaced the hinges on the bottle door, and got the change mechanism working wonderfully and set it to 10 cents (the dollop of hot glue is allowing the coins to slide through perfectly and it is dispensing correct change). The machine is fully stocked and functioning wonderfully.

I opted to remove the wood grain contact paper that was on the front. By doing that, I exposed the underbelly which was black and discolored (reddish/pinkish paint). I decided to cover that whole section with red paint and chose to paint most of the remainder of the front red, too. I kept the bottle door white.

I'm still trying to figure out how to get replacements for the indicator lights that light up the "make selection" and "use correct change" screen on the front panel. They're 120 VAC (not sure of the wattage). I cannot find a suitable replacement or alternative.

I'm loving this new addition to my garage. Now I just have to convince my wife that it needs to move into the house with us. 
   

[Ben]

Looks Great! I've got a 64 waiting for restoration. This makes me want to get started.

[steven c]

You have looking good, well done.