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Powermatic Shredder Maintenance -

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Knucklehead

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Sounds like the switch. If it just plugs in you can swap it yourself, if it's soldered, they will want to do it themselves. If the leads are soldered to the switch, there may still be a plug further down the wires.
 

COLIN

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I'm having problems with my Powermatic. Will run forward for 4seconds then stop put into reverse runs 4 seconds and stops Which censor do I have to clean .
 

FmGrowit

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Hi Colin,

It sounds more like a clog in the cutters than a censor malfunction. You can turn the shredder upside down and hit the switch to see if there's something stopping the cutters. If there is a clog of tobacco blocking the cutters from rotating, use some water in a spray bottle to loosen the tobacco. Dry the cutters with a hair dryer.

If the cutters are clear, I'd next look at the infrared eyes in the chute opening. Use a Q-tip (cotton swab on a stick) with a little water and clean the eyes.

Let us know if this works.
 

COLIN

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I have fixed the problem. Took the side cover off where the grease cover is and found that some grease had got on the censor near the drive gear cleaned with isopropal up and running.
 

Brown Thumb

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My original model the first one out locked up tight the other night.
Took the gears out and it is the cutters stuck to the wipers.
When I say stuck I mean frozen to them. I could not turn them with my biggest adj plyers.
I called Chris at powermatic today and he confirmed it has happened before.
He says the blades heat up and the gunk will freeze the blades tight. PITA to get moving again. It took 45 min. Just to get it to move a little using lacquer thinner to break down the goo. I Finally got it rotating again with the thinner and a blow gun, blowing the crap out. Clean your shredder out once a yr. at least. Trust me when they freeze up it sucks.
He suggested putting vegetable on the last leaf when you are done using it. I think I will pas on that idea.
I am going to lock tight all the loose bolts and grease her up and hopefully old nelly is like new.
image.jpgimage.jpgimage.jpg
 

DGBAMA

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From the looks of that mess, she has been working some overtime. May not gum up as much with dryer leaf?
 

Boboro

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Veg. oil will go rancid if you let it sit very long. NASTY... Olive oil is a little better. Water is best at cleanin backer stickys.
 

BarG

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God dawg Bt. that shredder been running some tar through it. A very light coat of mineral oil soaked leaf or paper would work well, available at any drug or grocery. what did you use to clean it?
 

Brown Thumb

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God dawg Bt. that shredder been running some tar through it. A very light coat of mineral oil soaked leaf or paper would work well, available at any drug or grocery. what did you use to clean it?
Lacquer Thinner cleaned her up good. Chris at powermatic called it tar also. It looks nasty due to me trying to unjamb it with water. It was not budging. Its Working like new again.
 

Jitterbugdude

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I had the same problem this past spring. Not nearly as much gook but mine was completely jammed. I backed out the nuts that hold the cutters/wipers. This allowed me to seperate them and clean them. I don't think I tightened the nuts enough though because I get a slight chatter now when I run it.
 

Brown Thumb

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That's how Chris at powermatic told me to do it.
He said it was a PITA and takes forever, that is why I tried the thinner first.
How long did it take to separate and clean them all?
I have gotten chatter out of mine for a while now also.
 

BarG

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I have fixed the problem. Took the side cover off where the grease cover is and found that some grease had got on the censor near the drive gear cleaned with isopropal up and running.
That may be whats happening with mine. Sometimes it tries to start and shuts down till I turn it off and try again. 2-3 times on occasion when you first feed the leaves.
 

Brown Thumb

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You are probably bummed up in the cutters, dump some water down the chute.
 

Ishi

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You are probably bummed up in the cutters, dump some water down the chute.
And blow it out with air from the bottom if you have a compressor when it is running.
Keep spraying water and air. You will wonder how it ever ran with all the junk you get out.
 

Jitterbugdude

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That's how Chris at powermatic told me to do it.
He said it was a PITA and takes forever, that is why I tried the thinner first.
How long did it take to separate and clean them all?
I have gotten chatter out of mine for a while now also.

Actually pretty quick. Just 2 wrenches, loosen the nuts then slide the cutters apart with a screwdriver and clean as you go. I went very slow because I figured with my luck I 'd break it beyond all repair. I originally started to put it on my press. I was going to pop out the bearings that hold the shaft to the body but I figured I'd try the easier method first. I'm pretty sure I took some photos.
 

BarG

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You are probably bummed up in the cutters, dump some water down the chute.

I am pretty sure thats it. Without disassembling anything I swabbed some alcohol around where the feed sensor is and ran it in reverse for a while till I figure the best way to clean them. When I shone a bright light you could see its buiding up around some of the cutters, nothing severe. I just ground about 3-4 cartons worth no problem.
 

Fisherman

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Powermatic Shredder Maintenance -

Figuring I had used my shredder enough to warrant cleaning and checking things, I took some time to evaluate the "grease cups" since I have not seen any guidance in how often to use them, or their function. Here's the dirty details, including a minor flaw that made mine not work properly, and one improvement to be made in the future. I initially half filled the cups, and attempted to turn them in to add grease to the gears, but to no avail, and did not want to risk damaging the fine aluminum threads in the caps, so decided to take it apart and have a look.

The gearbox, with sidecover removed:



Mr
DGBAMA
,
What is the little switch shown in the picture? Mine broke when I had it apart and I cut the wires and can not find a connection sequence that will allow the machine to work any longer than 5 seconds at a time without having to turn switch back on.
I am trying to find parts but can find no schematic.
I would be willing to hot wire it if it was possible. is one of the first machines so is out of warrenty
 

DGBAMA

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Hey, Fish, haven't seen you around in a while.

The switch in question seems to be an Overload/motion detector. The two legs see the gear teeth passing and tell the motor it is OK to run. A "Hall effect" switch I think. Or it may be optical (infrared). Possible, unplugging the switch lead from the main board would let it work, but without "jam protection" otherwise a new switch should be cheap from powermatic. The main board is looking for the intermittent signal created by the gear teeth passing between the two legs of the switch so cutting or jumpering the two wires is not an option.

How's the boat project you were working on a couple years ago?
 

Fisherman

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Like everything else it is on hold. We didnt use it a while and when I did the trim motor was out and the carbs plugged again.
I tryed to remove it but it did not work [the switch] but according to your info i do not think i would be capable of mimicking the pulse.
I called some place [909-xxx-xxxx] number but the fella was not home and wont be in till monday.
The machine has held up good but has been a little funny lately electronically. I actually physically broke the switch tho.

I am growing this year in the ground. I grew 3 years of smokes last time in the buckets and have been growing vegetables in them since. Still pretty plants .

I got my seeds started but nothing set in ground yet.
 
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