ss250 broke

[wwalker47]

Last week my Delta SS250 broke right at the end of the upper arm. Right were all the blade tension is located. So I took it back to Sears, where I bought it, and sense it has a 2-year warranty on it they fixed it a no cost. They put on a new upper arm.

I noticed that it was real hard to pull the tension lever before the break, I don't know if that had anything to do with it or not. To all of you that have the SS250 just beware. The scary thing is I was in Sears looking at table saws and noticed the 250 no the display shelf and it was broken at the same place my was (Ouch ). Has anyone had that same break?

I almost went through withdrawlas not getting to saw.

-Bill

[GrayBeard Phil]

Bill:

If I understand your post... (and that is not a sure bet by any means!!)

Look at page 3 of the following link (parts drawing / parts list for ss250)
http://media.ptg-online.com/media/dm...1508_SS1DA.pdf

I think what you are talking about is that the press fit roll pin call out #124 broke off, or got sheared off, in your machine.

Take notice of the item call out #121 which Delta calls a grommet. This is a small hard rubber disk about 1/2 inch in diameter and maybe 1/4 inch thick. This is an important item in the assembly of your saw.

When you flip the tension lever (items #116, #115 and #114) the upper arm tip needs to contact that small rubber grommet and compress the rubber grommet. However, that round grommet has a habit of not staying put where it belongs. You should check to see if it is there before each session.

If that grommet drops out of the upper arm assembly, you can and most likely will have tension problems which could result in your shearing off the roll pin.

That grommet cost about a dollar, and you should replace it every now and then. Say about every 50 to 60 projects IMHO. What happens is that it gets so compressed, it does not un-compress and needs to be replaced.

If you loose that grommet, don't run your saw!!!

I only have one spare left in my tool chest. It is such a PIA for me to get over to the Delta service center in my area to pick up another. Just wish other WEB stores that sell to Scroll Sawers would carry that part.

Phil

[wwalker47]

Phil-

No, the actule upper arm broke (Item #120). The whole end of the arm where the 120 is pointing in the drawing on page two. I will take notice of the gromet and the placement of it. I'll look into getting some spares.

Thanks for the replay and the helpful hint on the gromet.

-Bill

[Mick Walker]

I had an older Delta VS 20" scrollsaw with that rubber grommet that created the tension. Whenever I would break a blade before I could turn the saw off it would vibrate the grommet out of place. I would then have to disassemble the head assembly to get it back into place. I called Delta and the gentleman that I talked to told me to glue the gromment in place with silicone caulk. Which I did and it never came out again. I now have the Delta P-20 which has a much better tension system. Mick.

[wwalker47]

Thanks

Mick-

Thanks for the idea of glue the gromment in place with silicone caulk. I going to do that. I didn't realize that those gromments would fall out. Maybe that's what made the brake in the upper arm in the first place. Like Phil said I think I will go to my local Delta parts store and buy me some extra gromments.

-Bill

[GrayBeard Phil]

Hmm-m-m; Silicone Caulk.

Thanks for the idea.

Phil

[jttheclockman]

Hmmm-----mmmmm ------mmmmmmmm

[bronco]

Bill,
When bought my ss-250 from lowes,a few weeks later the upper arm broke the exact same place yours did.Delta sent me a replacement with in 5 days. The reason the arm broke was because I was tightning the locknut too much which made me have to put too much pressure on the blade tension lever which broke the end of the upper arm.I have since learned from expert advice from this forum to put very little tension on the locknut.I hope this makes sense. I have not had any more problems so far.
Happy Scrolling,
Bill

[wwalker47]

Bill-

Thanks for pin pointing the problem and why it broke. Exactly which locknut would that be? The locknut for thghtening the upper blade in place? If that's the case then you have to tighten it just enough to hold the blade in, but how much is too much? I want to prevent this from happening again.

To change that grommet out how would one take the spring pin out that holds the tensioning mechanism on the saw?

BTW I got my saw back and I got to finish my project. Now for the sanding and the finishing.

[bronco]

Bill,
Tighten the locknut just enough to hold the blade in the upper chuck,
otherwise you have to pull too hard on the blade tension lever to tighten the blade. I hope this helps.
Bill

[wwalker47]

Bill-

Thanks, that is exactly what was happening. Before the break it was real hard to push the leaver back to put tension on the blade and I couldn't figure out why. I shall be more careful in the future.

Thanks to all for the great advice.

-Bill

[Little flower]

Problems here too!

Very interesting and HELPFUL to read this thread. Thanks for sharing you problem. As a result I checked my machine as the tension lever was getting very hard to move back. I found the grommett had been sheared and have of it was hanging out. So I got in touch with other users and they had similar problems. It seems even our supplier here hadn't heard of this problem. I now have a replacement grommet in my machine and the supplier has ordered in a big stock of them.

I have always maintained the pivot bolts #149 and last time my husband put some anti-rust grease on them. However another user had not greased his so when deciding to do a check he got more than just a surprise to see the wear and tear - amazing! - the washers were soooooooo buckled - and one bolt snapped off leaving the end of it seized in the machine. (Mine will be getting another check this evening - I need help with these things)

The model number on our machines is 40-540 whereas yours is SS250 yet when I checked on the website they look the same. Does anyone know which is they newer model and what differences there are?

[GrayBeard Phil]

Delta Pivot Bolts!!

Teresa:

Please, go to the Delta woodworking web site, and email the tech support to verify what I am going to write.

You should not be using grease of any kind on the pivot bolts, #149. You should be using light machine oil instead. SAE 20 wt non-detergent motor oil. If you need to, use SAE 30 non-detergent oil.

There is a brand name light oil, called 3-in-1. Don't use the red can, but use the blue labeled can, which is for electric motors (SAE 20.) The red can will leave extra 'gunk'.

You need to clean the bolts and the fitting in the arms, very meticulously, to remove all the 'gunk'. Remove even the hardened stuff. And then lightly oil the bolts. This needs to be done about every 20 hours of operating your saw.

On occations, remove the arms, and clean and lube the interface between the arms and the cast iron housing. There is a friction point interface, which is difficult to get at.

This is just my opinion, but if you let your saw sit for a few weeks, it wouldn't hurt to re-lube the pivot bolts before cutting.

By the By: On some of the Delta scroll saws, there are two washers on the pivot bolts. One of them is a wavy spring washer which acts as a lock washer. Pay close attention to the parts drawing so you know where it goes when you re-assemble the bolt to the saw. Don't switch out that spring washer with any lock or star washer.

Also, don't tighten down that pivot bolt too far. It is not strong enough to be torque to any standard. The cast iron threaded hole is also too soft. Just enough to prevent the bolt from coming loose. (I have never gotten a good answer as to what that means in foot-lb.) For the first few hundred hours of operation, you may see the small metal particle in the waste oil, don't be alarmed.

but please, ask your question, by email, to Delta.

Phil

[Little flower]

Thanks heaps for the advice, will do.

[Little flower]

Running smoothe

Back again after having Trevor do a full check of the machine. He is an engineer by trade and found the pivot bolts looking as good as new.

GrayBeard Phil

You need to clean the bolts and the fitting in the arms, very meticulously, to remove all the 'gunk'. Remove even the hardened stuff. And then lightly oil the bolts.

Found no gunk to speak of and certainly no hardened stuff. They have had a thourough clean..... and dare it.... a re-greasing.

When he done them just after I got the machine (had done about 20 hours work) they were extremely dry. He oiled them that time and the next couple of times and always found them quite dry so the last time he done them he decided to use the copper anti-seize grease (not anti-rust as I said earlier). When we think about it that was some time ago (about 12mths) - he was confident it would work so I just trusted his experience and just got on with the cutting and forgot about it.

However he does understand that companies do sometimes give different advice and if people do decide to do differently they do need to understand what they are doing and why they are doing it and be prepared to stand by their own decisions (which he is always prepared to do) without holding the company at fault if things go wrong.

After this experience our little group is plannng a machine maintence day as we are all using Delta 16" machines.

Thanks all for the help given.