Shopsmith Forums

Got my PP running sort of. Had to purchase a new control board. Now to the main point of the post. The idler shaft want to slide inwards unless the eccentric bolt is tighten down really tight. What I'm having a hard time with like someone else has stated you almost have to get it so tight you afraid of breaking the ears. I took the idler out because I thought maybe something was out of alignment. It seems as though the pressure from the drive sleeve assembly is putting pressure on the idler shaft causing the idler shaft to be out of alignment. When I took the idler shaft out I notice two very small bearing on the shaft which leads me to believe that the bearings are two for the amount of pressure applied to the idler shaft. I would like to install bigger bearings but I'm not sure there is room to do that. I did some research on the forum apparently other people have this problem did not see a solutions Has anyone tried this? thanks

Belt alignment is critical. If the belts are off by just one "poly" belt, the idler will drift. I put the unit in drillpress position so gravity will help it stay in place until you get it balanced and tightened.

If you don't mind me asking, what did the control unit cost. Mine is slowly going bad.... Did you replace the whole computer, or are they selling individual components of the computer?

Hope it helps and as always, JMHO

godavid2 wrote:Got my PP running sort of. Had to purchase a new control board. Now to the main point of the post. The idler shaft want to slide inwards unless the eccentric bolt is tighten down really tight. What I'm having a hard time with like someone else has stated you almost have to get it so tight you afraid of breaking the ears. I took the idler out because I thought maybe something was out of alignment. It seems as though the pressure from the drive sleeve assembly is putting pressure on the idler shaft causing the idler shaft to be out of alignment. When I took the idler shaft out I notice two very small bearing on the shaft which leads me to believe that the bearings are two for the amount of pressure applied to the idler shaft. I would like to install bigger bearings but I'm not sure there is room to do that. I did some research on the forum apparently other people have this problem did not see a solutions Has anyone tried this? thanks

I have been banging my head trying to understand that.

Rjent mentioning poly-v belt alignment makes sense.

Belt alignment okay except the idler shaft belt is out of alignment when idler drifts. I replaced just board. New control board 25% off right now still with shipping and taxes around $500. I'm going to move the motor forward to see if that helps tomorrow. But in my opinion are bearings way too small for the motor. What it looks like to me is cost cutting. Sacrificing quality. I'm really surprise others have not had problems with these bearings.

I took another look at the motor and the motor mounts cannot be positioned forward only backwards. I want to look at trying bigger bearings for the idler shaft so that it does not drift.

godavid2 wrote:I took another look at the motor and the motor mounts cannot be positioned forward only backwards. I want to look at trying bigger bearings for the idler shaft so that it does not drift.

I think you need to completely understand the cause.

Your description does not create understanding on my part. I do not know what moving the motor does to 'fix things'.

Why do you think larger bearings are a possible solution?

The poly-v belt offset makes sense since that can create inward thrust on the idler pulley. Realize either the motor or the drive sleeve pulley positioning can create that thrust(in or out).

I think running with only the motor belt will reveal if the motor pulley/idler pulley are aligned. The poly-v belts will rise on one side if the pulleys are not aligned.

I am not familiar with the M7 idler shaft, but I am assuming the pulleys are all 'positionable'.

JPG thanks for the suggestions. Running the motor poly V belt alone is not really a working because too involved the instruction manual suggested using a straight edge did that no luck. The instructions are pretty vague about the position of the belt on the drive sheave. It looks off center but I have another PP and the drive sheave is in the same place. So I don't know. Will keep looking and will work on the alignment and advise.

godavid2 wrote:JPG thanks for the suggestions. Running the motor poly V belt alone is not really a working because too involved the instruction manual suggested using a straight edge did that no luck. The instructions are pretty vague about the position of the belt on the drive sheave. It looks off center but I have another PP and the drive sheave is in the same place. So I don't know. Will keep looking and will work on the alignment and advise.

For educational purposes, what poly-v grooves is the idler to drive sleeve belt located on the drive shaft sleeve. i.e. how many empty grooves fore and aft of the quill.

Two fore and one aft. This pp is a 2016 and I have a 2013 and it is the same two fore and aft. The poly v belt on the 2013 looks straight.

Sorry JPG, there are three fore and one aft. on both pp.