Newbie help cav cs-142e

Hello all. New member on here and I need some help.  I just came into possession of a Cavalier CS-142E.   It appears to be in good shape, the compressor kicks on with no problem and the unit stays nice and cool. All parts seem to be operating smoothly except I can't get the bottle release to, well, release.  

I've been scouring the net for a copy of the manual to Download or purchase.  But so far I've had no luck.  Ideally I would like to simpy ignore the coin mechanism and have the bottle release perma-unlocked.  Is this possible with this machine?  I have seen what appears to be dip switches inside the coin mechanism, but I haven't been able to discern their affect.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

Mark Leachman

[Kevin C]

Mark

Welcome to the SMC.

Can you post a picture?

Kevin

[90grad]

DarkKermit,

Welcome here!  There a lot of great people with a ton of info to help.  I believe the dip switches you are referring to on the coin mechanism are used to set the price.  If you are unsure of what the mech is set at, get a bunch of nickels and keep dropping them to see at what price the mech trips the vending solenoid.  I don't have the paper in front of me, but I believe the first dip switch is for 5 cents.  On this switches, down is off and up is on.  So, maybe if you turned them all off except the first one, it would be set for a nickel.  Others can correct me if I messed up.

Thanks for the welcome guys.  Please excuse my lack of knowledge, especially terminology.  Is the "vending solenoid" the mechanism that would release a bottle after appropriate payment?

Currently no amount of money going through the coin mech is triggering a release.

As far as pics go, I am at work currently but can definitely post some pics this evening.

Thanks again,

Mark

[Kevin C]

Hello

The vending solenoid is at the bottom of the bottle stack. It should have a metal cover that needs to be removed & it may have 2 or 4 wires to it. The best way to solve your problem would be to remove those wires & cover ( tape-wire nut) Then there should be a small post just in front of the solenoid  that is pushed forward by the solenoid to the ready to vend position. Reach in & move this post forward to test your bottle rack. Now if the bottle rack is a little slow to reset the the bottle rack needs to be cleaned. Cleaning is another post but anyways if the above procedure works then all you need to do is to use a zip tie hold the metal post in the forward position. You then have free vend. Load your machine with drink of choice & go to town!

Now I have only worked on Vendo machines but I think they are all close to the same.

Kevin

You guys are fantastic!  I'll check into the suggestions and take some pics tonight.  

I've been raving about this site all day at work. Never have I seen such quick and thorough responses on a forum before.

Thanks a ton.

Mark

[Kevin C]

Mark

Dont tell anyone because we are checking in during work!!!

 '>

Kevin

[jasmine64]

Funtronics has a book for the CS 142E a combined service and parts manual.
Page 3 #15.
Call Steve at 301-371-5246 I believe he is closed on Fridays Memorial day - Labor day.

[Jim]

Welcome Mark,

To keep your machine in "free vend", I suggest you visit this discussion:

Free play switch once more...

The manual mentioned at Fun-Tronics is combined with several other similar models... I have an original version for reference, but unfortunately, I haven't created a PDF(electronic version) of the manual...

I'm not the most knowledgeable on later models such as yours, but we'll need to trouble shoot things to narrow down the actual problem as several things could be at fault...

I can check the manual for trouble shooting things, so let us know where to start...

[Kevin C]

Mark

Did it work?  Please give us a report!

Your machine is good size to offer all the different flavors of "Product"

Kevin