Laurel Model 899 3-Column Electronic Drop Shelf Vender

[Twodose]

I have a model 899 3 column drop shelf electronic vendor I purchased from kleen-rite back in 2009, had a problem when it was new with the lowest shelf not falling completely vertical after a vend and at times the product would stay on the shelf, so I just pushed the bottom shelves down (which took some force) and put no product on them, recently I have been having a problem with the shelves up above where it is releasing the shelf but the wire that allows the shelf to drop is rubbing up against the metal enough so that the product does not always vend. I took all the columns out and checked them and they seem to work OK out of the machine but when installed in the machine that little wire on the underside of each shelf that holds the shelf up is creating enough friction that it won’t always allow the shelf to drop thus not vending the item, its releasing the shelf but the friction of metal against metal with the wire underneath is causing it not to drop completely. I called Laurel about the problem with the bottom shelves, and they said they had never heard of this, but the other problem with the wire is a new one, anyone else having problems like this with the vendor?

 

[MEP001]

I've had the problem too. Check the back corner of the shelf with the tab that fits into the slot in the vertical rail. If the shelf is bent even a little at that point it can cause the shelf to hang. You can take the wire out of the shelf to let it swing free and check that it's operating smoothly. If what I described doesn't make sense, I'll post a pic.

 

[Twodose]

Post a pic if u can, see if we are talking about the same thing. Say if you take the column out it will work ok, but if you put it back In the cabinet it will hit the metal on the back of the cabinet when it is in place, you have to take with some force to push the shelf down.
So I just pushed the shelf down with some force and had no product in them to try to eliminate that problem.
But on the second shelf up the wire that is supposed to release to let the shelf drop is rubbing against the side and it will not drop and not vend the item.
I don’t know if I should buy new columns, I never had this happen even with a manual vendor.
Whats happening is when someone puts their money in, it will not drop the item, truck towel, a. all cleaning, or a all protect. It is ripping them off.

 

[Earl Weiss]

Have had it happen periodicaly. I always thought if shelf was slammed up hard when re set it was more prone to happen. Once I released it manualy by pulling on the wire and then re set it gently it seemed to be OK.

 

[MEP001]

Unless there's an obvious burr that the wire is hanging on, the wire isn't the problem. When I first had one doing that and couldn't fix it, I took the wire out of the shelf, and that's when I saw the shelf was still hanging a bit. It was in the pivot point, and it was because the shelf was bent. I'll have to post a pic.

 

[MEP001]

If the shelf isn't perfectly flat like this, it can cause it to hang. Check both sides.

I forgot that the newer vendors have the wire crimped into place and you can't remove them.

 

[chip@laurel]

The friction you mention from the edge of the metal against the shelves 'latch wire' is the culprit. To understand exactly where this is - take a shelf this has vended a product and is in the down position - now slowly bring it up to just before it is going to latch into position - you will feel the friction coming from the exposed end of the wire from the shelf rubbing against the edge of the metal frame where the clips are. What cures this is a little grease (lithium or any lighter grease) applied to the exposed end of the shelf wire that is sticking out of the back of each shelf. Apply the grease with your finger and thumb and just rub it around the wire. To do this have all the shelves down and start with the top shelf in the column and work your way down, it should take about 2 minutes to do the 24 shelves. After you do the top one you latch it in the vend position so it doesn't get in your way for the next one below it.

Our mechanical style machines did not experience this due to the explosive nature of the vend cycle as most people yank on the handle and smash it back in which causes the latch wire to be explosively sent out to drop the shelf.

Chip

 

[Twodose]

I ended up removing the bottom shelves on all three columns because it would not vend the item on those shelves, they would not go completely vertical after the vend, so there was no reason to keep them in there and really no fix for it, I took chips advice and put the grease on the wires on each shelf of the rest of the columns as he described, and also rubbed a light amount of grease on the cabinet were the wire rubs on the way down, seems to have fixed the problem for now, he said the grease should last for about 5 years (the vendor is about 5 years old). He also mentioned that this was a known problem and they are working on a new design to fix the problem. FYI, I found it was easier to take the columns out of the cabinet to apply the grease.