Saskatoon TechWorks Forum

https://www.dropbox.com/sc/1s93r5allb1tpac/pQzp6eSp1b
http://www.vendingmachinesetc.com/Crane145.html

Scott, Al and I are now the proud owners of this. Should be a fun project.

Supposedly just the motherboard is bad, so I believe the plan is to replace it with a raspberry pi and Rfid reader.

List of things to add to Vending Machine once it is up and operational.

- Candy/Chips/Edibles. (To be expanded upon)
- Breadboard jumper wires.
- LEDS
- Raspberry Pi.
- Pie.
- Resistor Variety Packs
- Assorted personal hygiene items.
- Balsamic vinaigrette
- Pepper spray?

Speaking of the vending machine, is there any serious expectation that it will be fixed and put into service? If not, it's taking up quite a lot of valuable space and should be removed, as would any other member's project that is left in the space.

JamesCooper wrote:Speaking of the vending machine, is there any serious expectation that it will be fixed and put into service? If not, it's taking up quite a lot of valuable space and should be removed, as would any other member's project that is left in the space.

Will it fit into the kitchen area?

Looks like you guys have some vending machine woes so....how about some more?

I'm trying to make more space in my garage and I have a NOT fully functioning combo machine that might be a better fit for a TW project. The snack top is removable and can operate independent of the bottom. It has slots for 8 chips and 9 bars. The bottom holds 4 different cans of pop and still works and gets cold. Problem seems to be with the logic board. It does communicate with the coin mech and can dispense change but the system never accepts a coin.

At any rate, the machine with logic boards is free to take, the CoinCo mech I keep as a spare for my other machine so I would need a little for that.

"Free" you say? I don't think the guys would let me bring another vending machine into the space, but the cold can bit is definitely appealing.

On a related note: you seem to know a bit about the CoinCo mechs? What do you know about retuning one to accept the new loonies and toonies? (I think the one we have doesn't)

No, my mechs can't accept the new coinage (actually I think the one that is in that combo would accept the new toonie for some reason, but not the loonie) and I've never been able to get any info on how to do it. Coinco will do it but I think its expensive.

edit: actually I know there is a jumper pin on the board for calibrating coins but I've never done it and I'm not sure if it would work the way we want. Perhaps if you calibrate it with a mix of new and old coins it would work...

edit edit: googling around a bit, it appears you need a software upgrade

I have some experince with MEI coin and bill acceptors. The coin mechs did have a manual calibration procedure, but I found it largely ineffective. I ended up having to update the firmware to accept loonies and toonies.