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I am struggling with my Edison Standard A (late model). The motor seems to run great and quiet, but as soon as I add the belt to connect the upper works it gets much weaker. If I simply lower the arm on a cylinder it comes to a grinding halt. I've been working on this for quite some time now and simply cannot figure it out. Here's what I've done so far:

Replaced the broken mainspring with a brand new one from Wyatt's. It seems to have a lot of power, I had a hard time even getting it into the barrel.
Cleaned and lubricated all gears in the motor and upper works and the governor. I think by now I dismanteled and re-assembled it at least four or five times, just to make sure I didn't miss anything.
Adjusted all the bearings so everything by itself (gear cluster, governor, upper works) run easily without noise etc.
Installed a new belt with belting material from Wyatt's. That's when the slowdown started. Found that the belt was too hard and maybe too tight, so I worked and hammered it until it was soft and stretched a bit. Now it at least runs the upper works with no cylinder, but still quite slow (I think).

I think it may be that the belt tensioner puts too much tension on the belt. Is that possible? Can it be adjusted? What else could be the problem? Again, the gear cluster and the upper works run fine seperately. Any help would be highly appreciated.
Thanks
Andreas

Did you make sure the wheel on the belt tensioner is smooth and not binding from old lubrication? Did you try letting the belt tensioner spring one revolution less? Half nut adjusted? The bar that the carriage rides on clean and smooth? Could be many things

vic160 wrote:... Did you try letting the belt tensioner spring one revolution less? ...

How do I do that? Just loosen the screw on the spring or do I have to unwind it?
Thanks
Andreas

I'm not at home to check for sure. I have found Edison's where that was one revolution of the spring too tight. I think it just in un clips?

alang wrote:I am struggling with my Edison Standard A (late model). The motor seems to run great and quiet, but as soon as I add the belt to connect the upper works it gets much weaker. If I simply lower the arm on a cylinder it comes to a grinding halt. I've been working on this for quite some time now and simply cannot figure it out. Here's what I've done so far:

Replaced the broken mainspring with a brand new one from Wyatt's. It seems to have a lot of power, I had a hard time even getting it into the barrel.
Cleaned and lubricated all gears in the motor and upper works and the governor. I think by now I dismanteled and re-assembled it at least four or five times, just to make sure I didn't miss anything.
Adjusted all the bearings so everything by itself (gear cluster, governor, upper works) run easily without noise etc.
Installed a new belt with belting material from Wyatt's. That's when the slowdown started. Found that the belt was too hard and maybe too tight, so I worked and hammered it until it was soft and stretched a bit. Now it at least runs the upper works with no cylinder, but still quite slow (I think).

I think it may be that the belt tensioner puts too much tension on the belt. Is that possible? Can it be adjusted? What else could be the problem? Again, the gear cluster and the upper works run fine seperately. Any help would be highly appreciated.
Thanks
Andreas

One possible cause is an overlubricated feed screw/half nut. Anything heavier than silicone spray or very light machine oil can make a machine stop dead in its tracks.

52089 wrote:One possible cause is an overlubricated feed screw/half nut. Anything heavier than silicone spray or very light machine oil can make a machine stop dead in its tracks.

I've heard that before and therefore only used a little bit of Singer sewing machine oil on the feed screw. Unfortunately the problem starts even before I lower the reproducer carriage.

Following all the helpfull advice I just checked again every single part and think I may have finally found the culprit. I had cleaned, polished and lubricated every single gear, axle and bushing, except for the tensioner itself. I assume that the little brass wheel on the tensioner is supposed to rotate freely? Well, mine is frozen solid. I think (hope) that this might have put enough friction on the belt to slow down the whole machine. The tensioner is now soaking in PB Blaster and I hope it will start moving again. I will keep you posted for sure.

Thank you very much to all of you who provided help and suggestions.
Andreas

When a machine does not operate properly I try to isolate the problem.

Disconnect the belt.

With the carriage up in the non-play position, spin the mandrel. I should turn quite a few time before stopping.

Put the carriage in the play position and spin the mandrel. I should turn several times before stopping but not as many
times as in the non-play position.

If the mandrel and gears turn freely and the carriage moves a little, the problem is below the deck or possibly with the belt.

The belt should not be too tight and the tension wheel should turn freely.

Bearing surfaces should be oiled as well as governor parts.

There should be a little free play at each end of the governor and the bushings.

Springs should be in good shape and lubricated properly.

ALWAYS LET THE MOTOR RUN DOWN BEFORE WORKING ON THE GOVERNOR!!!!!!!!!!!!

Good luck, Jerry Blais

Thank you everyone for your help. I went through all suggestions and checked, lubricated and adjusted everything again and finally got it working properly. The problem was the small brass roller on the belt tensioner, it wasn't moving freely and provided too much friction to the belt. Now that it's running freely I can get through 3-4 cylinders with one full winding.

One more question: Should I lubricate the straight edge as well, since the reproducer carriage is gliding on it?

Thanks again
Andreas

alang wrote:Thank you everyone for your help. I went through all suggestions and checked, lubricated and adjusted everything again and finally got it working properly. The problem was the small brass roller on the belt tensioner, it wasn't moving freely and provided too much friction to the belt. Now that it's running freely I can get through 3-4 cylinders with one full winding.

One more question: Should I lubricate the straight edge as well, since the reproducer carriage is gliding on it?

Thanks again
Andreas

I usually just put a tiny bit of oil there, yes.

Glad you got it running, I remember my first Standard very well, long before forums like this and it was very frustrating to get it running right with very little resources for advice.

Sean