I Need To Tell You How Much I Hate The Consew Servo Motor...

[JimC]

I have a light Brother automatic - servo ..a Adler with a SERVPRO servo ..and a half dozen machines with clutches. The Brother and Adler servo motors work great.

I decided to convert a couple of other daily machines because they do not run hours straight. On/Off would be a better way to run them, besides who needs the constant noise. My Consew 206RBs can sew about anything ..So, Consew/Consew made sense. Eh-Eh. Everybody hates them.

They don't seem to have a rheostat ..nearly pure ON or OFF. You get a choice of: ON s-l-o-w .. or 'Oh S__', a runaway machine. I can feather the pedal, but my ladies cannot. You cannot get the motor to crawl unless you have the lightest touch or backed off to '3-stitches-per-minute'. I have been walking around bitching for a couple of weeks ..now that I have said it out loud, maybe I can forget it.

More 'boat anchors' for the collection....

Jim

The Servpro and Consew appear to use similar castings ..and maybe the Adler, because it is a very heavy machine, works better.

[Wizcrafts]

I have a Family Sew servo motor that can crawl when I want it to or run with the fastest. It has a multi position rotary switch on the front, making it simple to change the top speed on the fly. I use it on my Cowboy CB4500. I only had to change the pulley to a #614, which is 2.25 inches diameter, to get the range I wanted.

I have to Sew Pro motors on my flat bed machines and love them.

[Trox]

Hi Jim,

I feel your pain, it goes as a runaway train. The German Efka will take care of your problems. If thats a bit over budget; If the motor is digital it probably uses a light switch on the speed control. Here its how a member made a mod for them http://www.swflholst...paper-gradient/

Search the this forum for more stuff about the Chinese digital servo speed control mod. Regardless of brand, if its Chinese and look the same on the outside, its also the same inside. Strange? LOL.

Good luck

Tor

I have a light Brother automatic - servo ..a Adler with a SERVPRO servo ..and a half dozen machines with clutches. The Brother and Adler servo motors work great.

I decided to convert a couple of other daily machines because they do not run hours straight. On/Off would be a better way to run them, besides who needs the constant noise. My Consew 206RBs can sew about anything ..So, Consew/Consew made sense. Eh-Eh. Everybody hates them.

They don't seem to have a rheostat ..nearly pure ON or OFF. You get a choice of: ON s-l-o-w .. or 'Oh S__', a runaway machine. I can feather the pedal, but my ladies cannot. You cannot get the motor to crawl unless you have the lightest touch or backed off to '3-stitches-per-minute'. I have been walking around bitching for a couple of weeks ..now that I have said it out loud, maybe I can forget it.

More 'boat anchors' for the collection....

Jim

The Servpro and Consew appear to use similar castings ..and maybe the Adler, because it is a very heavy machine, works better.

Edited January 29, 2013 by Trox

[JimC]

Takk Trox.. That fellow is both smart and patient. I typically take care of problems with an American Wrench. Mine come in 1lb., 2lb and finally 5lb - if the prior two do not handle the problem. Thanks again. Cheers.

Jim

[J Hayes]

I just did the mod to the Consew CS1000 I got on Monday, wow! Still maybe needs a fine tune to get all the top speed outta it, but for now I want slow.

Jeremy

[billymac814]

You can get a speed reducer for 85.00 from Bob Kovar, its cheaper than a replacement servo. I just ordered one for my patcher as the servo on it was far to fast even on the slowest speed, I could feather it if I was careful but I think the speed reducer will give me a better range of adjustment.

[Gregg From Keystone Sewing]

Consew sells a variety of servo motors, what model do you have that you dislike? Some of their motors are very, very good.

[Ferg]

My Consew 206RB5 has a Consew Servo Model CSM550. Absolutely no problems

ferg

[Trox]

You are welcome Jim, snakker du Norsk?

One of the best solutions to the speed problem ( and alternative to a servo motor) is to use a 3 phase clutch/ or regular AC motor with a frequency converter. This little "magic" box converts 3 phase to single phase current and let you control all parameters on the motor.

Like speed, torque, start and stop time etc. It lets you limit the motors top speed; you can go as slow as you want and still have maximum torque. You can attach a potentiometer (like a pedal) and control it like a servo motor. I have used this solution on several machines, and the speed control is better than on any servo motor you can buy. with this "box" you can use any kind of 3 phase AC motor, the pot meter replace the clutch.

When servo motors is a "new" thing in the sewing machine world, the industrial world has moved away from it and uses mostly this system. They can hook these boxes to their computers and remotely control the motors true the internet. I got a pair of these for free from my brother who works in the electro business. The prices varies from make and capabilities, from 60 $ and up, I know they are cheaper in the US than where I live.

You need one that can handle the ampere of the motor, the price follows the ampere up-wards. So you do not want to use more motor than you need to, three phase motors have more torque than single phase too. A 750 watt will power most harness stitcher's, then hook up three cables and you are ready to go.

Here is what these boxes look like, they are easy to hook up. However you must read the instructions for programming the parameters on it.

If anybody want to know how it works, send me a PM and I can give you a link to a video of my old Adler class 5 with this system. I also uses this kind of box on my skiving and clicking machines who both are tree phase (when I only have single phase current in my work shop). However, only for converting the current, I do not need to control the speed of these.

Thanks

Tor

[Cebwrd]

I realize this is an old thread, and I'm a newb. But maybe this will help someone else decide. I also have a Consew Servo Model CSM550 and like Ferg no problems. I went to a local Consew dealer to check it out and was not impressed. I could not start into leather at lower rpm settings below 1000. He tried setting it to 600 and 900 rpm for slow control but it wouldn't move. I found later that the trick is to set it to the machine max like 3000 and just use the pedal as if it had a clutch. There must be a pot associated with the pedal control and the knob only caps the max. So the torque with the pedal slightly depressed at 900 rpm is not able to move the needle. But the torque with the same small pedal movement with the rpm set to max is greatly multiplied. I plowed through 3/8 of various quality leathers making French seems slow enough to keep control. This is not an On/Off only pedal as the older ones seemed to be. The interesting thing is that no matter what max sped I set, I could move the needle at the same slow speed regardless. Of course lower RPM max requires lighter fabric. Hope that helps someone.

[art23]

I realize this is an old thread, and I'm a newb. But maybe this will help someone else decide. I also have a Consew Servo Model CSM550 and like Ferg no problems. I went to a local Consew dealer to check it out and was not impressed. I could not start into leather at lower rpm settings below 1000. He tried setting it to 600 and 900 rpm for slow control but it wouldn't move. I found later that the trick is to set it to the machine max like 3000 and just use the pedal as if it had a clutch. There must be a pot associated with the pedal control and the knob only caps the max. So the torque with the pedal slightly depressed at 900 rpm is not able to move the needle. But the torque with the same small pedal movement with the rpm set to max is greatly multiplied. I plowed through 3/8 of various quality leathers making French seems slow enough to keep control. This is not an On/Off only pedal as the older ones seemed to be. The interesting thing is that no matter what max sped I set, I could move the needle at the same slow speed regardless. Of course lower RPM max requires lighter fabric. Hope that helps someone.

[art23]

I just got a consew csm550 how much horsepower is that? 550 watts,119v, single phase, freq 60hz, rpm 0-3450. I also got a consew 226 both for 400$ was it a good buy, a decent price? Or he pulled my leg? By the way no table. All I need the machine is for when sewing chaps (2 piece of 3oz suede) or when sewing wallets or cell phone cases. Will this servo motor work good at sewing slow. I have a cobra class 4 and love how it sews slow. Over all I feel excited to get them running but now I'm short 400$ :/

[JB52]

Hello All,

I'm a little late here, but I just bought a Consew CSM1000, and aside from the touchey foot pedal, I like it so far. I'm an electronics/mechanical tinker to be sure, and will be hacking at it until it works the way I want. Which also means that if I can get a schematic, or more informatin about the main control board (or at least those two extra plugs on the controller) that it may be feasible to make a 'hack' to get better front panel controls. My ultimate goal is to get PC control of speed and direction.

So to make a long story short.......does anyone know the Chinese manufacturer of these servo drives? Consew just re-brands them, and I'll try to get more information from Consew, but I'm a little pessimistic about that.

Thanks All, and Regards,

John

p.s. I've already had the thing all apart, and it would be an easy modification to have switches in the pedal control box to set pedal sensitivity. If anyone is interested, I'll prototype and document the mods.

[Trox]

Ho Hsing sells a reasonable priced servomotorer with needle position, the G60 series. This is a professional sewing machine motor made in Japan. You can get it for about 160 £ in the UK, so I guess it's not that expensive in the USA either. This motor has great low speed control and a needle position system that works. It's also possible to attach a Ho Hsing control box. You can attach all kinds of pneumatic or solenoids for foot lift, thread trimmers and so on. Ho Hsing is one of the best brands for professional sewing motors.

Tor

[JB52]

Thanks Tor!

I'll get logged on to HohSing and see if I can relate the consew CSM1000 to the correct Hohsing series.

I don't have the servo motor bolted on yet, but the bench tests are pretty promising. I paid only $120, but without the needle positioner......looking at this motor and drive, I think it's a really good value.

-Regards,

John

[Trox]

The Consew motor has nothing to do with the Ho Hsing brand. The Consew motors are made in China and are just the same as many other brands of Chinese motors. The Chinese have yet to brake the code on making good servo motors. They have plenty of watt and enough torque in the digital ones, but poor low speed control and no working needle position. (of course some are working as they should, this is general speaking) The Chinese sewing machines on the other hand has become very good. That's why I recommend a good Japanese low priced servo motor, the Ho Hsing G60 (600 watts servo motor with needle position and expand options). Then you will avoid these problems and have a proper support too.

To get any info about the Consew, go to http://www.consew.com/list/machine-stands/servo-motors

Good luck

Tor

[Trox]

You can also check with Gregg at Keystone http://www.mcssl.com/store/keysew/parts/industrial-sewing-machine-motors

He sells and knows the Consew brand.

Tor

[JB52]

Looking through Ho Hsing's models under products here: http://www.globalsew.com/en/en/sales-contacts-ho-hsing doesn't show anything which looks like the CSM1000. Of course the CSM1000 might be an OEM motor made to Consew's specs. One of the Ho Hsing motors looks like the CSM1000 motor, but none of the controllers are close. I think Consew is buying the motor from the same place as Ho Hsing, and the Consew controller is perhaps subcontracted. Who knows these days?

The control for the foot pedal is actually working pretty smoothly, the lever isn't meant to be run by hand and that's why I originally thought it was 'touchey'. There's a sort of hall effect sensor inside the foot control interface that feeds back approximately 0-5V to the servo amp. Far more reliable than a potentiometer there. And at least I can insert an interface to give me PC control of forward rotation speed. There are two 'extra' plugs, one is for the needs synchronizer, the other is still a mystery.

Here's a link to it: http://www.consew.com/View/Consew-Model-CSM1000 though the controller looks just slightly different somehow. I'll have to post a pic. If this rings a bell with anyone.....the origin of this controller.........please give a shout. Thank You,

JB52

[dikman]

JB52, have a look here....http://www.aliexpress.com/sewing-machine-servo-motor_reviews.html

Some of these look awfully similar to the Consew CSM-1000. I bought the 7th. one down, and after tweaking the parameters in the controller I don't have any issues with slow speed control. The "style" of the controller appears to vary with different models/manufacturers, but I would guess that the innards are the same.

edit: I just did a bit more looking, and this one looks almost identical to the Consew - http://www.aliexpress.com/item/500W-AC-110V-240V-brushless-Servo-motor-with-internal-needle-positioner-for-all-kinds-of-industry/1548752350.html

Edited October 7, 2015 by dikman

[dikman]

JB52, I forgot to mention that if you do any mods please post them here. Although I'm happy enough with mine, I'm an inveterate tinkerer and if you come up with something useful.......

[JB52]

Thanks Tor,

I already bought a CSM1000. Seems a solid enough motor. I'm not using it for sewing, rather, I'm using it on a Swiss lathe for watchmaking. Schaublin 70. My inquiry was to attempt to find schematics for the CSM1000 to design a PC interface for speed control, but schematics are very difficult to find these days. I resorted to probing with an isolated DVM at the footpedal, and devised a way to drive the CSM1000 servo from a PC.

This requires electrical isolation, as the hall effect sensor in the foot pedal sits at 160 VDC above PE (Protective Earth) ground, AND it carries 120 VAC. NOTE: The foot pedal DOES NOT carry a PE ground wire up to it's case, so if the pedal is mounted to a wooden (insulated) bench and the footpedal control fails.....the operator is in for an unpleasant shock at least, particularly if they are in bare feet!

I strongly reccommend that users of any of these motors make their own PE ground wire connection in order to conform to reasonable safety precautions such as those embodied in UL or CE directives. This is easy and involves only making reliable connections (preferably with using green/yellow stripe wire) from the foot pedal itself, up to the foot pedal control box, and back to the servo amplifier. The motor frame should also have such a PE ground, and it does on this particular model. All this can be easily 'beeped out' with a DVM.

Anyway, I'm solving my control problem with a simple PWM/opto-coupler interface. Schematic from the manufacturer notwithstanding. ;-)

Regards,

John B

[Techsew Ron]

The "style" of the controller appears to vary with different models/manufacturers, but I would guess that the innards are the same.

edit: I just did a bit more looking, and this one looks almost identical to the Consew

I'd watch out with this - manufacturers will use the same external designs but the internal parts quality and capability can vary tremendously from one company to another. Same goes with machines.

[JB52]

From one inveterate tinkerer to another then......

Just getting started, the pic shows merely that I've installed a SPDT switch to switch from foot control to PC control, and a jack to receive the PC generated speed signal (the optocoupler input).

It is quite fortunate the servo amp supplies +5VDC to drive the hall effect switch mounted there on the PCB under that pivot arm which has a fairly stron magnet at it's end. So, that +5VDC and it's 'ground' (which sits at 160 VDC above PE (Protective Earth) potential, and carries a 120 VAC 'ripple'). I've not tried yet to float an Oscope to see what this 120VAC component actually looks like. But the +5VDC is a nice clean logic supply with respect to it's 'ground'. I'm going to call that UG, short for Ugly Ground.

Anyway, this +5VDC and UG can be used nicely to bias the output of an opto-coupler. A little R-C integrator formed at the opto-coupler output, and driven PWM style from the opto-coupler input will work.......with a little tinkering. ;-)

Will keep you posted if you like. Actually, very customized speed controls for these machines are not that difficult, even an Arduino based fancy control panel is possible. There will ultimately be a feedback signal from the spindle to map a sort of lookup table of function to get the speeds I want more exactly.

Ciao,

JB_52

-John

[dikman]

While what you are doing is of no practical use to me, since I'm only using the servo on a sewing machine and it's perfectly adequate for that use, it had already occurred to me that these motors could have other uses - like on a lathe. In that case some form of speed control, other than the lever system they come with, would be needed - basically a simple rheostat should suffice. So yep, I for one am interested to see what you come up with.

Ron, you make a valid point. I just figured that, as a matter of cost expediency, if a factory is producing these control boards then the logical thing is for the "manufacturer" of the servos to source the boards already built rather than go to the expense of building their own. The fact that the controls/display all appear to be functionally similar lends some weight to such a thought.

However, I can't say for certain that is the case.

[MG513]

Found this thread right on time... Im looking at getting a servo for a Tacsew L1 or T1563 i found on craigslist (this is the Juki 563 clone WITH reverse right??) I would most likely be installing it myself...

Anybody have suggestions, or will the Family Sew that Kovar sells still good enough?

Backstory: I will be sewing 3-5 oz leathers like Horween essex/Dublin etc, some veg tan as well, also leathers as thin as Lamb/pig/and python skin. Sewing the uppers to replace on sneakers. I dont think i should need a reducer... At least i hope not. Thanks!

Edited October 28, 2015 by MG513