Power Pro Upgrade

wurlitzerwilly · Post by **wurlitzerwilly** » Thu Oct 06, 2011 8:17 pm

Hi all.

I just upgraded my MkV with a Power Pro upgrade. Apart from a DVD that wouldn't play and a cracked motor fan cover, all seems to have gone well.

The motor mounting brackets were way out of adjustment, so I had to perform a complete belt tension adjustment and of course the balance between the two poly-V belts. The motor runs fine with no bad rattles or other worrying noises, but I notice that the larger poly-V belt runs hot. Does anyone know if that's normal. I wonder if it might run cooler after a few hours of bedding in?

I also notice that the quill moves in and out very smoothly when the motor's off, but tends to be slightly 'rumbly' when the motor's running. It's not a very bad rumble and I wonder if it's within manufacturing tolerances?

athomas01 · Post by **athomas01** » Thu Oct 06, 2011 11:34 pm

Not exactly a resounding endorsement, especially considering the cost of the upgrade...

nuhobby · Post by **nuhobby** » Fri Oct 07, 2011 2:02 am

Somewhere in my memory that instruction DVD did seem to be tricky. Maybe you had to press a screen-picture button when it came up, and not just the overall 'play' button for DVD.

I haven't opened up my PowerPro cover in a year now. I do remember iterating the belt adjustments a bit, along with the idler bearing in/out position, for the tensions as well as the 'flatness' of the Poly V's. I'm assuming your lower Poly V isn't bulging due to any lateral offset (?).

The quill on mine does need occasional waxing. It may be my imagination, but the mass of the new motor might have flexed the casting a few thousandths. I suspect the modern thin-castings do this more than the early 'A' castings.

wurlitzerwilly · Post by **wurlitzerwilly** » Fri Oct 07, 2011 5:20 am

nuhobby wrote:Somewhere in my memory that instruction DVD did seem to be tricky. Maybe you had to press a screen-picture button when it came up, and not just the overall 'play' button for DVD.

I haven't opened up my PowerPro cover in a year now. I do remember iterating the belt adjustments a bit, along with the idler bearing in/out position, for the tensions as well as the 'flatness' of the Poly V's. I'm assuming your lower Poly V isn't bulging due to any lateral offset (?).

The quill on mine does need occasional waxing. It may be my imagination, but the mass of the new motor might have flexed the casting a few thousandths. I suspect the modern thin-castings do this more than the early 'A' castings.

I did get the DVD to play in PowerDVD on a PC, but it won't play in a domestic player or Media Player. No big deal, I've seen it now.

I checked the pulley positions with a straight edge, according to the instructions and by feel. It all looks and feels correct. The motor mounting surfaces where the top and bottom adjustments are made are parallel and even on both sides. Maybe I'm being over-sensitive?

The thing that really worries me is the belt temperature. Even running for a few minutes it made the motor pulley hot. I can only think of 2 reasons:
Either the belt is slipping or too tight. It seems to run smoothly enough. The belt tension instructions are a bit vague but it is quite tight with very little flexing when pushed at the side. I wouldn't expect it to slip under no load, so maybe it's just the characteristics of a new belt bedding-in?

Perhaps I should just close it up and use it and stop being paranoid.

robinson46176 · Post by **robinson46176** » Fri Oct 07, 2011 7:24 am

wurlitzerwilly wrote:I did get the DVD to play in PowerDVD on a PC, but it won't play in a domestic player or Media Player. No big deal, I've seen it now.

I checked the pulley positions with a straight edge, according to the instructions and by feel. It all looks and feels correct. The motor mounting surfaces where the top and bottom adjustments are made are parallel and even on both sides. Maybe I'm being over-sensitive?

The thing that really worries me is the belt temperature. Even running for a few minutes it made the motor pulley hot. I can only think of 2 reasons:
Either the belt is slipping or too tight. It seems to run smoothly enough. The belt tension instructions are a bit vague but it is quite tight with very little flexing when pushed at the side. I wouldn't expect it to slip under no load, so maybe it's just the characteristics of a new belt bedding-in?

Perhaps I should just close it up and use it and stop being paranoid.

Hi Alan: Good to hear from you. I didn't even know you were on here.
How "hot" are we talking about here. Does it get too hot to keep your hand firmly on it or are we talking about branding iron / don't dare touch it hot?

.

wurlitzerwilly · Post by **wurlitzerwilly** » Fri Oct 07, 2011 2:44 pm

robinson46176 wrote:Hi Alan: Good to hear from you. I didn't even know you were on here.
How "hot" are we talking about here. Does it get too hot to keep your hand firmly on it or are we talking about branding iron / don't dare touch it hot?

.

Hi Farmer, good to hear from you again.

Hot in that it smells hot but not too hot to touch, but it makes the motor pulley hot too. I just don't like heat in machinery.

I called my neighbor Al this morning as he owns an auto repair business and he says that those belts are designed to run hot and they generate a lot of friction with all those grooves. Apparently they have little extra grooves in them and many folks think that's for extra grip, but it isn't. It's to aid cooling. Vehicles exhibit the same properties, but of course you don't normally go running your hand near a fan belt.

I guess I'm just not use to hot belts, but Al says there should be nothing to worry about.

Not sure yet about the slight rumble in the quill. It's only apparent when moving the quill, so maybe it's another thing that was present with the old quill and I never noticed.

robinson46176 · Post by **robinson46176** » Fri Oct 07, 2011 6:02 pm

[quote="wurlitzerwilly"]Hi Farmer, good to hear from you again.

Hot in that it smells hot but not too hot to touch, but it makes the motor pulley hot too. I just don't like heat in machinery.

I called my neighbor Al this morning as he owns an auto repair business and he says that those belts are designed to run hot and they generate a lot of friction with all those grooves. Apparently they have little extra grooves in them and many folks think that's for extra grip, but it isn't. It's to aid cooling. Vehicles exhibit the same properties, but of course you don't normally go running your hand near a fan belt. ]

Nothing sounds much worse running than anything you have just started listening to closely.

.

JPG · Post by **JPG** » Fri Oct 07, 2011 6:52 pm

robinson46176 wrote:Nothing sounds much worse running than anything you have just started listening to closely.

.

Sorta like thinking you hear something rattling in a pipe!:D

charlese · Post by **charlese** » Fri Oct 07, 2011 9:44 pm

wurlitzerwilly wrote:I did get the DVD to play in PowerDVD on a PC, but it won't play in a domestic player or Media Player. No big deal, I've seen it now.

I checked the pulley positions with a straight edge, according to the instructions and by feel. It all looks and feels correct. The motor mounting surfaces where the top and bottom adjustments are made are parallel and even on both sides. Maybe I'm being over-sensitive?

The thing that really worries me is the belt temperature. Even running for a few minutes it made the motor pulley hot. I can only think of 2 reasons:
Either the belt is slipping or too tight. It seems to run smoothly enough. The belt tension instructions are a bit vague but it is quite tight with very little flexing when pushed at the side. I wouldn't expect it to slip under no load, so maybe it's just the characteristics of a new belt bedding-in?

Perhaps I should just close it up and use it and stop being paranoid.

Here's how you get the DVD to work in a computer. When you see the DVD opening screen - click on the words near the top of the picture. There is a thread somewhere in the forum that tells of this. One of us called Shopsmith and they told us how to start it.

The lower belt should be very tight. Also the upper belt. The reason to adjust the eccentric to get rid of noises, is to relieve uneven wear on the idler bearing. Yes, the belt gets pretty warm. The motor should be adjusted evenly so the belt runs in the center of the grooves and doesn't try to pull to one side or the other.

wurlitzerwilly · Post by **wurlitzerwilly** » Sat Oct 08, 2011 6:59 am

charlese wrote:Here's how you get the DVD to work in a computer. When you see the DVD opening screen - click on the words near the top of the picture. There is a thread somewhere in the forum that tells of this. One of us called Shopsmith and they told us how to start it.

The lower belt should be very tight. Also the upper belt. The reason to adjust the eccentric to get rid of noises, is to relieve uneven wear on the idler bearing. Yes, the belt gets pretty warm. The motor should be adjusted evenly so the belt runs in the center of the grooves and doesn't try to pull to one side or the other.

Thanks Chuck.

Well, knock me down with a feather, the DVD trick works.

Clicking on the red and white lettering gets it going.
My initiial issue with it was that it won't play on my TV - the player just says "Wrong disc" and Media Player won't run it either. I wonder if Shopsmith would be upset if I put it on YouTube, then anyone could see it?

Glad you confirmed the belt warming. I'll stop worrying now.

The instructions say that the eccentric should be adjusted for quietness and that should also be the easiest point of movement, so I'm happy I have that right. That also coincides with the nine o'clock position, which I couldn't achieve until the motor was first run.

Now back to woodworking. I have a deck bridge and a waterwheel to construct.