SuperMax 19-38 Problems

[David Turner]

Wood panel is slipping on the conveyor belt and causing gouging grooves across the panel. I have implemented all of the suggestions for alleviating this condition as per the owner's manual without success. Called the helpline early this A.M. and as yet no response. Machine is basically new and this is only the second time I have used it.

Anyone else experienced this and made effective changes?

David Turner

 

[Chris C]

When my 22-44 pro max III does that it's usually because I'm trying to take too big of a bite.

 

[David Turner]

Chris:
That is not the case with my 19-38. It just barely touches the panel and won't feed.

 

[Bill Clemmons]

Is the conveyor belt itself slipping, or just the wood staying put as the belt continues on? If the belt itself is slipping, can you adjust the tension on the conveyor belt? If the wood is not tracking w/ the conveyor belt, can you adjust the pressure bars that hold the wood firmly to the conveyor belt?

As Chris mentioned, when mine does that it is usually because I'm taking too big a bite. But if you're certain that isn't the case, then try the two possibilities I mentioned above.

 

[Berta]

I have a smaller sander. My conveyor belt is made of sandpaper. When it does that I need to replace it. Annoying, but I only have to do it every couple of years.

 

[Jeremy Scuteri]

Do you have infeed/outfeed supports?

 

[David Turner]

Bill: The sandpaper belt is brand new (the machine is brand new) and you can not stop it with your hand so no, it is not slipping. I have adjusted the pressure bars height and pressure as per the owner's manual without success.

Jeremy: Yes it has both infeed and out feed supports which I aligned with the top of the feed belt with a straight edge.

 

[Jeremy Scuteri]

I have experienced the same issue on my drum sander (Performax 22-44 w/ infeed and outfeed supports). This is what I think happens.

If your panel is slightly bowed (it's not ideal, but it happens sometimes) then as it goes through the drum sander it can get to a point where there is more pressure on the infeed and outfeed tables than the conveyor belt (the slight bow in the panel prevents there from being adequate pressure against the conveyor belt). When this happens, the stock stops feeding, but the drum keeps spinning and you get a nasty divot.

I just apply hand pressure to the conveyor belt (infeed side in the beginning and outfeed side at the end) to keep the stock feeding. I've just made a habit of it. I generally don't experience this issue all the time, but it seems to happen at the most inopportune times, so I just try to prevent it all the time.

A simple experiment to see if this is your culprit would be to temporarily remove or significantly lower the infeed and outfeed tables and see if this issue goes away. If it does, you have your smoking gun, if it doesn't then it must be something else.

 

[KenOfCary]

How long is the piece of wood you're running through it. It doesn't work on short pieces as the feed rollers don't fully engage the piece of wood. The outfeed roller has to be able engage the piece before the infeed roller lets go of it. Otherwise the piece will stop moving through the unit. The belt is not what propels the piece through the unit. The feed rollers do.

 

[David Turner]

We have a winner ! Yea Rah Jeremy. I lowered both infeed and outfeed support surfaces about 1/16" and the 18 1/2" wide x 72" long panel run through without stopping.

Thanks,
David

 

[KenOfCary]

We have a winner ! Yea Rah Jeremy. I lowered both infeed and outfeed support surfaces about 1/16" and the 18 1/2" wide x 72" long panel run through without stopping.

Thanks,
David

Glad you found the solution. As you discovered the feed rollers are what move the piece through this unit. The belt just moves the detritus forward.

 

[Jeremy Scuteri]

As you discovered the feed rollers are what move the piece through this unit. The belt just moves the detritus forward.

Ken,
Is your drum sander different than most or maybe we have a nomenclature difference. In my mind feed rollers are powered (like in a planer) and pressure rollers (like on my drum sander) are just free spinning rods that help hold the stock down. In my case there are free spinning pressure rollers that hold the stock against the motor driven conveyor belt which moves the stock through the unit.

 

[KenOfCary]

Ken,
Is your drum sander different than most or maybe we have a nomenclature difference. In my mind feed rollers are powered (like in a planer) and pressure rollers (like on my drum sander) are just free spinning rods that help hold the stock down. In my case there are free spinning pressure rollers that hold the stock against the motor driven conveyor belt which moves the stock through the unit.

Mine is a Supermax 19-38. The Feed rollers are on the top of the unit. It they don;t engage the piece running through it the piece does not move - regardless of the bed moving.

On the unit in question, there is a minimum length that can be put through it. There is a feed roller on the input and output side that must both be able to engage the piece to propel it through the machine. This is documented in the manual, but I had to discover it for myself by trying to put something a little shorter through the machine. It didn't work.

 

[David Turner]

My SuperMax 19-38 is as Jeremy describes. The rollers hang below the sanding drum and provide pressure down on the wood so as to allow the conveyor belt to drive it under/through the drum.

 

[Jeremy Scuteri]

..........can you adjust the pressure bars that hold the wood firmly to the conveyor belt?

David,
I wonder if this is what we should be doing to address the issue we both have experienced? I didn't realize they were adjustable, it looks like they are.

 

[KenOfCary]

In thinking about it further, the belt must be providing the motion as it is adjustable and actually slows down if the sanding pressure is too great. The pressure rollers must not be active, but passively hold the wood against the belt. If both (front and back roller) do not engage the wood though, it will stop moving forward since the sandpaper drum is spinning in the reverse feed direction.

 

[David Turner]

Jeremy:
The owner's manual gives 2 solutions to the stopping problem. The first is to loosen the 4 feed roller cap screws (on outside of casting) and lower the drum until it contacts the conveyor belt and then raise 2-3 revolutions and then tighten the cap screws. This allows the feedrolls to hang down lower than the drum. The second solution was to turn the roller tension screws (inside the casting) clockwise 1/4 turn at a time which applies more pressure. Neither one of these solutions solved my problem although it may have been a combination of all the adjustments including the lower of infeed/outfeed surfaces that finally fixed my stalling.