Vmc-56 refrigeration system

[BryanH]

I took my refrigeration system out and cleaned it thoroughly.  Replaced the wiring harness and replaced all the cracked and/or brittle wires.  Carefully put it together watching for polarity.  Seems to work ok.  I'm getting frost on the top evap coil within 3 minutes and within 10 I had the whole back row frosting (see pic).

I have a few questions -

#1 - both fans are blowing towards the back.  They are not blowing air through the coils (which is what I expected)? Instead they are drawing air from the front; through the evaporator and condenser coils.   Is this correct or did I mess up the polarity of the fans?

#2 - based on an open bench setting can you determine how well the system is cooling by the time it takes to frost? or some other measure?  Before I started tearing it apart it cooled to about 40F.  I'm hoping that with a good cleaning I'll be able to drop it to the low 30s? Was wondering if there is any way to guage this before I reassemble everything?

Just a newbie here talking, but why would you want lower 30's, wouldn't that freeze your drinks and make them explode? I have always heard that 40 degrees is just perfect.

[BryanH]

Markito - it's just personal preference for ice cold cerveza when it hits 115F (I live in AZ).  In the winter months we keep it warmer but in the summer, especially for parties, it's nice to take them out frosty.

Would also like to know that the machine has some room to play in its' temp range.

[Paul M.]

On the polarity thing...  Its AC.  So it doesn't matter.  And the fans should pull air from the front of the machine and blow it out the back.  So things are working right.  Good job!

On the cooling...  Someone else mentioned in another thread that you can't gage the cooling capacity on the bench.  And I can see why.  Factors such as air flow, humidity, and air temperature will play a major role in how much and how fast frost accumulates on the coils.  Best to check it with a thermometer and installed in the cabinet.  There is also something called a "precool capacity."  I'm really not sure on this but I think it has something to do with the minimum number of drinks that need to be in the machine in order to cool to its proper temperature.  Something about the volume of displaced air.

[joesquid]

Yep,
  Gotta get the compressor back in the machine to test it properly.  It was designed to cool down the interior volume space of the coke machine, not your garage (discovered this the hard way...makes sense in hindsight haahaa!).  Also, "precool capacity" deals with the number of bottles that could be "stored" in the machine for refill purposes.  Back in the day, bottle machines were designed with extra room to store bottles in the bottle compartment.  That way they stayed cold and when it came time to refill the machine, those bottles would go in first then fresh, warm bottles to complete the refill, then restock the precool area for next time.  In fact, Kita, on your Vendo 216, there should be two shelves attached to the left and right sides of the bottle compartment that you use to stack your precool bottles.

[joesquid]

Here's a pic to describe what I was talking about concerning "precool capacity".  Note the shelves (circled).  You stack precool bottles there just like you stack the ones in the bottle racks.....of course, in my case, I don't have enough money to put 144 bottles in my machine PLUS the 87 bottle precool capacity. '>

[joesquid]

Oops.

[BrianB]

Absolutely nothing to do with the original questions but, That's an awesome looking machine Eric!!!!  '>

[Kevin C]

Hello

Just picking up on this thread.

Yes the fan motors pull air across the two coils to allow for the heat transfer.  The lower coil down by the compressor transfers heat & the upper coil/evaporator transfers cold to the air. This is a simplistic overveiw. If you want a more detail explanation let me know.

If after cleaning the coils & replacing the fan motors your cooling system frosts up as you described it is working correctly. There is not way to test the operation for the cooling when it is out of the machine.

Kevin

Quote (joesquid @ Feb. 09 2005,3:40)

In fact, Kito, on your Vendo 216, there should be two shelves attached to the left and right sides of the bottle compartment that you use to stack your precool bottles. Note the shelves (circled).  You stack precool bottles there just like you stack the ones in the bottle racks.....of course, in my case, I don't have enough money to put 144 bottles in my machine PLUS the 87 bottle precool capacity.

Eric, I didn't know you had a V-144! How wonderful, now I finally have a relative and don't feel so alone with my V-216MD!

Actually, as you will see from the following photo, there is no room for pre-cool shelves, because the entire interior is filled with vending chutes. Hence the capacity of 216 drinks.
They replaced the sheves with chutes on the V-216MD (Multi-Drink) model.

By the way, the interior of your machine is amazing, it looks brand new! Can we see pics of the exterior too? I look forward to chatting with you at some point.