Local antique dealer approached me about getting an old popcorn machine working electrically/mechanically.

I told him "Parts and Labor, actual time spent. Probably $400/$500"

The picture above is one reason why. That pile of mung came out of a 2-1/2 inch squirrel cage blower on the top of the machine. 100 years of cooked on oil/butter/whatever. Paint thinner and carb cleaner wouldn't touch it. Had to set it afire with a propane torch to soften it and then scrape it out. Embedded popcorn kernels, what looks like an almond and some hardware embedded in the slime.

I've ordered enough period-correct braided cloth-covered wire to completely rewire it as the old stuff is dried out and brittle and will flake off with any flexing.

Cool. More pics

quote:

Originally posted by BigSwede:
Cool. More pics

I'll have to get some overall pictures next time I'm down at his shop. I removed all the major electrical stuff and lugged it home so I can work on it in the comfort of my own shop.

Nice old unit, lot of porcelain-coated metal plus what I think was originally polished nickel trim.

Declined to do the cleaning/polishing, that would take weeks. I took home a piece of the trim to straighten and see if I could buff it up. Nothing I have will touch it, tho I got a tip from a motorcycle restoration guy I'm going to try.

You'll probably want to keep it when you're done!

Barkeeps friend works well on carbonized kitchen stuff

I, too, would like to see a picture. We have an old full size kettle popcorn machine in my parents’ basement- it came with the house, which is very old. I’d be curious as to how it compares .

quote:

Originally posted by PHPaul:
That pile of mung came out of a 2-1/2 inch squirrel cage blower on the top of the machine. 100 years of cooked on oil/butter/whatever. Paint thinner and carb cleaner wouldn't touch it. Had to set it afire with a propane torch to soften it and then scrape it out. Embedded popcorn kernels, what looks like an almond and some hardware embedded in the slime.

Awwww man, that's like good seasoning on a cast iron pot. Now the popcorn will never taste as good.

These pictures are from Fee Bay, but it's the exact same machine.

Tested the three hot plates. One for the main bin, one for a drawer under the bin and one for (I assume) melting butter. I was amazed that all three work!

The metal cladding on one was in really rough shape, I was sure it was going to be shorted out, but it pulled about 1.5 amps and heated up very nicely.

Only real concern left is the heating element for the kettle.

Really cool restoration. I am glad you are working it up and that the client is paying for it to be done.

Dang, Now I want some movie popcorn.

Got the kettle apart and tested the heating elements. All good, which is a huge hurdle. If it was bad, we were dead in the water.

There's a screw-in fuse right at the kettle and the wiring between the fuse socket and the elements was badly melted. The fuse socket was just flopping around so I expect it shorted to the frame at some point.

The rest of the project is mostly cleaning, lubing and reassembling, plus a lot of wiring, some soldering and insulating.

Got the machine 99% working and back together. Found a website, figured out how the fuse holder for the kettle heater was suppose to work and used my best guess on how to wire it.

Put it all back together with new wire where possible. One conduit was PACKED and no way no how was I going to get new wires (which, being a woven cover over PVC insulation are bigger in diameter) pulled through it.

Somewhat to my surprise, everything but one part worked when I plugged it in. Hell, I was a little surprised I didn't get a BANG and a big flash when I plugged it in! Vent motor and kettle stirring motor work perfectly, pan and drawer heaters work, lights work.

I put a ammeter in the line and selected the three ranges of heat for the kettle. High draws about 5.5 amps, Medium draws about 4 amps but low isn't drawing at all, so there's something mis-wired there. Waiting on some information from the guy that runs the website.

All in all, I'm pretty pleased. A little more polishing and reassembly to do, but I'll wait until I get more info on the kettle wiring. Owner was apparently happy too as he paid me in full.

quote:

Originally posted by redstone:
Really cool restoration. I am glad you are working it up and that the client is paying for it to be done.

Dang, Now I want some movie popcorn.

Head on over to Rural-King. Guns & free popcorn!