The Care And Repair Of Vending Machines

The need to keep a vending machine in good working order will come as a surprise to many laundry owners. Most of the vendors in use in laundries are simple mechanical devices which seem to work well from the first day they are installed until the day they are removed or replaced. They are seldom in need of any attention except to be filled and collected as they dispense products that make laundry owners a nice little profit. As they get scratched and their paint fades, they don’t present as attractive a face to the public as they should, but they usually just keep on working. In time it seems to take longer for the boxes to drop, and from time to time boxes will even get struck, but mechanically everything seems fine, so the laundry owner continues ignoring the vendor. Yet, they do need attention and care. Keep the front panel and the slides or drop coin mechanism clean. Think of the machines as your sales staff selling profitable items. Who wants to deal with a dirty, scratched, faded salesman? Keep them clean, polished and attractive to draw more sales. Vendors ask for eternal internal care. There’s dirt and grime on the coins that go into coin mechs. That will gum up the mechanisms and cause them to skip or fail. The coin mechs should be adjusted and cleaned out on a regular basis. From time to time they’ll need lubrication and adjustment. Drop coins through to see if there are any obstructions. Listen for the sound. Each type vendor has a sound that indicates when things are working just right. Use air pressure for a quick clean. Buy a spray air can and use the air pressure to blow out the gunk. Ink and wax on boxes rubs off and accumulates on surfaces where boxes drop out of the columns. This buildup slows down the speed of boxes as they fall, which brings them short of the proper place for retrieval. Customers then have to reach in with their hands to get boxes, putting more oils and moisture into the mix to slow things down further. Wipe columns and surfaces with a hot damp cloth to cut buildup. Wipe again with a dry cloth to remove moisture. It helps keep vendors working well. There are those who suggest that you put a coat of wax on the surfaces where the vend boxes drop out of their columns. The wax decreases the resistance and speeds the rate of drop of the boxes allowing them to land within comfortable customer reach.