DLB wrote: ↑Thu Feb 20, 2025 10:27 am
A "service plan" and/or "exchange program" both sound really expensive to me. Generally the risks and overhead costs of such things are paid for by the participants, not the sponsors. I'm not disagreeing though, a fairly priced five year extended warranty might increase sales if the cost to Shopsmith and price to the buyer were reasonable. If any program was available, I'm pretty confident that I would choose to spend money mitigating my own risks rather than participating. (Partly because I, like many other PP users, have already chosen to spend that money.)
- David
Wouldn't be cheap. Problem is there may not be enough people that take advantage of it to make it practical for Shopsmith to support. Many owners wouldn't be motivated to start paying for a service plan after the warranty expires. If they're PowerPro is working fine at that point they'll tend to think they have nothing to worry about. Service plans are well understand by professionals, not so much at the consumer level.
So, would you pay $100 year for a plan that would replace a PowerPro motor or power supply for just $100? Is that a practical cost for Shopsmith? I hope it would be, otherwise the failure rate of these units would have to be absurdly high.
Anyway, just pondering the matter. I have no real answers.
My PowerPro popped a breaker as well. When I took apart the power control unit (power supply) it smells like I blew a capacitor. Has anyone ever tried to fix the capacitor? Does anyone know how you could get a wiring schematic to know which one? Im guessing thats all it is and it would save me $600 if I can at least try to fix it. Any other options anyone else has tried?
Wouldn't be cheap. Problem is there may not be enough people that take advantage of it to make it practical for Shopsmith to support. Many owners wouldn't be motivated to start paying for a service plan after the warranty expires. If they're PowerPro is working fine at that point they'll tend to think they have nothing to worry about. Service plans are well understand by professionals, not so much at the consumer level.
So, would you pay $100 year for a plan that would replace a PowerPro motor or power supply for just $100? Is that a practical cost for Shopsmith? I hope it would be, otherwise the failure rate of these units would have to be absurdly high.
Anyway, just pondering the matter. I have no real answers.
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I would pay that amount for a service plan, if I purchased the Power Pro. At some predetermined time, the service plan would expire and become unrenewable. By that time I would hope I got the use out of the machine I wanted.
I am curious as to the total unit sales the Power Pro's have. As the units increase, the probability of warranty claims as a percentage would decrease, I would think. They would also have incremental improvements as flaws emerge.
I’m the buyer on FB that purchased this from John. Small world haha! Anyways I tore it apart and it looks like the capacitors look good but it appears to have fried the rectifier bridge- lots of black and over heating around that component. I just ordered a new one $10 on Amz. We’ll see if that solves the problem and save me from buying a new power supply @ $600! Stay tuned.
nmac wrote: ↑Mon Feb 24, 2025 2:53 pm
I’m the buyer on FB that purchased this from John. Small world haha! Anyways I tore it apart and it looks like the capacitors look good but it appears to have fried the rectifier bridge- lots of black and over heating around that component. I just ordered a new one $10 on Amz. We’ll see if that solves the problem and save me from buying a new power supply @ $600! Stay tuned.
Please take some pictures and tell us more about the insides of PowerPro power supply.
You’ll see John’s name on one of the original posts who authored this topic. I bought the SS from him after it wouldn't work and decided to dive into the project to try and fix it myself.
Here’s some initial pics of diving into the power supply and possibly locating the culprit? Hope they are helpful. Could use a schematic but what looks like a burned out Rectifier Bridge will be where I start.
My Gen 1 PowerPro made a similar internal pop a couple of years ago and tripped a GFCI. When I opened the headstock I found that two wires were pinched at the spindle handle washer and the insulation had worn through on both wires. I cut out the damage wiring, re-routed it to avoid pinching, and put everything back together. Problem fixed. Other than that (which was probably my fault since it was a DIY upgrade) I haven't had any problems with my PowerPro and enjoy its increased power, wider speed range, and much quieter operation.
- Matanuska
1984 Mark V upgraded to 520 PowerPro. Shopsmith cast iron table bandsaw, jointer, belt sander, and 60's vintage 610 jigsaw SPT's. Makita 2040 15" planer, JessEm Mast-R-Lift II router table.
nmac wrote: ↑Mon Feb 24, 2025 5:27 pm
Here’s some initial pics of diving into the power supply and possibly locating the culprit? Hope they are helpful. Could use a schematic but what looks like a burned out Rectifier Bridge will be where I start.
Does that rectifier, and other components on that side of the CCA, make physical contact with the main heat sink? What was the condition of the heat sink compound between those components and the heat sink? (Greasy or dried out?) Do the power input lines go directly to that rectifier?
Hi David, The heat sink was dry. But after closer inspection it looks like there is more damage beyond the bridge rectifier. See new pics. Those other components are burned and cant read the part numbers? Anyone have an old power supply we can take apart? This is where schematics would really help. Anyone know how I could get those part numbers and see if I can get this back running?
nmac wrote: ↑Thu Feb 27, 2025 6:14 pm
Hi David, The heat sink was dry. But after closer inspection it looks like there is more damage beyond the bridge rectifier. See new pics. Those other components are burned and cant read the part numbers? Anyone have an old power supply we can take apart? This is where schematics would really help. Anyone know how I could get those part numbers and see if I can get this back running?
First, sorry that this happened to you. Know that I am an Electrical Engineer, but even before this I was always taking things apart, fixing them if I could, etc. so I have a little more knowledge than the average person related to PCB/electronics repair. I doubt that you will find schematics to help you, but you can try to search. The DVR motor that Shopsmith uses in the PowerPro was designed by a company called Striatech, but Teknatool is the one that integrates everything and distributes it. Shopsmith uses a version of their design, but customized for the PowerPro. Shopsmith historically has never provided internal documentation like schematics, etc. so I doubt you will have luck getting this info. Even without schematics, you can still attempt a repair/replace on damaged parts of a PCB like this. Know that systematically replacing damaged components is precarious on a power supply like this, i.e. not fixing everything can result in an endless cycle of replace/test/replace/repeat. Just my 2 cents, given the damage that I see I would question if it is worth your time. I see several blown traces (vaporized copper), several blown components (IC's, diodes, etc.), not to mention a large trace to the toroid inductor blown out of the PCB bottom leaving a sizable hole. The large electrolytic caps look blown as well. I know Shopsmith charges an exorbitant hundreds of dollars to replace the power supply module, but that is probably your best bet IMHO. Whatever direction you decide to go with it, I wish you the best of luck in getting it repaired.
RF Guy