Accident Puts a Few Dents in our Van

Accidents happen. Yesterday, the kids and I were in a minor accident with our van. We were rear-ended by a truck and pushed into the vehicle in front of us. Everyone seems to be fine. My obstetrician had me monitored to make sure that Dustin was OK. Everything seems fine with him. After I finally calmed down, he started kicking up a storm. I was having some irregular contractions, but not enough to worry about. The kids seem fine today. I am quite sore. I have been on the phone with various insurance companies, service centers, the chiropractor, and rental centers trying to set everything up to get me and our van fixed. I am going to let my medical insurance pursue the various auto insurance companies for payment on the medical bills I will have, such as the monitoring of my unborn son and chiropractic care. I have never gone through this, so we will see how this plays out. I hope it doesn't become a saga.

The soda machines are doing well. The machine that I replaced the coin mechanism on a few weeks ago is still vending properly. My customers have come back. Try very hard not to loose your customers. It takes a lot longer to gain their trust than to loose it.

I have one soda machine that is still giving me fits. I have had little problems with it since I bought it. I am still waiting for a part for it and today the coin mechanism was jammed. Eventually, I will get it running smoothly. It usually goes months without a problem and then all the problems seem to hit at once. But problems mean that people are using the machine which means that I am getting profits. Problems are not so good, but profits are great.

All is Well with the Soda Machines

Great News! All is well. Today, all the machines were in good working condition. There were no coin jams, no dollar bill jams, and no jammed cans. Everything was working. What a relief. I like it when everything is working right.

Actually, each machine is usually working at least 95% of the time. In the summer, when the machines are functioning at full capacity, that 5% down time seems to occur quite frequently. Luckily, one machine might have a jam and the others might be working. Then another one might go down and so on.

More Mechanical Problems with the Soda Machines

I really enjoy working with the soda machines. I took a personality type test last week and found out that I scored really high in technical areas. So these mechanical problems are right up my alley. I like figuring out how the machines work and function and how to fix them when they break down. I just don't want anyone thinking that I am complaining or thinking that all there is in the soda vending business is problems.

The more a soda machine gets used, the more likely you are to run into some mechanical problems. So the number of problems I am having lately is actually a good sign because it means that the sales are up in many of my machines.

This time I am having trouble with a cradle that holds the sodas. I had a can jam in the column and now every third soda gets hung up. The cradle is twisted. This cradle twisted once before and my husband just twisted it back. This time I think it is time to replace it. I am waiting for a new cradle so that I can fix the problem. Right now a person has a 33% chance of getting a soda, 33% chance of losing their money, or a 33% chance of getting two sodas from that selection. I have a sign on the machine explaining the problem and when I expect a solution.

The same machine also had a coin jam. This one was really different. Usually when I fill the machine, I test coins and dollar bills to make sure everything is working. When I tested it, it worked fine. I was called back to the machine a few hours later because someone had lost their money. I check the shoot and put money through it and everything seemed to be working. This morning, I went by to get some part numbers off of the machine and someone was there saying they lost money again. I refunded their money and started checking. The first 3 times I put coins in, it worked fine. Then it started acting funny. I finally took the coin mechanism out and check. It had a Canadian nickel and four pennies stuck in the coin mechanism. I have never had a coin jam before where I could sometimes get the coins to work. Now I will know to always take the extra time to check the whole coin mechanism when someone complains of a jam, even if I can get it to work with coins.

As a personal note, my pregnancy is going well. Baby Dustin is growing on target. My doctor is very happy with our progress. I will be hiring someone to help with the other three kids for the remainder of the pregnancy, just to make sure that we stay healthy. I have someone who has been helping me with the lifting and loading the sodas. She will take over the route until after Dustin is born. I hope to use the down time to learn even more about the soda vending business and to write some articles about what I learn.

Electricity and Water Do NOT Mix

The last week has been a little crazy. I have replaced a coin mechanism at one location. This was to reduce the number of jams. After consulting with a technician, I decided to get a new coin mechanism. They are designed to throw out pennies and foreign coins instead of jamming. It seems to be working so far. Sales are a little down while the customers gain trust in the machine again. That is why it is really important to keep the machines working properly.

Next, I went to check my newest machine and found it leaking water. When I investigated, the water was leaking around the drain that is supposed to direct the water away from the condenser. When we set the machine up, the tubing was disconnected from the drain insert. We fixed that problem, but I didn't realize the drain insert no longer set completely in the hole. The water leaked around it and got the foam insert wet that separates the condenser area from the motor. The water then followed a path that let it out along the electric cords that run up to control the condenser. I could not have that. It could cause and electrical short or worse. When I touched the cords to see where the water was coming from, I could feel a little tingling. We promptly unplugged the machine before conducting repairs. We had to use silicone caulking to seal the drain into place. I then used some flat discharge tube between the cords and the wet foam to direct the water that was leaking from the foam away from the cords. Hopefully, this will take care of all the problems.

My pregnancy is progressing well, but I have had to slow down a lot. After repairing the machines or doing the soda runs, there is no energy left to write about it. I will do what I can.

Canadian Quarters Do NOT Work in my Soda Machines

I have been dealing with a lot of coin jams the last several weeks in my soda machines. I do not know why people keep putting pennies and foreign money in the machines. I hope that it is little kids that just collect the money they find in their home and stick it in the machine thinking money is money. I know my youngsters don't really know the difference between the denominations yet. They still think pennies are great because they are a different color than the rest of the coins. I would be disappointed if I found out that it is adults that are placing foreign money and pennies in the machines. I clearly have stated on a sheet of paper that the machines only take American coins and will not accept pennies.

I have received a Canadian 25 cent piece, a Jamaican 5 dollar piece, and a lot of pennies the last several weeks. I wonder if some of the newer coin mechanisms are better at rejecting foreign coins and pennies. I think I will buy an extra coin mechanism from Sharrock & Company. I have been contemplating getting an extra coin mechanism for a while. When the coin mechanism has to be removed, the machine cannot vend. With an extra coin mechanism I can just switch the extra for the broken one without any extra down time for the machine.

The good news is the motor that I fixed last week is working well. I have to keep reminding myself that there are problems in all businesses. These are just minor inconveniences that have to be dealt with. At least these problems have been easy to fix.

Summer is great. The heat increases sales. I love summer.