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JET 1442 bearings running warm

S

Scott Bradley

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Feb 21, 2010
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I bought a used Jet lathe and the bearings would get warm after a few minutes run time. I found that it also had some damage to the Reeves drive spindle pulley so I took it to the Jet authorized service center to be repaired and since I was concerned about the bearings already, I asked them to change the bearings and belt while it was apart. Long story short, dealing with them was a nightmare. I got the machine home last night and the speed selector wouldn't move the whole range and wouldn't stay in position. I took the indexing rod out and repositioned it and finally got that working correctly but now I'm concerned again about the bearings. They didn't heat up immediately but after letting it run about 30min they are getting warm. Can anyone with this same lathe tell me if this is normal and maybe I was concerned for nothing to start with? thanks.
 
Scott:

I can't help you with the 1442 lathe, but my Jet 1642's bearings have never seemed to heat up - ever! ....and I've had the original bearings in it for at least the past 12 years or more.

You should also post WHICH authorized service center, specifically, that you had problems with. The tone of your message is that dealing with the authorized Jet service center was 'a nightmare', but I know that not ALL Jet service centers are bad to deal with. It does seem that you got into a place with incompetent technicians who are unable to fix something as simple as a Reeves drive. This service center should be reported to Jet/Powermatic and the whole situation described in detail - perhaps they will help resolve the situation to your satisfaction?

Good Luck.

Rob Wallace
 
It was JS tool repair in Raleigh NC. The first thing he did when I took the headstock in was grab the speed selector handle and give it a twist. I told him that you weren't supposed to adjust unless machine was running. I was telling him what was wrong and what I wanted done and he was talking over me and fiddling with everything. I could tell that he wasn't listening so I had the girl at the counter write everything down. I didn't feel good about leaving it at all but it had taken a month to get the day off to take it over there during business hours. I call after a week to check on it and he said, "Oh I remember, set screw right?" They hadn't started it yet so I told him that I'd come and get it. I went over the next day and told him I was there to pick it up. He then said that they had already taken it apart and brought it out in a box and dropped it on the counter and gave this smug look and said , "I thought you wanted it fixed." At this point I had to leave it there because there isn't anyone else close and it is a 4hr round trip to his shop as it is. Then, he calls Thursday to say it is ready and I left work and went over yesterday to get it. He wouldn't let me test it there to check it out. 1st bad sign... He assured me that it was perfect. Two hours later, I get it home and it wouldn't go to all the speeds and wouldn't stay in "gear". I would set it to the lowest speed and it would climb until it finally engaged. Also, it seemed louder. I took the handle off last night and rotated the indexing rod so that it reached all the locking positions and that is working now. He told me that the lock pin was not supposed to be used to remove the chuck because it(the spindle pulley) is cast aluminum (I agree that it it a poor design). What I'm finding today is that the lock pin is not engaging the spindle pulley now. I can feel it just catching the corner of the teeth and riding off. He also made a big deal out of ordering me a spanner wrench. Problem is that there is nothing to use the wrench on. There are no flats on the spindle for it to grasp. And now the bearings are heating up. This guy was a complete bad joke. I'm absolutely sick and since I bought the machine used, I'm thinking I won't get much help from Jet.
 
That sounds really bad, and I think that Jet would be very interested in hearing about that guy. My Delta 1440 lathe is very similar and it is really not difficult to diagnose and work on as long as someone has even the slightest bit of mechanical inclination. I believe that your capability far exceeds that of the shop that "worked on" it. Besides that, the unbelievable rudeness is inexcusable. BTW, the pulleys are die cast zinc and not aluminum. It would be much better if they were aluminum because zinc is much softer.
 
Call the National Office!!

Scott:

Bill has followed-up on my point exactly. Jet/Powermatic headquarters (Walter Meier Manufacturing) should hear about this "repair" shop and the incompetence shown in trying to fix this machine at this 'factory authorized' center - whether the lathe is used or not shouldn't matter to the headquarters office that "authorizes" the repair facilities if you inform them that one of their 'official' service centers is representing Walter Meier with such poor service, gross incompetence, and with a "bozo" mentality. I certainly hope they didn't charge you for their "service"! Although you would not get warranty service because it probably is no longer covered under warranty, the techs at the service inquiry line at Walter Meier should STILL be able to help you diagnose and fix the problem, and could recommend specific parts for replacement if necessary.

Call Jet Technical Service at:

1.800.274.6846 - 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.(CST, Monday - Friday)

This is a very common lathe in use today, and there should be a track record of repairs needed for most of the "Achilles' Heels" features that will fail over time. If they hear how badly you were treated, they might work with you to make sure you are properly taken care of.

BTW - Jet's Consumer Relations Number is: 1.800.274.6848 (same hours as above) Company HQ: Walter Meier Manufacturing Inc. - 427 New Sanford Rd.., LaVergne, TN 37086-4184 - Phone: 888-804-7129

I hope you can get the problem resolved to your satisfaction. I have had good luck talking with the techs at the Tech Service number directly for the few previous times I've needed help for my Jet 1236 and 1642 lathes.

Rob
 
Thanks, I appreciate the input. I'll call Jet about it Monday. I sent an email Friday to the customer service email address but I need to talk to someone too. I can't be the only one that this guy has shafted. If I'd known it would be this big a pain, I'd have attempted it myself. At least if I screwed it up, it would be on me. I turned on it a little today and noticed that the spindle has more resistance than before. When I changed jaws on my chuck today, the spindle did not rotate as the jaws were installed. Typically the spindle would rotate as the balance changed. I don't know if it's a problem or just a product of new bearings. It seemed to run ok. The spindle never really got hot, just warm.
 
Another thing that he told me was that they worked on it all day and had to put it together twice and that if he charged me for all the time they had in it it would be over $1,000. That tells me there that he didn't know how to fix it. I think he didn't let me test it there because he didn't want to go back in it and knew that I'd not have taken it. Guess he figured that I'd do exactly what I did. Try to fix it myself or involve someone else to do it. Either way, it's out of his shop. By the way, he charged $326. I don't mind paying for the parts but I'm having to redo the work.
 
Scott, I had a 1442 for a few years before I upgraded. In that time I changed out the bearings twice. The first was with Jet's shielded bearings and the second time around I went with the sealed type. The difference between the two, shielded have metal side walls, the sealed have a rubber compound. If they replaced them with the sealed type, you may find that they run warm for a while until they have broken in. This is common, however; if they are hot something may be out of alignment.

As for the spindle lock issue. With the spindle pushed in all the way, the spindle pulley should push up against the e clip that sits right behind it. This clip is found on the hand wheel side. There are only 2 spots in the pulley where the lock will engage. Check and see if the pulley is set in the right place, and then check if there are any breaks on the pulley itself where the lock pin goes in.

To check if the spindle is set, you can put a block of wood in front of the spindle shaft and tap with a mallet, or use a block of wood and bring your tail stock up and crank it in with the quill. To remove the spindle shaft you can spin the headstock around and use the quill as well.

The speed shifter is a tricky thing to get right. As for the shifter, it enters the front and then meshes with the short pole coming off the spindle pulley at the bottom. They probably did not match up the teeth at the end nearest the chuck side in the right position. When ever working on this lathe you want to have the speed set to the highest position. This includes when you put it back together. Having it in high allows for automatic alignment of the teeth.

Unfortunately, it looks like you or someone else is basically going to have to pretty much break it all back down again.

My in-laws are in holly springs, and normally I'd be up that way for Thanksgiving. This year they are heading down here. I'd be more than willing to come help if I was going to be up there.

The following is a write up from one of the guys, with pictures on how to do a belt and bearing change. I have one for the 1642 as well on that site.

http://www.woodturnersresource.com/extras/projects/pages/1442BeltBearing.html

I'll pm you my number, if you get stuck or need guidance feel free to call.
 
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If the guy had to take it apart twice and work all day on it then he sounds more like a shade tree mechanic and a jerk at that.

The difference in friction between shielded and sealed bearings should not be significant. Now, if he used tighter clearance bearings that might make a small difference, but I doubt that he did. I would really worry that the fool screwed up the bearings in the process of installing new ones. From the description of what else happened, it would not surprise me if he also ruined the bearings. But, let's hope that maybe he did something right. BTW, if you ever need to replace the bearings, you can normally take the spindle to a machine shop where they have the right tools and experienced people to do a competent job a a fair price.

The rubber seal is a two part affair with a labyrinth type joint where to two halves meet. They can range from a simple type that barely makes contact to more complex joints for greater sealing. The more common general purpose sealed bearings use the simpler type of seal.
 
I have no idea as to what type of bearings that he used but I did see that when he brought out all the parts in a box, that the ones that he'd thrown in there to replace them with were SKF( think that's right) in a blue and red box. I played with it yesterday and got the speed selector business straight and everything was exactly as you described. When I took the set screw out and removed the selector handle, I could see that they'd monkeyed around with it and really mauled up the shaft around the hole drilled to receive the set screw. Looked like the'd tried to force it to go to all the settings with the screw not fully seated. I had to file off the burrs and clean it up a little to get it to seat correctly and then it took a couple tries with the belt in the highest position on the lower pully to get it rotated so that it would go to and lock into all the holes drilled in the plate. I didn't take the belt cover back off yet to try and see what's up with the lock pin. I hate to do it too much because they evidently lost the machine screws that came out of it and used the wrong thread size putting them back in and now they are cross threaded. One screw is missing and one doesn't engage at all now so only 3 are biting. I guess I'll have to redrill and tap the holes. Not sure yet about the lock pin alignment but it "felt" like it was just catching the corner of the teeth and riding up, like maybe the pulley was positioned too far toward the front of the headstock but I did notice before I put the cover on after messing with the speed selector that the pulley was perfectly aligned with the lower pulley. This stood out to me because when I took the cover off to initially investigate the problem before taking it to him, I saw that the pulleys were not in perfect alignment and I remember thinking that maybe it would prematurely wear the belt. I was relieved to see that he'd gotten them in alignment. I'll take the lock pin assy out tonight and see if maybe it's possible to get the pin in backwards so that it doesn't have a long enough stroke to fully engage the teeth on the back side of the pulley. Again, I really appreciate all the help guys.
 
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