Install Day

Your Complete Install-Day Playbook

Whether it’s your first machine or your fiftieth, this guide walks beside you for a clean, safe, and profitable install—prep checklists, the right gear, clamshell & angled doorway methods, loading, power/level, go-live tests, and a final bit of polish.

Your Progress

Pre-Install

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Gear

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Day-Of

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Go-Live

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Pre-Install: Survey & Staging

Let’s make sure the site is ready and your gear/product is staged so delivery feels easy.

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Site Survey

Confirm power (correct voltage/plug; dedicated circuit is best)
Check the floor (level, dry, strong enough; watch for slopes/drains)
Measure paths (doors, halls, turns—width/height/clearance)
Lock in the route (elevator/ramps; size/weight limits; reserved window)
Confirm site access (client contact, badges, loading dock, security)
Send COI / permits if needed

Staging & Equipment

Appliance hand truck / heavy-duty dolly (rated for the machine)
Pallet jack & skates (for palletized moves or long pushes)
Ratchet straps (2–4), blankets, corner guards, tape
Threshold ramp + floor protection runners
Tool kit (level, hex/torx, sockets, drill/bits, pry bar)
PPE (gloves, boots, eye protection) & a two-person crew

Product & Planogram

Pick a starter mix; label and stage by shelf (crates/totes)
Prep for FIFO (date codes forward; separate short-dated)
Draft prices/planogram (bring a printout or device)

Appearance Prep

Clean the machine (glass, trim, interior shelves)
Have branding/decals ready; print contact/refund info
Activate the reader (SIM/account) & note firmware

Moving Equipment & Product Handling Kit

Field-tested carts, dollies, and totes so moves are safer and loading is faster.

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Day-Of: Delivery & Placement

Easy does it—safe move-in, doorway techniques, and a precise final spot.

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Doorways: Clamshell & Angled Methods

Clamshell (door-open) method: On snack machines with a swing-out door, opening the cabinet ~90° narrows the footprint. Strap the door to the dolly, pad the hinges/harness, and move slow with a spotter calling clearances.

Power down and unplug. If space is tight, remove the reader and bill validator first.
Open the main door and strap it to the dolly so it can’t swing.
Pad corners/edges with blankets or guards; watch the wiring looms.
Roll straight and steady through the opening; re-secure the door once through.

Angled (diagonal) method: Rotate the cabinet so the diagonal fits the doorway. Use the quick calculator below to sanity-check the angle before you commit.

Machine width (in) Machine depth (in) Doorway clear width (in)

Angle (°) 35°

Effective width at angle: — in

Status: —

Rule of thumb: protect floors, remove door hardware if needed, and have a spotter give you inch-by-inch calls.

Placement, Level & Power

Lay down floor runners; protect corners and walls
Choose the final spot (traffic, visibility, outlet reach)
Level front-to-back and side-to-side (shim/feet)
Refrigerated: if tipped >45°, let stand 4–12h before power
Power on; verify fans, lights, and reader boot

Safety & Handling

Two-person minimum with clear voice commands
Strap above the center of gravity; keep fingers clear
Use ramp/threshold plates—no hard “bumps”
Elevators: confirm capacity; ride with the load if allowed

Go-Live: Load, Price & Launch

Product in, prices right, reader online—then a few tests and a little shine.

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Load & Price

Load by shelf using totes/crates (quick FIFO)
Check spiral fit for each SKU; adjust dividers/helixes
Set prices (nickel rounding), tax, and deposit settings
Add promos where supported (e.g., multi-buy)

Payments & Tests

Card reader online with good signal; device activated
Test vend cash and card; verify price and change payout
Enable telemetry/alerts (low stock, errors)
Check receipts and refund flow for cashless

Appearance & Handoff

Clean glass and trim; straighten rows; check lighting
Apply decals/signage (contact/refund QR, “tap to pay”)
Handoff with client: support channel & SLA expectations
Schedule first service; note par levels

Manuals & Next Steps

Need model-specific tricks? Open the Manual Library.

Manual Library Starter planograms

Note from a Technician

You’ve got a location, you’ve got a machine, you have the product prepared and stocked / in storage containers, you have a way to move the machine with a vehicle and a dolly, you have tie-downs / ratchet straps, you have checked the dimensions of your machine (length, width, and height) and can fit the machine through all doors at the locations you measured, there is a power outlet for the machine, you have a partner to assist.

If you are missing anything, ensure you are truly prepared. Situations can always go “sideways” and unexpected circumstances can arise. Have a couple 2×4 boards that are around 2–3 ft long, they can help in situations where you need leverage underneath a machine to move it over say a door stop. Bringing a small pallet jack, a large dolly capable of moving the machine, and some 2×4s can get you set up in most cases. Sometimes you have to go through a door and make an immediate turn, if so you should use an Appliance Dolly like the one shown above, you can go through a door and immediately spin/move in the direction you need to go without the large spacing the dolly requires to turn. A small pallet jack can move around a lot of common snack machines, in many cases you won’t need anything beyond just a small pallet jack, though for drink machines, they help create “leverage” when you need it. There will be situations that you have to maneuver over holes, door stops and other things that aren’t a flat surface, having 2×4s and a small pallet jack can help “shimmy” machines over nuisance things. What is being described, is imagine you go through a doorway and there’s a small door stop in the way, it’s not entirely in the way but just enough to stop the machine from going perfectly through. You can use a 2×4 / pallet jack and lift a corner over the door stop and continue on. Think outside of the box when you hit these issues, apply leverage through a 2×4, pallet jack, any jack of any sort.

ALWAYS SITE SEE BEFORE YOU INSTALL.

If you do not have a truck, you can rent one! Luckily companies such as Enterprise have lift-gate trucks that are fairly priced, in this economy, that you can rent for a day or two and utilize for the install or if you are purchasing a machine and need to pick up. When renting a truck, do take pictures of the vehicle prior to leaving the lot with it, do not risk any incidentals that they may claim you caused due to their negligence of inspecting the vehicle properly, this happens far too often.

When getting a machine onto the lift gate and into the bed of the truck/back of the truck, you likely will have to “shimmy” the machine onto the lift gate as they are normally angled in a way that doesn’t allow for straight walk on. You can lift a machine with a pallet jack and maneuver it onto the lift gate, for drink machines you ideally use a dolly and push the machine up to the plate and then tilt it onto the plate and remove the dolly, then shimmy the machine into a safe lifting position.

How you go about this will be situation dependent. The equipment listed above is tried and true, it is proper equipment to move machines around. Be careful, always have a spotter and a partner help you, this is heavy equipment and your safety is the most important thing. If you are unable to move machines around, you can pay moving companies in your local area to help you install. If you need additional help finding these services, please do reach out to us through the live chat or email and we can assist you further.

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