3520b owners. Does yours tick?

[Ron Bontz]

Well I have been spinning away the last few days while being cooped up from the rain. As I was turning I noticed a ticking sound. I don't recall hearing it on my 1642-2. I definitely hear it on the 3520 though. It ticks even when it is un plugged and I am turning it by hand. Doesn't appear to be the motor or converter. So, does this have a magnetic tach or should I really start to wonder what it is? Thanks.:confused:

[Jason Clark2]

I had a small tick recently. I snugged up the set screws on the pulleys and it went away.

Jason

[Ron Bontz]

I'll run out and try that. Thanks

[Dick Strauss]

Ron,
Don't forget to tighten the set screws on the headstock spindle locking collar as well.

[Bill Bolen]

I noticed one on my nova. After playing with everything turns out it was just the gears in the chuck,,,Bill...

[Ron Bontz]

Well I didn't have a chuck in it. Just a face plate. I checked and the pulleys are tight. I noticed if I release some of the pressure off of the belt the ticking stops. It only had the weight of the motor on it. I'll give Dick's thoughts a try as well. I'll be back.:D

[Richard Bell CA]

Ron:

Mine made a similar ticking sound for awhile, with or without the chuck. I checked the pulley set screws, etc and could find nothing loose. If I released the belt tension it went away. However, in my case I rotated it by hand and the ticking corresponded to each rotation of the motor, not the spindle. Since I primarily use low range, there is a significant difference in pulley size, so this is easy to determine. I never could find anything wrong. The sound was minor, and it was still under warranty, so I decided to run it awhile and see what happened. After a few days it went away completely, and has not repeated for the last couple of months. I will be interested to hear what you find.

Good luck

Richard

[alex carey]

mine did the same thing as richards. Had a clicking for a while, didn't know what it really was, after a week it was gone. Either that or I just don't notice it anymore.

[Ron Bontz]

I checked everything I could think of. Nothing loose. The belt was on the lower speeds and the tick corresponded with the rotation of the motor as well. Now suddenly it's gone. I tried to get it to do it again with no luck. I even put more pressure on the belt and dialed it up and down. Smooth as silk. Hmmmm. Gremlins. Maybe:D I'll be calling Powermatic Monday to see if a tech. has a clue. I sure don't.

[Richard Bell CA]

Ron:

Take a look at this link, apparently this has been discussed before.

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=84441

Roy Knapp's description is pretty much identical to my experience. If you do find anything new, please post - I am curious.

Richard

[Nathan Hawkes]

I had a similar experience with my 3520B. I didn't carefully read the other thread; it may answer the same. At any rate, the source of my lathe's ticking was the rpm counter, which is a more or less square piece connected to the spindle that is directly inside the headstock from the handwheel side. It was just the tiniest bit loose, which I could feel with my hand when I was trying to locate the sound. I had also loosened the drive belt, and for a while that allieviated the problem, but it came back, probably as the piece got a bit more loose over time. Anyway, I know enjoy a noise-free rotation. A bit of advice; unplug your lathe!! There are rotating pieces in there which are more than capable of taking off your finger or several if the lathe were to accidentally come on during your search for the problem. I know most people wouldn't stick their finger in there with the lathe plugged in, but I almost did (with the lathe off, of course). Good luck to you.

[Nathan Hawkes]

Well I have been spinning away the last few days while being cooped up from the rain. As I was turning I noticed a ticking sound. I don't recall hearing it on my 1642-2. I definitely hear it on the 3520 though. It ticks even when it is un plugged and I am turning it by hand. Doesn't appear to be the motor or converter. So, does this have a magnetic tach or should I really start to wonder what it is? Thanks.:confused:


So, after posting, and actually carefully reading your post, it only now totally makes sense to me, even though I fixed my problem... It must be a magnet--all I could see was a black square with the corners cut off....

[Jeff Nicol]

I had the same thing on mine and I did all the same things and it was the RPM magnet setup. So I blew all the little dust and stuff out and it went away and so far no sound again. It took about 2 years for the sound to show up so it must be as things settle in like all machinery sounds show up.

We love our Mustard!

Jeff

[Richard Bell CA]

Actually, it makes sense that it could be the tachometer. When I was troubleshooting, the tick corresponded to roughly one revolution of the motor, so I did not think it was related to the spindle. However, I did not look closely enough inside to realize that the tachometer used four lobes (four pulses for each revolution of the spindle). As near as I can tell, the pulley ratio on low range is about 3.3 to 1, or a little over 1/4 revolution of the spindle for each full revolution of the motor. If the ticking noise is created each time a lobe passes the sensor, then the noise appears to correspond to the motor rotation.

The only thing I am still struggling with is the fact that the noise went away if you released the belt tension. The spindle is pretty beefy, hard to believe there is any measurable deflection due to the force of the belt.

[Ron Bontz]

Hence, that was the part that really baffled me. I spent a few hours doing some spindle turning today. Not a sound. I even turned off the dust collector just to hear that spin sound. I did manage to send walnut chips a good 15 ft. though. A couple of goblet style candle holders in the works. Or not. To hollow or not to hollow. That is the question.:D

[jason lambert]

ck the magnet on the inside of the case around the rpm counter, it is usally the source it hits just move it a bit. It is a pain to reach though.

[Jack Savona]

I had a tick once that was noticeable at very slow speeds. If I recall correctly, I moved the belt over into the next groove and the noise stopped. Seems I had it too far to the left, and apparently the belt was rubbing on something.

[Mike Minto]

don't know if this has anything to do with it, but my new 1642 was ticking the other day - sounded like it was coming from the spindle bearings. turned (no pun intended) out to be the index locking pin was working it's way into it's hole - i had been leaving it there so i didn't lose it. well, it's now in my toolbox where it won't do any harm. mike