Bandsaw and the PowerPro

dusty · Post by **dusty** » Mon Apr 30, 2012 8:22 am

michaeltoc wrote:I only spoke with Wes one time, but I had to tweak the settings a few times to get it just right (fortunately I took notes). Perhaps I should post the procedure in a new thread?

It would be beneficial for you to do that, especially for PowerPro owners/users. However, I would hope that Shopsmith would soon post a user's guide that detailed all of these "tweak routines". It is understandable that this wasn't done in the beginning but now that Shopsmith has accumulated the experience of detailed beta testing, it is time.

wurlitzerwilly · Post by **wurlitzerwilly** » Mon Apr 30, 2012 8:22 am

dusty wrote:This is a rhetorical question but are PowerPro users going to be forever dependent on Wes to tweak the software when ever something doesn't program exactly right?

If Wes (Shopsmith) is unavailable and something needs tweaking - are the users just up the proverbial creek?

In view of the fact that they fired most of the original staff (remember Dixie?) and they could do it again if the going gets tough, they really ought to list the procedure in the manual.

It may be that they're concerned that folks who grew up with woodworking and mechanical systems can't cope with modern programming, but folks are more savvy than they may realise.

Fortunately, michaeltoc has offered to post the procedure, which would let Shopsmith off the hook for support issues. I really hope he does.

wurlitzerwilly · Post by **wurlitzerwilly** » Mon Apr 30, 2012 8:24 am

michaeltoc wrote:Sure thing. However, this thread is quite long - it may be better if I start a new thread and call it "Adjusting the PowerPro Settings"

That would be really good of you.
Perhaps you could just post here to tell us exactly where to find it?

michaeltoc · Post by **michaeltoc** » Mon Apr 30, 2012 8:54 am

Here it is:

(I'll also start a new thread - it may make searching easier)

ADJUSTING THE POWERPRO SETTINGS

*** DISCLAIMER ***
This procedure was given to me by ShopSmith Tech Support to solve the banging noise issue while using the bandsaw. It involves making changes to two settings. Please read and follow this carefully, as I don’t know what will happen if the wrong parameter is changed.

1) Press “LOCK” and “9500” at the same time.
2) Press “2000”. You will be prompted to enter the Service Password (3210) as follows:
i) Press “900” to set the first digit to 3
ii) Press “1350” to set the second digit to 2
iii) Press “2000” to set the third digit to 1
iv) The display should now read “3210”. Press “CONFIRM”. Display will say “Accepted”
3) Press “UP RPM” until the top line reads “CurLimM = “. (Make a note of this original value).
4) Press “CONFIRM” to edit this value. Use the “UP RPM” or “DOWN RPM” buttons to set this value to 100, then press “CONFIRM”.
5) Press “UP RPM” until the top line reads “IrOFFSET = “. (Make a note of this original value).
6) Press “CONFIRM” to edit this value. Use the “UP RPM” or “DOWN RPM” buttons to set this value to 100, then press “CONFIRM”.
7) Press “OFF” to exit Service Mode.
8) Test the bandsaw by resawing a wide board.
9) If the banging noise persists, repeat this procedure and set “IrOFFSET” to a higher value
10) If the banging noise is eliminated, but overspeed is a problem, set “IrOFFSET” to a lower value.
11) There is a compromise between the banging and overspeed. Try to find the smallest value that will eliminate the banging, and the overspeed will not be much of an issue. In my case this value was 130.

Overspeed is not much of an issue because the speed immediately drops to the set point as soon as a load is applied. Perhaps one of the other settings can adjust the overspeed, but I do not know which one, nor am I willing to “experiment”.

wurlitzerwilly · Post by **wurlitzerwilly** » Mon Apr 30, 2012 9:26 am

michaeltoc wrote:Here it is:

(I'll also start a new thread - it may make searching easier)

ADJUSTING THE POWERPRO SETTINGS
............................Overspeed is not much of an issue because the speed immediately drops to the set point as soon as a load is applied. Perhaps one of the other settings can adjust the overspeed, but I do not know which one, nor am I willing to “experiment”.

Great. Thanks Mike. I'm sure that will be most helpful to many of us.

On another forum, someone mentioned that they have exactly the same motor and control on a different type of machine and they may have adjusted the scan rate so that the controller doesn't react quite so fast and hard to speed changes. Let's face it, it's not an exact science for woodworking and even a few RPM either side won't make much difference.

One of my problems has been that being the only person in the UK to have a Power Pro, I'm out on a limb. Even obtaining warranty would be difficult because the original shipping address was to my friends in Wa.
I could call Wes myself for free, but I'm told he usually has to call back and apart from having to pick a time in the 'international window', it's doubtful he'd want the expense of the phone calls. I'm not complaining, it was my choice to import it and I don't regret that.

Again, thanks. Perhaps one day SS will publish all of the parameters.

SDSSmith · Post by **SDSSmith** » Mon Apr 30, 2012 4:49 pm

[quote="michaeltoc"]Here it is:

(I'll also start a new thread - it may make searching easier)

ADJUSTING THE POWERPRO SETTINGS

*** DISCLAIMER ***
This procedure was given to me by ShopSmith Tech Support to solve the banging noise issue while using the bandsaw. It involves making changes to two settings. Please read and follow this carefully, as I don&#8217]
Thanks, Michael. I am awaiting the call from SS tech support. I suspect there are a number of things that need to be checked before reprogramming control settings. I have already tried a few: checking set screws, power couplers, drive hubs, increasing rotational inertia, etc. No love.

reible · Post by **reible** » Mon Apr 30, 2012 5:49 pm

Hi,

In the not so distance past I was at one of the lowes demos and watched and especially listened to the bandsaw in action cutting a "flower". Not much stress involved with the cut so maybe this doesn't count, anyway I heard no "odd" noises during the project.

The coupler was stock shopsmith, as was everything else, including the new double tilt bases. I was quite interested in seeing how the tilt bases worked in real life. So, one question that comes to mind is how many of the users with bandsaw issues have the new ends and how many have the original ends?

Another questions is, are there anyone of you users of the powerpro/bandsaw who have not experienced problems from day one? Or put another way are any shipments coming out with no issues with the bandsaw?

Ed

reible · Post by **reible** » Mon Apr 30, 2012 6:02 pm

Hi,

This sounds like an great idea! And, perhaps well over due by Shopsmith, so I'm all for it even with out having a powerpro to play with.

I'd like to see the values of the settings added by others as well. Both the before and after would help. We might even find that everyone ends up with the same values??

Is there a label with date/version or anything else on the powerpro?

Any easter egg from the display to give a date/version?

Anyway I'm looking forward to some good adventures here.

Ed

michaeltoc wrote:Here it is:

(I'll also start a new thread - it may make searching easier)

ADJUSTING THE POWERPRO SETTINGS

*** DISCLAIMER ***
This procedure was given to me by ShopSmith Tech Support to solve the banging noise issue while using the bandsaw. It involves making changes to two settings. Please read and follow this carefully, as I don’t know what will happen if the wrong parameter is changed.

1) Press “LOCK” and “9500” at the same time.
2) Press “2000”. You will be prompted to enter the Service Password (3210) as follows:
i) Press “900” to set the first digit to 3
ii) Press “1350” to set the second digit to 2
iii) Press “2000” to set the third digit to 1
iv) The display should now read “3210”. Press “CONFIRM”. Display will say “Accepted”
3) Press “UP RPM” until the top line reads “CurLimM = “. (Make a note of this original value).
4) Press “CONFIRM” to edit this value. Use the “UP RPM” or “DOWN RPM” buttons to set this value to 100, then press “CONFIRM”.
5) Press “UP RPM” until the top line reads “IrOFFSET = “. (Make a note of this original value).
6) Press “CONFIRM” to edit this value. Use the “UP RPM” or “DOWN RPM” buttons to set this value to 100, then press “CONFIRM”.
7) Press “OFF” to exit Service Mode.
8) Test the bandsaw by resawing a wide board.
9) If the banging noise persists, repeat this procedure and set “IrOFFSET” to a higher value
10) If the banging noise is eliminated, but overspeed is a problem, set “IrOFFSET” to a lower value.
11) There is a compromise between the banging and overspeed. Try to find the smallest value that will eliminate the banging, and the overspeed will not be much of an issue. In my case this value was 130.

Overspeed is not much of an issue because the speed immediately drops to the set point as soon as a load is applied. Perhaps one of the other settings can adjust the overspeed, but I do not know which one, nor am I willing to “experiment”.

paulmcohen · Post by **paulmcohen** » Tue May 01, 2012 2:42 am

reible wrote:
Another questions is, are there anyone of you users of the powerpro/band-saw who have not experienced problems from day one? Or put another way are any shipments coming out with no issues with the band-saw?

Ed

I say this as I know on wood, I use the band-saw quite a bit and have never seen this problem but I have not resawed anything thick.

This does bring me back to a question I asked once before, "Does everyone have the same firmware version?"

paulmcohen · Post by **paulmcohen** » Tue May 01, 2012 2:52 am

reible wrote: Is there a label with date/version or anything else on the powerpro?

When the PowerPro is first powered up, the display shows the firmware version, mine .is "v9.02xa05 2010". (I have posted in another thread http://www.shopsmith.net/forums/showthread.htm?t=9903&highlight=version) the same question but no one replied with a version. It goes by so fast the only way I was able to read it was to take a photo with my iPhone when it appeared, then blow up the photo on my computer.