Newbie trouble: Speed control

KevinG · Post by **KevinG** » Sat Nov 13, 2010 1:14 pm

Was trying to be a good boy today, so I decided to lubricate my Mark V. The instruction says to lube both points on the control sleeve, which I found. Then it says to rotate the shaft slowly while backing the speed control down to slow (from fast, where it has you start). I could only get the speed down a little before I started to feel it binding, so I stopped and went back up (all the while rotating the shaft slowly). Now I can barely move the speed control without it starting to bind.

I tried turning it on, but it starts sluggishly, so I turned it off quickly. I don't think I've broken anything (yet!), but now consider it unusable. Any ideas?

Seems like I need to "reset" the speed control system somehow.

pennview · Post by **pennview** » Sat Nov 13, 2010 2:43 pm

Godeep, welcome to the forum. You must have the spindle turning while you turn the speed-control dial, otherwise you will damage it. The best way to do this is to start the machine and then turn the dial while the machine is under power. Alternatively, you can mount the sanding disk on the arbor, and while turning the disk you can also turn the dial to "slow."

If you have the Mark V on a 20 Amp circuit, it should run up to speed even though it seems a bit sluggish on start-up. To avoid the sluggish starts, you should turn the speed dial down to "slow" before shutting off the machine.

Remember, the first Shopsmith rule is don't turn the speed dial unless the motor is running, but the the sanding disk "trick" can be used in a pinch.

dusty · Post by **dusty** » Sat Nov 13, 2010 3:08 pm

godeep wrote:Was trying to be a good boy today, so I decided to lubricate my Mark V. The instruction says to lube both points on the control sleeve, which I found. Then it says to rotate the shaft slowly while backing the speed control down to slow (from fast, where it has you start). I could only get the speed down a little before I started to feel it binding, so I stopped and went back up (all the while rotating the shaft slowly). Now I can barely move the speed control without it starting to bind.

I tried turning it on, but it starts sluggishly, so I turned it off quickly. I don't think I've broken anything (yet!), but now consider it unusable. Any ideas?

Seems like I need to "reset" the speed control system somehow.

Has your machine been sitting idle for an extended time. If it has, the belts may be stuck in the sheaves.

If that is the case, the first thing I would do is pull back the belt cover and take the motor drive belt off the pulleys. This is done with the machine set at "high speed". Once the drive belt is off, disconnect the spring loop from the porkchop. You can now turn the speed control up and down without concern for doing damage. If you can freely adjust the speed control, your binding problem has nothing to do with the speed control and is almost certainly caused by a belt being seized in one of the pulleys.

I doubt that your speed control adjustment has anything to do with this specific problem.

You might want to review the following Sawdust Sessions: #11, #17 and #21 thru #24. Make some popcorn and get a cool one before you sit down.

KevinG · Post by **KevinG** » Sat Nov 13, 2010 8:42 pm

Thanks guys. Help from AZ and PA within a few hours. The web is amazing, it is not?

OK, my problem may be worse than I thought. First, I did use the "disc sander trick," so have not adjusted the speed control without the shaft turning. Perhaps I was not turning it fast enough, but that water is under the bridge.

My new situation: Speed dial is on W, the highest. I just tried again to bring it up to speed, but it turns very slowly, probably only a couple hundred RPM. I ran it for only 10-20 seconds. The plug was hot to the touch when I unplugged, so it is pulling some amps. I can adjust the speed control only between U and W. I get resistance below U. Last indication: When I take it all the way to W, I hear a mild grinding sound. Not good.

holsgo · Post by **holsgo** » Sat Nov 13, 2010 9:36 pm

I just did some work on my greenie. Pull the back cover off and set it to the far left. Then take a look at the bottom pulley. With the speed to fast you should see the belt is almost flush with the top of the pulley. If it's not you may have a speed adjustment issue. Guys get in there and muck around, forget that the speed dial can move on its own without the speed adjustment wheel and then the speed is off.
If you can, leave the sanding disk on and turn the disk and the speed dial while you watch the bottom pulley. As you do this you should see the belt start to "fall into" the pulley. Once the belt is beyond the half way point it's safe to assume you are in the slow range. You should be able to turn it on and let it power up. From there you can adjust down to the slowest setting the speed adjuster will allow. Then back up again.
If this really is a speed adjustment issue there is a sawdust session with your name on it to correct it.
Had to do this to figure out a very similiar issue.

KevinG · Post by **KevinG** » Sat Nov 13, 2010 10:03 pm

Thanks holsgo, will do as you suggest, AFTER I buy a part. I watched a sawdust session on the speed control and learned how to take it apart. The teeth on my quadrant arm are damaged, so I'll order a new one before putting this back together. Not sure this is the entire problem, but it probably explains why I could not get below U without binding.

Will try to post a resolution after the part comes in. Thanks to all.

dusty · Post by **dusty** » Sun Nov 14, 2010 6:58 am

godeep wrote:Thanks holsgo, will do as you suggest, AFTER I buy a part. I watched a sawdust session on the speed control and learned how to take it apart. The teeth on my quadrant arm are damaged, so I'll order a new one before putting this back together. Not sure this is the entire problem, but it probably explains why I could not get below U without binding.

Will try to post a resolution after the part comes in. Thanks to all.

You might want to try filing those teeth flat and putting it back together. This may fix the problem; at least enough to let you work on it while waiting for the new parts. The practice will be fun and beneficial.

:rolleyes:

JPG · Post by **JPG** » Mon Nov 15, 2010 3:39 am

More than likely the leg on the speed control is bent causing the worm gear to be offset on the quadrant gear and causing abnormal wear and jamming.

Bill Mayo's bolt fix(replaces the roll pin) is quite good and allows salvaging a badly worn quadrant gear. This 'problem' is the reason turning speed control either without the pulleys rotating or too fast downward is a 'no-no'!

KevinG · Post by **KevinG** » Wed Nov 17, 2010 9:45 pm

OK, looks like I'm back in operation. I removed the speed control assembly, cleaned everything, and applied a wee bit of grease to the worm gear. Seems to run fine now.

Reducing speed is definitely more difficult than increasing (which is very smooth), especially as the speed gets way down there. I suspect this is due to the damaged teeth on the quadrant arm, which I will replace as soon as possible.

Consider this crisis closed out. Thanks again.

KevinG · Post by **KevinG** » Wed Nov 17, 2010 9:59 pm

BTW, I changed my login name. The original was GoDeep, an allusion to my submarine past, but the system made it all lowercase. KevinG is the new (and real) me.

--Kevin