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Half Pint Vendor frustrations!

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Bubbles Galore

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Not really Bill. That is right in front of the approach for the dog wash. I'm literally at my wit's end here...In fairness to Uncle Sam, he did send me new eyes last year, but they didn't make a bit of difference. This weekend I will try the decal and see if that will get me through until I can wrangle up a better solution.
 

Uncle Sam

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Bubbles,

Contrary to some on this forum, I don't check the posts every day. But we are here now.

In the early building of the Half-Pint vendor, we were told by the manufacturer of the Sensit II system that the "eyes" that see the products drop were not sensitive to direct sunlight. That turned out to be incorrect; we tested and found out they are sensitive to direct sunlight. When the sun is low in the sky after sunrise or near sunset, the angle between the vendor and sun can allow direct sunlight to hit the sensors. We have only had problems in the northeast in the higher latitudes which may be the case here.

We have shipped some new parts for you to install, Bubbles, that should shield the sensors better than what we did when your vendor was built. This is the way we build them now.

Another thing that might be giving trouble are the florescent light bulbs in the vendor. Some of these bulbs create "electronic noise" (even though they look fine) that can interfere with the Sensit system. To check for this problem take both bulbs out and test the vendor for delivery. If it works, then add one bulb and test again. If it continues to work, then add the second bulb. If either bulb starts giving you the same problems as before then you know you have a bad bulb which needs to be replaced.

We try to avoid these "electronic glitches" by being very careful when we build them, but sometimes the "gremlins" get us. See if these fixes work for you and report back to us.

Uncle Sam :)
 

Bubbles Galore

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I received the parts from Uncle Sam and the install went well. The latest and greatest issue I am having is that now my shurvend is dropping two products instead of one, or prompting to take a refund even after the first product has dropped. I have no clue why it is doing this. I tried unplugging the machine and clearing the errors (weren't any) and to no avail, it's still dropping dual items. Any ideas/thoughts?
 

Bubbles Galore

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Well I watched the vending machine dispense 7 little trees last night AND prompt the customer to get a refund...wtf...there are no apparent errors and I have already removed the light bulbs...which has done nothing to help out the selling of products in the evenings. Any ideas Jim?
 

Bubbles Galore

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Nope. I'm about as furious as possible right now. I had to shut the vendor down. Haven't had any vending on site for the past two weeks. Jim says he's working on it, but I'll be damned if that does me a bit of good. Hopefully this is only a fluke...but it is not lending a lot of confidence in quick turnaround times when there is an issue. I have had 4 beautiful and busy weeks and haven't sold but maybe $10 in vending.
 

Bubbles Galore

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What to do with a Shurvend that doesn't vend...

Well...its been 3 weekends that I have been without any vending at my wash. The vending machine still isn't working correctly and Jim has not offered a solution up at this point since changing the main control board last week. I understand intermittent problems with equipment, but 3 weeks of lag time is completely uncalled for in my opinion.

I don't know the purpose of this post or even why I'm writing it...I'm so frustrated, that I would almost be willing to give it away just so I didn't have to look at it and get ****ed. I feel as though I'm writing an Ann Landers column...

Sincerely,

Frustrated in Michigan...
 

Bill Manke

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When you say it doesn't vend what does it do? Take money? Show Credit? Then when you select a product what does the screen say?
 

Bill Manke

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Ok so I read the other post you had on this. So know it is vending double products? Then refunding. Sounds like the sensit sensors aren't sensing anything dropping. have you adjusted the sensitivity?
 

Bubbles Galore

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I've done everything I have been instructed to do and there hasnt been anything that has helped. It almost appears as though part of the wiring harness is shorted out. I don't know, I'm at my wits end...
 

Bubbles Galore

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Bill, what kind of adjustment are you referring to? I am sure I've checked and re-checked most everything, but I am open to suggestions.
 

Bill Manke

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In my manual. Mine is a Mega vendor but is still a ams vendor. In the manual under 3.1 Sensit System. It says in can be manually calibrated in service mode by pressing 5 while in the OPTIONS function.The in 4.4.5 Calibrating the Sensor.
1. To enter the service mode. Press the mode switch on the control board.
See 8. Service Mode for more details on Service Mode.
2. Using the # key. scroll throught the menu to "OPTIONS".
3. Press 5 to start calibration. Note that it can take up to a minute to calibrate, When finished , the display will read "OPTIONS" once again.
4. Press the mode switch again to exit service mode.

Now this is off of my first mega vendor but I would think they would be similar.
Also on your sensors mine have small screw adjustment on them.

Hope this helps.
 

Ghetto Wash

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Can the Sensit System be turned off or bypassed somehow during the summer when the sun hits it?
 

Bubbles Galore

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Well, the new board that Jim gave me has the Sensit II system installed on it, which I doubt is compatible with what I have. Just another addition to an already jacked up situation...
 

JustClean

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Not really Bill. That is right in front of the approach for the dog wash. I'm literally at my wit's end here...In fairness to Uncle Sam, he did send me new eyes last year, but they didn't make a bit of difference. This weekend I will try the decal and see if that will get me through until I can wrangle up a better solution.
So it is definetely a sunlight problem?
How about putting a planter with some trees in front of it? Or would that create a problem with your dog wash? In the past I also had big problems with sunlight on one of my note readers until I went with a different brand. That worked.
 

Bubbles Galore

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Well I spent about 3 hours last night completely dismantling the vendor and putting it all back together and it appears as though its working. The sun won't hit it until this afternoon, but I'm holding out hope that the third time (have already fully dismantled twice now) is the charm. I probably know this vendor better than the AMS techs at this point...

More info after the sun bakes it this afternoon.
 

Kevin James

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Did it help rectify your problem? Or are you still having issues?
 

Bubbles Galore

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So far so good but I am not holding out hope. I hate being a pessimist, but there isn't any indication as to what component was at fault, and when it will decide to get funky again. At this point though, it's operational...
 

Bubbles Galore

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Just an update for those of you wondering...had a few more snafu's with unlimited product dispensing, but as of late it appears as though everything is functional. I still have no idea what was causing the problems.
 
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