Selectivend 1b issue

Wow.  My first post.

Hi, all!  I have looked for some time to find such a site.
I am the proud owner of a 1B 7-Up 4-can vendor, which has worked pretty much flawlessly until this spring.

I found that the relay which governs the solenoids that release the cans was shot.  I purchased another online,which installed with no problems.  Everything works great, but there is a small...timing problem: the relay breaks open as soon as the selection is pushed, and the gate closes so fast a can can't roll through.  If I hold the relay closed, all is great.  Except I don't plan to spend the rest of my life as an ancillary component to this machine.

I am not an electronics whiz.  I cannot figure out what keeps the relay closed long enough to keep the gate open long enough to let a can out.  I am stumped; short of buying a timed-delay relay, I have no idea how to get it going again.

[johnieG]

My first question is the relay powered by D.C. or A.C.? if it is D.C. then you could put a capacitor in paralell with it, it would give you the time delay you're looking for, but if it's an A.C. relay the perhaps the relays hold circut (electrically "up-stream") isn't holding it closed long enough, sometimes this is caused by a relay who's resstance is to low as compared to the older relays coil resistance, sometimes you can add a resister in line with the coils to correct this or as you said get a time adjustable relay... '>

It's an AC, 110V.  I figured I might need to add a resistor; it looked like someone had cobbled one (clearly not OEM, but it had been there several years) onto one of the leads coming out of the solenoid switch (located just above the relay in the box) but I could get no data off of it.  I don't know if it blew at the same time as the relay (how would I know?) but the relay clearly was dead.  I left the resistor in place but no dice.

Might you have any idea what the spec would be for a resistor in this application?  I have no clue...

Thanks for the response.

[johnieG]

To read the resistance of the it, you'd need a ohm meter, the three things to consider in replacing it are Voltage, Current, & Power (watts) are there any 3 or 4 color bands on it? Say brown, brown, black, then a silver/gold band? (or there may be no forth band) here's the code:
black=0
brown=1
red=2
orange=3
yellow=5
green=6
blue=7
violet=8
gray=9
white=10
silver=10%
gold=5%
(no forth band=20%)
or if its a square ceramic type there should be writing on it somewere what does it look like? so per above Brown,brown,black =110 ohms 20% tolerance if its about the diameter of a pencil ~1/4" it would be aprox. a 1/2-watt resister, if it's about 3/8" diam. then its aprox. a 1-watt hope this helps...John

Actually it's not a resistor, it's a diode (black with a silver band).  I am going to Radio Shack today & buy an assortment of resisitors & try to install one in the coil circuit.  I have absolutely no clue what the resistance should be ut I have several relays to blow!  I shall let you know what happens.
<edit>  well, that did squat.

After peering intently at the schematic glued to the door I see an item marked, "delay relay."  So that's what it is; unfortunately, neither the schematic nor the old relay itself is marked with any specs.  Guess I'll be shopping the Net & trying whatever I can find...