Sometimes, even a blind hog finds an acorn

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m3a1
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Sometimes, even a blind hog finds an acorn

Unread post by m3a1 » June 20th, 2017, 12:42 pm

My Dad used to explain luck in this way - "Sometimes, even a blind hog finds an acorn."

Several days ago, I was that blind hog. Oh, I fell into a heck of a deal...admittedly not on par with Hambone' and Rick's kind of deals, but still, pretty darned good!

My son and I rolled up to our usual rummage place and found that they had just unloaded a couple of vending machines that, by their estimation, did not work and because they were so large (and one so heavy it must surely have been constructed of lead) they just wanted to unload them rather than have to move them another inch. I know just a little bit about vending machines (enough to annoy the wife, to be sure) so I immediately laid out the asking price of $10 each, hauled ass home and got my motorcycle trailer.

Well, my lads, after a wink and a nudge I found that I had purchased two fully operational vending machines!

This heavyweight keeps those refreshing beverages at frosty 35 degrees, even when it's over 100 degrees outside! I always felt these were an absolute MUST for any proper automotive shop. It will dispense whatever flavor floats your boat and I'm working on the method for bypassing the coin op altogether.
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I had to do some minor clean-up inside this arcade game, replace a black light bulb and a make a few structural repairs to the cabinet which had been badly mistreated over the years. The front corners are a bit dog-eared and I'm not sure how I'll sort them out just yet. This game was one of my all time favorites....circa 1980!

I pumped a lot of quarters into these and now ... free! Totally AWESOME! :D :D :D
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After I replaced the gallery black light bulb..
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And the light kit in the door!
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The kid tries his hand at ASTEROIDS!
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Last edited by m3a1 on August 27th, 2017, 9:12 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Hambone
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Re: Sometimes, even a blind hog finds an acorn

Unread post by Hambone » June 20th, 2017, 1:26 pm

Must say that was a deal :shock: , my friend has a coin-op drink machine in his man cave, he has sodas, beer and some kind of fruity alcoholic drink in there, $1 a pop, most of his friends show up on Sunday. :lol:

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Re: Sometimes, even a blind hog finds an acorn

Unread post by m3a1 » June 20th, 2017, 2:05 pm

It's a glorified refrigerator but still, very cool. When I bought it, I figured if it was beyond repair I could still get the lights working, gut it and turn it into one very cool lockable cabinet. The bugger weighs a ton!

The bins inside are adjustable to just about any length of product you'd want to put in there. Three half-case single stack bins and three full-case staggered stack bins. That's a lot of cans.

The original light kit had a short in it (which I discovered the hard way :lol: ) and fluorescent bulbs specific to vending machines. Wanting something more mainstream I bypassed that rig altogether and put in a shop light kit with LED bulbs which, with some careful planning, is held quite securely in place with zip ties.

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Re: Sometimes, even a blind hog finds an acorn

Unread post by rickf » June 20th, 2017, 6:51 pm

On a lot of those machines if you just leave out the coin box the change will drop back out the coin return. That way no mods are needed and if you decide to charge for that football game just put the coin box back in.
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1984 M1008
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Re: Sometimes, even a blind hog finds an acorn

Unread post by m3a1 » June 20th, 2017, 7:07 pm

Well, this is equipped with a rather sophisticated little electronic device that accepts bills, detects when there is too much money, makes change, diverts coins to the change pockets if they get low, even detects and kicks out slugs. But most important, it tells the machine that it is OK to vend. The logic board on this device is no longer working but that really doesn't matter to me. All I need to know is which circuit enables the product selection buttons and I'm working on that. In theory, once those are energized, the machine should be in "OK to vend" mode. That's the theory, anyway and that's what I'm looking to achieve. I can easily throw a few sheckles at this and get a new gizmo...those are plug and play but then all I'll have is a more expensive refrigerator.

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Re: Sometimes, even a blind hog finds an acorn

Unread post by rickf » June 20th, 2017, 7:40 pm

Well, you are out of my pay grade with this one.
1964 M151A1
1984 M1008
1967 M416
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12/1952 M100- Departed
AN/TSQ-114A Trailblazer- Gone

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Re: Sometimes, even a blind hog finds an acorn

Unread post by m75 » June 20th, 2017, 8:55 pm

Nice find. Friend of mine in the NorthWest has a drink vending machine in his garage. No drinks there tho, as he adapted the shell to conceal a gun safe within, so bad guys will just keep moving. After all, those drink machines just don't work, so keep looking for the valuables, Fred...
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Re: Sometimes, even a blind hog finds an acorn

Unread post by rickf » June 21st, 2017, 10:29 am

Smart, unless it is a hot night when they break in and they are thirsty. or they want the cash out of the machine.
1964 M151A1
1984 M1008
1967 M416
04/1952 M100
12/1952 M100- Departed
AN/TSQ-114A Trailblazer- Gone

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Re: Sometimes, even a blind hog finds an acorn

Unread post by m3a1 » June 21st, 2017, 12:29 pm

Of course he could always energize the chassis..... like the light kit I replaced in mine. Touch it and receive a big shock! (*This author neither suggests, nor condones electrocuting the unwary) Ah well....When mine goes belly up I'll adapt it to become the entrance to the elevator to my secret, underground lair and now that everyone knows, I'll see y'all down there. :lol: :lol:

Seriously, though, I came to the same conclusion as Rick. Really not the best place for uber valuables though I will say these machines are darned tough to get into without a key. Put a padlock on it and you'd really have a tough nut to crack! But, it's a big, fat, brightly-lit and begging a visit from the bad guys and sadly, bad guys aren't known for their excellent risk-reward decision making paradigms so, they'll damage the hell out of one of these while trying, even if they aren't likely to get in.

Happily, all the military vehicles around here seems to have a positive effect. I think people associate those with firearms and I have never had any issues with bad guys. The lights in these aren't exclusively advertisement. It's also a security measure. Work the lock, late at night and risk being a beautiful silhouette target! As they say - "If you're found here at night, you'll be found here in the morning."

Anyway, they're fun and I'm keeping mine unlocked. Don't really mind if somebody walks off with a few sodas and there are far too many for anyone to walk off with all of them so it's all good.

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