blower not working, any suggestions?

[pmpagano]

Just purchased a used Delta p-20 which is working great, but the blower doesn't blow! Any ideas why this might be? How can I address this?

[oily]

You can order the replacement bellow and make the repair or find a cheap air pump for a fish tank

[pmpagano]

For the P-20 how big of an aquarium air pump should I get. They vary dramatically based on the size of the fish tank. It sounds like this is the easier way to fix the problem. Delta made it sound like I would be ripping apart the whole machine to fix the blower.

[evilbadger]

Just get a cheap one from Walmart and run some tubing up near the blade. I found if you have some solder you can wrap it around the tubing to help you position it and keep it pointed where you want.

[jim_mex]

Hi - I'm with Rob - go for the air pump. The buzzing noise can be a bit irritating at first but you get use to it and even the smallest pump usually blows better than the saw bellows, especially when you are cutting at slow speed.

As to size. A basic small model for a 1 cu ft size aquarium should be more than enough. I paid around 10 USD for a cheap and nasty 'Made in China' one but it works really well. Treat yourself to about 4ft of tubing to match and mount or place the pump at the back of your saw and you won't even notice its there whilst its working.

[journeyman]

You could use the other method. Take in a long breath and then blow like hell. Only joking, I agree with Rob and Jim and would go with the fish tank pump.
Mick

[rcramer37]

Go with the air pump. And if you have a foot switch, add the pump in with that so the saw and pump come on at the same time.

Ronnie

[Jim Finn]

another solution is the one I use.....I have a squirrel cage type fan blowing across the scroll saw table as I cut. Blows off the dust and keeps me cool.

[pmpagano]

Tried the aquarium pump and the thing wouldn't blow even the smallest saw dust. It was a model 400 fusion quiet power aquarium air pump. Any suggestions on one that actually works. Model/brand?

[jim_mex]

Hi again - the model I bought is shown on this link

Ignore the shipped out of China price - i paid 10 USD equivalent

Wholesale New Aquarium Tank Single Outlet Mini Air Pump AP1688

Apparently this is a very popular cheap and cheerful model and rest assured, it does blow!

Btw - make sure you have the end of the tube very close to the blade - I have mine about 1" distance

[HAMMER]

The pump is a great idea since it is easier to direct the air where you want it. But try blowing air (backwards) into your existing saw's tube outlet with an air compressor. The bellows type pump not only pushes air out it also sucks in back into the tube and can sometimes clog with saw dust....

Hi Hammer - I hope you don't mind me editing your comment to make it a little clearer. I must have woken up on the wrong side of the bed this morning because I had to read the original comment a couple of time before I realized that you were talking about the existing saw tube from the bellows in your second sentence. By the way- this is a very good point you make as exactly this situation occurred to me a while back.

[SteveK]

Haven't had to do this yet, but with some aquarium experience... Experiment with he pump setting on different materials to quiet pump. Also don't use 6' of tube if 4' wil do etc.

[Spirithorse]

It appears that the air diaphram (part 102 on the schematic) is only $7.82 plus shipping here
Delta 40-640 TYPE 1 parts breakdown on ToolPartsDirect.com
but, as you mentioned, I am not sure how hard it is to get to and replace.
I don't think it should be much more than a few screws on the side cover.
Best of luck and God Bless! Spirithorse

[NHokpic]

I ran across a weird solution to this blower problem in the #200 Woodsmith magazine. Some one took a cheap bellows foot pump from a sporting good store and rigged it to arm of their scroll saw to create a blower their Delta model didn't have. According to him it works fine and he won a PC router for submitting the best tip of the month.

I'm not sure the pump could keep up with the saw's speed but I'm sure he's created a vibration problem for himself which could be offset by extending the length of the wood on the other side of the arm. I can't copy pictures on the copyrighted material, but you can probably find the popular Woodsmith magazine in your library. Issue #200 is a recent issue and turn to page 7

[ossaguy]

I have had good results with using a Badger airbrush pump.The airstream blow seems just perfect.I tie wrapped the tiny air line to the existing airline arm on my 40-690 saw so it can be set just at the right place.


Steve