snacks are better when they fall
April 13, 2010 2:24 PM Subscribe
Are there any hacks for getting a packet of food that's stuck in the vending machine out? Besides calling the technician or buying the item behind it, of course.
I think shaking it is the preferred solution. On the other hand, the first time I did that in front of my wife, she was kind of shocked.
posted by Bulgaroktonos at 2:28 PM on April 13, 2010 [2 favorites]
posted by Bulgaroktonos at 2:28 PM on April 13, 2010 [2 favorites]
I don't have any suggestions, but I haven't had much luck with shaking the machine or slamming into its side, either. All the ones I've gotten stuff stuck in were weighted so as to be unbudgeable.
posted by The Winsome Parker Lewis at 2:36 PM on April 13, 2010
posted by The Winsome Parker Lewis at 2:36 PM on April 13, 2010
I guess if the item is on one of the lower shelves you could try and get it out by going through the door on the bottom with a stick or something? I've only ever seen people get them down by shaking or banging the machine though.
Your tags for this question made me LOL. :)
posted by cottonswab at 2:37 PM on April 13, 2010
Your tags for this question made me LOL. :)
posted by cottonswab at 2:37 PM on April 13, 2010
I usually try to rock the machine.
This is probably a good way to get crushed under a vending machine, though, so be careful.
posted by box at 2:51 PM on April 13, 2010 [1 favorite]
This is probably a good way to get crushed under a vending machine, though, so be careful.
posted by box at 2:51 PM on April 13, 2010 [1 favorite]
Another vote for shaking. I'm a weakling, and I can usually knock what I want lose by giving the machine one good push on the front so that the item comes loose as it rocks forward. But there are instances where the bag has gotten tangled in the coil and the only option is buying the next snack.
posted by saffry at 2:52 PM on April 13, 2010
posted by saffry at 2:52 PM on April 13, 2010
I'm successful about 75% of the time with roue's method of body-slamming it with my shoulder from the side of the machine and I'm pretty small (though possibly also dumb).
posted by MsMolly at 2:58 PM on April 13, 2010
posted by MsMolly at 2:58 PM on April 13, 2010
Burhanistan writes "Give a good force transferring martial arts smack to the panel around the money slot. That's connected to the internals of the machine and will result in the shockwave more easily propagating to the coils."
They aren't in any machine I've serviced. The coin mechs are usually mounted in/to the door and those that aren't are isolated from the vending mechanism in their own mounts. This is done for security reasons so that breaking the plastic display on the front won't be encouraged by access to the coin box. And so when some degenerate attempts to beak into the coin box the vending mechanism isn't in the way. Coin mechs are relatively cheap at around $1K but the vending mechanism is several thousand dollars.
posted by Mitheral at 2:59 PM on April 13, 2010 [1 favorite]
They aren't in any machine I've serviced. The coin mechs are usually mounted in/to the door and those that aren't are isolated from the vending mechanism in their own mounts. This is done for security reasons so that breaking the plastic display on the front won't be encouraged by access to the coin box. And so when some degenerate attempts to beak into the coin box the vending mechanism isn't in the way. Coin mechs are relatively cheap at around $1K but the vending mechanism is several thousand dollars.
posted by Mitheral at 2:59 PM on April 13, 2010 [1 favorite]
Best answer: Don't rock the machine. See "Soda Pop Vending Machine Injuries" and "Soda pop vending machine injuries: an update".
posted by Ery at 3:06 PM on April 13, 2010 [1 favorite]
posted by Ery at 3:06 PM on April 13, 2010 [1 favorite]
Strong drill with small drill bit and a long bit of wire, and if you make the drill hole non-obvious enough then you could re-use it too. Totally illegal and a bad idea, but that is how lots of vending machines in 3rd world countries are emptied in case you were curious.
posted by meepmeow at 3:06 PM on April 13, 2010 [1 favorite]
posted by meepmeow at 3:06 PM on April 13, 2010 [1 favorite]
I have managed to get stuck food out of the lower rows by reaching in through the vending slot. This only works for a particular kind of machine, obviously, and in attempting this my friends and I discovered that your arms need to be a specific length - longer arms aren't necessarily better because the location of the joints might not correspond to bends in the machine.
posted by jacalata at 3:28 PM on April 13, 2010
posted by jacalata at 3:28 PM on April 13, 2010
Best answer: On several occasions, hitting the side of the machine at the same height at the stuck snack has gotten it unstuck. I do this with a closed fist. You want to disrupt the inside of the machine ever so slightly.
There are also times when I come to get a snack and I find another snack sitting at the bottom of the machine. My only conclusion was that someone bought it, it got stuck, they left, and it eventually fell. Depending on how much time you have, wait it out, maybe the snack will come down.
posted by hellojed at 3:53 PM on April 13, 2010
There are also times when I come to get a snack and I find another snack sitting at the bottom of the machine. My only conclusion was that someone bought it, it got stuck, they left, and it eventually fell. Depending on how much time you have, wait it out, maybe the snack will come down.
posted by hellojed at 3:53 PM on April 13, 2010
Best answer: "Shaking" the machine by hitting it / bodyslamming it from the front is amateur hour. You really want to rock the machine a few degrees to create snack-liberating vibrations.
The best way to do this is to put both of your hands, shoulder width apart, against the front part of the top of the frame. If you're right-handed, put your left leg forward and your right leg back. Keep your arms straight and use your leg muscles to rock the machine back a few degrees, then let it fall forward. Repeat as necessary. The machine won't fall more forward than it was pushed back in the first place, so only exert force on the pushing side of this motion and don't push more than a few degrees back. Don't rock the machine so hard it has any chance of falling over, it's a waste of energy and you'll get yourself killed. That would be bad.
Sources: Dozens of bags of Tim's Jalapeno Potato Chips rescued from the 3rd floor vending machine.
posted by 0xFCAF at 4:01 PM on April 13, 2010 [6 favorites]
The best way to do this is to put both of your hands, shoulder width apart, against the front part of the top of the frame. If you're right-handed, put your left leg forward and your right leg back. Keep your arms straight and use your leg muscles to rock the machine back a few degrees, then let it fall forward. Repeat as necessary. The machine won't fall more forward than it was pushed back in the first place, so only exert force on the pushing side of this motion and don't push more than a few degrees back. Don't rock the machine so hard it has any chance of falling over, it's a waste of energy and you'll get yourself killed. That would be bad.
Sources: Dozens of bags of Tim's Jalapeno Potato Chips rescued from the 3rd floor vending machine.
posted by 0xFCAF at 4:01 PM on April 13, 2010 [6 favorites]
Depending on the way the bottom drop-down area is arranged, a wire coat-hanger can work for some of the lower levels. AFAIK, most of the newer machines I've seen won't let this work, but it worked in college.
posted by Weighted Companion Cube at 5:01 PM on April 13, 2010
posted by Weighted Companion Cube at 5:01 PM on April 13, 2010
Soda machines are much, much heavier than snack machines because of the refrigeration and relatively heavy liquid inside. Rocking a snack machine is safer, although you'll still end up bruised and embarrassed if you manage to topple it on yourself. Be careful.
I've successfully done the rocking thing many times using a variant of 0xFCAF's technique. It helps if you're tall. As Ery says, never attempt to rock a soda machine.
posted by L. Ron McKenzie at 5:18 PM on April 13, 2010
I've successfully done the rocking thing many times using a variant of 0xFCAF's technique. It helps if you're tall. As Ery says, never attempt to rock a soda machine.
posted by L. Ron McKenzie at 5:18 PM on April 13, 2010
I've done the rocking trick, but it seems like a really bad idea for obvious reasons. 75-95 cents would be the best solution, I'd guess.
posted by GriffX at 5:23 PM on April 13, 2010
posted by GriffX at 5:23 PM on April 13, 2010
I say since it's just another 50/80cents or so - put in more money, buy another of the same thing, pushing the first one out. It will take much less time and effort than any of the other options, and if your time is worth something, it's hard to do better.
posted by Berkun at 6:02 PM on April 13, 2010
posted by Berkun at 6:02 PM on April 13, 2010
The front window passes shortwave EM radiation!
- Use a 405nM laser to carefully cut away the trapped corner of the bag. (Almost not a joke, you can now find quarter-watt blueray laser modules for well under $100)
- Remove the fresnel lens from an overhead projector. Drag entire snack machine over to a sunny window. Place the lens in the appropriate spot to thermally perforate the bottom of the trapped bag and release the food items. With luck you can ignite all the sacks in the machine and receive a hail of charred Cheez-its and half melted gummy worms. Not potato chips though. Them things goes up like rocket fuel.
posted by billb at 6:04 PM on April 13, 2010 [12 favorites]
- Use a 405nM laser to carefully cut away the trapped corner of the bag. (Almost not a joke, you can now find quarter-watt blueray laser modules for well under $100)
- Remove the fresnel lens from an overhead projector. Drag entire snack machine over to a sunny window. Place the lens in the appropriate spot to thermally perforate the bottom of the trapped bag and release the food items. With luck you can ignite all the sacks in the machine and receive a hail of charred Cheez-its and half melted gummy worms. Not potato chips though. Them things goes up like rocket fuel.
posted by billb at 6:04 PM on April 13, 2010 [12 favorites]
If the snack machine is next to a pop machine, and you have room, you can drag the snack machine about maybe 1/2 foot away from the pop machine, then shove it over hard into the pop machine. Repeat/adapt as needed. The sudden impact will dislodge the snack. (Works for me).
posted by thermonuclear.jive.turkey at 6:21 PM on April 13, 2010
posted by thermonuclear.jive.turkey at 6:21 PM on April 13, 2010
If you don't want to get another of the same, buy a snack in the rows about it. Just a side-thought...
posted by p1nkdaisy at 6:44 PM on April 13, 2010 [1 favorite]
posted by p1nkdaisy at 6:44 PM on April 13, 2010 [1 favorite]
well, a trick i learned while working 3rd shift in a large factory is to use your steel toed boot to kick a fucking hole in the glass and take what you want.
of course, we didn't put money in prior to doing that.
posted by TrialByMedia at 7:18 PM on April 13, 2010
of course, we didn't put money in prior to doing that.
posted by TrialByMedia at 7:18 PM on April 13, 2010
Response by poster: Thanks for all the great answers. I usually put more money in, but I've often wondered if there were any tricks that would solve the problem equally well. Feel free to keep answering.
posted by millions of peaches at 8:23 PM on April 13, 2010
posted by millions of peaches at 8:23 PM on April 13, 2010
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by roue at 2:27 PM on April 13, 2010 [6 favorites]