motor speed dropping

[kwilter81]

Recently I replaced the motor, and since I only quilt for myself I haven\'t done many quilts since putting the motor in. Its starts out great and the stitches are fine and balanced. But I find that after only a few minutes the speed drops. Then I stop, give it a rest for a minute or two and then its fine again. I don\'t want to keep increasing the speed. Also, I\'m not sure, but I looks like the seal at the bottom of the machine is leaking grease. Could the two things be related? I\'m thinking that if there isn\'t enough grease (not to be confused with the oil in the wicks) then there may not be enough lube on the main shaft when it warms up, causing it to slow

down.

[busybee]

Try and check your bushings and make sure you mark how you take them out and put back the same way. Bushings maybe dirty and after out, blow out with can of air. Hope that helps.

[kwilter81]

I\'ll pull the bushing out and look at them. Am I looking to see if they are worn or dirty or both? Also, I\'m not sure if the new motor had bushings installed or if I used the ones from the old motor. I will have to look at my notes on that.

Thanks

[Bonnie]

Is the speed just dropping or is it fluctuating....slow, to fast and back to slow. OR is it just gradually getting slower as the moments go by?

If its fluctuating...there is a draw on the electrical current someplace and you may have to many things plugged in. For example if your iron is on the same circuit, and it is like mine where it turns on and off that will draw enough electricity to make my motor fluctuate. Mine really has a tissy when the iron and the refrigerator which isn\'t on the same circuit hit at the same time.

If its the other and its getting just slower as you go...I\'m not sure what causes that so we will both wait for someone to jump in here to tell us.

[John Mitchell]

90+% of the time is is the motor brushes. You can replace them for a few dollars or keep running it and buy a new motor.

John

[busybee]

See how much is left on bushings.They usually do not wear out that fast. If machine is leaking oil, maybe too much oiling. Check with manufacture of machine for tech support.

[kwilter81]

Bonnie, The motor is not fluctuating, it is getting gradually slower. John, I\'m using an Ult II. I replaced the motor but have since only done about 3 quilts. I used to quilt as a business and have done about 400 total quilts. Now I just do my own. But like I said, since installing the new motor, I have only done about 3 all overs and one custom. I know the machine pretty well (I\'ve had it 7 years). This is just not its normal behavior. <smile>

Do you know if the new motors come with bushings, I didn\'t write that down, so I don\'t know if I used the old ones. Anyhow, I\'m going to pull them out right now. Be back in a few.

[kwilter81]

I took the cove off of the motor switch, I thought there was a screw behind it to take the brushes out. I don\'t see it. Are the brushes in the back, near the belt? Do I take the belt cover off to get to them or do I have to take the motor off?

thanks

[michaelalan]

:)I use to have something similar happen when I had the old motor on my UII, especially in the summer when power consumption was peaking here in the valley.

It would slow down and almost come to a stop, when I was quilting at a slower rate, going fast it didn\'t slow down noticeably that I could tell. I found allot of carbon dust in the motor and on the brushes so after cleaning and dusting out the motor and brushes and lubricating the bushings I ran it again. It was better but not what I wanted. Then I adjusted the second speed control on the dial. It is under the metal cover on the dial and is actually on the body of the dial when you take off the cover. It\'s sorta a fine tune dial. It worked for me when I adjusted this dial, using a screwdriver I just turned it a very little at a time till I felt it was adjusted better. This may or may not help some. I also made sure that I had a dedicated circuit so no Iron or other machines were on this power source:)

:cool: I thought about getting another motor, changing the pulleys on the head and motor etc., even went to the Electrical Motor Repair Shop in town to see about rewiring or tuning up my motor... The guy was helpful and flat out told me that the hp on these little motors will continue to diminish over the years and that they do ware out, he suggested a different larger motor, more hp., After I picked my chin up off the counter when he quoted me a price for the motor he suggested, around $700.00. I decided to converted to the Intellistitch and get the features I wanted. Now I have zero fluctuation or slowing down. The I/S Turbo makes a huge difference in your quilting, you can slow down and think instead of always being ahead of your pattern, trying to pre think the next curve or point, you can slow down and map out your quilting better. It\'s not always the $$$ way to go, but after 10 years on my old girl, she needed the fanny tuck and face lift, she is georgous now, and runs perfect.:cool::cool:

[John Mitchell]

I miss-read your post. When the speed is varying it is usually the brushes. I would wonder how good you A/C is (it may be varying depending on the loads on the line. We have used a power line regulator to regulate the A/C voltage with good success.

The speed controller on the ULT II was not very sophisticated. Do you have an iron or heater cycling on and off on the same circuit? Do you have any florescent lights on that circuit? Try to remove everything but the machine from that circuit and then see if you still have the problem. Hope this helps you isolate your problem.

John

[kwilter81]

I appreciate all of the help and assistance I got here yeterday. I took it all apart and followed each suggestion. Put her back together and now there are no power drops. I\'m not sure which suggestion was \'the one\' or if it was a combination of any number of things, but we\'re sewing beautifully today and I\'m a happy quilter.

Thank-you!!

sincerely,

Pat - Flying Goose Quilts, NJ