Shopsmith Forums

Hi guys I just got a Shopsmith V at an auction and thought I did pretty well. Much to my dismay I got it home plugged it in and turned on the power only to trip my gfi and my circut breaker. Reset the gfi and breaker and tried one more time after turning off freezer and any other extra stuff and got a spark from around the speed changer and from bottom of headstock. I don't know what to do next. Any thaks would be greatly appreciated. Thank you for your help and time. Chris

Your going to have to open the case and locate the short. If you take a look at some of the Shopsmith Videos on maintenance you will be a little more comfortable attacking the problem.

http://www.shopsmithacademy.com/Sawdust_Sessions.htm

http://www.shopsmithacademy.com/SS_Archives/SS122/SS122_Shopsmith_Reborn_Pt2.htm

airforcesxs wrote:Hi guys I just got a Shopsmith V at an auction and thought I did pretty well. Much to my dismay I got it home plugged it in and turned on the power only to trip my gfi and my circut breaker. Reset the gfi and breaker and tried one more time after turning off freezer and any other extra stuff and got a spark from around the speed changer and from bottom of headstock. I don't know what to do next. Any thaks would be greatly appreciated. Thank you for your help and time. Chris

I also recommend that you view all Sawdust Sessions that pertain to disassembly of the Mark V. This will help you, as it seems that you must (partially) disassemble yours. There is no electricity involved with the speed changer. Because you saw sparks near it, I wood think that you may have a short involving the wiring inside the headstock. A solution may be simple once you have (partially) disassembled the headstock. It is possible the the switch wiring is somehow caught up in the speed changer.
After checking out the wiring, post additional questions if you need to. Good luck!

Hello airforcesxs, my first thought before i got to the part about sparks, i thought the speed changer had been left on high which was tripping the circuit becuse of the additional load. i agree with bucksaw probably a short where the wire goes into the headstock.

red

I can certainly understand your concern(s). The Mark V is a rather mysterious machine when you first get it and try to start it. I vividly remember my awe as I turned on mine and gingerly turned the speed control. And mine was new from the factory, with no problems.
A new owner, having blown circuits and sparks, has got to be thinking, "what have I gotten myself into!"

You have been given very good advice already, all I can do is sympathize! However please feel confident that the Mark V is a fairly simple piece of machinery with straight forward mechanics and electric power.

I agree with the above in that it seems that the two wires coming from the motor have become tangled with the mechanical speed control mechanism. When you get the headstock opened up the wires to the switch are the first things to look at. On newer Mark Vs there should be a small plastic hanger located just to the upper spindle side of the speed changer location. The switch wires should pass through this hanger to keep them out of the way of the moving speed changer.

Like Bob (beeg) said - Let us know more about your machine. Does it have a serial number or a date sticker? What color is it? Is the saw table aluminum or steel? These things will give guidance for more trouble shooting. If you could post a photo that too would help tremendously.

hello, AirForesxs,

you have already been given some good pointers to the immediate issue.

the biggest surprise for me when I got my SS was that you are not supposed to change the speed dial setting when the SS is not running. doing so can damage the speed control system.

also, telling us generically where you live might get an offer of help from a forum member in your area or suggestions of repair services.

Ivan

airforcesxs wrote:Hi guys I just got a Shopsmith V at an auction and thought I did pretty well. Much to my dismay I got it home plugged it in and turned on the power only to trip my gfi and my circut breaker. Reset the gfi and breaker and tried one more time after turning off freezer and any other extra stuff and got a spark from around the speed changer and from bottom of headstock. I don't know what to do next. Any thaks would be greatly appreciated. Thank you for your help and time. Chris

Welcome to the forum. One AF Ex to another, it is good to have you as part of the crew.

It really doesn't matter, for this particular problem, what model Shopsmith you have as they all have this same basic headstock configuration but it would be nice to know.

Please consider filling out you personal profile and telling us a little something about yourself.

Please keep us posted on the recovery process. We are all interested in knowing how this comes out.

After disassembling the headstock, you might find an issue inside the switch. These are relatively easy to take apart and clean/inspect. Back cover pops off, inside are two sets of copper plates. You might have a grounding issue between them that is causing the short. Also check for any split wires. The headstock casing itself is not used for grounding (aluminum), so there should be no arcing "to" the speed changer.

Attached is a picture of the switch once it is removed from the headstock.

Recommend you find a copy of the service manuals, a huge help if you need to tear into the headstock and put it back together.

Thankyou for everyones help! I am going to atempt to take it apart this coming weekend. Thanks for the excelent advice on the videos. By the way sn is s9983 and here are a couple of pics