Shopsmith Forums

Have a 2016 powerpro that has never been used except to make a few adjustments. The problem I'm having is with the control panel. The 900 rpm button does not work. All the other buttons work and the up and down adjustments work. Like I stated before this powerpro unit has not been used at all. Is there any testing I can do to find out if the control panel is going bad. Thanks in advance.

Join the friggin' club. half of my buttons don't work. Mine was made in 2013. Can't even get the CEO or engineering to respond to my inquiries. I just find it difficult to believe I/we are responsible for this kind of failure. This is just bad design/equipment.

Yes, I will continue to rant about this problem. I am one unhappy camper. I love the shopsmith machine, the concept, the function, but this is not normal and it certainly isn't right for them to just be ignoring the problem...

Dick, did not NOVA design and manufacture PowerPro? I was wondering if anyone has tried to contact NOVA to find some answers to the problems with the PP?

The guy I bought the PP from had a NOVA lathe and the DVR and motor were the same as the power pro. I notice on the NOVA website that they have firmware updates for their DVRs. I'm not so sure we can count on SS for PP support from what I read on the SS forum regarding the PP. Looking for some ideas to approach NOVA and see what they say about firmware updates. If NOVA is giving their DVRs firmware updates then the SS PPs should get an update.

Striatech, the DVR motor supplier also list the DIY PP upgrade as being available from their store. Not sure if they are the manufacturer of the controller as well as the motor. https://striatech.mybigcommerce.com/

thunderbirdbat wrote:Striatech, the DVR motor supplier also list the DIY PP upgrade as being available from their store. Not sure if they are the manufacturer of the controller as well as the motor. https://striatech.mybigcommerce.com/

It is interesting they include it on their website now, but if you click on the description they just refer back to getting it from Shopsmith. It says "This item is available through Shopsmith. For more information and to order, click here." where the link goes back to Shopsmith. So, I don't think anything has change here for them. This is what the description says for it:

godavid2 wrote:Have a 2016 powerpro that has never been used except to make a few adjustments. The problem I'm having is with the control panel. The 900 rpm button does not work. All the other buttons work and the up and down adjustments work. Like I stated before this powerpro unit has not been used at all. Is there any testing I can do to find out if the control panel is going bad. Thanks in advance.

I am sorry to hear about your PowerPro. Unfortunately, I don't have one so I can't really offer any advice on diagnosing it, but let me attempt to see if I can help. Maybe it is just a pet peeve of mine, but I really do not like membrane switches, which is what the PowerPro uses. I just don't think they are reliable and I hate the feel of them. Not to mention the buttons are too small on the PowerPro (okay rant over...). Striatech is the company that makes the DVR motors for both Shopsmith and Nova. There is a close relationship between Nova and Striatech, but I don't know all the details...they may be independent entities or there might be a tighter business/financial link. Even though the PowerPro guts all come from Striatech, I think I saw someone on the forum post and indicate that Shopsmith engineered the power supply for it so that it would fit in the headstock. In any event, Shopsmith has maintained pretty firm control over the PowerPro version and scant details or documentation can be found on the internals of the PowerPro modules or diagnosing them. So even though Striatech did most/all of the engineering and all of the manufacturing, they aren't allowed to give out much information on the PowerPro. I do believe Shopsmith sells the control module and power supply modules separately, so you will likely have to pay for a new control module to get one with working buttons. My memory isn't great, but I think the control module might have been around $500 for replacement or something like that. If I can find the thread on the forum, I will like it and correct if I am wrong.

https://www.shopsmith.com/ss_forum/view ... nt#p255529

Yes, you are probably right about SS engineering the power source but they did not manufacture it. Shopsmith really does not manufacture anything now. Their stuff is out sourced. The PP is a wonderful tool when running but when not running is an expensive scrap of electronics. So I don't know. The PP is pretty simple in that it only has three main components, the power source, motor and control board. The problem is that a person cannot buy repair parts for these components. I mean what if it is just the pad on the control board that's bad?

Just got off the phone with Striatech service and they did say they make all the components for the PP. Called SS service first left a message. Asked about buying repair parts for the individual components and they to email them and they would check their stock. That is an encouraging sign that maybe might be able to buy individual repair parts. They did tell me to unplug and plug everything back in to see if that solves the problem. Told me to contact SS if problem continues.

There is an alternative that uses newer controls, etc. from Striatech:

https://www.smartdigitalmotor.com/home