Vendo 144 vending issues

I’ve finally gotten my 144 reassembled and was excited to put bottles into it.  I purchased 4 cases of 8 oz bottles, and started loading my machine, to find out that the bottles can sit side by side in the vending columns.  

Have they changed the size of the bottle?  It does appear to be thinner glass than what I remember.

It looks like it could vend cans, but when I loaded it with cans, they become stuck and will not fall.  

Any suggestions?

Thanks

Dave Best

[MoonDawg]

Yes the new bottles are a smaller diameter.  You may make your vend columns narrower by adding shims to the walls

any idea on how to eliminate the sticking issue with cans?

[joesquid]

A friend of mine shaved the bottle rollers down a little on his lathe to allow the cans to fall correctly but I don't think it's necessary.  Someone else on this list used cans in a similar machine without making mods and it worked fine.  I think it may have been Markito but not sure.
What kind of soda are you putting into your machine?  I used the modern glass coke bottles in my Vendo 144 without any problem at all.  Is there any chance your machine was previously modified?

I tried to use 8 oz coke bottles.  The two bottles can get side by side in the vending columns.  When this happens, the bottles will jam the roller.  It doesn’t appear to have been modified in any way.  The bottles do appear to be made thinner, at least from what I remember.    I don’t think shimming the column walls is the answer, because the shims will interfere with the rollers at the ends of their travel.  

The can sticking is intermittent, so it’s been a pain to identify the cause.  I’ve tried some Teflon tape on one if the column walls, with little to no success.  All of the rollers are free and easily rotate.  One idea I had was that there wasn’t enough downward force on the stack to push a can through.  I only had 24 cans total in the machine.  The sold out switch was dummied out so I could vend the small number of cans.

Besides turning down the rollers, any other ideas?

Thanks,

Dave Best

[MoonDawg]

Bent cans will jam a machine

[joesquid]

Dave,
just a few questions concerning your machine:
1.  Did you try vending bottles from it before you disassembled the machine?  Did the vending rack work at that time?
2.  When you say the bottles sit "side by side" do they start that way when you load the rack or do they end up that way during a vend cycle?  Does this happen in every column or is there a particular culprit?
3.  Is it possible that the rollers have already been turned?

[vendobaldtops]

If the 144 vends like the Vendo / VMC 44, like Joesquid said, the rollers might need to be adjusted.  For a Vendo / VMC44, that means turning the vend mechanism 90 degrees to the right and then letting the mechanism return to original position.   Again, like Joesquid said, the bottles should not be side by side...at least they should be loaded one on top of the other in an alternating way.  I'll try to get a shot of my VMCC 44 loading instructions and post...if the 144 is unlike the 44, then I apologize for this posting!

Thanks for the interest in my problems

To answer your questions:  

#1.  No I didn’t try to vend anything.  The machine was in such a bad shape, that nothing worked.

#2.  During the initial loading, the bottles are able to get side by side.  So, when loading column 1, the first bottle will sit on the roller, while the second bottle will slip past the first, and fall out the bottom.  This condition could happen on all columns.

#3.  I don’t believe that the rollers have been turned.  From the condition of the machine when I saved it (it had been in a barn for almost 6 yrs) and the fact that I could see some of the mold flashing on the rollers, I would have to say they have not been turned.

Thanks,

Dave Best

Thanks vendobaldtops,

The vending mechanism for the 144 has two lead screws (like a Yankee Screwdriver) mounted on these lead screws are a series of followers.  The rollers are mounted on a shaft between the two of the followers.  The two lead screws are opposite hands, and are driven by a sprocket and roller chain assembly from the vend motor.  

There isn’t any adjustment in the location of the followers, and in turn adjustment to the location of the rollers.

During the initial loading, the left most roller (column #1) is to be in the extreme left position.  The first bottle is placed on top of the roller, with the second bottle inserted on the right side of the column.  This is were the two bottles can get side by side, and thus, the second bottle will fall out of the vending column.  

This is where I get stuck.  There aren’t any adjustments to be made.  The columns are fixed, the roller locations, although move, are fixed in their locations with respect to where they stop during the vend cycle.

Thanks,

Dave Best