Vendo 144

No problem 'Kito...it's gone ...JohnieG

O.k., here we go (some of you have seen it before):

I’m restoring a ’56 144 and am looking for a few things.
First of all I need a relay to replace the P&B SP1118-3 relay.  I have a flash cube relay that will work, but would like to find something closer to original.

The light bulb sockets need replacing, and leviton won’t sell them to me.  Any ideas on where I can get a replacement?

The coin bezel is in real need of re-chroming.  Does anybody know of a company that is good?  The plating is pitted, can it be buffed down and re-plated, or should it be replaced?

Where can I find a masonite sign that goes on the front.  It seems that this is one of the first things to go bad.  I’ll settle for a good digital photograph, or a temporary replacement, till I can find an original one.

Thanks,
Dave Best

[joesquid]

Dave,
  Welcome to the forum!!  We'll try to help as much as we can.  I recently restored a Vendo 144E (textured metal plate on the door instead of the masonite sign).  You can see pics of in the SMC Photo Gallery here  Vendo 144E aka Frankenstein's Monster

If you have any restoration questions, feel free to ask.  I'll answer your intial questions as best I can, hopefully there are others in the forum that will also chime in:

1.  The vending relay can be bought aftermarket from Funtronics (see contact info in the parts suppliers list on this website).  It's item 9d in the company's catalog.  This is the relay alone.  If you're missing the entire relay/contact assembly, you'll have to find someone parting out a Vendo 144 or a Vendo 80 (possibly a Vendo 216 single brand vendor might work too).

2.  I have also had problems finding the lightbulb sockets and, again, had to find someone parting out a machine.  Perhaps someone on this forum can assist.

3.  The coin bezel may be able to be rechromed.  I had mine done by Speed and Sport plating in Houston (713)-921-0235 and I've heard Atlas Plating, also in Houston, (713)-697-3134 does great work.  What I liked about Craig at Speed and Sport is that he'll call you before he does any work to let you know if he thinks he can provide a quality plating job.  Some bezels just can't be saved. If yours is in too bad of shape, look for a replacement via ebay.  One guy, "sodaparts" regularly sells them.  A coin entry bezel from a Vendo 81D, Vendo 80, and I think a Vendo 110 will work.  The only thing to look for is the "exact change / sold out" window.  Some bezels have a divider that separates the window, some don't.  If you need a replacement window (the actual plastic piece) I may have a couple of NOS ones laying around.

4.  The Masonite sign will be difficult to locate.  Your assumption is correct, they're generally missing from the early machines and I don't know of anyone replecating them.  Unfortunately the Vendo 144 is not one of the "beloved" roundtops because of it's size, therefore there's not a big aftermarket for them.  The saving grace is that the Vendo 80 (little brother of the 144) is somewhat more popular and many of the parts are interchangeable between the two.  One place you might try (although I can't honestly recommend them, perhaps you'll have better luck) is Antiquities Vending (one of the sponsors for this site).  Their banner/link is usually found on the homepage for this website.  The company claims to have the largest collection of vintage machines on the planet and say they can replecate almost any part.  Perhaps they have a couple of extra signs?  Also, try Byal Brothers out of Indiana (765)-675-8999, i've had good luck with them in the past.

Hope this helps.  Also, if you need a new door-to-cabinet wire harness, I make replacement harnesses.  For some reason, none of the aftermarket groups are doing these.  If you need a replacement compressor wiring harness, you can get those from Funtronics or Vintage Vending (both listed in the parts suppliers page on this website).

Sorry for jumping into this one late guys but I just now got around to reading it.  I thought I'd echo 'kito's earlier post about vending cans from his 144.  I found that my V-80 was also capable of vending cans with no modification as long as the cans were stacked to the near side of the bottle rack.  

On a happy note, it looks like the paint shop is done with the V-80 and I'll be picking it up next week.  Eric at Global Compressors and I tried an experiment to see how feesible it is for him to handle total machine restoration in addition to the refrigeration equipment.  I must say I'm impressed (as I always am with Eric and his work).  So far this has been an awesome experience and I have no complaints at all.  We'll see how it goes, but Eric may be the new go-to guy for complete machine overhauls.

I'll keep you guys posted with photos as the cabinet comes home and the guts go back in.  I still need to break down the bottle stack and hit it with the hammerite (sp?) paint but the rest of the restoration is just about complete now.

A J

Joe,

Thanks for the advice.  I was looking at your machine, and it looks great.  What did you paint/plate the racks with?  It looks like the original plating was zinc.

What is the green plating that is on so many parts?

Any ideas on what slug rejecters can interchange with others?

Thanks,
Dave

[joesquid]

Dave,
Thanks for the compliment, I was pretty proud of that one too.  My wife was just happy to see it done and gone (but I have six more HAHHAAAHHAAAAA!!!)  Now to answer your questions:

1.  Paint - The bottle rack assembly and "tub" were all galvanized steel.  I sanded the galvanized coating off (before I knew better) but saved myself by painting everything with Rustoleum "Hammertone" Silver spray paint.  I know it sounds cheap, but it's GREAT paint for use in an environment like the inside of a coke machine, and you saw the results yourself.  It's a cheap (but very effective) alternative to zinc plating.  I'm also conducting a six month test on this paint.  Read the latest here:
Rustoleum vs Krylon paint test

2.  Not sure what you mean by green parts.  The only green on that machine  is the "refresh yourself" sign on the door.  Can you clarify please?

3.  The slug rejector is the removable upper half of the coin mech.  Is that what you mean or the whole coin mech in general?  As far as interchangeability (is that really a word?) with the coin mech, any coin mech that has a nine-pin jones plug (two rows of eight spade-type connectors with one, round single connector in between) will work in the machines.  The most used models are COINCO, MARS, and NATIONAL REJECTOR (NRI).  Does this answer your question?

Hope this helps!

[loman4ec]

The greenish plating is yellow cadmium.

Joe,

I’ve played with Rust-Oleum cold galvanizing compound (7584).  It seems to coat well, but doesn’t give the impression of wear resistance.  It has a rough texture when applied, and was easily removed by rubbing it with my thumb.  It might be serviceable with a clear coat.

As for the green coating, it’s on the neck guides, roller shafts, and rollers (where not coated in rubber).  Since I’m going to vend cans in this machine, I think I can use Rust-Oleum spruce green (7737).

Thanks Ioman4ec for the answer.  

The door liner has a hole in it (aprox ½”) any suggestions on fixing it?  I’m thinking of using fiberglass mat on the back, and fill the front with Bondo, then using the plastic paint available from various companies.  Know of a better way to repair it?

The bottom of the inner tub also has some holes due to rust.  I’m thinking of using fiberglass there too, but I’m wondering what to do with the condensation line from the bottom.  It looks like it was sweated in place, and re-soldering it would mess up the epoxy used with the fiberglass.  Is there a compression fitting that could take the place of the sweated joint?

With the slug rejectors/changer, is there any modifications wit respect to mounting, coin boxes, etc. necessary when changing manufactures?

Also, in your test plan to evaluate Krylon vs. Rust-Oleum, you prepared 4 shelves.  2 were sanded with sandpaper, two were scrubbed.  But during the wear testing, you didn’t load the shelves with the same product.  (Ie.krylon unfinished had 12 oz plastic bottles, and Rust-Oleum unfinished had 12 oz glass bottles.)  How can you truly compare wear resistance?

Thanks,
Dave

[joesquid]

Dave,

1.  Galvanic compound doesn't wear very well, it's not scratch resistant.  The Rustoleum "Hammertone" products are designed to be (and are) VERY wear resistant and also have a nice finished appearance.

2.  I don't know of any good way to repair a plastic door liner and no one makes them for the Vendo 144.  I know some people have had a machine shop cut a thin steel plate to size and replace the plastic door liner with that.  You can paint it flat black and it'll also last longer.  I don't know if anyone has tried one for a machine this size though.  Hopefully someone can provide more input.

3.  Why not try replacing the condensate joint first then do the remainder of the tub repairs?  Actually, some pics might help some of this group offer some repair ideas.

4.  As long as you're using a coin mech with a jones plug, there should be no issues between models.  They're all relatively the same size and all have hanger slots punched in the same location on the back of the coin mech.

5.  Here's the first post where I brought up the idea of the test and listed the protocols and boundaries of the test environment.  Rustoleum vs Krylon test parameters

hope this helps some.  Post some pics of your project, we'd love to see your baby!

[BrianB]

I think I may be able to help with the door liner issue. I just got done not to long ago restoring my door liner for my Cavalier 55D with great success. For any large cracks that have appearred, I went overboard and used epoxy and cut-to-fit peices of really thin (1/16" thick) of Plexiglass. These patches were applied on the backside or non-show side of the liner. This was especially effective for long cracks.

Now for missing peices/holes in the body of the liner, I still used the same method except this time knowing it would be used as a backer for some fiberglass filler. I filled the holes and sanded them down smooth.

As far as paint goes, I used primer suitable for doing bumper/autobody plastic repair. For a final coat I used a version of "Bumper Magic" semi-gloss black paint. I was stunned at results!!! Here's some pictures of my restored liner next to an old liner that was in the same condition as my restored one was.