markfive510 wrote:I'm fighting the temptation to open mine to see if I can offer any constructive comment. The fixed value resistors are probably not the problem while the potentiometer might be. However, I'd bet on the circuit board. If you find that you are able to fix this, you just might have a new part time job. Getting the technical detail required to work on the circuit board will likely be a show stopper.
Prompted by your post, I decided to take a closer look at the circuit board. When I looked at the back of the board it seems that some of the paths have been burned through, indicating a bigger problem. I have obviously had a short circuit somewhere along the line and believe that the board itself is damaged.
I would guess at this point it is unrepairable and I'll have to do something different.
Any chance Shopsmith would just sell me the completed circuit board?
tdubnik wrote:Prompted by your post, I decided to take a closer look at the circuit board. When I looked at the back of the board it seems that some of the paths have been burned through, indicating a bigger problem. I have obviously had a short circuit somewhere along the line and believe that the board itself is damaged.
I would guess at this point it is unrepairable and I'll have to do something different.
Any chance Shopsmith would just sell me the completed circuit board?
For Heavens Sake! Call them and ASK!!! 1-800543-7586. The brown box may have to be back ordered. Speed control box (514736) ought to be the part you are looking for. This can't be the first time one of these has quit!
Octogenarian's have an earned right to be a curmudgeon.
Chuck in Lancaster, CA
tdubnik wrote:Prompted by your post, I decided to take a closer look at the circuit board. When I looked at the back of the board it seems that some of the paths have been burned through, indicating a bigger problem. I have obviously had a short circuit somewhere along the line and believe that the board itself is damaged.
I would guess at this point it is unrepairable and I'll have to do something different.
Any chance Shopsmith would just sell me the completed circuit board?
-As a favor to another owner, I have done some research trying to find part numbers for items similar to this control board. Shopsmith documentation historically does not provide the information that I would anticipate you are going to need.
-I also have noted in my many searches that it is not uncommon for people to have encountered unreparable power stations, proplaners and the like; many times for the very reasons you now are faced with. With this in mind, I would suggest that you begin a search for someone with a dead or seriously damaged power station. As long as the failure mode is not the same as yours, two might make one and you'll have a lot of spare parts left over.
-Have you contacted Bill Mayo or Ruggs to see if they can help.
charlese wrote:For Heavens Sake! Call them and ASK!!! 1-800543-7586. The brown box may have to be back ordered. Speed control box (514736) ought to be the part you are looking for. This can't be the first time one of these has quit!
Good suggestion....especially if you have $324.53 (speed control) to spend repairing an item that costs all of $549.99 (power station). Once done, all you have to do is hope that the motor ($250) does not fail.
-In a previous life, I did some printed circuit repair. If you are good with a soldering iron, you might try repairing burned traces by soldering in wires over the open circuits. Caution...Test the output of the repaired unit before you connect the motor.
tdubnik wrote:Prompted by your post, I decided to take a closer look at the circuit board. When I looked at the back of the board it seems that some of the paths have been burned through, indicating a bigger problem. I have obviously had a short circuit somewhere along the line and believe that the board itself is damaged.
I would guess at this point it is unrepairable and I'll have to do something different.
Any chance Shopsmith would just sell me the completed circuit board?
Again if there are no IC circuits on the board and I doubt there is you can repair the board by running wire across the opens. I would guess without seeing the board that if you feed control motor stalled for some reason like a jammed piece of wood or if you had a power surge you could easily burn the board. Don't give up on the repair if it can be built it can usually be repaired. Perhaps not as pretty or elegant but repaired none the less.
Justaned
I don't own anything with this controller but I would for educational reasons like to see some pictures of what is inside.
I'm surprised that there was no output fuse or breaker to trip. On my durm sander the feed motor has a circuit breaker so if it stalls and starts to over heat it clicks off, a lot better then having to buy new parts.
This is what, a 20 plus year old design? In all this time no one has taken the time to pull one apart and trace the circuit... and maybe have a parts list, and maybe added a fuse???? Have you posted this question at the other shopsmith sites? The yahoo group has been around for a long time and since I haven't seen the question there maybe that would be a good starting place.
At a block diagram level this circuit has to convert AC to DC and then provide a controlled output. This would indicate at least some sort of output device that can drive the motor... so depending on where the board is damaged, either before or after that output could also determine if any parts on the board are damaged... like wise if the damage were on the input side it would give you a place to start.
I've used the wire over circuit traces many many times. If the board has a coating (perhaps green?) you need to scrape this coating off to get to the traces (the traces will be either a silver color or copper color). Or go from end point to end point with the wire. It is however very unlikely that the trace on the board was the failure but more likely a result of a failure somewhere else that found this to be the weak spot.
Ed
{Knight of the Shopsmith} [Hero's don't wear capes, they wear dog tags]
The damage is on the DC output side. The inputs prior to the circuit board are very simple with AC power going through the power switch and then directly to the AC planer motor outlet and split to the DC input circuit board. There are no surprises on the AC side.
The circuit board itself has some major damage on the foil side with 3 distinct burnt spots. On the component side there are at least 2 components showing heat damage. I don't think I can repair this board.
The problem is that I don't really know what caused the damage in the first place. The feed motor seems to operate fine when connected to a DC power supply but I don't know the recommended operating voltage range for the speed control motor. I am looking at DC motor controllers for options. If that doesn't work, I'll buy a non-Shopsmith bench planer that will meet my modest needs.
tdubnik wrote:The damage is on the DC output side. The inputs prior to the circuit board are very simple with AC power going through the power switch and then directly to the AC planer motor outlet and split to the DC input circuit board. There are no surprises on the AC side.
The circuit board itself has some major damage on the foil side with 3 distinct burnt spots. On the component side there are at least 2 components showing heat damage. I don't think I can repair this board.
The problem is that I don't really know what caused the damage in the first place. The feed motor seems to operate fine when connected to a DC power supply but I don't know the recommended operating voltage range for the speed control motor. I am looking at DC motor controllers for options. If that doesn't work, I'll buy a non-Shopsmith bench planer that will meet my modest needs.
The nameplate on the motor may give you a clue as to what the DC operating voltage is. The controller is nothing more than a variable DC supply, I suspect, so you may be able to pick up a replacement at something like a Radio Shack If you can post pictures, I may be able to help figure out what got toasted, since I'm an EE by training.
Remember, for the cost of a non-Shopsmith planer, you can repair this one. Repairing this will will give you a much better surface planer. Think about it, this is an important decision.
