Performax 16/32 Sander - belt tracking

[kiwigeo]

My Performax 16/32 has been getting a work out as I dress up my tonewood stash. Ive noticed the conveyer belt has started wandering across to the motor side of the machine regardless of tension settings. The brass bushing on the motor side/out feed side looks like it's worn to an oval so I'm assuming this is the problem, I have some spares on order from the US (wouldn't bother trying Jet here in Australia for parts..theyre hopeless) so hopefully the new bushing will solve the issue.

After a bit of reading it would seem that wandering of the belt is a common issue with these machines and there doesnt seem to be one single cause and in some cases no obvious cause....in some cases it would seem some of the feed assemblies come out with badly aligned rollers. Ive already had to replace the conveyer motor on this machine so overall I'm not that impressed with it and I would advise others to look at alternatives.

[Dave M]

I'm sure you've looked at this but maybe the manual at the source has some beter info...?

http://www.jettools.com/eu/en/p/16-32-p ... nd/629004K

[Onoitsmatt]

I bought a non-Jet after market belt that isn't a perfect circle. One side is a little smaller than the other, making it a very slight cone shape. No matter how I adjust the tracking, I get drift.

[Allen]

I would say that they are one of the most poxy machines that I've ever used. There was absolutely no possible way I could get mine to track. No adjustment made a lick of difference. Happiest day ever when I replaced it with a 24" twin drum sander.

[Dave M]

Well Allen I am assuming that the machine sold branded as Jet in the UK is the same as the Performax...?

I have been pretty pleased with it. It is clearly a simply designed and basic machine but it has done what it is supposed to do with little fuss from day one. Maybe you got a Friday afternoon job?
It is hard for us amateurs to justify the larger, more expensive machines.

[routout]

True Mr Dave ,
Small pockets i have to watch where I allocate money You can get a cone shaped belt to track worst case a piece of rd on the underside skewed in the rite direction.Bearing wholesalers should have these flanged bronze bushes mine has an 8 mm shaft .

[kiwigeo]

Well Allen I am assuming that the machine sold branded as Jet in the UK is the same as the Performax...?

I have been pretty pleased with it. It is clearly a simply designed and basic machine but it has done what it is supposed to do with little fuss from day one. Maybe you got a Friday afternoon job?
It is hard for us amateurs to justify the larger, more expensive machines.

Dave,

I paid just over $2000Aus for my machine so I class it as an "expensive" machine and for that sort of money it's not been good value for money. On top of the problems with the machine Ive had to deal with generally shit service from Jet's Australian agent.

The design of the out feed roller is bad with brass bushings instead of bearings....the bushes appear to have a split down one side and with the belt under tension the bushing deforms and the split opens up. This is simply crap design. If I keep this machine Id seriously look at modifying the outfeed roller assembly.

[Kev3]

I had huge issues with my Jet version when I first got it. Tracked to one side no matter what i did. Given that I flipped the belt around and it still went the same way I discounted that as a problem. But - even a replacement conveyor assembly had the same issue - as did the display model at the suppliers when they checked it out. Long story short - it was the weld / join on that batch of conveyor belts (flip it round and the angle of the join as it enters / leaves the rollers is the same).
New belt from a different batch / join method and I have not had an issue with it since then .... looking forward to when I need to get a new belt

[kiwigeo]

Pulled out the brass roller bushing from outfeed side of the conveyer and it's pretty well f***d. The bearing isnt made split as I earlier stated...the thing has actually split during service.

[Bob Connor]

I've had one of those Performax 16/32's for years and never had any trouble with the tracking.

Regards

[routout]

I should have said put some duct tape on one end of the roller that will make it track better.

[kiwigeo]

I've had one of those Performax 16/32's for years and never had any trouble with the tracking.

Regards

Pure f*****g luck on your part mate

[kiwigeo]

The spare outfeed roller bushings arrived from the US today. The machine is up and running and after running for 10 minutes there doesnt appear to be the sideways drift of the belt as was happening before. It would appear that the worn/cracked bushing was the issue.
Lesson learned: check the roller bushings when trouble shooting belt drift and when tightening up the belt tensioners dont do them up to tight as it appears to put alot of stress on the roller bushings.

[kiwigeo]

This is an old thread but thought Id update my last post. The conveyer belt still wanders to the motor side as it used to be. Ive tried everything in the book to fix this problem but to no avail. My overall impression of the Jet Performax 16/32...not worth the $2000 I paid for it. Any time I save using it to sand stock is used up f****g with the conveyer belt tracking. The conveyer motor got replaced as well....gears were stripped.

[seeaxe]

Mine tracks to the other side, regardless of what I do with the adjuster. Mine didnt cost me $2000 though:)

The bigger issue for me is the snipe you inevitably get at the beginning and end of the piece as it either goes under or comes out of the rollers. Pain in the back side

[BradHall]

I just picked up a used Performax 16 32 plus last week. The feed belt is missing 1/3 from the belt drive motor side. I’ve ordered a replacement off Amazon. I wish I had seen this thread before I picked the $34 belt. I’ll just have to wait and see how true it is. The machine was not well cared for. I spent a day cleaning it up and oiling all the movable parts. Everything seems to move freely without any binding or grinding. I’ll check the bushings today for wear as suggested. There is what appears to be a fine adjustment knob with a spring near the motor mounting bracket. I purchased an owners manual, but find no mention of it, although it does show up on the exploded drawings. Any info on that appreciated. If I can get it set up true than the $350 price seems well worth it. Otherwise it’s an expensive pizza dough roller.

[kiwigeo]

I just picked up a used Performax 16 32 plus last week. The feed belt is missing 1/3 from the belt drive motor side. I’ve ordered a replacement off Amazon. I wish I had seen this thread before I picked the $34 belt. I’ll just have to wait and see how true it is. The machine was not well cared for. I spent a day cleaning it up and oiling all the movable parts. Everything seems to move freely without any binding or grinding. I’ll check the bushings today for wear as suggested. There is what appears to be a fine adjustment knob with a spring near the motor mounting bracket. I purchased an owners manual, but find no mention of it, although it does show up on the exploded drawings. Any info on that appreciated. If I can get it set up true than the $350 price seems well worth it. Otherwise it’s an expensive pizza dough roller.

LOL.....hind sight is a wonderful thing. Look..there are some who get reliable service out of these machines but my experience hasnt been good.

The bolt and spring on the motor mounting bracket. Ill check my machine. I recall one discussion where people were removing the spring. Ill report back on this.

From memory the main issues with these machines are as follows:

1) conveyer belt tracking
2) stripping of the thread on the drum height adjuster. Keep this well lubricated.
3) the gearbox on the conveyer belt has plastic gears that are prone to stripping. The gearbox and motor are an integral unit so if a gear goes you're up for a complete unit replacement.

Good luck!

[kiwigeo]

There is what appears to be a fine adjustment knob with a spring near the motor mounting bracket. I purchased an owners manual, but find no mention of it, although it does show up on the exploded drawings. Any info on that appreciated.

The bolt with the spring is used to adjust leveling of the drum. You loosen off two bolts that fix the cantilever to the base and then adjust drum/cantilever using the bolt. https://www.lumberjocks.com/topics/252353

[Snail]

Are these issues the experience with these type of drum sanders - they all look very similar - I.e timbecon, H&F, Carbatec? Or is it just an issue with the Jet model?

Thanks

Dan

[BradHall]

Martin, thanks for the link to lumberjocks. Many issues explained and possible fixes spelled out.

[kiwigeo]

I haven't really delved into the other brands. The issues Ive mentioned are definitely well known problems with the Jet Performax machines. I notice jet have changed the conveyer belt tensioning adjustment set up on their latest machines....havent seen any reviews of these machines.

My machine...Ill keep f****g with it till it wears out...or I do.

Are these issues the experience with these type of drum sanders - they all look very similar - I.e timbecon, H&F, Carbatec? Or is it just an issue with the Jet model?

Thanks

Dan

[kiwigeo]

Here's how simple Jet want you to think changing a conveyer belt is on a Performax Drum Sander: https://youtu.be/bU4qCx53kwA

[Dave M]

I'm one of the lucky ones and have had few problems with my Jet. However what looks like a bit of bent fencing wire that they call the TUF tool I have never been able to use, so changing the abrasive is always a bit of a struggle involving tweezers and a certain amount of swearing. Partcularly if I haven't done it for a while!


Dave

[kiwigeo]

An update to 16/32-gate.
Yesterday I spent 2 hours going through a routine of shifting the belt back to the far side (rel to motor) and then tightening up motor side tensioner to full and leaving near side loose. I then ran the belt at full speed and timed how long each run took for the belt to wander to the motor side. There was a slight increase in time it took to wander. Over the next days Ill continue with the process and see what happens.