PowerPro Rattle on Startup

[ChrisNeilan]

Mine rattles often, but slightly. The accesary shaft that goes thru the screen/vent on the back ever so slightly rubs. It would be a quick fix to adjust it, but it seems I'm very lazy!

[Skymech9]

Mine turned out to be the setscrew on the drive motor fan was loose and caused it to rattle . On a brand new PowerPro covertion kit from the manufacturer no less..

[Matanuska]

I've had my PowerPro for 4 years and never experienced this rattle. Today I did the recommended routine maintenance and found the belts under-tensioned and tension unbalanced. Aligned motor hub with the idler pulley and tension balanced per instructions. Also found setscrew on the motor fan blade was loose and tightened using red threadlock. Now my PP rattles everytime I start up in table saw mode at 3450 rpm. Go figure.

[JPG]

Red thread lock is a bad idea if used where removal of screw is anticipated.


Figure = slop removed causes torque induced rattle.

[Matanuska]

Yep - thought twice about it but decided to risk having to apply some pinpoint heat if I ever have to remove it against a secure set screw.

I still wonder about a rattle after setting up per specs. I didn’t notice the issue during the PowerPro demo I saw when I ordered the DIY upgrade. I plan to recheck the idler shaft eccentric positioning tomorrow to see if the tension balance has slipped. Or maybe it’s just better to run with the belts a little looser. I hadn’t noticed any belt slip the rattle-free way I had it setup initially. Do you have a PowerPro? If so, does it rattle on table saw startup?

[DLB]

Yep - thought twice about it but decided to risk having to apply some pinpoint heat if I ever have to remove it against a secure set screw.

I still wonder about a rattle after setting up per specs. I didn’t notice the issue during the PowerPro demo I saw when I ordered the DIY upgrade. I plan to recheck the idler shaft eccentric positioning tomorrow to see if the tension balance has slipped. Or maybe it’s just better to run with the belts a little looser. I hadn’t noticed any belt slip the rattle-free way I had it setup initially. Do you have a PowerPro? If so, does it rattle on table saw startup?

I have one and I don't hear a rattle. Loudest part of mine in TS mode, by far, is the whoosh of the blade spinning through the air. You mentioned aligning the motor hub to the Idler per the manual though, so I will say that IMO that procedure does not work. The belts need to be perpendicular to the shafts. Therefore shafts need to be parallel to each other. When I followed the book procedure I ended up way off. Visibly obvious that the motor was tilted up or down, I don't recall which. I had to modify the motor mounts to get the correct result (pulley alignment as described in the manual AND belts true to shafts at the same time).

Though I would go with Blue, I think loc-tite or equivalent is needed at both ends of the motor, pulley and fan setscrews. I think the fan is probably actually more critical to be correct, it has the pick-up for RPM and Timing to the electronics. (I'm not 100% sure that it uses timing, details are sketchy, but I think it does.)

- David

[Matanuska]

Thanks - I will check to make sure I get the shafts parallel & the belts perpendicular to the shafts. On a related issue, when looking at the headstock quill pulley in drill press mode how many grooves should be visible above and/or below the belt? If I center the belt there are two on each side, but that doesn't look quite square.

[reible]

Are you sure the rattle is internal? Make sure all the locks are tight an try again. I had an odd rattle on and off for a while and finely track it to the screw in handle on the quill advancing lever, but any loose bits can cause a sound as they hit resonance frequencies. Worth the effort before you go back inside.

Ed

[Matanuska]

I think I've checked them all, but are you referring to the quill lock screw handle? I've got that one tight.

The startup rattle seems to be coming from the saw blade end of the quill, not the idler shaft, and only lasts a second or two. Interestingly, as a previous poster noted, if the jointer is mounted on the idler shaft with the saw blade and SPT coupler in place the rattle doesn't occur but returns as soon as the coupler is removed. I tried engaging the coupler very lightly to see if idler shaft end thrust was preventing the rattle, but that doesn't seem to be the case. It may be more related to the additional torque provided by the jointer playing more nicely with feedback from the PowerPro speed maintainer and it's interactions with the belt alignment/tension.

[DLB]

Thanks - I will check to make sure I get the shafts parallel & the belts perpendicular to the shafts. On a related issue, when looking at the headstock quill pulley in drill press mode how many grooves should be visible above and/or below the belt? If I center the belt there are two on each side, but that doesn't look quite square.

I think centered, two on each side is considered correct. Check that your idler bearing is all the way in the eccentric bushing and the eccentric bushing is all the way in the headstock, meaning outboard. Both should be against a stop screw. On PowerPro, the Idler sometimes migrates inboard off these stop screws. The stop screws are a holdover from the conventional headstock, where the speed control prevents inboard migration of the assembly and the stop screws prevent outboard. Perhaps not ideal for PowerPro. In particular if the motor axis is tilted (down at the pulley end I think) this results in some tendency for the Idler to move inboard.

More on getting the shafts parallel: In vertical DP position, I used a small lathe face plate and a Wixie (or equivalent) angle gauge on the SPT drive spindles. This confirmed the Upper and Idler were virtually identical angle in both directions. Then I used the Idler for reference and put the Wixie on the motor pulley to align the shaft. Since it is the same screws that do tension, I had to adjust both tension and alignment at once since it was so far off.

- David