Jet 1642 motor vibration

[Gary Chester]

I have a Jet 1642 EVS-2 that I bought new around 2007 that has a mild vibration. I've removed the drive belt and the drive pulley and it still vibrates which tells me it's in the motor. The vibration only seems to happen at a couple of speeds and doesn't stop me from using the lathe at all. The lathe is level both across and lengthwise and has 400 pounds of sand holding it down, it's nice and solid. This may have been happening since it was new and I never really paid attention.

I can't feel any slop in the motor bearings or any grinding so I don't think that's the problem.

There are 2 things that may offer a clue;
1. There is a slight "clicking click" noise I can hear at the fan end of the motor, but it's louder with my ear near the pulley coming from inside the case. It's a very soft sound that speeds up with the motor speed and doesn't sound like something that's really banging on something or falling apart.
2. I can see a slight bit of run out on the end to the motor shaft, I don't have an easy or accurate way to measure it but I might try.

One thought is that the motor shaft is slightly bent. It would explain the runout... and maybe the clicking could be the armature barely touching something???

Do any of my fellow 1642 owners hear a clickity click sound from the motor?

Any thoughts?

[Dwayne Watt]

I don't have this lathe, but can offer a couple thoughts. Motor shafts don't get bent on belt drive machines like a lathe, so it is highly unlikely yours is bent. More possible, there is a bearing failing on the motor. Along those lines, it is likely the bearing cage is coming apart or is simple worn out. That would account for a clicking noise that changes with speed as well as allowing some shaft runout to be visible. The clicking noise in this scenario is the bearing balls accelerating through the loaded zone. It would make sense the belt end of the motor shaft is making noise since that bearing sees the highest load on the motor.

[Richard Coers]

If there is any runout on the shaft, then that's the problem. I see so many questions about bearings on lathes. Wearing out a bearing on any machine is very difficult. It takes thousands of hours to wear out a sealed ball bearing.

[Paul Haus]

I have that lathe. I do not have any 'clickedy click' coming out of the motor and the arbor is dead on, no play. If you have wobble you either have a bent shaft or bad bearings. If you have a dial indicator available, that's what I'd use to check for play. I don't have my manual close by but maybe look at the end of the motor and see if it's removable and if there is any indication of fan damage.
Good luck.

[Russell Neyman]

It might just be a wood chip on either the motor fan or the inverter box (if it's 220) which also has a fan. Would it hurt to blow some air into those places?