SMC Discussion Areas

Hello,

I’m new to the forum, so I hope I am posting in the best category. My Cavalier has been a great running machine since I bought it about a year ago. I cleaned it well and repainted front access door. The rest was in excellent condition.  It cools and operates well using the original coin mech that maxes out at $.20. I have everything else working normally on the machine except the two lights mentioned in the subject line. Even the “use exact change” light now works. I know the two malfunctioning lights are connected in some way. I have tried different bulbs, but it doesn’t make a difference. What would you advise? Also, my handle for the cooler access was misused previously and ultimately needs to be replaced. Where would I find one of these? Thank you!

Chad

these setups are basically a stripped down overhead florescent light , but the OLD type, so you have a starter for each bulb and a ballast for each bulb. ballasts almost never die and when they do they usually let all their guts out and smock and stink..lets just say if it went youd know, the starter is the lil round cylinder about the size of a stack of nickles...these go bad , but are PICKY you have to make sure you put the right amp/volt unit

now picking the right starter isnt just matching numbers to the old one, as ive found myself having to step up or down a number due to newwer bulb draws, if you change out the starter with the machine ON and the light flickers but wont start go up in number, if it only flickers when putting the starter in and then does nothing you need to go up even more, i learned this on old beer signs

you can "jump" across the starter wires with a couple screwdrivers and just tap them together to test that the system is functional...if you get nothing then youve got a power source issue or a ballast issue

Hello & welcome to the SMC discussion forums,

the “Have a Coke” lamp is a basic night light sized incandescence bulb usually between 4-7 watts & 120 volts with a edison type candelabra screw base, the size is often referred to a a C7 lamp, however a 120volt/6watt/S6 lamp is also used in these machines as it somewhat smaller size fits better in tight indicator type lamp holders, as the C7 size is quite a bit bigger in diameter.

Hello & welcome to the SMC discussion forums,

the “Have a Coke” lamp is a basic night light sized incandescence bulb usually between 4-7 watts & 120 volts with a edison type candelabra screw base, the size is often referred to a a C7 lamp, however a 120volt/6watt/S6 lamp is also used in these machines as it somewhat smaller size fits better in tight indicator type lamp holders, as the C7 size is quite a bit bigger in diameter. ... it is controlled by a switch down at th bottom of the bottle vending stack,  if it’s not lighting up after you put the correct amount of coins in the machine, I’d start there.

Is the Bottle port light ( you referred to it as the Cold bay” light  :upside:   ... is it located at the top or along the side of the bottle port ? If at the top, it’s the same as the “Have a Coke “ light but it gets its power from the wiring harness inside the coinmech socket area usually on most ‘60’s machines.

If it’s along the side it’s probably a florescent light behind a glass or plastic protective window. Some (as previously mentioned) use a starter and Ballast setup, but some economy’ models still used a manual “Push to start”  switch located typically just above the inside/top center of the bottle port, if all of the components are good, you just push & release th switch until the lamp lights up.   

Sorry if the explanation sounds a little academic, but I like to be technical. Again welcome to the site ( both of you) & stick around, we have fun here  :biggrin: