SMC Discussion Areas

I was wondering how to replace the light bulb behind the Have a Coke sign on the front. I see the wires going up there and I have no idea on how to get to it.

As far as the rest of the restoration, the front door wont close properly, and I think it is because the lock doesn't line up with the brackets correctly. Has anyone had this problem before? I would appreciate further advice before I attempt to hammer the brackets into place.

I also had to remove the entire power cord after it shorted out my garage 4 or 5 times and I found the plastic molded junction box. Do I need to find something similar or can I just ghetto rig it with one from a hardware store.

Last question, I currently cannot test whether the coin mech works properly. I messed with it for about 5 mins before the power cord became useless, and my dimes didn't do anything. Until I get power back I cant really do much with that but I was wondering if I could free vend to get around that problem, if it even exists.

Thanks to anyone who just read all of that and I can post pics if anyone needs to see my problems in order to help

Picture of your problem the light It has been a while  but there should be screws on the side of the door or I think the bottom of the sign. 

There should be two screws under the sign. The coin bezel lifts up (its Hinged at the top) and you can get to the screws from there. Then you have to gently pry the sign out from the bottom. There are two pins at the top that keep it in place. attached is a picture of a solid metal sign from a 64C although this is not a lighted sign the mounting is the same. You can see where the two screws are at the bottom and the pins at the top. I hope this helps.

Thanks Josh , Just could not remember it has been awhile sence I've had a Cav.64 :tounge:

This is the machine I am getting the info from I can't remember is this is a C or not. Does yours look like this one? It has been a while for me too. I built this machine in early 2005.

YES! This is my machine. I did remove those screws and I couldnt pry it loose. Is there a more accurate way to say where to pry than at the bottom? Here is a pic of where I removed the screws from.

You just have to get it loose. The bottom of the sign holds to the machine with the pressure where the screws were. I would take a large straight screwdriver and cover it with a shop rag and gently pry it out directly above where the screws were. Just be careful.

I have a Cav CS-80C, I replaced the light like you'r attempting to do, there are 2 screws underneath      the light fixture does pivit up and slide out,      the problem is the fixture has sat in there for a long time and gets sticky with the seal. A flat screwdriver slowly prying from the bottom will open it up so you can slide it out slowly

All right thanks with the help getting it out. It finally came out and I replaced the bulb and the starter, and I was not able to fit it back in by myself. Any tips as to how to get the sign back in. I had an idea to have another person help hold and push up but there might be a better way.

The sign is mostly held in by the pressure of the bottom lip of the sign. I would just slightly bend the bottom lip of the sign up to help ease it in. Even if it is a little loose once you put the screws in it will tighten. Make sure you just barely bend it or the screw holes and threads will not line up

Ok thanks for all the help with the sign, It is working and back where it needs to be. Also during this time I got my electrical problems fixed and now I realized that the coin mech isnt working. I know NOTHING about these starting with how to tell what kind it is. I can take a picture of the label and post if anyone can help. The front door still needs tweaking to get it into the correct spot but other than that most of the problems have been solved.

I'll tell you  Johnie G  is the man for electric coin mechs , he does charge but he does great work.
 you will want to contact him .

Ok the model number for mine is D11002 and the serial number is 92428 and it is National Rejectors Inc. The problem is that the coins enter but they get stuck in the machine and do not activate the dogs to operate. It could just need cleaning or I think it might need a new solenoid. I hope this helps if anyone can help me

The coins are probably getting stuck in the rejector. Remove the rejector, prop open the gate and run it though the dishwasher.

Alright so aside from the coin mech stuff, my machine is shorting out my garage again.... I started to isolate if it is a wire and after I cut the wire to the thermostat, it worked. So I am wondering where I could get a new thermostat if I need to

Funtronics has them. While you are at it you might as well replace the fan motors.

how often do the fan motors die? I mean I know its old but what is the life of one

Correctly maintained from day one they might never die. If you are going to the effort to fix a machine replacing the fans is inexpensive and just a good idea from a saftey standpoint.
Creighton
 

 The fan motors may be good today but go bad in a week  or could never go bad at all But while you  are there in that area  you may as well as replace both of them it is just a good pratice to get into doing when you have the original fan motors. :smile:

Will funtronics also have them, I briefly looked and found the thermostat on there. Knowing the type of motor would would also help.

For the record, I do not plan on replacing the fan motors now because money has become an issue. On a better note, I fixed the door problem today. Whoever put that door locking bar on there last time messed up, they put it on backwards and the tightened it in the incorrect location. The front door now closes.

When you call and talk to Janet let her know that you need both fan motors for your Cav 64
 and they can set you up. :smile:

Ok finally discovered more problems,

Now when we plug it in it causes a ground fault just to the outlet, it does not trip the breaker inside.

We isolated the following items,

The thermostat works fine
The evaporator and condensor fans work
There is a new service cord and all wires work
Coils on the compressor work
Started to test the switches

Now we also tried to hook the compressor motor to the outlet with jumper cables (sort of) and we got nothing

I really hope that it isnt the compressor motor but something still is not working.
One last question
What should be the ohm reading on the compressor?

Please if anyone can help, it has been a great experience so far

Where are you located? I may have a spare cooling system if it is dead. It is not the exact system but it will work.

Let someone else chime in to confirm this first but I would try a 3 in 1 starter before declaring the compressor dead.

Im in South East Wisconsin, so yeah...the whole thing did work for a bit in my possession so I really have no clue.

I think there was something posted awhile back about plugging into a GFI outlet.. Mine seem to work fine, but I believe there was a discussion about not using a gfi outlet..

Most old soda machines have excessive leakage current to ground/earth due to deteriorated wiring insulation both in the wiring harnesses & the internal windings of the compressor motor itself, some machines chug-along just fine until a evaporator circulation motor or condenser cooling fan motor gets wet or damp & "CLICK"  , Your compressor seems to have developed a problem, so don't be surprised if your GFI protected outlet trips.

Every compressor has a different Ohms reading for the start vs the run winding, (as measured from the common terminal)  but generally speaking, the start winding is typically double the run windings reading, see the attached diagram for an example, hope it helps...

That makes sense . So the first step troubleshooting is try an unprotected outlet. 

Good info there JohnieG. Thanks!!
Creighton

Ok so once again I the soda machine gods blessed me with a simple fix. When we rewired it, 2 hot wires accidently crossed so that's what caused the ground fault.

Lets see how long it takes for something else to happen.... :hopefull:

Good news "Sparky"   :tounge:

Sparky, eh? Actually one of the more creative nicknames Ive had in a while. When I find the time I will post some good pics of the machine

So as promised, a couple of pics.

Overall I spent $400 on the machine, $15 on a new service cord, $10 for a new florescent bulb and starter, and lots of man hours.