Servo Motor Mod: Diy Easier Speed Control

[SWFLholsters]

I am new to sewing and recently purchased a Seiko STH 8BLD-3 and I have spent many hours reading here on Leatherworker.net, on HotRodders.com, and on DIYTactical.com, and thank everyone for sharing their experiences.

I hope, with this post to pay back a little and make a few people really happy like me. This MOD for me ranks up there with best Xmas present ever... in July, no less.

In my research to learn more about my new sewing machine I ran into a lot of posts of people unhappy with their servo motors speed control, this included me.

I was lucky one day and found a post here on Leatherworker.net where a member named DDahl - Dave had used a paper and pencil gradient MOD to give a wider more controllable range to the speed controller of his servo motor. Here is the link to DDahl's post that motivated me to make this how-to. (Thank You! Dave)

Amazing to me, Dave's post didn't stir much conversation or motivation, I attributed that to peoples fear of modifying things.

I made this video and how-to to show how easy this MOD really is and hopefully make a lot of people happier with their machines.

Enjoy!

In addition to the video I have photos that can be use as a guide while preforming the modification. I will also post updates and tweak the how-to as needed and if people participate, post a list of servo motor models that work well with the modification.

Servo Motor MOD: DIY Easier Speed Control

I tried to embed the YouTube video but failed, if it is possible please PM me and I'll update this post to include the embedded video.

P.S. I am not a writer and struggle with things like this, if anyone sees errors or has suggestions on how I can improve my writing to be more clear please let me know. :-)

[particle]

Bravo!! Very nice. I admit, I was sceptical it would work, figuring the paper itself would be too opaque to allow any slow speed control. Guess I need to give it a try now!

[SWFLholsters]

Bravo!! Very nice. I admit, I was sceptical it would work, figuring the paper itself would be too opaque to allow any slow speed control. Guess I need to give it a try now!

Thanks!

I promise you won't be disappointed. :-)

Just use 22lb or thinner paper and you should be good to go.

[LittleL]

Very awesome. Thanks for spending the time to make such a well form tutorial. I will be looking forward to modifying mine in the next couple of weeks.

[Trox]

Great job,

I will definitely give you the credit for teaching us this, thought Dave was the inventor. You did a great job explaining this mod for us. Seeing how easy this mod is, makes me wonder why they have not fixed this issue? You dealer watching this have to order a repair kit for it, made in something more sturdy than paper, if that will work?

I saw the post the first time, but I did not want to take my motor apart. I also have some experience with motors much harder to control than this that is why I did not bother. Apparently, the slow start option works differently on these motors, mine works as it should and is best on setting nine. I have an other issue with mine, it will not stop when you turn of the switch, maybe that slow start option works as a kind of capacitor, storing the current and slowly lets it go. That kind of makes sense to me,

I will play around with after I have done the mod and we will see.

Thank you

Trox

I am new to sewing and recently purchased a Seiko STH 8BLD-3 and I have spent many hours reading here on Leatherworker.net, on HotRodders.com, and on DIYTactical.com, and thank everyone for sharing their experiences.

I hope, with this post to pay back a little and make a few people really happy like me. This MOD for me ranks up there with best Xmas present ever... in July, no less.

In my research to learn more about my new sewing machine I ran into a lot of posts of people unhappy with their servo motors speed control, this included me.

I was lucky one day and found a post here on Leatherworker.net where a member named DDahl - Dave had used a paper and pencil gradient MOD to give a wider more controllable range to the speed controller of his servo motor. Here is the link to DDahl's post that motivated me to make this how-to. (Thank You! Dave)

Amazing to me, Dave's post didn't stir much conversation or motivation, I attributed that to peoples fear of modifying things.

I made this video and how-to to show how easy this MOD really is and hopefully make a lot of people happier with their machines.

Enjoy!

In addition to the video I have photos that can be use as a guide while preforming the modification. I will also post updates and tweak the how-to as needed and if people participate, post a list of servo motor models that work well with the modification.

Servo Motor MOD: DIY Easier Speed Control

I tried to embed the YouTube video but failed, if it is possible please PM me and I'll update this post to include the embedded video.

P.S. I am not a writer and struggle with things like this, if anyone sees errors or has suggestions on how I can improve my writing to be more clear please let me know. :-)

[Trox]

And thanks for showing me that the Enduro motor is the same as the Cobra motor, I was about to buy one for my 441 from Keystone. Luckily, Greg has not answered any of my email. That makes my choice easy; I will buy an Efka 1550 from Europe instead.

Thanks

Trox

[particle]

I did this mod today and it made a HUGE difference. It definitely requires experimentation. I don't think I landed on the perfect version because I can't get full range of speed control (1-40), but it works excellent at 1-15. I'd never set it at 40 anyway. Next version I'd like to try is a custom blade replacement with an angled end that covers the light more gradually.

[SWFLholsters]

1. Seeing how easy this mod is, makes me wonder why they have not fixed this issue? You dealer watching this have to order a repair kit for it, made in something more sturdy than paper, if that will work?

2. Apparently, the slow start option works differently on these motors, mine works as it should and is best on setting nine.

3. I have an other issue with mine, it will not stop when you turn of the switch, maybe that slow start option works as a kind of capacitor, storing the current and slowly lets it go. That kind of makes sense to me,

Thank you for the kind words.

1. I doubt that the manufactures see this as a problem. I can see some of the dealers possibly doing the mod in-house for customers that request this. I think as the number of successful mods increase the dealers may be more inspired to look into it.

2. What motor do you have? On my Enduro Pro the slow start works but not in the way I would have hoped. It adds a delay that only complicates the short range of travel. You end up pressing the treadle too much because nothing is happening and then bang you are going too fast. There is a noticeable delay but it seems to be more of a delay than a slow ramp up of speed. However, on my motor the bigger issue is that the slow start setting seriously messes with start up torque, the torque difference between L-9 and L-0 is very big.

3. If I understand correctly your motor does not turn off when you hit the power switch? My Enduro Pro has this problem, when you switch the power off the motor is still active for 10 to 12 seconds. That to me is a design flaw, but I can live with it.

I am sure the Efka 1550 is a great motor but with this mod I am more than happy with my Enduro Pro. However, I am only using it on a Seiko STH-8BLD and not a 441.

I wish you much success.

Larry

[SWFLholsters]

I did this mod today and it made a HUGE difference. It definitely requires experimentation. I don't think I landed on the perfect version because I can't get full range of speed control (1-40), but it works excellent at 1-15. I'd never set it at 40 anyway. Next version I'd like to try is a custom blade replacement with an angled end that covers the light more gradually.

Awesome! I am glad it worked.

I am not sure we can get the complete 1-40 range of speed. Mistakenly I didn't try for it, I was happy with a 1-20 range as it covers all of my needs. When I get some free time I'll try some more testing

A member named Cronko on HotRodders.com had success with his SewQuiet 4000 but he had to use thin cardboard instead of paper because his optical sensor was so bright the paper would not work. He then layered the sicky side of postit note paper on top of the cardboard to create a gradient of paper and then used pencil marks to fine tune the paper gradient and that worked for him. So it sounds like each brand of servo may require a different approach to the gradient.

Link to post at HotRodders:

http://www.hotrodder...tml#post1577862

What brand and model servo do you have so I can add it to the list?

Cheers!

Edited July 29, 2012 by SWFLholsters

[particle]

My motor is a TN-411 - that's all it says. Not sure what brand that is.