Shopsmith Forums

I purchased the Power Pro upgrade for my '80s era Mark V 510 in November 2017, based on all the glowing reviews. I have had nothing but problems with it.
I emailed the Customer Support people in December, SS replied that they would make a ticket out for me and someone would respond. No one ever did.
I emailed again in May of this year, same reply from SS, no one responded.
I called on Monday, Brian took down all the information and said someone would call me on Tuesday. It is now Wednesday evening, haven't heard a thing.
Here are the problems I am having:
I use the machine primarily for bowl turning, so it is set up for the lathe and the bandsaw (although never both at the same time). The setscrews on all my faceplates and chucks loosen up after a minute or two of use, no matter how tightly I torque them down. The setscrew on the outboard hub (the one on the left) has also loosened during use of the bandsaw, and the setscrew on the bandsaw hub has loosened as well.
The machine has no torque at low speeds. At 250 RPMs I can stop the bowl blank with my hand.
The motor makes an intermittent growling sound (accompanied by a faint bicycle-bell type sound) when turning large bowl blanks at low speed. The same thing happens when using the bandsaw. I took the pulley cover off and watched the motor pulley, the motor appears to momentarily slow down when it makes that noise, as if it were trying to work up some power.
Last week the back bearing on the idler shaft (the one on the belt side of the shaft) worked it's way loose from the eccentric, even though the eccentric was still tight (I had tightened the screw with as much hand pressure as I could on the short end of the wrench, but no more than that for fear of breaking the ears).
Then Saturday the machine started making a rattling sound. At first I thought maybe the loose bearing had been damaged when it broke free, but upon disengaging the belts I can hear the rattling coming from the motor.
I owned this machine for three years before the upgrade and it worked great. Just to let you know that I am not some newbie with this stuff, I owned a cabinet making company for 33 years. I had $250K worth of woodworking machinery, including CNC. I did all of the maintenance and a lot of the repairs myself. I never had this much problem with any of my machines.
You know, stuff happens, especially when electronics are involved. But what is really burning me is the lack of response from SS. I paid $2000 for this upgrade and they won't even bother to return my call.
I have searched this forum for answers to these problems but to no avail. If anyone can help me out on any of this stuff please let me know.

The thought that first comes to mind is that the belts are loose. Have you tried balancing the belt tension as described in the Maintenance section of the PowerPro manual? That procedure reduces rattling noises. You may need to tighten the eccentric bolt a bit more. It was loose enough on my PowerPro that the idle shaft would move into the headstock and the hub would rub on the vent plate. Don't tighten past the point that the split washer is just flat, though.

I hope this helps.

Mike

Thanks Mike. I did check the belts, about 1/8" deflection on the lower belt and about 1/16" on the upper belt, which I think is about right. But then I took the belt off and ran the motor without it and now I see that the rattling is definitely coming from the motor. It's kind of looking like this headstock is going to have to take a trip to Dayton. Sure wish the SS technician would call.

I would check to see if the fan/flywheel on the end of the motor is tight. Just remove the cover to check. Also, the speed sensor is behind the flywheel, which is held on by two screws that might have come loose. That might also cause the rpms to vary if the computer gets confused.
Fred

Hi Fred,
I finally got a chance to take the cover off the motor and, yes indeed, the fan was loose. In fact, the set screw was missing entirely. Probably vibrated loose, just like every other setscrew on this infernal contraption, came off and got lost.

Would you, or anyone else reading this, know the size of that setscrew? There is an industrial hardware store in the neighborhood and I would like to get another one.

Also, I took the retaining ring off the shaft in an effort to remove the fan but it doesn't slide past the groove that holds the retaining ring. Is there a trick to this? Do I need a pulley puller? The speed sensor appears to be tight but I would like to take the fan off just to be sure.

Thanks for you help.

Jack

I suspect that the fan scored the motor shaft end while it was flopping around. I would try a flat file if you can get to the groove. Otherwise, a bearing puller might be needed. Have no idea the setscrew size, can you take the whole motor to the store?
Fred

I am making a educated guess based on the size of the setscrew that holds the Index Fan on a Nova 2424 Lathe which uses the same type DVR motor from Teknatool as Shopsmith contracts from New Zealand ...

Socket Set Screw M6x6

You should be able to find one at a local hardware store that size to confirm it fits the thread, then take it from there if it fits. Also, some form of vibration thread locker might be in order.

Everett

I don't want to pull the whole motor out and drag it to the store, so I will try the m6x6, but I read on one of these posts that the allen wrench for this screw is 2.5mm. I will bring one of those with me and buy every setscrew that uses this size allen wrench. I will report back.

What do you suggest for a vibration thread locker? Loctite?

Make sure you get thread lock NOT Permanent mount product. You want to be able to take it apart just not vibrate apart.

If you can get the fan off without damaging it an inspection of the shaft it mounts to is in order.

Shopsmith should replace the motor if it is damaged or scored.

Motor has a five year warranty.

Everett

Was able to get the fan off with a lot of wiggling. Took it to the hardware store and the setscrew size is M5x6 Bought an extra one just in case. Put a drop of blue loctite on it, reassembled the whole thing and fired it up. The rattle is gone! Thanks guys!

The speed sensor was tightly attached so I just blew out what little bit of dust was in it.

Not sure about this whole setscrew-loosening phenomenon. I seem to be the only one on this forum with this problem. Anyone with any theories please let me know.

Thanks again for all your help.