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Author Topic: survior? uss-12-96  (Read 4507 times)
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sh0rtlife
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« on: May 31, 2018, 06:16:06 pm »

so 2 weeks ago i got my first machine while my wife was out of town, i paid 50$ as is, was NOT looking for a machine..it was simply outside of a nearby business i happened to drive by up on a pallet with a sign 50$ AS IS..i let it sit there for a couple days then something nagged me to go back and check on it...it was still there

story was the machine went into this warehouse when the warehouse was built and never left..was used for a long time and then sat as a "lunch cooler" for the guys then went up on a pallet and floated around the shop for a long time, aperantly it had a sister machine that was a coke product of some kind that got sold off a few years ago...as often as i drive past this place i cant say i ever saw it, keys were in the machine but its status was unknown and they said we wont even plug it in, at 50$ i figured id drag it home and worst case gut it and use it as a storage locker for my shop manuals

on getting it home i realised it was nice..really nice just a lil dirty....knowing ZERO about vending machines, but fond memorys of being a kid going into mores autp the ONLY auto parts place my parents used and my memory is of this same style machine..but maybe the wood grain model and ALWAYS getting some pepsi product out of it..tho i dont think that machine was pepsi

anyway i took it off my bike trailer and hauled it round back to my shop and started fiddling with it..dug around the net which led me here but took a week to get a gm to authorize my account, plugged it in and no air blowing but the compressor was on, and got the condenser so cold it was freezing over...the coinco was not registering nickles and was hit n miss on dimes, most of the stack wasnt vending, and a couple of the "vend lock" tabs were bent to  vend empty, sometimes the stack would jamb and not vend at all, 2 shelves missing but otherwise complete not even missing the coil catch or drip tray..just a couple stack springs and the 2 shelves

i set out to do a final check before cleanup , and found a small unopened apple sauce container in the upper fan unit..pulled that and the unit started to cool, all the way down to 32deg but would fluctuate up to upper 40s ..at this point i decided it was time to do a deep cleaning pulled the stack the shelves ..everything but the cooling unit, and found its build date etc

the pics shown are PRIOR to cleaning

after much fiddling and tinkering with very little help from the net..i got the coinco working and seeing nickles, even managed to "fool" it so that it drops everything into the coin box, and while i considered "free vend" i think that takes away from the "experiance" of these machines...HOWEVER i have come up with a simple design im going to fab up later so that all coins will go thru, trigger, and then get "returned" so that i dont need to keep a stock of change neer the machine, just a single coin in the return, next i turned my attention to the stack..with it out, fixed the tabs lubed a few bits and made some adjustments, it now works like new, after 2 days of cleaning everything i even cut the seal on the glass to try and remove the calcium? deposits from the inside with neer zero luck(if anyone has a suggestion for cleaning the glass im all ears to try ANYTHING) with the glass apart if i cant get it truely cleaned ill get 2 new sheets cut and re-glue them to the double pain casing(the glue used is basicly ultra black rtv), lastly wa the cooling, and by now id gotten into this site to post questions, the t-stat was "functional" but wild, being very mechanicly inclinded i tore it apart and found the contacts were sooo worn thin that it might not be saveable, adjusting the cut points helped marginaly but didnt solve it so i picked up a cheep new t-stat for now with the plan to find a genuine ranco unit so i can put all the stock plastic parts back on it(or swap just the contacts and springs into the old unit), a new bulb was required as was a new starter for the ballast

at this point the machine hums along like it should with ZERO faults, the seals are nice, theres ZERO rust, a couple very minor scratches and very VERY small dings, no missing hardware..the "big" dent in the marque i managed to work out by hand even....while replacing the t-stat i had to carve down a screwdriver to get down in there to the bracket for the coiling of the probe..talk about a tight fit




























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sh0rtlife
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« Reply #1 on: May 31, 2018, 06:37:22 pm »

i have run into 1 issue ive yet to figure out....the bottle opener doesnt reach/work...the bezzle is bent, ive straightened it as much as i can but i think the remaineder of its slight tweak is keeping the bottles from going in completely, i removed the opener itself and used it by hand..it works as intended..i wonder if it is bent some how.....i also noticed it has a molded in "spacer" at the bottom of it which is angling it up more exagerating the probled...wrong bottle opener?...i put washers under the top to mach said molded in spacer and it "helps" but its no fix..its still way to too far off....so looking for help on how to fix this as well as how to pull the bezzel..it looks like its just folded over tabs?...right now im thinking of pulling the bottle opener and grinding off the molded in spacer and leaving the washers at the top for a better angle

heres pics of it after cleanup...no waxes, no polish nothing special just soap n water...course i did use bar keeprs best friend of the galvinized guts

fret not while it looks like its in a car port..it is but its an enclosed one, while i was skeptical of how my wife would receive it..after her second bottle of beer out of it she said it really needs to be in the livening room to be appreciated so it will move in SOON

in the end damage, scratch n ding count is(since none of em are dents), 1 dime size blister and tiny rub mark on lower left, small blemish below the door, x scratch and chip out of marque(which we would KILL to get a lighted face for not the guts just the face), slight bow to the marque, and a couple of blemishes in the coin door, 2 missing shelves/dividers, calciumed glass

something tells me i got REALLY lucky for a first machine

the only mods i intend to do, is possibly make a new coin box/return unit that will bolt in place of the coin return tin so that ALL coins are returned, and change the marque out for a lighted on if i can find one, and hot glue magnets to the selectors for poping in bottle caps cause thats just brilliant!!!!

for those of you doing free vend..you guys should make a bracket thats held in place behind the coin return face and uses the coin return plunger to push the switch..i considered it










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Eric
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« Reply #2 on: May 31, 2018, 07:25:14 pm »

Nice machine....looks really clean! great score... you're gonna need another one to keep it company!... that's how it works smile
Congrats and welcome to the site!  happydrinkers
« Last Edit: June 01, 2018, 07:38:42 am by Eric » Logged

Eric

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SodaShopNick
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« Reply #3 on: May 31, 2018, 07:40:16 pm »

Eric is right, it will soon have a friend.....it's just how it works.   Welcome to the site and for $50 it is a great deal!
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Slider-Bob
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« Reply #4 on: May 31, 2018, 08:19:58 pm »

That’s a nice buy on your first machine! Congrats! I can tell you my first machine wasn't nearly as nice or functional as yours!

And you did a great write up of how you acquired it, along with many pictures (we love pics!)

Keep up the good work, and welcome to the site!
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ajf5577
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Andy


« Reply #5 on: May 31, 2018, 10:54:19 pm »

I agree, that’s a fantastic find.
I’ll give you a $50.00 profit if you ever want to sell it. biggrin
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mygoose101
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« Reply #6 on: May 31, 2018, 11:01:38 pm »

I love the coin entry bezel on that machine.
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Ryengoth
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« Reply #7 on: June 01, 2018, 11:40:16 am »

Nice score! I traded for my DN Coke machine and had similar luck with it. I would have preferred that Cav style, especially Pepsi. Wanna trade?  laugh
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sh0rtlife
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« Reply #8 on: June 12, 2018, 04:38:54 pm »

still hummin along like it should, and its been emptied and fully restocked twice.....my wife LOVES the hell out of it...she went and got a 6pack of IPA and loaded it into the machine to drink that night with a statement of "i have to, its just too much fun not to"

but the bottle opener i just cant seem to get to work....yeah weird right?, ive milled off the raised nub behind the bottom center screw hole and its "better" instead of not working 100%of the time its now got like a 50/50 chance

im open to suggestions of an opener i can stick in where the old one is/was that will work every time

im also on a hunt for some flip top bottles for home brew that will fit it
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