Shopsmith Forums

My Power Pro 1 tripped the breaker with an audible pop and is now inoperable. Not sure if the pop was the breaker or the SS but no smoke. None of the SS info I have has any useful troubleshooting suggestions. Is there some sort of internal breaker? I don’t want to start taking it apart until I know if anything can be done. Anyone have experience with this issue. I’ve had my SS since 1983 and upgraded it along the way so I don’t want to think of it as a boat anchor…I still have a few years left

Do you have voltage at the wall outlet that it was plugged into?

There is no internal overcurrent protection on the Gen 1 PowerPro. The Gen 2 adds a fuse. IMO it is worth it to disassemble the headstock. If you are lucky you could have a problem in the wiring or the hard power switch. More likely, I would think, is a problem with the Power Supply / Controller module. I would definitely check the wiring and switch first. In any case repair is possible, you just need to decide the best approach.

- David

If the outlet is okay once the breaker was reset move on to the Headstock. As David suggested, open it up. Do check the wiring inside the Headstock. It is possible some of the wires could have worn insulation from rubbing inside the Headstock on parts. Also test the Switch. Once both of these are ruled out it is likely the Power Supply/Controller module.

Thanks, David and Russ for your input that certainly sound reasonable and I will check that out. I did put a call in to Shopsmith to find out what the cost is of replacing the power supplier controller assuming either or both of those are affected. Unfortunately, any cost is not welcome since I had it up for sale and had a buyer on Facebook. If the wiring or switch turn out to be the answer, it’ll be a godsend. Thanks again for your input John.

First check for power at the main switch if you can. The pop could come from anywhere. You'd probably recognize the sound if it was your breaker. On a Gen 1 it could be a capacitor blowing in the power supply (ugh), but maybe just shorted wires or something in the much less expensive controller. Best of luck to you. They really need some kind of service plan to make the cost of PowerPro repairs more reasonable.

So where is the electrical panel with the breaker? Unless you are standing next to the panel with the door open I doubt you will hear the breaker. They don't pop in my experience. More of a click. Did you actually have to reset the breaker?

Check to see if there is a GFCI outlet on the same circuit, and if it tripped. If that is the cause, try replacing that outlet with a hospital grade GFCI outlet. This solved a problem I was having with a variable speed DC lathe motor.

Mike

Outside of the cost of the Power Pro 2 headstock, this risk is what is keeping me from buying it. If Shopsmith is to grow sales of the new technology, they need an exchange program for the PP II headstock. Similar to what Ed states. I will stick with my mechanical headstock until then.

Jerry

A "service plan" and/or "exchange program" both sound really expensive to me. Generally the risks and overhead costs of such things are paid for by the participants, not the sponsors. I'm not disagreeing though, a fairly priced five year extended warranty might increase sales if the cost to Shopsmith and price to the buyer were reasonable. If any program was available, I'm pretty confident that I would choose to spend money mitigating my own risks rather than participating. (Partly because I, like many other PP users, have already chosen to spend that money.)

- David