Checking RPM

tomsalwasser · Post by **tomsalwasser** » Wed Mar 23, 2011 10:32 am

Greetings woodworkers,

I just bought a power station off ebay. It seems to be in good shape. Any ideas on how I could check the rpms? There's a $20 tachometer on Amazon that has gotten good reviews. Thanks for your thoughts.

Best,
Tom

pennview · Post by **pennview** » Wed Mar 23, 2011 11:11 am

If you're interested in that tach, you might want this one for only $7.77, but you'll need to supply your own 9V battery. http://www.amazon.com/Digital-Photo-Las ... B001N4QY66

tomsalwasser · Post by **tomsalwasser** » Wed Mar 23, 2011 11:59 am

Hey thanks Art, I didn't see that one! Have you used it?

Tom

pennview · Post by **pennview** » Wed Mar 23, 2011 12:51 pm

No, I haven't used it. I just ordered one after seeing you reference to a tach. I've been thinking about one for a while, and for $7.77 I figure I can't lose much. All you need to make them work is something reflective, so I figure some reflective tape from Home Depot or the like is all that's needed.

JPG · Post by **JPG** » Wed Mar 23, 2011 2:17 pm

tomsalwasser wrote:Greetings woodworkers,

I just bought a power station off ebay. It seems to be in good shape. Any ideas on how I could check the rpms? There's a $20 tachometer on Amazon that has gotten good reviews. Thanks for your thoughts.

Best,
Tom

Question is, why does it need checking. There is no way to 'adjust' it other than the control handle. There are no internal adjustments other than motor belt tension.

P.S. I just ordered one also - comes from vxb bearings.

P.P.S. InterestingEnter tach in search field.

pennview · Post by **pennview** » Wed Mar 23, 2011 4:02 pm

It gets even better than the 7.77 plus 5.99 shipping from VXB. Here you can get it on Ebay directly from China for 2.19 plus 8.77 shipping for a total of $10.96 == http://cgi.ebay.com/Digital-Laser-Photo ... 5639wt_908

JPG · Post by **JPG** » Wed Mar 23, 2011 5:55 pm

pennview wrote:It gets even better than the 7.77 plus 5.99 shipping from VXB. Here you can get it on Ebay directly from China for 2.19 plus 8.77 shipping for a total of $10.96 == http://cgi.ebay.com/Digital-Laser-Photo-Tachometer-Non-Contact-RPM-Tach-/390280381302?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item5ade860376#ht_5639wt_908

And the srp is 59.95?:rolleyes:

tomsalwasser · Post by **tomsalwasser** » Thu Mar 24, 2011 8:14 am

JPG40504 wrote:Question is, why does it need checking. There is no way to 'adjust' it other than the control handle. There are no internal adjustments other than motor belt tension.
[/URL]Enter tach in search field.

JPG, I'm just curious what rpm range I'm getting from this newly acquired (ebay) power station. As I run through the speed dial, it seems like the rpms change very little from the low end to the high end.

Tom

dusty · Post by **dusty** » Thu Mar 24, 2011 8:50 am

You might want to wait for JPG to bless these numbers before you bank on them but the advertised speed range for the power station is from 850 rpm to 3850rpm.

1.....850
2.....1050
3.....1200
4.....1450
5.....1810
6.....2200
7.....2650
8.....3220
9.....3850

Belt tension and the condition of the two belts are about the only things that could effect this operating range. I suppose the bearings could be dragging down the speed but without a tachometer I don't believe you would notice that.

Have you pulled the cover off the power station so that you can watch the variator at work while you change the speed dial.

[ATTACH]12396[/ATTACH]
High Speed

[ATTACH]12397[/ATTACH]
Low Speed

This shot shows the relationship of the Speed dial and pulleys. Don't be confused by the switch and wiring. This shot is of the Crafter's Station.

KDC · Post by **KDC** » Thu Mar 24, 2011 10:46 am

Thank you Dusty for that great info. I am a fairly new SS owner and was also wondering if my speeds were where they should be.

I'd be interested to see if these 5-8 dollar tachs do the job.

zoom zoom.