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Crafter's Station

Posted: Wed Aug 06, 2008 1:10 pm
by dusty
I have, for the moment, given up on making the Crafter's Station function as a reversible drive. The new motor just hums when I attempt to operate it in the Crafter's Station - no matter which direction I set it to rotate.

I reassure myself that I had not screwed up a motor, I disconnected it from the Crafter harness an set it up to run as it was when I received it. It works fine.

I now have it restrapped to run in reverse (of the Power Station) and have mounted it in the Crafter's Station as a Table Saw. It works fine.

I do have some questions to get answered though as a result of having two "identical" transmissions setting side by side. BELT ALIGNMENT?? Someone else here on the forum, a short time back, ask about how to adjust the belt tension.

Realizing that one of the two belts in the Power Station/Crafter's Station is on a pair of self adjusting pulleys should make it a self defining solution.

The belt that is not self adjusted simply needs to be tensioned at the high speed end of the operating range. This is done by raising and lowering the motor on the motor mounts. The lower the motor, the tighter the belt. The only question is - how tight. More to follow when I think I have it resolved.

Side Bar:

I was surprised at how warm those motors get in just a short time of operation. At first, I thought I had a motor problem (over heating). But both motors get very warm to touch. The air flowing through the motor is much warmer coming out after a short time of operation.

I was also surprised (maybe alarmed) when I realized that there are lubrication instructions on those motors (Power Station and Crafter's Station). I have never oiled my Power Station motor. Not good.

I will do that before I call this task complete. Then the motor will probably fail.

Posted: Wed Aug 06, 2008 4:20 pm
by nuhobby
Dusty,

What a saga! It makes me very curious even though my AC motor background is weak. What is left there to cause trouble.... transient bounces in the relay? I have no idea. Wish I had something to add...

Posted: Wed Aug 06, 2008 8:31 pm
by dusty
I must keep reminding myself, nuhobby, that 1) I am working on a wiring harness that was dismantled before I got it, 2) the motor that was in this unit that a shorted winding (scorched), 3) the wiring diagram that I have from the manual is without detail (no pin numbers, etc), and 4) I have created a wiring diagram that I now can't authenticate and 5) the unit still doesn't work.

To get some positive feelings out of this - I mounted the motor today, wired it to rotate in reverse (for the saw function) and I now have a table saw on a power station. All be it, a Power Station that won't support any other SPT.

Actually, I enjoy this at the same time that it frustrates me. When I was an engineering technician for Rockwell (before being blessed by the staff and my title changed) I worked on the bench. If this job had been assigned to me back then as an engineering tech - I would have been demoted to janitor about two weeks ago.:) :o

Of course, I would have withdrawn from the library a folder full of authenticated drawings.:rolleyes:

Never fear, I will make this work. However, I have three projects for SWMBO and from whom the money flows that must be given priority. I sense serious injury if I don't.

Sfwtmf

Posted: Thu Aug 07, 2008 11:43 am
by greitz
I like that a lot, Dusty, She From Whom The Money Flows. Sounds accurate to me!

Good luck with your wiring harness. Me, I'm just fortunate that most electronics these days come with color-coded plugs and sockets.

Gary

Posted: Thu Aug 07, 2008 1:50 pm
by charlese
Yes, my friend! Avoid bodily injury if, at all, possible.

Crafter's Station Wiring Problem

Posted: Sun Aug 10, 2008 9:22 am
by dusty
has been resolved.

It was not as big an issue as I had made it out to be.

I committed a drafting error when I created the working drawing for the Crafter's Station. Working off that drawing, I was unable to convince myself that the wiring harness was fixed. Per that errant drawing, it was not. :o

Going back to basics: Late last night I had a serious conversation with my draftsman and engineering staff. Once I got them straightened out, everything fell right into place.:o We retired before midnight.

Bottom Line: The staff is not as sharp as they once were!

The design of the Crafter's Station is really quite straight forward; it employs a very fundamental relay circuit to switch the direction of rotation.:) That switching circuit works exactly as someone once intended.

The Crafter's Station is no longer living up to its reputation as a hunk of junk.

Posted: Sun Aug 10, 2008 10:54 am
by a1gutterman
Good for you, dusty!

Posted: Sun Aug 10, 2008 1:24 pm
by charlese
Yeah! Go buy your Staff a beer (or an ice cream cone)!

Hope it keeps working for you forever!:D

Can we please see a photo of it?

Posted: Sun Aug 10, 2008 1:51 pm
by dusty
Photo to follow later. Grand daugther has my camera.

charlese, it should work forever.

There are only two things to fail; the transmission which is the same as in all the Power Stations and the motor, also the same as in all the Power Stations.

Like I said earlier, I sure wish I could put my hands on the two that served you so poorly.

Edited 10:59am

Forgot I had these. They are from before I resolved the wiring issue.

Posted: Sun Aug 10, 2008 10:39 pm
by charlese
Thanks for the photos! BTW - you have a beautiful shop layout! Well Done! Oh Oh! is that a TV set?