I have an older Choice Vend machine. Its my first machine so please bear with me.
Part of the machine is operating all the time. It will freeze sodas. I replaced the thermostat, but that has not solved the problem. Now when I turn the thermostat to off, a few seconds later I hear something in the machine stop running, not sure what. The fan in the bottom is always running, and the unit is constantly making noise and getting super cold.
Besides the thermostat, what else can I check? I do not know what the model number is, but here are pics. Thanks!
has wired the cooling unit incorrectly. I actually think it's the latter because if the thermostat is working properly (if) then it should at least turn off the condenser fan. This is an odd problem and I would make sure you installed a truly good thermostat and installed it properly. Is it a Choice Vend thermostat? The proper thermostat has a long capillary tube that is coiled at the end. The coiled end get slid up into a sleeve at the end of the evaporator, I believe. If you didn't do this then your thermostat is probably not properly sensing the air temperature and is letting the compressor run.
On the other hand, you say if you turn off the thermostat that the condenser fan turns off but the compressor keeps running. This is where the bad relay on the compressor or improper wiring could be to blame. The thing is that if the thermostat does it's thing and "turns off" when ti gets to the proper temperature (you do have it set at 3 1/2, don't you?) then it should turn off the condenser fan (as you say it does) which would then cause the compressor to overheat and turn off when the overload trips.
Something isn't adding up here.
It is cooling properly now, there were some adjustments needed on the new thermostat. My issue now is that the fans that run continuously inside (four of them) are very noisy. I am not sure what these fans are called but I am sure there is a modern replacement available. can you tell me what I should be looking for?
Those are the evaporator fans and they should run all the time to help keep the cold air moving and the evaporator from icing up. To get to each fan you must remove the rear adjustable spacer from the column in front of the fan motor. The spacer must be screwed all the way out to remove it - and that's a lot of turning of the screws. You can then unplug the fan and remove it. You might still be able to replace them with units from Grainger but you'll need to match them up to whatever you think might be the correct motor. I'm not sure why you thought to buy this machine unless you think it's a collector's item. I can tell you they were last produced in the very early 80's though the model you have is a late 60's to mid 70's model based on the selection buttons. Still not collectible though as there are still thousands of them around. If you intend to make money from a vending machine then junk this one and get yourself a late model Dixie Narco for $400 or less.