Hi All Just fired up a 5904 I bought last week and I am having trouble with the variable speed. At speeds below about 1300 rpm, the speed control slowly rotates until its going as slow as it can. Over 1300, it works great. Anybody had this problem or know of a fix. Thanks Darkstar
I think you have air in the hydraulic system. The fix is to bleed the air out of the system. The instructions are in the manual (available from Clausing for ~$25.00). You will need to get some hydraulic fluid. Clausing recommends Mobil DTE24, which is available from MSC.
Joe Gwinn
Joseph Gwinn wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@comcast.dca.giganews.com:
Thanks Joe, I have the manual. I shall try it in the morning. Best regards Mike
A piece of coat hanger in a hook shape.
Shrug
Gunner
Gunner wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@4ax.com:
Sure that would work too I guess...but since I just got it, I'm being critical of it's operation. By next year the coat hanger will probably do just fine. DS
My 8540 Clausing horizontal has the same problem and the coat hanger is the temporary fix.
Gunner
And the children of the shoemaker walk barefoot ;)
Sigh...indeed.
I played hooky all of last week, stayed home and fixed stuff, tossed stuff, made stuff.
And put a tiny dent in the List. Tiny.
Gunner
Usually. in my experience, air in the system caused a 'dead zone' or play in that one would turn the speed dial a quarter turn or so before the speed actually changed. The previous owner had put a needle valve in the line at the output of the master cylinder allowing one to 'pump up' the speed by moving the speed adjuster as far as it would go, closing the needle valve, then retracting the speed dial, open the valve, move the speed dial again, etc, sort of like pumping the brakes on an old car. When the speed creeps back down its a pretty good sign that the O rings in the master cylinder are shot, they are not hard to replace. The afore mentioned needle valve would keep my 5904 at a constant speed. Hydraulic jack oil, from the auto parts store, in the pointy spouted bottle was what I used to use in mine.
These are nice lathes but their downfall is the variable speed mechanism, if its not leaky or air filled hydraulics its the plastic sleeve bushings in the variable speed pulley halves. The clutch detent can be problematic also. I finally tore all that stuff out and direct belted a motor to the spindle, powered by a variable speed drive. It's like a new machine and I spend more time turning parts and a whole lot less time dicking around with drive mechanicals.
Regards Paul
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