Power Station vibration tamed!

[claimdude]

Thanks for the suggestion Dusty. I will check that out more closely in a week or so. Got Memorial Day festivities and other obligations gumming up the works right now. The belt/motor housing shakes and might rattle a little but when the resonance sets up the cover really shakes. The sound of the rattle (though maybe misleading) is a deeper sound than I would expect from the housing alone. When I get time I think I will rig a clamp on the housing to see that affects the noise.

I will keep y'all posted regarding my findings on this including the aluminum angle fix if it gets that far.

Jack

[quote="dusty"]Jack, if you suspect the belt cover why not check with the cover removed. What sort of noise level do you have without the belt cover]

[dusty]

Thanks for the suggestion Dusty. I will check that out more closely in a week or so. Got Memorial Day festivities and other obligations gumming up the works right now. The belt/motor housing shakes and might rattle a little but when the resonance sets up the cover really shakes. The sound of the rattle (though maybe misleading) is a deeper sound than I would expect from the housing alone. When I get time I think I will rig a clamp on the housing to see that affects the noise.

I will keep y'all posted regarding my findings on this including the aluminum angle fix if it gets that far.

Jack

I had forgotten this but when I assembled mine I installed some rubber pads between the legs and the belt cover. That reduces the noise some but does nothing to eliminate the rattle.

I clamped the belt cover to the legs today to eliminate movement. It does help. I am going to install screws to secure the lower edge of the belt cover to the legs.

I don't believe that will eliminate the noise but every little bit of noise reduction makes it more tolerable.

[BuckeyeDennis]

I had forgotten this but when I assembled mine I installed some rubber pads between the legs and the belt cover. That reduces the noise some but does nothing to eliminate the rattle.

I clamped the belt cover to the legs today to eliminate movement. It does help. I am going to install screws to secure the lower edge of the belt cover to the legs.

I don't believe that will eliminate the noise but every little bit of noise reduction makes it more tolerable.

Hold off on that for a little bit, Dusty. Your post triggered memories of cleaning off some adhesive goo from double-sided foam tape that the PO had applied to the bottom of the belt guard. But I couldn't remember what I had done upon reassembly. A quick trip to the basement just now revealed the answer: nothing. It's free to rattle, but it doesn't, because the vibration levels are sufficiently low.

[BuckeyeDennis]

Run it with the cover off. The shaft flops from front to rear, The slide 'tenon' is smaller than the outer rails. I have only observed the first one, and it was 'reassembled' by the po from a pile of parts. Extra/missing parts etc.

Our favorite SS CS person refers to the slide parts as 'very sloppy'. Gotta give him credit, the new parts did not improve things much.

What with tons of after-work errands, I didn't get home until about 9:30. Then ate a late dinner, and finally had some time for some fun.

I pulled off the Power Station housing cover (515622) and checked for play in the "Rack and Shaft Assembly" (515672) ... i.e. the slide and variator-pulley shaft. It was locked up tight, solid as a rock. Nary a hint of slop, flop, play, or wiggle.

Then I loosened the "Knob, Speed Control Clamp" (515662) ... i.e. the large wing-nut thingy. With that loosened, the aforementioned "Rack and Shaft Assembly" was as loose as a goose, generously-endowed with slop, and ready to rattle. But re-tightening the clamp knob immediately restored said assembly to rock-like rigidity.

These observations are important for at least two reasons:
1) It helps explains why you and Dusty are being rattled silly, while my Power Station purrs, and
2) It demonstrates that my long-term memory is not yet (necessarily) fraught with parity errors!

Why we are getting different mechanism behaviors, I haven't a clue. But that will be fun to figure out. For now, I will simply offer up my serial number: 091490. (OK, smart-Alec, that is actually the serial number of my Power Station. ) But it is highly consistent with the neat handwriting from a PO (presumably the OO) on the cover of my manual: "Sept 22 '90".

[dusty]

I pulled off the Power Station housing cover (515622) and checked for play in the "Rack and Shaft Assembly" (515672) ... i.e. the slide and variator-pulley shaft. It was locked up tight, solid as a rock. Nary a hint of slop, flop, play, or wiggle.


Why we are getting different mechanism behaviors, I haven't a clue. But that will be fun to figure out.

It amazes me how I keep coming back to this issue. The noise level has been a frustration since the Power Station was new. I really do not think it will ever been completely resolved.

However, there have been some parts changes that may explain why some are different than others.

One change that I just realized involves the Rack and Shaft Assembly (515672) that you mention. That part on my parts list is 515635. I believe this is the part that JPG has tried to shim.

If this is the cause, my machine will simply remain noisy.

http://www.shopsmith.com/ownersite/itemfind.htm?item=515672&Submit=Find+Item

Also - note part #516701 (9). Pads on the belt guard.

[BuckeyeDennis]

It amazes me how I keep coming back to this issue. The noise level has been a frustration since the Power Station was new. I really do not think it will ever been completely resolved.

However, there have been some parts changes that may explain why some are different than others.

One change that I just realized involves the Rack and Shaft Assembly (515672) that you mention. That part on my parts list is 515635. I believe this is the part that JPG has tried to shim.

If this is the cause, my machine will simply remain noisy.

http://www.shopsmith.com/ownersite/itemfind.htm?item=515672&Submit=Find+Item

Also - note part #516701 (9). Pads on the belt guard.

What's the vintage of your Power Station, Dusty?

My exploded diagram does show item #9, Belt Guard Pad, but it has a different part number (515701). That probably explains the adhesive goo that I cleaned off.

Do you know if Shopsmith objects to exploded diagrams from their manuals being posted here? That would sure help in figuring out what the differences are.

[dusty]

What's the vintage of your Power Station, Dusty?

My exploded diagram does show item #9, Belt Guard Pad, but it has a different part number (515701). That probably explains the adhesive goo that I cleaned off.

Do you know if Shopsmith objects to exploded diagrams from their manuals being posted here? That would sure help in figuring out what the differences are.

The Power Station is s/n 013092 so it is a bit newer than yours (if I interpret the numbers correctly).

My Crafters Station serial number is unknown but I have the original paper work and it was sold by Shopsmith in June of 1998.

I have never heard Shopsmith's official position on the posting of detailed drawings (documents) but I avoid doing it. They are rather explicit regarding their copyrights.

This has long been one of my complaints regarding the lack of online documents for all of the Shopsmith equipment. It seems as thought they do not want the users to know these details unless they pay.

Even then, if you buy the available documents, you cannot be certain that you have the documents for your specific machine. This Power Station discussion I believe shows that. Shopsmith makes design changes that effect drawings but do not necessarily change the top level part number.

I come from an industry where all changes (no matter how small) are documented and all changes (repeat - all changes) effect the top level number in some way.

It seemed, sometimes, as though our product was "production documents".

[JPG]

This one?

[ATTACH]25082[/ATTACH]

I replaced 51,52 - not 53.

From your comments, I am now suspicious of 72,73,44. IIRC, I thought 44 was 'extra'(did not belong there). I now think it was the wrong part. What does yours look like(44)?

[dusty]

Run it with the cover off. The shaft flops from front to rear, The slide 'tenon' is smaller than the outer rails. I have only observed the first one, and it was 'reassembled' by the po from a pile of parts. Extra/missing parts etc.

Our favorite SS CS person refers to the slide parts as 'very sloppy'. Gotta give him credit, the new parts did not improve things much.

Is it the Rack and Shaft (56) moving back and forth between the Left Guide (54) and the Right Guide (55) that you are referring to? If so, we have some differences. There does not appear to be any adverse movement of that part in either of my machines.

The visible vibration that I see (when the machines is the noisiest) is in the sheaves and that tames down some when the speed changer is locked. My belts also "flop" more than I would like and this seems to be directly related to level of noise.

[dusty]

This one?

[ATTACH]25082[/ATTACH]

I replaced 51,52 - not 53.

From your comments, I am now suspicious of 72,73,44. IIRC, I thought 44 was 'extra'(did not belong there). I now think it was the wrong part. What does yours look like(44)?

I have not been out to look at the machine but is #44 not functionally similar to a wedge lock and comes into play when the speed change control lock is applied? In my parts list this is called a bushing.