Hello folks,
I’m trying to tune up the Universal III here at Arion Press and keep it in good order. The power carriage has been hitting hard at both ends unless I keep the braking knob turned up all the way, and even then it will hit hard at higher speeds. I’ve been trying to make a clutch adjustment as described in the manual and on the plate mounted on the carriage next to the motor/clutch, but the adjustment ring seems frozen and I haven’t been able to budge it. Here are my questions:
- Anybody have any tips on getting that adjusting ring loose? I’ve removed the set screw, but when I try to rotate it the whole shaft rotates with it. Even wedging the toothed gear on the end doesn’t help, the shaft still turns along with the adjusting ring. Is there a way to lock the shaft? I’ve put WD-40 on it and in the set screw hole for multiple nights and let it soak, but it isn’t loosening up.
- Second: what is the “dynamic braking” that the manual refers to? Is the motor doing the braking? I can’t find a true brake indicated in the manual, so I would guess that it’s the motor.
- I’ve been trying to loosen the clutch on the theory that the carriage slams because too much power is being transferred to it. But given that there is a 50% chance I have it backwards, my last question would be: should I be loosening or tightening the clutch to remedy this situation?
I’ve checked all the electronics and the limit switches and as far as I can tell, everything seems to be in working order. I can see in the Vanderblog history that other folks have had similar issues, but I haven’t seen any solutions that make sense for this machine.
Thanks,
Joel
Thanks for confirming my suspicions about the braking. As for the clutch, I have removed the set screw already, but the adjusting ring appears to be frozen to the threaded shaft. I’ve been spraying it daily with WD-40 and hoping that will soak in and loosen it up eventually. I can’t find a way to “lock” the shaft so I could put more torque on the clutch ring.
Given that the problem is that the carriage is running into the ends of the travel over-enthusiastically, wouldn’t it make sense that the clutch needs to loosen rather than tighten? That’s the direction I’ve been trying to turn it. I’ll try turning it in the tightening direction just to see if that helps free it up.
Dynamic braking refers to how much the carriage is slowed via the rheostat behind the brake knob (dial). The rheostat circuit tells the carriage motor to slow when contacting the inner limit switches.
One of the holes in the clutch ring is a set screw. Loosen it to adjust the clutch. Note the position when you start it. Tightening the clutch may help but don’t over tighten.