PowerPro issues -- motor and bandsaw

[paulrussell]

First off, I started having some noise in my PowerPro. I figured it was caused by stretching belts and opened it up to readjust. Well, it wasn't the belts. It was the motor. I removed the belt to verify and the motor had a definite rattle. It was a rotary noise, not lateral play. In other words if I grabbed the pully and twisted I got a "chunk" sound.

Closer examination showed that the pully set screw had come loose (more on the probably why in a bit). I tightened it and still a rattle when the motor was running or manually turned. After approval from the Mother Ship (I don't want to void a warranty!) I took the motor out completely and removed the plastic shroud from the bottom end. The allen holding the cooling fan was also loose. Tightening this screw fixed the issue. I then backed both allens out and gave them a dab of Loctite blue before replacing.

I've been having a lot of bandsaw jumping lately, and I suspect that is what is working my set screws loose.

I did some bandsawing of 5-6" thick bowl blanks using the Highland "Woodturners" 3/8" blade. Well, at least I tried. I got PowerPro bandsaw jump so bad it twisted my SPT coupler almost in half.

I did a search in the forums and want to make sure I'm covering all my bases -- Ordered a new coupler, double-and-triple adjusted and checked shaft alignment between headstock and bandsaw, and downloaded the instructions for tweaking the PowerPro firmware. Anything else I should check before proceeding?

(PS: sending an email to Tech Support before messing with PowerPro settings. )

[reubenjames]

I don't have anything to add, other than double-checking your bandsaw setup, too, just to be on the safe side. However--you mentioned downloading instructions for tweaking the PowerPro firmware? I'm not familiar with those instructions. Source?

[ChrisNeilan]

I had head that early Power Pros had jumping issues with the band saw. I think I remember that Shopsmith had revised something in the electronics that fixed the issue. An upgrade of sorts. Mine is from January 2014 and has had no such problems. When was yours made?

[reible]

Take two on this post. Not sure what happened but it seems like it submitted but didn't???

Anyway charlese is (one of) our member who had powerpro/bandsaw issue. I think he may have had a machine with a loose set screw as well. He should be along sometime yet today and can answer some questions for you and tell you all that went on in his case.

I'm sorry to here of the ills of your machine.

Ed

Edit: Had to fix the sentence implying Charlese had a loose set screw, I'm pretty sure it was his powerpro with the problem.

[ChrisNeilan]

Take two on this post. Not sure what happened but it seems like it submitted but didn't???

Anyway charlese is (one of) our member who had powerpro/bandsaw issue. I think he may have had a loose set screw as well. He should be along sometime yet today and can answer some questions for you and tell you all that went on in his case.

I'm sorry to here of the ills of your machine.

Ed

Are you saying that Charlese has a screw loose? Nice!

[reible]

Here is at least one link about the powerpro and a loose set screw:

http://www.shopsmith.com/ss_forum/maint ... 11931.html

Ed

[paulrussell]

I don't have anything to add, other than double-checking your bandsaw setup, too, just to be on the safe side. However--you mentioned downloading instructions for tweaking the PowerPro firmware? I'm not familiar with those instructions. Source?

http://www.shopsmith.com/ss_forum/viewt ... 76#p116876

[charlese]

Paul, your description of your "banging" bandsaw issues, including the set screws, is exactly a replication of my issues. Only you explained the situation much better than I did.

Unfortunately, the fix with the electronics did not solve the issues for me. I solved all banging issues by inserting a speed reducer between the headstock and the bandsaw. I need to run my PowerPro at around 6200 RPM when bndsawing, but after a couple years and lots of resawing, no problems have come up with either the speed reducer or the headstock.

BTW - I recommend you check your PowerPro pulley to see if the center hole is a little off centered.

To whom - I thought only my wife knew my set screw is loose! If you guys knew, or suspected, you have been very kind by not exposing it earlier.