Learning from failure.

[Pixel]

I checked out a USS-64 yesterday afternoon. It looked fair in the pictures, but when I got there it was a total wreck. Large rusty dings on the outside, with the piece de resistance being the lower left corner rusted through. It was rather nasty on the inside, but somewhat rusty too. The front door seemed like it might have deformed in some way-the bottle door didn't want to close for one of the screws in it rubbing against the frame of the main door. I don't know if the problem was with the bottle door or main door, but it didn't look good whichever.

The machine didn't cool properly either. Although it supposedly did the last time it was plugged in and all that static.

I felt the seller wanted too much with all the problems so I passed.

While it was rather frustrating, I do think I can learn some things from the experience.

The seller said the machine had a new compressor on it. It was a Copeland, and from the way she talked the compressor itself was less than $100, which frankly sounded rather cheap to me. Are Copeland compressors generally made well? I read part of the number off of it, it was "AE26" something, I think. That may not be enough to tell anything about it. That sounds like a Tecumseh number, though I don't have much experience with compressors.

We went ahead and plugged it in. After about ten minutes, the air was about only "sort of cool", it wasn't nearly freezing like I would have expected. She brought out a couple of cans of R134a, one with a short fill line like you might find on a basketball pump. I wasn't able to tell if the new compressor even took R134a, but I told her I wouldn't put any of it in there. I'm not a licensed refrigerant technician, so naturally I wasn't about to try it. I do know however you can't just squirt freon into a running system and get a good result. I'm rather doubtful it's even safe.

There were three or four wire nuts tying wires together in the compressor deck. Is it okay to use wire nuts as a long term solution to splice wires in a coke machine compressor deck like that?

[tkaz]

Always better off to pass on a basket-case then spend a ton of money trying to get it fixed.  I don't know much about the compressor, but I wouldn't mess around with a hodge-podge system.  Wire nuts are just fine as long as it stays indoors, if you think about it, they are in every outlet in your house.

[Pixel]

Well I thought to myself "If it cools I might make an offer and chance it, even . Maybe I could patch the body well enough to use until I could find a better machine to swap out the front parts." When it wouldn't cool, that was it.

I suspect the replacement compressor used R134a, but the capillary tube was not changed. On the later Cav 64, is the capillary tube that large round cylindrical section of tube bolted to at a slight angle to the evaporator shroud? If that's it, it looks like it was probably the original.

[Creighton]

Just do what you are comfortable with. USS-64's are darn good machines.
Light up sign, relays, switches and such have a strong part out value.
Creighton

[Pixel]

Just do what you are comfortable with. USS-64's are darn good machines.
Light up sign, relays, switches and such have a strong part out value.
Creighton

I've owned a CSS, and I'll say it again-I don't think you can ask for a better (original) cooling system, especially in a square top. I'm under the impression the later USS machines aren't quite as well-made as the earlier ones, but still pretty solid nonetheless.

Sadly, the later ones usually do not have the lighted sign, at least not the 64's. The USS have a fluorescent tube light in the bottle door, I'm guessing Cavalier decided that was good enough. Strangely, I've seen a few more later USS-96's with lighted signs. I have no idea why.

I've thought of parting machines out before, but I'm not sure it's something I could handle.

It's so difficult to find one in decent condition for anything approaching a reasonable price. I realize these machines aren't going to be mint, they're at least 30 years old. So far I haven't found one in as good a shape as the CSS was when I bought it, that was priced reasonable.

[Creighton]

My take and it is only that . Is buy these machines while you can. No idea what asking price is but. Under a $200 is a deal.
Creighton
 

[Pixel]

While I agree that it's wise to get these machines while the gettin's good-these are certainly difficult to find around here-my resources are rather limited to
take many chances. I called myself looking for one in functional or at least cooling condition, with a straight body and no rust through. A few dings here and there
are to be expected, of course. It would probably actually be better for using if the machine were in less than original condition, don't have to worry so much about
it getting dinged up or something.

To me, it's hard to see ~$200 in a beat up, rusty USS-64 with a bad corner, and a failed cooling system. It didn't even seem safe to buy for the parts I would've
wanted-the lower bottle door hinge was rusty, and something was stopping that door from closing properly.

I'm still curious about Copeland compressors. Were they ever used by a machine manufacturer? Are they better, worse, or about the same as say, a Tecumseh unit?