How to Clean and Reassemble a Triple Vend Candy Machine (Step-by-Step Guide) -

This is me… and you’re probably wondering how I ended up in this situation.

What started as a simple cleaning project turned into a completely disassembled triple vend candy machine spread across my garage floor. At some point I had a pile of plastic parts, springs, dividers, hardware, and a freshly shined cabinet sitting in front of me with no instruction manual in sight.

Since I couldn’t find a complete reassembly guide online, I documented the process while putting the machine back together. If you’re staring at a pile of vending machine parts and questioning your life choices, hopefully this guide helps.

Tools and Supplies Needed

Cleaning solution
Shop towels
Microfiber towels
Phillips Screwdriver (I run Craftsman With The Blue Stripes)
10MM Socket and 7 MM socket
Ugg-a-gugg (Impact driver((I Use Red Tool))
Nitrile gloves
Replacement hardware (if needed)

Starting With A Pile Of Parts

Triple vend candy machine parts organized before reassembly — *At this point I had a pile of parts, a freshly shined and polished cabinet, and absolutely no idea where some of the hardware had disappeared t*¹o.

Cleaning and Polishing the Base

Polished stand for a vintage triple-vend candy machine after cleaning and buffing during restoration. — *The base cleaned up surprisingly well with a little effort.*

First I polished the base of the gumball machine and got that all shiny and pretty.

Putting the Cabinet Back On the Stand

*“Wonder Twin powers, activate! Form of a candy machine!”*

Now I am putting the top of it back on.
That requires nine 10mm bolts to be reinstalled, so here I am just using my ugg-a-gugg to send them home.

The Collection Tray Incident

*It would’ve been nice if somebody told me about this before I bolted everything together.*

Oh, it would’ve been nice if somebody in here would’ve told me that I needed the catching tray to be in between the base and the candy machine before I reinstalled it.

So I’m cleaning this tray with my vinegar mix, and putting it back on. I would say that I cleaned it to a spit-shine polish, but when you’re dealing with food items, apparently spit shine isn’t the correct method.

Ahhh… now that’s much better.

NASCAR Pit Crew Mode

*Every bolt starts by hand before the ugg a gugg takes over.*

I like to get them started by hand and then I can just zip them in while I pretend that I’m on a NASCAR pit crew team.

Weight Reduction Program

Apparently I’m supposed to have nine of these bolts, but I only have eight of them.
But that’s okay.
It’s now missing one for extra horsepower and weight reduction.

Mercury In Retrograde

*Tighten in a star pattern. Trust me on this one.*

When tightening the screws, you want to go in a star pattern just like you’re tightening lug nuts.
This is extremely important.
Otherwise it will throw Mercury out of retrograde and if that happens, well, I guess we’re all screwed.

The Lost Bolt Returns

*Structural integrity has been restored.*

Ok, so I found the screw.
It was hiding down in the bottom corner where I didn’t see it.
So we’re putting that bolt back in and now we can be complete with nine bolts.
Amen.

Tightening Up The Face Plates

*A few quick adjustments brought everything back into spec.*

I noticed that some of the face plates were not very tight so I found these adjustment screws to snug that up.

Reinstalling the Plastic Components

*You can use your left hand to achieve proper torque*

The plastics are freshly sanitized and cleaned, and now being reinstalled.

You need a 7mm socket in order to get the nuts back on.

I snug the nuts until the studs were about flush or close to flush with the top of the nut or you could just use your left hand as a standard torque value.

Installing the Plastic Divider

*This piece only fits correctly one way.*

Next, we slide the plastic plate into place.

Make sure that the plastic piece is not behind the studs and bolts, but rather in front of them otherwise you will not be able to line up the metal plates.

Installing the Metal Divider Plates

*The metal dividers keep products separated inside the machine.*

Notes:
Then slide the metal plates into place having two fingers on each side of the metal plate and the rounded portion on top.

Rebuilding the Product Wheels

*Now it’s finally starting to look like a machine again.*

Now I reinstalled the cogs, and then the portion valves, the empty your plates in the backside as well.

We set our proper portions due to whatever we’re vending and then add the screws to set the caps and fill the product.

Also…I found that in this picture the upper collar/retainer for the gumball vending portion is on upside down. That caused the machine to not dispense a gum ball and then the following dispense it would give 2.

Finished Machine

*Ready for candy, gumballs, trail mix, and poor financial decisions.*

This is it.
We did it.
And it barely even hurt.
The machine is clean, the parts are back where they belong, and all nine bolts have been accounted for.
If you’re rebuilding a triple vend candy machine and found this guide helpful, hopefully it saves you from making a few of the same mistakes I did.

Now it’s time to load it with product and get out there!

If you need to disassemble the machine, start at the bottom of the post and work back wards.